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On October 1, 2005, in Norfolk Nebraska, Heather Knerr and Jim Magsamen welcomed Xander Taylor Ross to their family. 

Xander has five younger brothers and sisters to conclude his family. He has 3 younger sisters and 2 younger brothers: Amaiya, 16, Ariyah, 14, Xavier, 13, Adam, 11, and Alexia, 7. 

Xander’s grandparents are Michelle and John Mrsny of Norfolk.

Throughout Xander’s high school career, he has been involved in One-Act for four years, and Golf and football for one year. 

Xander’s favorite class in school is Lifetime Activities.  His favorite song is “Hey Driver” by Zach Bryan, and his favorite sports’ team is the New England Patriots. 

His biggest pet peeve are people who lie or steal.

Outside of school you can find Xander working at Just Another Mini Mart. 

After graduating high school, Xander plans to attend Northeast and complete their Welding program. In the future, Xander sees himself as a welder.  

If Xander won the lottery, he says he would half of it will go to families in need and the other half would go to family and friends. 

If Xander could travel anywhere in the world, he would travel to Florida because it looks really beautiful there. 

On Xander’s bucket list he says he hopes to become a welder, and learn to get over his fear of heights. 

His advice to the underclassmen is “Listen to your teachers, they are there to help you.”

We wish Xander the best of luck in his future endeavors!

On Wednesday, May 1, the track team traveled to Humphrey for a meet. There were many teams there that we have seen before and other teams that we haven’t seen.

This meet was another great opportunity for everyone to keep practicing before districts Thursday. The girls competed very well, coming home with 1st place. The track meet was kind of cold and a little rainy. 

The first-place finishers include Maizie Stoklasa in long and triple jump, Trey Steffensmeier in triple jump, and Ava Kasik in the 100m hurdles.  The girls 4 by 1 team consisting of Brynn Settje, Tanyn Larson, Kendall Schneider, and Maizie Stoklasa also finished 1st.

Head Coach, Briana Wietfeld said, “Our final regular meet showed the potential we have for districts next week. The girls took home the championship plaque. We had several events where all 3 of our athletes took home a medal. 100 hurdles we have Ava, Claire and Lexis, in triple with Maizie, Brynn and Ella, in the 100 with Maizie, Tanyn, and Kendall. Blake Loseke ran a PR time in the 400 and Trey Steffensmeier also finished with double medals. Nevaeh Zulkoski had a personal best in discus, just to name a few highlights.  

She continued, “Our relays also are powerhouses with girls 4x1 getting 1st, girls 4x8 2nd, girls 4x4 getting 4th and boys 4x1 getting 4th. Overall, we leave the meet very successfully and have a great outlook as we approach the end of our season.”

Brianne Kuhr said, “The Humphrey Lindsay Holy Family Track Meet was a great track meet for us because there were many local teams that competed in it. It was a way for our team to build confidence and to finish up the regular meets before districts.”

Stats:

Girls’ Results

High Jump: Ella Baumert—4-04 (seventh place); Ava Baumert—4-08; Triple Jump: Maizie Stoklasa—36-02 (first place) Brynn Settje—33-09 (third place); Ella Baumert—32-09 (fifth place); Long Jump: Maizie Stoklasa—17-01.5 (first place); Cadence Indra—13-09; Shot Put: Nevaeh Zulkoski—30-02; Karly Wendt- 25-01; Emma—28; Disc: Nevaeh Zulkoski—91-01 (sixth place); Rylee Balzer—73-08; Karly Wendt—69-04; 100 Dash: Maizie Stoklasa—12.85 (second place); Tanyn Larson—13.51 (sixth place); Kendall Schneider—13.90 (eighth place); 200 Dash: Tanyn Larson—28.06 (fourth place); 400 Dash: Baylee Settje—1:07.24 (seventh place); Reese Wietfeld—1:14.42; Cadence Indra—1:11.55; 100 Hurdles: Ava Kasik—16.57 (first place); Claire Holoubek—18.17 (fourth place); Lexis Gleason—18.66 (sixth place); 300 Hurdles: Ava Kasik- 51.02 (second place); Claire Holoubek—54.72 (sixth place); Lexis Gleason—1:03; 800: Sage Fernau —3:20 (second place); Kaylee Brabec—2:50.39 (seventh place); Carmen Malena—2:51.25 (eighth place); 1600: Reann Bruhn—6:16.86 (third place); Brianne Kuhr—6:38.14 (fourth place); 4x800: Reann Bruhn, Graicee Sortino, Izzy Hollatz, Brianne Kuhr—11:40.82 (second place); 4x100: Brynn Settje, Tanyn Larson, Kendall Schneider, Maize Stoklasa—52.04 (first place); 4x400: Kendall Schneider, Ava Kasik, Claire Holoubek, Baylee Settje—4:52 (first place)

