![It was definitely out of my comfort zone to get [the dress] and decide I loved it enough not to wait and risk not having something that memorable.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Precious_20180902_JRS_00008_ed1.jpg)
![Sophomore Sahasra Mandalapu practices bharatanatyam choreography in class. These new dances will be performed in an annual show in February. Mandalapu found that practicing in class helped her overcome stage fright during her performances. “When [I] get on stage, Im nervous Im going to forget, even though Ive done it for so long,” Mandalapu said. “Theres still that little bit of stage fright [when] I second-guess myself that I dont know it enough, but I do because Ive been practicing for a whole year.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sahasra-6-Large-1200x844.jpeg)
![In their full runway outfits, (from left) Audrey Lee 25, Olivia Lucy Teets, 25, Fashion Design teacher Ms. Judy Chance, and Xueying Lili Yang pose for a photo. All three girls made it to Austin Fashion Week by getting in the top 10 in a previous runway show held by Shop LC.
[I like my students] creativity and how they can look at a fabric and make it their own, Ms. Chance said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_9686-e1714088765730-1129x1200.jpeg)
![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
How do you make a program all about “inclusion” even more inclusive? The answer might just be wiffle ball.
The Unified program, sponsored by Special Olympics Colorado, allows students with special needs to compete in various sports and events. Each year, all the Unified teams from all nine high schools in the Douglas County School District (DCSD) compete together in three sports seasons.
Those three sports have been kickball, basketball and soccer, but this year, wiffle ball was introduced as an alternative to soccer. The season has also been moved from spring to fall, immediately following kickball. Why the change?
“Soccer was the least participated in of all Unified Sports,” DCSD Unified Coordinator Lori Pace said. “It was felt by the majority of coaches that trying wiffle ball would attract higher participation rates. The reason for a double fall season was to have better weather for our athletes. Cold windy days in the spring are hard for many athletes who are not able to safely regulate their body temperature as well as the cold spring weather caused a greater number of game cancellations and/or low turnout to games.”
Unified athlete Mark Larson ‘25 pointed out another benefit to switching seasons.
“When the weather changes, my asthma attacks me. It bothers me when I [play] soccer,” Larson said.
So, why wiffle ball?
“Wiffle ball is similar in skill level to kickball. [It is] familiar to most, if not all, students. [It] does not require significant endurance. [It] creates a more equal opportunity for all athletes, versus soccer that truly separates the spectrum of abilities,” Pace said.
The Jags participated in its first wiffle ball game at Castle View High School, Sept. 27.
“In soccer, not everyone would get a chance to touch the ball. Some kids are so advanced and kick the ball hard, and others won’t get a chance. In wiffle ball, everybody gets a chance to hit the ball,” Unified Head Coach Jerome Price said.
Unified has six games per sports season. The Unified wiffle ball season finished with a home game on Oct. 12. For the last game, an invitation was extended to Significant Support Needs (SSN) kids from Rocky Heights Middle School and Timber Trail Elementary School to play, and the athletes from all schools were mixed up to create two teams.
The purpose of Unified is not to win or lose, but to include, so scores are not usually kept.
“I loved soccer and I think we had a lot of fun doing it, but I think the change to wiffle ball has been good for us. It has made it more balanced. Before we had kids that could run around and steal the ball, and others that were in wheelchairs or couldn’t walk as well and now they all get more of an equal chance to play. It’s also kind of nice not having to push wheelchairs around bumpy fields forever [while] playing soccer, because that got really tiring,” Assistant Unified Coach JoLynn Duris said.
Switching sports required some new equipment.
“We teamed up with Special Olympics, so they [gave] us [money for] uniforms and equipment for wiffle ball,” Price said.
With so many schools needing to acquire equipment, the schools teamed up.
(media by Gabe Mascitti)
“A group of the high schools got together to make a bulk order of tees, bats and wiffle balls,” Duris said. “We haven’t gotten our new uniforms yet, but we will get those ordered so we’ll have them for our wiffle ball season next year and all the years after.”
The wiffle ball season ended, but the overall feeling about the change seems to be positive.
“It’s just awesome!” Unified athlete Liv Johansen ‘27 said.
This story was originally published on The Rock Newspaper on November 12, 2023.
