Student Spotlight: Lily X. Haselton

by Skye Kuppig, staff reporter

Sturgis East Junior Lily X. Haselton has distinguished herself at Sturgis for her talent in face and body painting.

Somehow between her homework, art club, her job at Stop and Shop, and Chinese lessons, she finds time to design, draw, and paint.

“I try to plan my artwork on days with minimal homework,” she said.

Lily started her own business, Facepainting by Lily, over the summer and has traveled to birthday parties and events all over the Cape to face paint. She is also working under a magician by the name of Marcus, whose son just graduated from Sturgis. She knows him as a family friend because he had also adopted a daughter from China.

Lily’s interest in art began when she was very young, as she explained. Her mother is an artist, and used to own a scrimshaw gallery, and so that she was always surrounded by art and creativity. Her face painting career began at age eleven, when her gymnastics coach noticed Lily’s interest in art and decided to bring her along to some of her face painting gigs. She took a liking to face painting, and has been working to develop her skill in it ever since.
Like almost all artists, Lily draws inspiration from the world and culture around her. She’s especially inspired by pop culture, saying, “ I think it’s interesting to take a costume from a movie and transform it into body art.” 
Lily also draws inspiration from other artists. Being on the Cape and access to the great art galleries (for example, the Norman Rockwell exhibit in Sandwich) has been an advantage to her.

“I look at other people’s art and apply their style to my own,” she explains.

However, Lily’s greatest inspiration may come from Sturgis itself. “I’m inspired by the people at Sturgis, because I’ve made a name for myself and the feedback they give me inspires me to do more,” she said. She says that taking IB art at Sturgis has helped her grow as an artist and has helped her to organize her ideas as well.

Lily is already planning for her artistic future. Art school is an attractive option, and she’s especially interested in the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Recently, she had an interview with Heritage House and Gardens Museum in Sandwich for an eight week art internship. After high school, her plan is to grow her small face painting business. Someday, Lily dreams of working for big productions like movies and Broadway shows.

Boys Soccer Falls in State Tournament

By Kevin Agostinelli, staff reporter

Despite being the 5th seed in the state tournament with an 11-3-1 record and automatically advancing to the Round of 16, the Sturgis boys soccer team lost to 12th seed Seekonk on Sunday night. A few hundred Sturgis fans attended the highly anticipated home game at Old Townhouse Field, but they ultimately left disappointed as the Storm fell to the Warriors 2-1.
Unfortunately for the Storm, their performance in the first few minutes of the first half was a microcosm of the entire match. The Sturgis boys were thrown off their game by a fast, physical, and no-nonsense Seekonk team which was content with booting the ball downfield and putting more pressure on the Storm’s defense to clear each long ball. This led to Seekonk’s first goal of the game, when a Seekonk defender stole the ball at midfield, kicked it downfield, and managed to have the ball bounce off a Sturgis defender and go out of bounds for a corner kick. The ensuing kick found Seekonk forward James Eline after several failed clearances, and he finished to shock the home crowd and give Seekonk the lead. However, the Storm’s determination and improved play towards the end of the first half led to a crucial goal by junior midfielder Jonny Gomes off an assist by senior forward Chris Dedecko. At the half, the game was tied 1-1.
Sturgis then began the second half as roughly as they began the first and struggled to find the passing game that had so often led them to victory in the regular season. Seekonk took advantage of the Storm’s struggles and began to attain more and more possession, finally punishing Sturgis with a devastating goal halfway through the second half. This goal was once again the result of three failed clearances from the Storm’s backline and a lucky bounce that just beat the outstretched arms of senior goalkeeper Kyle Garvey. Although the game was far from over, Seekonk took advantage of the Storm’s sloppy play in the attack and continued to kick the ball downfield until the ref blew the final whistle to end the game.
The boys soccer team finished their season with a record of 11 wins, 4 losses, and 1 tie, giving them the best record in Sturgis boys soccer history. Stay tuned for the upcoming recap of the entire boys soccer season, which will include highlights, analysis, and interviews with players and coaches!

A First for Sturgis Sports

By Jacob Tobey and Parth Patel, staff reporters

Sturgis, as academic as it is, recently acquired a new sports record.  For the first time in school history the Storm have 4 teams in the state tournament in a single sports season:  Girls volleyball, Girls Soccer, Boys Soccer and Cross Country.  This can assure that with each year of Sturgis being around since 1998, sports are getting better and better by the year, and soon enough, Sturgis will find itself at the top of the rankings in both academics and sports.     

       “I want to win at least one game in states before I graduate,” says captain Ben Duncan.  Boys Varsity Soccer is having one of its best seasons in school history.  They have an explosive offense, with forwards Aidan Fitzsimmons and Captain Chris Dedecko.  Fitzsimmons has 6 goals on the season, and Chris Dedecko has 12.  Captain Kyle Garvey has also been very impressive in net with more than a couple shutouts.  Captain Ben Duncan has been The General for the Storm’s defense; being a real leader and shouting out directions of where players should be on the field.  Hence his team nickname, “General fluffy.”  The defense as a whole has been very good for the Storm, and the team aims to go into the playoffs with one of the better records on the Cape.  This is the fourth year in a row the Storm have qualified and are looking to make some noise in the playoffs and really open people’s eyes.   

The girls varsity volleyball team has had a very good season.  Their record at the moment is 7-5.  It has been a breakout season and they are a real gem to watch.  Their intensity and passion for the game is excellent.  When the Storm are rolling, their passing and serves are really sharp and on target and that helps them win.  “Serving is really important.  We always play so much better when we are all having a good serving day, but passing is super important too because the play either starts or ends with the pass,” said Junior Captain Makalia Lyons.  With a great deal of talented players, the Storm should get ready to make a solid playoff run, and make it worthwhile.  They are the first Volley team in school history to make it to states, and can still set another record:  To be the first girls Volley team to win a state tournament game.    

The cross country team has been preparing for this moment all season. The two hour long practices that the team has put in after most school days are proving to be extremely beneficial to the teams success. Conditioning and other methods of training are going to help out when the state tournament starts.  They have put in a lot of hard work and dedication to try and go a long way into the state tournament.  Every person on the team tries their best and wants to become a better athlete.  Their dedication and love for the sport is what drives them the most.  On Wednesday, October 24, the Sturgis cross country team was not there to disappoint. The cross country team battled hard and posted impressive results. The score for the boys was 16-45, while the final score for the girls was 15-46. This recent victory brings the boys up to a record of 5-1 and the girls to a record of 4-2.   All eyes now turn to the state race at Franklin Park, which will take place on Nov. 9th in Boston.  

The girls varsity soccer team also made it into the big dance with a record of 6-5-2.  A lot of Sturgis’ best players last season were seniors, and but this years’ team certainly told off the critics.  Sturgis has one of the most explosive offenses in the Cape and Islands League, with forward Brittany Gayton leading the way for the Storm with 13 goals and looking for more as the post season rolls along.  Hayara Cardoso has also had a strong season playing alongside Gayton at the forwards.  The defense for the storm has really improved throughout the season.  Goalies Monique Legault and Maggie Paul have really done a solid job in net, keeping the goals against to a minimum.  They go into the tournament with their heads held high and ready to tell the story of Sturgis Soccer.   

Note: Since this article has been published, both soccer teams and the volleyball team have been eliminated from the state tournament.