Shining stars of SJO, senior spotlights with Samantha Gonzales, Jenna Schaefer & Erin Bridgewater

Samantha Gonzales

Clubs & Activities

Marching Band (4 years)

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Siblings:
Older sister

Hobbies:
Flute and being around animals

Favorite SJO memories:
A memory that she will never forget is when the SJO Marching Band finishing in 3rd place at the University of Illinois Marching Band Competition. In fact, her best high school memories all revolve around band.

Favorite classes:
Band and Chemistry

Favorite teachers:
Mr. Dassow and Mrs. Mabry at St. Joseph Middle School and Mr. Kevin Simondsen and Mrs. Heather Lindenmeyer at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

College:
Eastern Illinois University, double major in Music Performance and Criminology

Advice to future SJO students:
Participate in extracurricular events and to get your schoolwork done.

Jenna Schaefer

Clubs & Activities

Band (4 years)
Drama Club, Scholastic Bowl, Rube Goldberg Team, NHS, Spanish Club, We The People

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Siblings:
Younger sister

Hobbies:
Hiking, traveling, watching TV, and hanging out with family and friends.

Favorite SJO memories:
She has enjoyed everything about the SJO Marching Band. During her junior year, she enjoyed being a part of the musical and post-prom as well.

Favorite classes:
Spanish, Economics, Intro to Social Studies, PE, Algebra II, and Geography

Favorite teachers:
Mrs. Kirk at St. Joseph Grade School; Mrs. Jeffers at St. Joseph Middle School; and Mr. Marshall Schacht, Mr. Jeff Kieffer, Senor Zak Sutton, Senora Nelson, and Mr. Kevin Simondsen at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

College:
University of Illinois, majoring in Environmental Economics and Policy.

Advice to future SJO students:
Get involved, be a part of all of the offered activities, and be nice to all of your teachers.

Erin Bridgewater

Clubs & Activities

Band (4 years)
We The People, Drama Club, Art Club

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Hobbies:
Video games and learning Japanese

Favorite SJO memories:
Most center around her experience in the SJO Marching Band. During her senior year, the SJO Marching Band earned a 3rd place finish or higher in each of their six marching band competitions. This was a great achievement that she was a huge part of.

Favorite classes:
Band all four years of high school, Horticulture with Mrs. Duitsman, and all of her science classes.

Favorite teachers:
Mrs. Fitzsimmons at St. Joseph Grade School, Mrs. Jeffers at St. Joseph Middle School, and she has enjoyed classes with all of her teachers at SJO.

College:
Eastern Illinois University, majoring in Computer Information Technology.

Advice to future SJO students:
Take your classes seriously and to do all of your homework.

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Text & photos provided by St. Joseph-Ogden High School.