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The show must go on (later), Variety show moved to evening time

The variety show at Staples High School is an experience revered by students and faculty alike. Boasting a performance of vast and unique talents, the annual event has grown to become something the entire school looks forward to throughout the busy school year.

However, since the senior internship program has evolved to have widespread participation in recent years, the Student Assembly has faced difficulty scheduling a date that would include seniors yet also avoid conflicts regarding missed class time.

“Everything from athletes missing the last 15 to 30 minutes of class to get on the bus for an away game, to Players students missing class during hell week, to K2BK kids missing class to go to elementary schools to talk about being kind, to individual class field trips, to Grim Reaper Day causes concern to teachers,” Principal John Dodig said. “It is our goal to strike an appropriate balance.”

In order to address interruptions to instructional time, Dodig has enforced the rule that no new assemblies should be introduced to Staples without removing something in its place. Thus in order to accommodate the effective use of class time, the variety show will now become an evening event.

According to Trudi Denton, the adviser of the Student Assembly, the show will likely take place from 7:00-8:30 at night. In addition to incorporating faculty acts, the event will also be combined with the Run for the Sun, a fundraiser for Staples tuition grants.

“I think we will have more diversity in our audience for sure: parents can come, friends can come, families can come,” Denton said, excited by the new prospect of attendance.

However, students did not react with the same enthusiasm as Denton. According to a poll 80.81% of students said that they would not attend the show. An anonymous responder claimed “the beauty of the variety show is that it uses school time to force students to recognize each others’ talents. If students did that on their own time anyway, we wouldn’t need to hold a variety show in the first place.”

Sammy Troy ’15 agreed with the results of the survey, pointing to inconvenience and a lack of support.

“It’s something to look forward to and having it at night will cause fewer students to show up. It’s a fun event, but it’s not big enough that it would draw people to come back to school,” Troy said.

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About the Contributors
Deanna Hartog, Sports Editor
Deanna Hartog ’16 is ready to bring her enthusiasm and energy from the stage to the newsroom. Hartog, one of the Sports Editors, has been acting since sixth grade and believes the skills she has acquired on stage will play a role in her work for Inklings. “Acting has allowed me to become a better speaker,” she said. “It really taught me that you need to think about what you say before you speak.” While Hartog is not a member of Staples Players, she has done numerous shows through community theaters and has performed at Curtain Call. She said the improvisation skills these shows have taught her will help her when she conducts interviews. “It’ll help with making people feel more comfortable,” she said. “Acting definitely helps with social skills.” This year Hartog hopes to become an involved editor, who can help her writers while managing her own articles. “I want to push myself to struggle so that I’ll work harder,” she said. “I took Intro [Journalism for Publication] last year and I just wanted to do more. I love it.”
Katie Settos, Creative Director
While many students at Staples spent their summers bumming it at Compo beach, Katie Settos was busy hiking the tallest mountain in Northern Europe. Katie spent three weeks of her summer on an action packed, challenging, and frankly dangerous backpacking trip through Norway; but that’s just the type of girl she is. No challenge is too big of a challenge for Settos, even if it means spending six hours climbing a slippery glacier in sub zero temperatures. Katie was totally up for test of spending half of her summer completely disconnected from the rest of the world: “I really like the outdoors, even though I’m not a sporty person.” Settos explained that her backpacking trip was one of the best experiences of her life, and that she was so glad she decided to go on it, “I just love a good adventure.” When Katie isn’t spending her summers going on adventures all over the globe, you can most likely find her designing fashion and sketching. Katie is a dedicated artist and describes her time drawing as “a distraction from school and stress.” Art is her happy place, a time where she has a peace of mind. Katie’s passion for fashion is fitting for her position at Inklings as the Creative Director. She gets to design, assemble, and put her own creative twist on almost every issue. So if you ever see Settos in the hall, make sure compliment on her amazing art abilities that help make Inklings what it is today, but also give her chocolate peanut butter ice cream; it’s a staple in her everyday routine.

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