Friday morning, perhaps the most exciting news of the year thus far broke — that Dowagiac Union High School’s energetic and passionate student cheering section had won Michigan High School Athletic Association’s “Battle of the Fans IV” competition.

While a major accomplishment for any district, especially one the size of Dowagiac, the good news didn’t end there.

A few days later, Dowagiac’s best elementary and middle school spellers went head-to-head with students from Cassopolis, Edwardsburg and Marcellus during the 32nd annual Cass County Spelling Bee.

The students, like their older counterparts a few days earlier, enjoyed the sweet taste of success throughout the day, with the fourth-grade team taking home first place after missing only two words. A pair of Dowagiac students also took home the top prizes in solo competition, with Patrick Hamilton’s Abraham Guernsey taking first place in the fourth-grade competition (with the four other top spellers also hailing from Dowagiac), while sixth-grade student Martha Schaller tied for first place in the fifth-eighth grade level, lasting for a record-setting 65 rounds before the judges decided to call the bee a draw.

While on their own, these two accomplishments are more than worth bragging about, the fact they happened almost back-to-back is a sign of the tremendous momentum that the district seems to have gathered since fall. For months, the district has been bragging about its strong performance in statewide studies; it seems that the confidence that administrators have in their students is begging to rub off, translating into even greater success.

What’s also impressive is the way that the community has come together in recent weeks in a show of force around its students. In the weeks leading up to the voting for the Battle of the Fans, Facebook, the haven of selfies and internet memes, lit up with posts, photos and videos of residents showing their devotion to the orange and black. It appeared that half the town had changed their profile picture to display “#DowagiacUnited,” matching the t-shirts that many residents and business owners were sporting around town.

Congratulations to all our students who have represented this community so greatly the last few weeks, and to the hundreds of parents and citizens who have had their backs. Let’s hope this momentum carries over into the months that follow, so we can continue to show our neighbors what we already know: that the Chieftains rule!

 

Ted Yoakum is the community editor for the Dowagiac Daily News. He can be reached by email at ted.yoakum@leaderpub.com, or by phone at (269) 588-1040.