Someone saying “they make it look effortless” is just about the highest praise you can get in sports. Seeing an athlete make their sport look so effortless begs the question, “Could I do what they’re doing?”

Imagine you spent almost your entire life doing something–something that decides what you do after school, when you take a vacation, who are going to be your friends are, and in many ways, this thing could become your entire life. Imagine that one day it just ends. For many seniors, this is the reality. 

Many athletes you talk to have had some form of injury or had something happen that caused them to halt participating in their sport. We can sometimes see how it affects them physically, whether it’s a cast, a brace, KT tape, etc. But how does it impact them deeper than what we can just see?

For many high school athletes, the dream of playing in college comes with both excitement and uncertainty. The jump in competition, workload, and personal responsibility can feel overwhelming. To get a closer look and a personal opinion on the transition, I talked to Jenks Alum Chase Martin, who experienced the transition firsthand when he stepped onto a college basketball court for the first time.

Jenks Athletics holds over 200 state titles in various athletic competitions. The skills necessary to compete at the highest level are a product of the grit and determination of Jenks athletes, and supporting these successful athletes are a wide variety of athletic shoes. Let's explore some of the soles of these successful Jenks athletes.

Most fans only see the victories on the field, but behind every healthy Jenks athlete are two women working tirelessly in the shadows. From early-morning treatments to late-night injury checks, athletic trainers Katie Munger and Jill Richardson keep the Jenks Trojans running—quietly, expertly, and without fanfare. This week, I got the chance to step behind the scenes and shadow them, seeing firsthand the nonstop hustle, care, and precision that make them the heartbeat of Jenks athletics.

In every hallway, there’s more than a teacher; they guide, believe, and are compassionate towards their students, even in the ones who learn differently. At Jenks, from mild interventions to intensive one-on-one care, the three levels of special education work together to ensure every life is well-suited for success. Behind those classrooms stand teachers who have patience and dedication that form the school.

Last year, many of the teachers in our theatre department resigned, and multiple great new teachers stepped up and joined our department. Allison Dodge moved from Owasso to Jenks to become Jenks High School’s new stage makeup teacher and has become loved and intertwined in our department. Since the beginning of this school year, she’s done stage management, directed The Crucible play, stagecraft, and stage makeup for our department.

The classroom is mostly quiet as you take a seat at one of the tables in the debate room, turned into  a pavilion of prose. The air crackles with unspoken words and unsnapped fingers. Words that could invoke feelings that other spoken or written words could not. This is Jenks High School Poets Society.