Latest news with #EastHigh
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Wyoming man arrested after causing 1,000-person chaos at school debate
A Wyoming man triggered a thousand-person stampede at a national high school debate tournament after storming the stage. Jayden Roccaforte, 22, a four-time national champion in speech and debate, was arrested on Thursday, June 19 at the 2025 National Speech and Debate Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. A video shows Roccaforte swaying on stage with a backpack, making unsettling gestures and launching into a bizarre 'knock knock' joke that quickly spiraled into panic. 'You wanna hear a joke?' he asked the crowd, before shouting 'Knock knock!' and crouching over his bag as if to pull something out - prompting someone to ask, 'Run away?' Moments later, thousands began to flee the venue. According to Des Moines police, Roccaforte now faces a charge of disorderly conduct and two counts of drug possession. On Friday, June 20, district spokesperson Mary Quast told Cowboy State Daily that Roccaforte was neither an employee nor a volunteer and had no affiliation with the school's speech and debate program. But conflicting accounts and screenshots tell a different story. Screenshots reviewed by Cowboy State Daily show that Roccaforte was added to a group chat with East High students and coaches on June 11, and remained in the chat until being removed after Thursday's incident. An August 2024 blog post by One Clap Speech and Debate had previously described Roccaforte as someone who coached East High students after graduating. Now a student at West Kentucky University, Roccaforte reportedly traveled to the tournament independently - but he was seen wearing an orange 'attendee' ribbon, which according to tournament rules, means a school approved his presence on-site. Both a parent and a student told Cowboy State Daily that Roccaforte was with the East High team throughout the day on Thursday - traveling in a school district vehicle and even joining students and coaches for meals. 'He was kind of just hanging out with people,' one student said. 'There wasn't really anyone to coach at that point; we were just going there to (perform).' Later that night, at 9.45pm, East High head coach Marcus Viney sent an email to tournament attendees confirming that Roccaforte was a former student of the program but had traveled to the event 'independently… with the intent to celebrate an important team award.' On Friday afternoon, assistant coach Ashley Schulz sent a group message to students warning them not to speak with reporters: 'If anyone gets contacted by the news, we are not allowed to speak with them at all. The district will comment. NOT us.'
Perth Now
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Ashley Tisdale says Sharpay Evans is the 'most iconic' High School Musical character
Ashley Tisdale thinks her High School Musical character is the "most iconic" of them all. The 39-year-old actress played wannabe stage star Sharpay Evans in the hit Disney film series and claimed more than 15 years after the final instalment was released that her alter-ego has gone on to become the most memorable amongst fans. She told People: "When I played the character of Sharpay — I think it was probably what made her so funny — was that I truly thought [Sharpay] was the popular girl in school. I thought Sharpay was popular, and I played it like she was popular. "And [director] Kenny Ortega enhanced that. He really made me feel like I was popular. But what's so funny is that she's not the popular girl. She's the drama queen. And my husband's like, 'That's what's so funny about how you played it. You really thought you were popular." "Sharpay is — I swear she's mother to everybody — because it's like she just keeps coming back on these memes and people keep talking and doing the songs. "And I'm just like, I mean, out of everyone in High School Musical, my character is the most iconic. It's so cool." The High School Musical series initially followed Zac Efron as East High's star basketball player and how he broke free of the high school clique system as he and top student Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) sought out leading roles in a school play. Ashley also made her name starring in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody for Disney Channel, and recently reprised her role of Candace in a reboot of Phineas and Ferb, but ultimately "can't believe" that a string of failed auditions led her to a part in a franchise that became such a success. She added: "I mean, it's so cool … It's really awesome to be a part of these projects that have really been so prevalent in pop culture and to play these characters. "It's just, you're like, 'Dang, man.' I can't believe out of everything that I auditioned for [...] I got this animation [series] that has lasted this long. Or I was always trying to get a Disney movie, and never got the movie. And then, I got High School Musical. "Out of all the ones, I get that. This is pretty awesome."
