VESTAVIA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL NEWS

Photo Credit: Chipotle The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools. Some people cope with caffeine. Others with retail therapy, late-night journaling, or aggressively sobbing into a weighted blanket. Me? I cope with Chipotle. It sounds stupid. I know what you're thinking: is that a cry for help? And the answer is yes: I may need a little hel

Photo Credits: Pinterest This Wednesday, September 30th, girls came down to the football field wearing their grade colors: freshmen were yellow, sophomores were purple, juniors were teal, and seniors were hot pink. All the girls came together and cheered and took many pictures as their classmates participated in a traditional Powderpuff game against other grade levels. Powderpuff has been a tradition at Vestavia Hills High School for a very long time, but it has actually

Photo Credits: Band Photography Committee “Drum majors, is your band ready?” Silence. If you’ve ever performed or witnessed a performance—orchestral concert, play, dance recital, you name it—you know the intensity in that moment before art is set in motion. The moment the curtain is drawn, and the room holds its breath in anticipation. On Saturday, nearly 200 members of our Rebel Marching Band took the field in competition at the Trussville Marching Invitational, the first

Photo Credit: Vestavia News Network's Instagram, Libby Soong and Grace Ann Swift, two of your Miss Vestavia Nominees! Each year, Vestavia Hills High School seniors have the opportunity to vote for Mr. and Miss Vestavia. Students vote for classmates they believe should be recognized for their accomplishments and the impact they have made throughout the school year and their overall high school experience. The process begins with nominations from our teachers and faculty. The

Photo Credit: VHHS's Instagram VHHS’s annual Fall Charity Kickoff took place on September 15th, and we are partnering with The Prescott House! To start the kickoff, a few members of the SGA team were able to introduce and present this year's fundraiser. The SGA also announced this year’s homecoming king nominations for each grade and the band. The homecoming kings were introduced and participated in an exciting game where they were judges for our very own Dancing with the St

Photo Credit: Kitty Watts Welcome to Pillar’s “Senior Report” series! Throughout this year, I, Grace, will do my best to document our grade’s favorite memories, discuss big transitions of this year, and give advice that we would’ve liked to hear. For this first report, we’re recapping how we kicked off this bittersweet chapter and our early thoughts on what’s next? This first quarter was packed with senior activities. Before the first day, we had Senior Sunrise and car pain

Photo Credit: Wikipedia, the Thomas Gallaudet Memorial In the year of 1814, a man journeyed to Hartford, Connecticut to visit his family. He, like any other person, believed this trip was just routine and would be no different from the last time he visited. Little did this man know that this trip would inspire him to establish deaf education in the United States, and it would all begin because of an encounter with one young and extremely bright deaf girl. While visiting, Th

Photo credit: Lisby G (Pexels.com) The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools. Have you ever felt overwhelmed with schoolwork with no idea how to study? I mean, seriously, have you ever been told how to study? It's not just some natural instinct, right? Shouldn’t we be taught this in school? If you relate to the first four sentences, then

Photo Credit: Magnific As the two football teams line up facing one another, waiting for the snap, each player could be thinking any number of things. They could feel nervous or confident. Unenthused or excited. Unprepared, or ready. On Friday, October 2nd, the Vestavia Hills Rebels will play against the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats in Tuscaloosa. The team is coached by the one and only Robert Evans, who has been the head coach for over 4 years. According to Alabama High Scho

Photo Credits: iStock The faculty highlight for this issue is none other than Mr. Mundt… a 10th grade Algebra two teacher. In the years that Mr. Mundt has been at Vestavia, he has impacted so many young lives through a math class. And most importantly, he is a friend for quite literally anyone from the moment they walk into his A241 classroom. I had the privilege of being taught by Mr. Mundt last year, and it was unlike any math class I have ever had. Math as a high school

Photo Credits: Lane Peterson, the cast of the Tales of Trickery Vestavia’s Theater program performs a variety of shows all year round. Most recently, they performed their Senior Directed Plays. Senior Directed Plays are a set of performances that are completed led and directed by the Seniors in the Vestavia Hills Theatre Department. For this article, I asked Madelyn Garrick, a junior in the theatre department, to tell me a little bit more about the process and the behind the

Photo Credits: Vestavia Hills City Schools Every year, over 1.3 million high school juniors compete for the National Merit Scholarship, with only 16,000 students nationwide qualifying as semifinalists. Of those 16,000 students, 234 qualified in Alabama, including 15 from Vestavia Hills High School. So how do you become a semifinalist in the first place? Well, it’s not easy. Students have to take the PSAT/NMSQT, a shorter, slightly easier version of the SAT. Although studen

Photo Credits: Ollie Wilson What makes a class something you want to be a part of? Is it a lack of homework? A nice teacher? Easy work? For me and many other students, the answer is community. French is one of the five languages that are traditionally offered at Vestavia Hills High School, and in my opinion, it’s the best. Field trips to food days--it’s got it all. Students are offered six levels to take: French one through five, and AP. Many students that are in French, in

Photo Credits: Abigail Wang, Vestavia Hills High School On September 19th, Vestavia’s Speech and Debate team hosted their annual Novice Tournament. The tournament was a huge success with competitors from all over Alabama travelling to compete! The Novice Tournament is especially tailored for first year competitors, which gives them the opportunity to learn how a tournament works, and also compete against students with a similar experience level. The Speech and Debate coach

Photo Credits: carlyraemusic.com The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools. From high-energy stadium hip hop to experimental electronic soundscapes and the mastery of signature genres, 2026 has been a significant year for the evolution of music. Top-tier artists of various genres continue to push their stylistic boundaries with both commer

Courtesy of VHHS Rebel Marching Band Instagram The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools . Every year, in the nation's capital of Washington, D.C., a festival is held to celebrate the blooming of the city's cherry blossom trees and the coming of spring. However, the festival is not just a commemoration of joy and growth; rather, it has d

Courtesy of Vestavia Hills High School Student Government Association Instagram The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools. You’ve definitely seen posters in the lunchroom or heard announcements telling you to vote for SGA officers. Hopefully you did your civic duty and actually voted. Maybe you were among those taping up posters, campaign

Courtesy of Mateo Giraud on Unsplash Summer is on the horizon and we’re almost free from school, but you may be wondering to yourself how you’re going to spend your relaxation time. Lucky for you, Birmingham offers a variety of things to do once we get through exams. Maybe your feet are itching to touch some grass! Fun fact, Alabama has the greatest biodiversity in the nation. You experience the wonders of nature’s beauty and visit one of our many naturally abundant parks,

Your Division 7A Section 3 Champions! All Photo Credits: Jason Ding Two pa-pa’s from the ball bouncing against the court. A tennis player donning their Vestavia uniform, feet positioned behind the base line, preparing for a serve. Strategies flit through their head. It’s deuce; the game could go either way. Complete silence from the row of teammates lined up at the fence; all eyes watch in anticipation. Once the ball is in action, everyone watches nervously, eyes wide fro

Courtesy of VHHS RISE Instagram RISE (Rebels Impact Through Service and Engagement) is a semester-long, student-led fundraiser through Youth Leadership that raises over $200,000 each year for the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Program at the O’Neal Cancer Center at UAB. For 8 years, RISE has supported the least funded age group of cancer patients and is the sole supporter of this program at UAB. This year, students raised $217,332, an increase from last year, and partic