Boys’ Results
High Jump: Tucker Matthies—5-4 (seventh place); Triple Jump: Trey Steffensmeier—39-8.75 (first place); Colton Steffensmeier—35-7.75; Long Jump: Trey Steffensmeier—19-3.5 (fourth place); Colton Steffensmeier—15-5.25; Jeryn Struebing—14-5; Shot: Korbin Lemberg- 49-2 (sixth place); Otto Crecco—33-9.5; Disc: Otto Crecco—77-03; 100 Dash: Tucker Matthies—12.44; Colton Steffensmeier—12.84; Black Loseke—12 (third place); 200m Dash: Otto Crecco—27.91; Jeryn Struebing—28.01; 400 Dash: Blake Loseke—57.92 (eighth place); Nile Jones—59.09; Jeryn Struebing—1:05.54; 100 Hurdles: Isaac Baumert—18.97; 300 Hurdles: Isaac Baumert—50.41; 800: Nile Jones—2:29.7; Jairo Albarado—2:39.09; 1600: Max Muhle—5:51.05; 3200: Christian Hamernick—13:41.2; 4x100: Trey Steffensmeier, Joey Steffensmeier, Tucker Matthews, Blake Loseke—47.6 (fourth place)

On April 30th, 2024, the Leigh FCCLA chapter gathered to celebrate what they had accomplished over the 2023-2024 school year and announce the new officer positions for the upcoming year. 

At the banquet an “Outstanding Member” award was given to one member from the 7th grade, 8th grade, freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior class. The members that were chosen from each class showed their dedication and hard work toward FCCLA over the 2024-2025 school year.

The members chosen for this award were 7th grader Averi Clausen, 8th grader Trevor Hoffman, freshman Vylet Hollatz, sophomore Jocelyn Donnelly, junior Ella Urban, and senior Gracie Eisenmann. 

  Junior Brynn Settje stated, “It was a great banquet and we all got recognized for the awards that we received this year. It was very exciting getting to hear the new officer spots that we got selected to be.”

The new 2024-2025 chapter officer team was installed and are as follows: President: Ella Urban, Vice-President: Baylee Settje, Secretary: Izzy Hollatz, Treasurer: Brynn Settje, Vice-President of STAR: Vylet Hollatz, Historian: Elizabeth Hoffman, Vice President of Events: Ella Higby, Public Relations Chair: Jocelyn Donnelly, and District Representative: Emersyn Urban. 

FCCLA adviser Megan Hillen shared her thoughts on the banquet. She said “We enjoyed taking an evening to acknowledge and celebrate the success of our FCCLA chapter over this past year. Thank you to all those who helped make this event possible!”

With a grand total of 15 teams and a Conference championship on the line, the East Husker Conference track meet is one of the biggest, most important meets the Patriots attend.

This year’s meet was held in Oakland-Craig on Saturday, April 27.  Everyone competed well, and there was a ton of new competition to face. 

The Patriot boys’ team finished 13th, and the girls placed 3rd! Overall, it was a successful meet!

The weather was really nice for the Patriots. 

There were several girls that placed in the top three. There were also a few boys that finished in the top 10, although there was only one boy, Trey Steffensmeier in Long Jump, who finished in the top 6.

The girls’ team really dominated the jumps, with Maizie Stoklasa and Brynn Settje taking the 1^st and 2^nd place spots in both Triple Jump and Long Jump.  

Sophomore Ava Kasik stated, "Overall, it was a very competitive and successful meet. It was a beautiful day, and we had many girls' place."

Assistant Coach Mrs. Brianne Bachman stated, “The conference track meet is always a competitive meet. This year the girls’ team finished in third (7 points behind 2nd). We had quite a few girls finish with multiple medals and a few new personal bests. The boys competed against some tough conference teams as well. It was a good day for the conference track meet and a nice warm-up to district track next week. The athletes are continuing to work hard and looking forward to putting up their best marks at the end of the season.”

Congratulations to all Patriot track athletes and good luck heading into districts!

