It is often thought that the winter months at the start of the year offer little more than endless days off school, due to snow days, finals makeups, and the never-ending excitement of the Keystone Standardized Tests that every high school student must pass in order to graduate. In the words of sophomore Rowan Walters, “Nothing happens in January.”

Contrary to the rather blunt sentiment, the winter offers an exciting time for Liberty sports, including basketball, wrestling and track. The girls basketball team has had a particularly successful season so far, becoming champions of the 2021 Salisbury Girls Basketball Holiday Classic Tournament. Junior Layla Orth earned a spot on the all-tournament team and sophomore Ruby Miller was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Both basketball teams look forward to the rest of their 2022 seasons.

Elsewhere, Liberty’s chapter of the National Honors Society (NHS) hosted its winter blood drive Jan. 27. Faculty advisers Christian Conrad and Andrew Uhler urged students, especially NHS members, to donate, given the dangerously low supply of blood in the area.

The blood drive is just the most recent example of Liberty students’ altruism. MiniTHON has had an endless supply of fundraisers, ranging from Texas Roadhouse gift cards to Krispy Kreme Donuts.

The money generated from the individual, smaller drives adds up to the total that is revealed at the main event April 2. Co-captain and Class of 2023 President Jessica Esch would like people to “stay tuned” for the upcoming fundraisers and to thank them for raising almost $2,000 so far.

The newly created Cooking Club is also looking to start fundraising in an effort to expand the club. There can only be at most 20 members currently, but more funding would allow for more supplies to be bought.

The members of the club are looking to run a chocolate-covered strawberry sale for Valentine’s Day and possibly another to-be-announced fundraiser for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (which runs from Feb. 21 to 27).

Fresh off the heels of its production of “Pride and Prejudice,” theater is beginning rehearsals for the spring musical, “The Sound of Music.” According to Ailiegh Mulligan, a junior set to play the role of Sister Margaretta, “The cast is definitely putting their all into this show. From each harmony and dance, it will be a beautiful production for every audience member.”

Music is in the air, even months out from performances. The Grenadier Band has been hard at work putting together tunes for the annual spring concert.

In the meantime, band members have enjoyed playing in small groups as a pep band for the varsity basketball games. They hope to play at least one more boys game and one more girls game before the season ends.

As excruciatingly cold and dreadful as the winter season can be for some people, Liberty shows no signs of slowing down for anyone. From the musical to all the sports in winter training, the students can’t wait to show off their hard work come spring.