![With the AISD rank and GPA discrepancies, some students had significant changes to their stats. College and career counselor Camille Nix worked with students to appeal their college decisions if they got rejected from schools depending on their previous stats before getting updated. Students worked with Nix to update schools on their new stats in order to fully get their appropriate decisions. “Those who already were accepted [won’t be affected], but it could factor in if a student appeals their initial decision,” Principal Andy Baxa said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/53674616658_18d367e00f_o-1200x676.jpg)
![Junior Mia Milicevic practices her forehand at tennis practice with the WJ girls tennis team. “Sometimes I don’t like [tennis] because you’re alone but most of the time, I do like it for that reason because it really is just you out there. I do experience being part of a team at WJ but in tournaments and when I’m playing outside of school, I like that rush when I win a point because I did it all by myself, Milicevic said. (Courtesy Mia Milicevic)](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/c54807e1-6ab6-4b0b-9c65-bfa256bc7587.jpg)
![The Jaguar student section sits down while the girls basketball team plays in the Great Eight game at the Denver Coliseum against Valor Christian High School Feb. 29. Many students who participated in the boys basketball student section prior to the girls basketball game left before half-time. I think it [the student section] plays a huge role because we actually had a decent crowd at a ranch game. I think that was the only time we had like a student section. And the energy was just awesome, varsity pointing and shooting guard Brooke Harding ‘25 said. I dont expect much from them [the Golden Boys] at all. But the fact that they left at the Elite Eight game when they were already there is honestly mind blowing to me.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_7517-e1716250578550-900x1200.jpeg)
![BACKGROUND IN THE BUSINESS: Dressed by junior designer Kaitlyn Gerrie, senior Chamila Muñoz took to the “Dreamland” runway this past weekend. While it was her first time participating in the McCallum fashion show, Muñoz isn’t new to the modeling world.
I modeled here and there when I was a lot younger, maybe five or six [years old] for some jewelry brands and small businesses, but not much in recent years,” Muñoz said.
Muñoz had hoped to participate in last year’s show but couldn’t due to scheduling conflicts. For her senior year, though, she couldn’t let the opportunity pass her by.
“It’s [modeling] something I haven’t done in a while so I was excited to step out of my comfort zone in a way,” Muñoz said. “I always love trying new things and being able to show off designs of my schoolmates is such an honor.”
The preparation process for the show was hectic, leaving the final reveal of Gerrie’s design until days before the show, but the moment Muñoz tried on the outfit, all the stress for both designer and model melted away.
“I didn’t get to try on my outfit until the day before, but the look on Kaitlyn’s face when she saw what she had worked so hard to make actually on a model was just so special,” Muñoz said. “I know it meant so much to her. But then she handed me a blindfold and told me I’d be walking with it on, so that was pretty wild.”
Caption by Francie Wilhelm.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/53535098892_130167352f_o-1200x800.jpg)
Cassidy Kerber, freshman, has lived at a barn for her entire life. She spends her days in the stables riding, walking and grazing horses.
“Whenever there is a new horse or one I am unfamiliar with at my barn and I am either riding or walking it, there is some anxiety in the moment, but as you grow a connection with the horses, that can completely go away,” Kerber said.
There, she feels most at home.
For riders like Kerber, being able to form strong bonds with horses helps exercise complex emotional and social skills that can greatly improve mental health. Equine therapy entails the use of activities involving horses to promote mental wellbeing and allows clients to learn at a place other than a traditional therapy office.
Lulu Bogolin, executive director of Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) in Wildwood, shares that there are many ways an individual can grow through equine therapy.
“My favorite part about working at Equine Assisted Therapy are the rewards that we get to see on a daily basis with our riders and our volunteers,” Bogolin said.
In the program, riders focus on developing coordination, fine and gross motor skills, core strength and balance. Concepts such as teamwork, trust, respect and honesty are learned as well.
EAT is a non-profit organization that is supported by a group of volunteers that all have a passion for the horses and the clients that occupy the stables. Each day they see great growth from their participants.
Kim Underwood, volunteer at EAT, said his efforts are all worth-while and that equine therapy is an enriching experience for everyone.
“We had one rider that was not talking and after a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months, he finally said the word ‘woah’. And it was like, that is such a breakthrough moment because he wasn’t talking and then he was,” Underwood said.
This story was originally published on Marquette Messenger on May 22, 2024.