Girls’ Results (3rd Place)

Long Jump: Maizie Stoklasa -10.50 (First Place) Brynn Settje 16-02.50 (Second Place); Triple Jump: Maizie Stokasa - 35-09.00 (First Place), Brynn Settje - 34-11.25 (Second Place), Ella Baumert -33-07.00 (Fourth Place); 100M Hurdles: Ava Kasik -17.20 (Fourth Place),Claire Holoubek -18.18 (Seventh Place); 300M Hurdles: Claire Holoubek - 55.06(Ninth); 100M Dash:  Maizie Stoklasa - 12.83 (Second Place), Tanyn Larson–13.83 (Sixth Place); 200M Dash: Tanyn Larson -28.24 (Fifth Place); 4x1M Relay: Brynn Settje, Tanyn larson, Kendall Schneider, Maizie Stoklasa- 51.34 (First Place); 4x8M Relay: Graicee Sortino, Izzy Holltaz, Brianne Kuhr, Reann Bruhn -11.10.45 (Fifth Place)

Boys’ Results (13th Place)

Long Jump: Trey Steffeinsmeier- 19-02.25 (Fourth Place)

On Saturday April 27, the Clarkson-Leigh Boys Golf team sent their top five golfers to the Pierce Invite. The varsity team consisted of Mic Sayers, Parker Sayers, Ryan Brichacek, Wyatt Crosley, and Simon Wemhoff. 

Brichacek shot the lowest on the team with a 94, Wyatt Crosley scored 95, Mic Sayers also shot 95, Parker Sayers shot 106, and Simon Wemhoff rounded out the team with 118.

Head golf coach Connor Blum stated, “It was a chilly and windy day for a meet, and the competition was tough. The boys battled all day and we were just short of having a couple of golfers place. We have a couple more meets to end the year, so I'm looking forward to what we can do.”

There were 12 teams that they competed against. These teams include Bloomfield, Cedar Catholic, Crofton, Elkhorn Valley, Pierce, Randolph, Wausa, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Plainview, Hartington-Newcastle, Winnebago, and GACC. Out of these teams the Patriots ended up placing sixth. 

Senior Simon Wemhoff said, “It was a great day for golf and we were happy to be golfing in the great conditions.”

In my opinion, one policy our school could change is letting students drive over lunch. Right now, high school students have to stay for school lunch, or they have the option of walking downtown for lunch. 

Let’s face it, school lunch is short, and it takes time to walk downtown and walk back.  I believe students should be able to drive downtown so they can spend more time eating, and sometimes there isn’t even time to eat food if you go further downtown than the mini mart. If students could drive, they could support more local places to eat and keep the Leigh economy booming.

In bigger cities, they let kids drive because places to eat are so far away, so why couldn’t we drive just a few blocks? We would have enough time to eat, and in the winter, kids would stay much warmer and would not have to eat school lunch if it’s something they don’t like just because the weather is too bad to walk downtown.  An alternate choice would be two main course meals to pick from each day so kids have more options at school lunch. 

I do think if a change were to be made, that there should be limits, like you can’t drive out of town, you have to be 16, and your parents would have to sign a waiver at the beginning of the year saying you can drive.  Kids have gotten in trouble in the past for driving at lunch when they weren’t supposed to, so if we just eliminate the no driving rule, the admin would be much happier because they wouldn’t have to get mad if a kid breaks the rule because there wouldn’t be a rule to break.  All in all, students and administration alike would get to have a better day if kids were able to drive at lunch. 

All of these reasons should be enough for the school system to take driving at lunch into consideration, but there again should be boundaries on what kids can do and what they have to require to do it. 

The Annual Leigh FFA Banquet was scheduled for Friday, April 26, 2024, but after many tornadoes and thunderstorms filled the Leigh area, the banquet was rescheduled for Monday, April 29, 2024, at 6 P.M. 

Monday evening, 40 Leigh FFA members, families, and community members gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the chapter and its members. 

The evening started with a meal catered by Wunderlich’s Catering and Barley Shoppe. After the meal, opening ceremonies were held and followed by all of the awards that honored community members and FFA members. 

There were three chapter awards that were given out to FFA members who excelled in certain areas. The six recipients of the Most Active Members were Sadie Brabec (Most Active Junior High Member), Carmen Malena (Most Active Freshman Member), Luke Eisenmann (Most Active Sophomore Member), Delanie Erwin and Kammy Held (Most Active Junior Members), and Jordan Noonan (Most Active Senior Member). 

There were four members of the Outstanding Record Book Award: Carmen Malena, Kyle McMullin, Kammy Held, and Jacob Martensen. 

The four Star Awards were presented to Tyce Larson (Star Discovery), Carmen Malena (Star Greenhand), Kammy Held (Star Ag Placement), and Delanie Erwin (Star Farmer).

