Sturgis Arts Cafe a Success

by Cooper Heilmann, staff reporter

This Thursday, November 29th, Sturgis held an Arts Cafe in the Sturgis East Annex.  The idea behind the cafe is that students would come and perform various types of arts such as music, poetry, and theatre acts in front of an audience of parents. 
The event was open to the public, so a few unassociated visitors came as well.  The money that was raised by the five dollar donations at the door went to help Hurricane Sandy survivors.  
Hosted by sophomore English teacher Ms. Watts, the Arts Cafe was held at the school; the audience filled up a full room and a half, and there were food and drinks served at the table. Students from both Sturgis East and West came to perform.
    The first event was an encore presentation of the S.T.A.G.E play Degas C’est Moi performed by mostly East students- a brief but witty comedy about an average man who wants to live a day of his life as Degas. The next performance was a song called “I Kissed a Girl” by Ella Hunt, who sang beautifully with a guitar accompaniment. Another performance was a cover of “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz, which was skillfully performed as a duet by sophomores Jacob Tobey and Katie Roderick. Finally, Senior Jackson Fryer performed a song on his banjo: “June Hymn” by The Decemberists.  
    The Arts Cafe was a great opportunity for Sturgis students to show off gifts few knew they had, and support one another in the skills they are developing.

Girls' Basketball Team Sets Goals for Season

By Jacob Tobey, staff reporter

  After losing 6 seniors this year, wouldn’t you think the Sturgis East girl’s varsity basketball team was looking at a rebuilding year? Well, that’s not Coach Henry Colon’s attitude. Yes, his team has no seniors this year, but surely there is still veteran leadership on his team. The preseason is over and the regular season is about to start. In the words of Coach Colon, “It'll be a roller coaster ride, luckily they all meet the requirements to get on and have their seat belts on tight!”

Leadership on this girl’s basketball team is no different than any other team. It’s valued, and it’s needed on a team to be successful.  Sturgis has two captains: Junior forward Brittany Gayton and sophomore forward Meaghan Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald burst onto the scene last season as she started as a freshman and was the most productive player on the team. Coach Colon commented on the leadership of his two captains, “They lead both on and off the court and have implemented a ‘big sister’ model for the girls that are new to the game. Both have led by example and I'm pleased by that.” 

Additionally, the captains will frequently try to have the girls bond with one another by having movie nights. Gayton is the oldest on the team and has a lot of pressure on her. Trying to lead the team and be one of the better and productive players isn’t easy, but she is certainly up to the task.  

From what I have seen at the girls’ practices in the preseason, they are working very hard, starting out every practice with conditioning to get ready for the long season. If you want to be a good team, you have to keep your energy and not get tired at the end of the game when it really counts. In their recent scrimmages, the girls haven’t won a game, but of course that’s not the point.  The point of the preseason is to get better and to build chemistry, and that’s what Coach Colon is seeing: “The preseason so far has been great. The girls are working hard on their skills and bringing 100% effort to practice and scrimmages. They are a very focused team which makes us as coaches very happy.”  

Each team sets its goals for the season, and I asked Coach Colon what his were for this team.

“The goal every year is to improve during the season and qualify for the tourney,” he answered, “Although we are very young, that goal will not change. We will need to work very hard to accomplish it.”  

Certainly, with a lot of hard work and dedication these goals can be reached.  Each and every one of these girls can continue to grow and get better and as a team to complete the goals that Coach Colon set out for them.

Boys' Basketball Falls in Home Opener

By Kevin Agostinelli, staff reporter

The Sturgis boy’s basketball team’s highly anticipated home opener against Nantucket on December 10 ended in disappointing fashion as the Storm were defeated 48-29.
In front of a large, excited home crowd, Sturgis’s starting five - made up of sophomore Jacob Tobey, juniors Luke Chevalier and Mitchell Starr, and seniors Kyle Garvey and Aidan Fitzsimons - had trouble finding a good rhythm in the game. Chevalier led the offense with 15 points, 4 assists and 4 steals, followed by Tobey with 8 points and 4 assists and Garvey with 8 points and 4 rebounds.
Tobey helped to explain the lack of offense in the game: “We turned the ball over a lot and our heads weren't in the game because we got frustrated with the refs.” This frustration reached its peak in the 3rd quarter, when Mitchell Starr was given a technical foul after being accused of slamming his hand on a bench chair. 
Despite a subpar offense, the Storm stopped Nantucket from taking full control of the game and played fairly well on the defensive half. Aidan Fitzsimons collected 5 rebounds and a couple steals, while freshman Kyle Coolidge was very solid in 10 minutes to mark his Sturgis debut. 
The Storm are now 0-1 to start the season, but they will look to get a win in their second game next week at Falmouth Academy.