As thousands of students walked through the virtual doorways of iUP at the beginning of the year, they entered with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, an unbreakable resilience, and a passion for excellence. For some people, it was their first time entering iUP’s virtual halls, and for others, they were seasoned veterans who were looking forward to another year with the iUP community. Regardless, we didn’t quit when we faced challenges, and oh boy did that get us places. From DECA to NHD, an AWS snow day to a last-minute Canvas catastrophe, we’ve seen it all. So why don’t we take a peak into the past and review what an amazing year we’ve had?
Looking back
This year was filled with amazing memories, for both teachers and students. Starting off with Mrs. S Williams, she enjoyed: “Watching the Yearbook staff design their spreads.” Meanwhile, Naurice Brooks, 11th loved: “…prom! I had the honor of being prom council president and setting everything up for it and attending was a blast! A night I will remember for forever!” And Naurice is super lucky, because she even got Prom Princess! She says that: “I went into it thinking how grateful I was just to be able to help plan and put together prom, but winning prom princess was just the sweetest cherry on top a girl could ask for!” Congrats, Moon! For Lilly, 10th she says her “favorite memory was probably the Meet the Teacher so that I could put a name to all the new faces.” The meet the teacher event is actually very helpful. It’s definitely much easier to go into the school year knowing your teachers a little better and getting to see them in-person.
Club Mania
Everyone’s favorite part, clubs!! Clubs provide us students a time to relax, have fun, and grow all at the same time! That’s why they are so popular and well loved. Let’s take a look at a few clubs that our students participated in.
Ana Eicher Davila, 10th, was in quite a few clubs this year. Her favorites were: “…DECA, BiOwlogy, Spanish Club, and iHoot! In DECA we got to learn various leadership and business skills through guest speakers, activities, and competition; in BiOwlogy Club, we learned a lot of interesting information through games and guest speakers; in Spanish, we explored so much culture, and in iHoot, we really engaged our writing skills!” (Of course iHoot was her favorite, it’s the best club at school! 🙂
There were also many other popular clubs, like Debate, Art, and quite a few others! All the clubs this year were extremely interesting and helped students discover new interests, hidden talents, or just became a fun place to unwind!
Classes, classes, and more classes.
We all had a favorite class (unless you’re like me, who couldn’t choose just one) From history to art, owls this year had quite a few different favorites. Void, 9th, enjoyed “English and Art the most because I got to read The Odyssey and I really like art!” English was a fun one, especially for Mrs. S Williams, who teaches it. She said, “I really enjoy reading what students write and get to know them through their writing.”
Another big favorite was art, no matter what grade the owls were in. Mia-Isabelle, 6th, said “I enjoyed Art the most because we get to do these insane art projects and Mrs. Rye always gives everyone hope when some projects are really hard.” From an 8th grade perspective, Elise Womack said, “My favorite class was definitely Mrs. Carlin’s art class, every assignment was fun, and Mrs. Carlin is such an amazing, unique teacher, and always made me smile!” So regardless of the grade, everyone seems to have enjoyed art class this year!
Looking Forward
After a long year of hard work, fun memories, and great achievements, our owls deserve an amazing summer break. Let’s see what our owls have planned for their well deserved breaks! Both Naurice Brooks, 11th, and Void, 9th, are going on a cruise during the summer, which is going to be super fun!! Jessica Trujillo, 6th, is going to Japan. She is most excited “to see the convenience stores.”
A few owls also have other plans aside from traveling. Ana Eicher Davila, 10th, is “planning on taking a graphic design class at my local community college! I look forward to improving my design skills so I can apply them to bigger projects”. Gabriel Medrano, 8th is “going to Florida to represent Texas at the 14u national duals, and I’m going to a lot more tournaments.” Janelle Omuederiaye, 7th, plans on “doing a smoothie stand with my sisters.” Mrs. S Williams has an especially exciting plan, though. This summer she is “Having a baby!” Good luck Mrs. Williams! I’m sure it’s going to be super fun!
All these plans are super exciting, and hopefully owls will get their well deserved break and come back next year refreshed!
In the end…
This year was great for all of us. We’ve climbed the tallest peaks, sailed the widest oceans and conquered the toughest challenges. Our owls are owlsome, and next year we’re going to be even better, achieve even more, and create so many more great memories. So go out there and soar!