Jordan Noonan, recipient of the Most Active Senior Member award and 2023-2024 Leigh FFA President, recapped the night as, “The FFA Banquet was a very successful night even with the rescheduling due to weather. It was awesome to see how many people could attend. It was definitely an odd feeling when it was over, realizing it was my last banquet and not closing out the meeting for our chapter anymore, but it was great to help induct the new officers and hang up my FFA jacket. Our year as an FFA chapter was one I will always remember. I was very impressed by how dedicated our chapter was to trying new things that they have never considered before. We had many teams and kids compete at a high level at State. But the biggest part about this year started from our Fun Day in the summer to my last State Convention. I was beyond proud watching these kids and a young chapter grow and mature throughout my final year. FFA has left me with memories I will never forget and I am grateful.”

After all the awards were given out, the year in review video was played, the worker and item auction was held, and the seniors retiring addresses were given. 

The night ended with the installment of the 2024-2025 Leigh FFA Officer team. The new officers include Junior Advisors—Blake Loseke and Karly Wendt, Parliamentarian—Nevaeh Zulkoski, Historian—Ava Kasik, Sentinel—Kyle McMullin, Reporters—Daphne Jedlicka and Hannah Martensen, Treasurer—Luke Eisenmann, Secretary—Carmen Malena, Vice Presidents—Delanie Erwin and Brianne Kuhr, and President—Kammy Held.

Newly elected Co-Junior Advisor, Blake Loseke said the night was, “I thought it went pretty well. I think it's going to be a great experience being a part of the officer team. I think that a great goal moving forward would be to be able to compete in even more events at State Convention and be able to win more as a chapter.”

On April 25, 20 excited little upcoming morning pre-schoolers joined Mrs. Annie Bahns for an open house to prepare them for the upcoming year.

At preschool roundup, incoming LCS students were greeted with a bookbag that they were able to color and decorate to their liking. Once they finished designing their bookbag, the students were able to fill them up with all sorts of goodies and supplies. After the students completed their bookbags, they had the opportunity to explore the classroom and enjoy some cookies. 

Preschool teacher Mrs. Annie Bahns said, “Preschool open house went great and I had about 20 kids attend. I also even heard a student say, ‘I can’t wait to come here!’”

The East Husker Conference Art Show was held in Clarkson Public Schools on April 10th through 12th. Many Leigh High School students submitted pieces to the art show, and Leigh students received multiple ribbons. 

The Leigh High School students have been working on their pieces all year long. Freshman Carmen Malena was very successful and received a purple ribbon in textile with her piece called “Showing Shirt.” 

Malena said, “I was happy to see that my project I worked on for a long time placed well in our art show! There was lots of good art so it was fun seeing who I was going against.”

Madi Freudenburg submitted a piece in collage, and her piece, “In Full Bloom,” earned a red. Ella Urban submitted a bowl that she created using the pottery wheel, and she obtained a red. Aubrie Hanna’s charcoal picture received a white. Reese Bruhn’s artwork, “Part of the Heard,” obtained a white. Ella Higby’s “Grandma’s Bouquet” received a white in mixed media.

Art teacher Ms. Cully Cerv said, “It's truly empowering to see the amazing artists based in our conference and school. Across the board, the EHC conference is stacked with talent, and art does not fall short. Incredible artwork from each school filled the Clarkson gym. It's really cool to see what the other schools are up to in their classes leading up to the art show. To receive any ribbon at our conference art show is an honor.”

Congratulations to all the competitors!

On July 27th, 2006, Nicole Sandoval welcomed her son Andrew Ivan Rivera into the world.  

Andrew has 4 siblings, Caleb, 21, Deandrea, 18, Joey, 8, and Tianna, 6.  Andrew’s grandparents are Kathleen Elsner, and the late Ronald Elsner of Columbus, Nebraska. His family wouldn’t be complete without his dogs: Appa, a husky/German shepherd/pitbull mix, and Canoe and Zesty, both rat terriers.

Throughout Andrew’s high school career, he has been involved in One-Act play for 4 years, football for 4 years, wrestling for 3 years, and journalism for 2 years.

Andrew has received many sports honors in high school.  He has lettered multiple years in both football and wrestling. He made 1st team All-District in football, and he qualified for state wrestling his junior and senior year. 

Andrew’s favorite class in school is weights.  His favorite song is “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus, and his favorite sports’ team is the Dallas Cowboys. His biggest pet peeve is when people drag their feet in the hallway.

Outside of school you can find Andrew working at both of his jobs at Alice's Cedar Inn and Schwartz Farms. 

After graduating high school, Andrew plans to attend Northeast and earn a Welding degree. In the future, Andrew sees himself living a happy life with a wife and family.

If Andrew won the lottery, he says he would, “Build a Batcave and become the real Batman.” 

If Andrew could travel anywhere in the world he would travel to Italy because he really likes pizza.  Also on his bucket list is to produce large children someday and become a very good welder. 

His advice to the underclassmen is “Get in the weight room!”

We wish Andrew the best of luck in his future endeavors!