PHOTOS by Mark Andreasen / Click to enlarge and view at your own pace

By Paula Pyzik Scott

On Saturday, May 3, sophomore, juniors and seniors from Ada High School vied for individual and class honors in the 118th Interclass Competition. While I am a relative newcomer to the event, I think I can safely say this isn’t your grandparents’ Interclass. Thematic and technological updates helped make the evening an entertaining look--both sweet and spicy--into the minds of Ada students.

Students created original works of short fiction and poetry, presented analysis on social issues and performed dramatic readings. I could hear audience members comment on what they liked and could hear reactions in their laughter and applause. 

I did not envy the judges, who had the difficult task of rating the merits of one entry over another. If you compared Interclass to a cooking competition, it would be like deciding if the best made apple pie surpassed the best made jalapeno poppers. That could certainly be said of the short story competition in which two entries imagined the inner workings of serial killers, while the third depicted the experiences of a child before and after being fitted with hearing aids.

Guiding the audience through the evening were masters of ceremonies Ethan D’Souza and Adam Wall Conner. They introduced individual competitors and added a lively commentary on the prizes to be awarded. Following the fiction and poetry readings, the audience was warned, “If you thought it was emotional before, logic and drama are coming for you.”

In the Essay competition students spoke in a conversational style about the topics of gender inequality in the workplace, lowering the cost of college and the electoral college. They used slide presentations to provide talking points and research notes.

Dramatic readings were the comic stand up routine  Stupid in School, a monologue from the film Good Will Hunting and a spoken word version of the rap recording Rex-Brutus II by The Buttress.

The evening was punctuated by two generous intermissions when audience members could stretch their legs, enjoy refreshments, view art by Ada High School students in the lobby and listen to electric guitar music by Cooper Dappert.

Videos were shown including a striking “Staff Celebrity Look a Likes” which found resemblances to celebrities including Vin Diesel, Jack Black, Katie Holmes and Meryl Streep. Student films were shown: a trailer by Victoria Rausch and Ava Martin, a trailer by Ethan D’Souza, Adam Wall Connor and Luke Archer and a stop motion film by Isabella Klingler.

Competition categories and awards
Cash prizes of 1st place, $100, 2nd place, $50; 3rd place, $25 were provided by the Ada Lions Club for this year and the next five years.

Class of 2025 - Overall Competition Winner (3rd year in a row)

SHORT STORIES

1st place - Nothing to Everything by Lexi Poling, Senior
2nd place - Her Name is Sarah by Callie Burgess, Sophomore
3rd place - The River Next Door by Madison Rowland, Junior

POETRY

1st place - Winter in Ohio by Isabella Klingler, Senior
2nd place - How Many Times by Kaylie Klear, Junior
3rd place - He’s Never Left by Brooklyn Andreasen, Sophomore 

ESSAY

1st place -  It May Be a college, But It’s Not the Brightest by Emma Lambdin - Atticus Finch award
2nd place - Struggling in Silence: Gender Inequality in the Workplace by Alainie Pratt, Senior
3rd place - Don’t Lower Your Hopes, Lower the Cost by Jacob Rush, Sophomore

DRAMATIC READING

1st place - Good Will Hunting by Justin Bowden - Bard Trophy
2nd place - Rex-Brutus II by Victoria Rausch
3rd place - Stupid in School by Kiera Cash

IN-PERSON JUDGES

• Austin Amburgey AHS alum and creative writer
• Connie Fleming, retired teacher and Rhodes State College professor
• Aaron Morford, information security manager and writer

WRITING JUDGES

• Carol Lukich, English teacher and Columbus State College professor
• Melanie Veltrie, retired AHS English teacher and Owens Community College professor
• David Utrup, Adjunct professor of English at Fiffin University