{"id":8681,"date":"2026-02-20T15:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/?p=8681"},"modified":"2026-02-20T15:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:07:11","slug":"students-steal-the-stage-at-the-2025-annual-talent-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/students-steal-the-stage-at-the-2025-annual-talent-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Students steal the stage at the 2025 annual talent show"},"content":{"rendered":"

The talent show is an annual tradition which beats the boredom that comes with the last day before winter break. Numerous acts took the stage on Tuesday before break to showcase their talents, ranging from singing to instrument playing\u2014 or both.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The winners were as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First Place <\/b>\u2013 Alice Ravert, Savanna Farley, Grace Barkausus, Christian Berwanger, who sang “White Christmas”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Second Place <\/b>\u2013 Lea Beishline and Ethan Thomas, who sang “Anyone Else but You”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Seniors Lea Beishline and Ethan Thomas sang a duet to the song “Anyone Else but You” from the movie “Juno”. The couple won second place in the talent show for their performance. Photo by Ryleigh McConnaughhay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Third Place <\/b>\u2013 Alex Martinyuk who played cello<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Fan Favorite <\/b>\u2013 Boston Hazen, who played piano<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Auditions were held from Dec. 2 to Dec. 8.\u00a0 Sophomore Christian Berwanger spoke about why his group auditioned and his experience on stage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to audition because the four of us together would bring a different aspect to the show and bond us together,\u201d said Berwanger.<\/span><\/p>\n

The singers presented a cover of \u201cWhite Christmas\u201d by The Drifters, sung in the famous movie “Home Alone”.\u00a0 \u201cI felt very excited. I had never sung so low before, and I enjoyed seeing people\u2019s shocked faces,\u201d said <\/span>Berwanger about what it was like to be on stage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Senior Noah Rakestraw points into the crowd as he sings \u201cLove\u201d. His singing partner, Kingston Fisher, was not present on the day of the talent show. Photo by Ryleigh McConnaughhay.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other acts included Senior Noah Rakestraw, who swept the stage when he sang \u201cLove\u201d by Keyisha Cole.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEver since I was the ripe age of seven, I knew I had the vocal power to shock the world,\u201d said Rakestraw.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rakestraw said he learned to \u201covercome [his] fears,\u201d from auditioning and performing at the show.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two acts featured recurring performers. Sophomore Estella Smelko made a return this year with an original parody of \u201cWhen Will My Life Begin\u201c from “Tangled”. The parody is titled \u201cWhen Will Break Begin\u201d, in which Smelko longs to be rid of schoolwork and annoying classmates.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sophomore Estella Smelko sings on stage during the show. All songs chosen for her performances in the past two years were self-written. Photo by Ryleigh McConnaughhay.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy experience this year was a lot different. There were less people, and I felt like I was more prepared this year,\u201d said Smelko when asked about how her experience has differed from last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0 Junior Alex Martyniuk played the cello, changing things up from last year where he played the banjo and sang.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI decided this year to do something more classical instead of folk,\u201d said Martyniuk. \u201cIt would be better this year and fit the atmosphere of the town more.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Martyniuk said he enjoys playing all of his instruments, but that cello is his \u201cmain instrument\u201d and the one he \u201cprioritizes\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Junior Alex Matyniuk runs his cello bow over the strings while performing. Last year, he won Fan Favorite. Photo by Ryleigh McConnaughhay.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Auditions for next year will open in December, and students interested in participating will be welcomed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smelko tells students to consider auditioning next year to\u00a0 \u201cGo for it!\u201d she said. \u201cIf you make a fool of yourself, we\u2019re all there for a good time so it doesn\u2019t matter.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Featured photo (At top): Seniors Alice Ravert, Savanna Farley, and Grace Barkausus, and Sophomore Christian Berwanger perform a choir cover of “White Christmas”. The quartet received a $10 Starbucks gift card for winning first place. Photo by Ryleigh McConnaughhay.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The talent show is an annual tradition which beats the boredom that comes with the last day before winter break. Numerous acts took the stage…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":8682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montoursville.k12.pa.us\/thearrowhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}