On Friday, April 4, the Visual Arts Classic (VAC) team participated at the state competition, which was held at Edgewood College. The team traveled to Madison the day prior and stayed at a hotel to await the big day, stirring up nervous yet excited feelings. 

The results of State were terrific as the whole team earned a third place trophy in Critical Thinking and all the members who competed received medals. The following list is what each member achieved as well as their category:

• Ava Lansing in Drawing – Long-Term: Gold; Onsite: Gold
• EvaLee Cole in Drawing – Long-Term: Gold; Onsite: Gold
• Lila McGuire in Painting – Long-Term: Gold; Onsite: Gold
• Paige Lemke in Painting – Long-Term: Silver; Onsite: Silver
• Amelia Scheunemann in Printmaking – Long-Term: Silver; Onside: Gold
• Angelina Wachowiak in Ceramics – Long-Term: Gold; Onsite: Silver
• Ayriani-Yvonne Hoerter in Ceramics – Long-Term: Gold; Onsite: Silver
• Lily Passwaters in Design – Long-Term: Silver; Onsite: Gold
• Hannah Rekowski in Design – Long-Term: Gold; Onsite: Gold
• Kasey Werachowski in Mixed Media – Long-Term: Gold; Onsite: Bronze
• Ava Krebsbach in Mixed Media – Long-Term: Gold; Onsite: Silver
• Shelby Peterson in Digital Art – Long-Term: Silver; Onsite: Silver

“I am absolutely happy about the outcome,” said Ms. Kaycie, the Amherst VAC coach. “This is the farthest we’ve gotten in a long time, and our team worked really hard at studying and we did good at quiz bowl. It was just a really good time all around.”

The team and Ms. Kaycie celebrated with an ice cream party after the event.

As a coach, Ms. Kaycie always strives to see the best end-product every year, even if we don’t make it to state. She is always proud of the team for their hard work and effort.

This year, Ms. Kaycie ran the regional competition at UWSP, so she was constantly making sure everything was in order. She has put in a lot of work into VAC this year and deserves our biggest thanks. As she looks to the future, there might be a few changes in coming years, such as bringing fewer managers.

“But I like the coordination we’ve been doing lately, including studying and using SportsYou for communication,” she added. 

For the team members and managers, their experience at state was overwhelmingly positive. Senior Julez Peterson marveled at the outcome of state and reminisced about the experience.

“I’m happy with the outcome, and I’m most proud about us just being a great team together,” Julez said. “It’s chill when you’re an underclassmen. Ms. Kaycie did her best in running it. My favorite part was definitely yelling at people to check their boxes.” Julez also said she would definitely recommend participating in VAC to underclassmen interested in art.

But her favorite part of going to state VAC wasn’t actually about the competition.

“Going to State Street. My favorite shop was Art Deco. It’s a very cool shop,” Julez said.

Meanwhile, the two Amherst High School foreign exchange students – Cornelia Larsson and Anja Zimmerbauer – decided to participate in VAC this year, too. Unlike other members, these two girls could only experience VAC for one year. Did they enjoy their time in the club and would they compete again if they had another year?

 “Yeah, I enjoyed it,” Cornelia said. “My favorite thing was probably walking around and looking at stuff in Madison. I would definitely compete again.”

Anja’s answer was similar.

“I liked VAC. My favorite part was Madison too. I think I would compete next time,” Anja added.

VAC is a club that everyone can join, compete, and work together. What was accomplished this year was astronomical and will be recognized for future years.

Lastly, a major shout-out to the alternates and managers who made State run smoothly for the Amherst VAC team, including Julez, Cornelia, Anja, and sophomore Ila Culver.