Daily Record
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Disney's High School Musical cast and where they are now nearly two decades on from pop careers to babies
Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens' leading roles as Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez captured the hearts of millenials and continue to do so nearly 20 years later. It has been nearly two decades since one of the greatest Disney musicals ever screened. High School Musical first made its debut on screens back in 2006, with fans quickly swooning over Troy Bolton (Zac Efron). There wasn't many teenagers who didn't have a poster of the television hunk on their walls. It's no secret that High School Musical had millenials obsessed, sparking a whole movement which would hold its nostalgia nearly 20 years on. Between crying hearts out to Breaking Free, or busting a dance routine in your living room to Getcha head in the game (which your parents never really cared about), it was hard not to love. Meanwhile, its spin-off series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is wrapping its fourth and final season, it's only right we take a look back at what the original cast have been up to since. There was once hope a fourth film would be released, however rumours have since been quashed. Let's see what the likes of Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and the rest of the Wildcats have been up to since they left East High. Zac Efron (Troy Bolton) Vanessa Hudgens (Gabriella Montez) Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay Evans)
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Help Youngstown Schools choose new name and mascot
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The Youngstown City School District is preparing for a big change and it's turning to the community for help. Starting in the 2026-27 school year, East and Chaney high schools will merge, along with their middle schools. The district is now asking for the public's help with naming the new schools and choosing a mascot. An online survey is available on the district's website for families, students and community members to weigh in. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Work ethic on and off tennis court serves three Harvard-bound East Aurora students well
Jesus Fernandez might not have bragging rights when it comes to his win/loss record this year, but the East Aurora High School boys varsity tennis coach has yet to find anyone who can match this newsworthy statistic: Three members of his team are heading to Harvard University after graduation. To say he's excited would be a bit of an understatement, and in fact, when I spoke to Fernandez about the accomplishments of Kevin Martinez, Hector Montellano-Bahena and Paul Perez, the coach was as proud as any parent could be. That's because he's seen up close the work ethic and determination that not only propelled this trio to the top of the 2025 graduating class but also got them full academic rides to one of the most prestigious universities in the world. 'None of them are afraid to face a challenge,' Fernandez said, noting all three are students who come from humble backgrounds with far more love than money in the home but whose immigrant parents sacrificed so much so their children would have a chance at a better life. It's no surprise then that all three soon-to-be-grads point to their parents as the inspiration for their remarkable accomplishments. For Kevin, who is East High's valedictorian, it was seeing the 'blisters and bruises on the hands of my father,' whose long days of manual labor 'fueled my ambition.' For Hector, it was watching the tears on his mother's face after losing her father and brother within a few months but not being able to go back to Mexico to say good-bye that made him work harder. For Paul, the 2025 salutatorian, it was the 'backbreaking work' his father put in, day after day, as well as all those 'speed bumps in life my mother took.' 'Their parents were superheroes,' said Fernandez, noting that, from the moment the boys stepped onto his tennis courts – Paul as a sophomore, Hector and Kevin not until their junior years – 'they were determined' to be successful, working long hours to hone their skills while also showing respect and kindness for everyone else on the courts. Their energy, he added, 'was contagious to the whole team.' Kevin, the first to be accepted by Harvard, harbored the longest desire to attend the elite school. The youngest of five siblings, he remembers being about 10 when he first told his mother, who worked as a housekeeper, about his future college, although he knew little else about it except that it was considered the best of the best. Kevin, a Coca-Cola and Bill Gates Scholarship winner who was student representative on the East Aurora school board, admits to being stressed out at times as he worked 'to be the best version of myself,' maintaining two restaurant jobs, participating in numerous sports and extracurricular activities while also keeping up his 4.9 grade point average. As hard as it sometimes got, he told me, 'it can't be as bad' as what dad Jose and mom Rosa went through to make sure he was given so many opportunities. A big weight was taken off his shoulders, however, when Kevin, who wants to study economics, learned in December he had been accepted into Harvard's early admissions program. And he really 'flipped out' three months later upon hearing that Paul – and then Hector – also were greeted with congratulations when opening that portal displaying their much-anticipated Harvard response. 'We were accepted as change-makers,' insisted Kevin, who is convinced that all three are 'motivated by something bigger than ourselves,' representing not only their hard-working immigrant families but also East Aurora School District 131 and its too-often stigmatized minority population. 'The Hispanic community is suffering a lot,' agreed Hector, whose parents are Noemi and Celzo Montellano. Hector plans to study political science and become a business or immigration lawyer. Paul, on the other hand, is not sure of his major, only that he wants to 'create a better future' for himself and his parents, Tomas and Francesca, who taught him the value of hard work. 'I am not looking for approval from the outside,' said Paul, who admits he's the more reserved of the trio. 'I did this for my family.' While he and his Harvard-bound buddies do, indeed, give all the credit to their parents for such remarkable success so far in life, they found plenty of inspiration from their tennis coach, who was a lawyer before immigrating from Spain and now is the bilingual preschool teacher at Oak Park Elementary School. He is, they all agreed, the reason they came so far so quickly in a sport they had never before played, and why they developed such a love for tennis, which they hope to continue playing at the intramural level in college. 'I had a lot of coaches growing up' who only paid attention to the stars, said Paul, whose senior year on the courts was interrupted by a shoulder injury. 'But Coach looks after everybody, treats every player the same no matter what their ability.' Fernandez and all three sets of parents were in attendance on Monday when Kevin, Hector and Paul were honored at this week's District 131 school board meeting. While these top-level grads have earned too many awards to list in this column, I got the impression this evening was special because it was filled not only with recognition and pride but also tremendous gratitude. 'That was truly beautiful to me,' said Hector, referring to his father's presence in the audience, who he knew was dead-tired after putting in one of his usual 15-hour work days. 'He sacrificed so much to make sure we were OK.'
