If you attend any high school, there is a high chance you have come across events that you haven’t been able to attend or have heard about too late. As members of Wakefield High, it’s important for us to highlight the talents of the students.

Wakefield Marching Band, although their season has just ended, had many wins. They started their competitive season with a competition held at Wakefield, Heart of Carolina, and ended it with Reserve Grand Champion at Scotland High School and Fuquay Varina High School. The Wakefield Band scored first place in their class for all except one competition. Junior Katie Summers is a first chair trombone player for the band.

“I want our effort, pride, and perseverance to be recognized. We put hundreds of hours of work to get our show on the field every year.” Summers said. “ I’m really proud of how much our band has accomplished this year. I can’t wait for my last season.”

The band has always been an important part of raising spirits at Wakefield. Whether it be during the pep rallies or the bleachers at football games, they never fail to succeed in working with the passionate fans.

Staff Photo by Angelina Ramirez

Varsity football player Wesley Heaton

The football team has been trumping expectations. From almost being in last place in last year’s division, the team has brought themselves up to second place overall. Wakefield junior Wesley Heaton, Varsity player and voted MVP has stories to tell us.

“So far I think my favorite win was easily the Heritage game because everyone thought we did not stand a chance. We came out there with a chip on our shoulders and sent them home. It was a key game to getting into playoffs,” Heaton said. “I want our football team to be recognized as a hard-working team that strives and expects success.”

Staff Photo by Sienna Stock

Wakefield writers Jasanee Killins (left) and Anaum Salman (right)

Literature and Writing careers are becoming popular among students. This goes especially for students like Jasanee Killins who takes big inspiration from her teachers and attributes it to her work.

“I want people to recognize that literature is not another thorn in your side when you have to do an English project,” Killins said. “It’s not a boring set of pages with a drawing you can’t understand or don’t want to understand. It’s literature. It’s an endless expanse of possibility. I believe most people take it for granted.”

Killins looks forward to being apart of the Spoken Word and Literature Club, which will start in the spring.  A similarly talented writer, Anaum Salman, is also connected through Wakefield by her spoken word poetry. Salman used her poetry in multiple talent shows and continues to spread the worth of poetry to the modern age.

“Being able to communicate through writing is an amazing skill to have and through writing, you are able to push so many social themes, which can really help a student grow,” Salman said.

Art classes are especially prominent for students to experiment with possible careers that they might want to pursue. Sara King, the teacher for Art I, encourages students to try it out.

“I have a lot of students who are really invested in their work and it’s really nice to see. They’re putting a lot of time in their painting projects,” King said. “They care for the quality of their work, and they take pride in it and it carries over to their lives outside of it.”

King has a wide variety of kids each semester, and each brings a different style to their work.

“Wakefield has a lot of opportunities for you to do what you want to do. If not, they have the option for you to try and add things.” Kelsie Johnson, a sophomore in Art I, said. Johnson is glad for the opportunity to explore her creativity. Although her focus is on biotechnology, Johnson is looking forward to exploring more in the arts.

Photo Courtesy of Alice Hansen

The Basketball teams are preparing for their first game. The team has been doing scrimmages together with good results, and from last year’s scores, the team will do great. This year has been beneficial for student-athletes because of all the athletic scholarships and colleges that are open to them.

Gabby Donaldson, a student on the women’s basketball team, has committed to Harvard University, and student-athlete Jada Peebles has committed to the University of Illinois. It’s amazing that Wakefield has so many talented athletes. Best of luck to both basketball teams as they head into the new season.

The swim team is doing great! Practices started in November and the team is working hard to reach their end goal of Finals! Students AJ Carroll and Taye Brown both received swim scholarships for their outstanding performances on the team. We are just at the beginning of the season and I can’t wait to see how we do. Good luck and go Wolverines!

There are many activities to participate in here at Wakefield, and these are just a few that started up within the last couple of months. Many opportunities will be opening up throughout this semester and spring of next year.   For more information about clubs, sports and activities please go to the Wakefield homepage.