Haley Kuehn: Original Musician

The art of music is complex, original, and beautiful. Artist, Haley Kuehn displays her creative side through her music.

"A lot of the inspiration comes from the feeling when your are writing music it’s a really cool that you’re creating something that nobody else has created before.", Kuehn said.

Ever since Kuehn was young she has loved to sing and make her own music. It gives her an outlet and a way to express herself.

Outside of school choir Kuehn is a worship leader at Life church where she gets to share her love for God through music.

Haley Kuehn's Choir picture.

For musicians there are some days when its difficult to sing. When Kuehn gets sick she has to be extra strict because she doesn't want to take a chance and mess up her vocal chords.

The artistic side of music is when you are the one creating it and portraying it so that you can perform it in a way thats artistic but also doing something that nobody else has ever done before.

"My hopes are that I can get a job singing and my fears are that if I don’t protect my voice that I wont be able to sing anymore.", Kuehn said.

In the near future Haley Kuehn hopes that one 

day she will be able to fulfill her dreams of becoming a full time worship leader and also continuing to write and play music in her free time.

Singing like there's no tomorrow

When being raised in a musically-filled household, it's not too uncommon to see a person become involved in a variety of music-related ideas. Jack Williamson knows this better than most.

Jack (above, far left) along with fellow choir members.

Williamson, a senior at Olathe Northwest, has been singing since the day he could talk. He more than
likely owes this to his mom.

"My mom has been singing for most of her life," Williamson said. "I just decided to take after her I guess."

Jack's mother, Pam.

Williamson's mom, Pam, is the director of the choir at Olathe Northwest and is a Grammy-winning artist with the KC Chorale choir. Nonetheless, Williamson has learned more from his mom than he could imagine.

"As I've grown up, I can definitely say that music has made a positive influence on the relationship between me and my mom," he said."I've learned so much from her and music has created a strong bond between us."

Although he is graduating, Williamson believes he will continue to pursue music as he faces the next step in life.

"I will be attending KU next year," he said. "And there, I will do Rock Chalk Revue, a philanthropy for fraternities and sororities where we put on a huge musical."

Majoring in engineering, Williamson will also rush and join Pi Kappa Phi at KU, where he'll hope music can still be a large part of his life.

For more information about the Olathe Northwest choir program, you can click here.

Olathe Northwest Da Capo choir (above) performing at a holiday concert in Kansas City.

Quinn Self: Art Through Movement

Being a male dancer isn't always easy, Quinn Self a talented dancer at the dance studio Above the Barre and the newest male dance on the Raven Dance Team enjoys dancing because it is a way for him to express himself.

"Dance is a type of art because we are creating a picture through our movement.", Self said

Self has been dancing for six years he got interested in dance when he attended a dance class with one of his friends and has had a passion for it ever since. He has put many long hours into dance to get him where he is today.

Self's favorite style of dance is jazz but he typically does contemporary. The difference between jazz and contemporary is that jazz is hard hitting with accents and contemporary is smooth and slow.

"My hopes for dance are to become successful and get a career out of dance and my fears about dance are after high school for it to just fade out of my life and not be a constant thing.", Self said

Dancing doesn't just come naturally, for many people getting motivation from videos on youtube or famous dancers really helps get a good dance started. Self gets his inspiration from youtube and the Tv show So You Think You Can Dance.

Self's dedication for dance takes a lot of time and perseverance. Being in the studio all the time has made Self unable to do things that normal people do but he is okay with that because his one passion is to dance.

With big hopes and dreams Self plans to attend P.A.C.E. University and later have a career of dancing.

Playing a different note

Playing an instrument to many seems to be a simple task. However, this talent is much more complex than believed to be. The cognitive neuroscience behind producing music is only part of the elaborate system that is the human brain. Joe Henshaw, a junior at Olathe Northwest, is able to utilize this skill in order to produce the art of music.

Joe and his father, Steve.

"Music has always been a large part of my life," Henshaw said. "And I owe that to my dad."

Henshaw became inspired to play music by his father, Steve Henshaw, who played trombone for seven years during his musical career. Because of that, Henshaw decided he wanted to fill his dad's shoes and take part in music as well.

"Fifth grade was when I able to first join band," he said. "There, I discovered I was passionate for music like my dad and also where I first began playing the tuba."

Fast-forward to today where Henshaw is a tuba player for the Olathe Northwest Raven Marching Band. He is also enrolled in Symphonic Band, where Henshaw practices the marching music along with fellow band members.

ONW Marching Band (above) performing at Olathe District Marching Band Festival last year.

However, being involved in two separate band groups can take its toll on a high school student.

"I easily spend over 200 hours outside of school for marching band," Henshaw said. "Along with that, there's the class time that I spend in Symphonic Band too."

Those 200 hours span the entire marching season, including practices, festivals, and other performances throughout the year. Be that as it may, the music is what matters most to Henshaw.

"Playing music is one of those things that you just love," he said."It's fun and being able to do what many cannot is incredibly special."

Henshaw, after graduating in 2016, plans on attending Avila University for two years to attain a liberal arts degree, afterwards attending the University of Kansas to earn a degree in mechanical engineering.

Capturing Beautiful Moments

Photography is way to view the world from a new perspective. Junior, Jack Hatzfeld uses photography to capture the simplicity of nature and to remember the places where he went on his exciting adventures.

 "Starting photography inspired me to view the world, like the everyday world in a different perspective because when I look at the same thing everyday...I see totally different because I view it as a picture instead of just a place or a thing. I can find the beauty in pretty much everything because I’m looking for it." said Hatzfeld

 Hatzfeld started to have a passion for photography when he realized that remembering big moments in his life were important to him. Photography is more than just taking a picture to Hatzfeld being be a great photographer means you need to know the technical side to capture the perfect picture.

 "You really have to take classes on the different aspects and the technical side of the camera because that stuff can get really complex with different settings and all that how you get the certain lighting and shadows." describes Hatzfeld.

 The nature he sees and the places Hatzfeld travels, really leaves a lasting impression on him. Capturing those moments and sharing them for everyone to see. Jack Hatzfeld's blog has outstanding pictures of the nature he sees and different places he has been.



 There is more to visual arts than just painting or drawing and for Hatzfeld digital arts are more is style and he plans to pursue a career in mass communications and media through advertising while incorporating his photography skills for more visually exciting effects.

The Creativity in Josh Kukowski

Creativity can be something difficult to explain. Not everyone has this artistic gene and finding a mindset like this one in particular is rare. Josh Kukowski, a senior in AP studio art, uses his abilities to express himself.

“I’m known to be very quiet and introverted but art lets me express myself through creative visuals,” said Kukowski.

Not only does Josh create visuals for personal satisfactions; he also uses his gift to receive scholarship money. He just recently received a visual expression scholarship from the Olathe school district, and plans to put this money fourth to his chosen four-year school.

“I really didn't think that my painting was that good when I sent it in for review, but I guess it turned out better than I thought,” he said.

Josh takes an interest in landscape paintings, but uses different techniques on creating this style of acrylic paint, in order to recreate a scene of his old home.

In Kukowski’s latest painting, he uses acrylic paint to recreate a scene of his old home.

“I chose to do a stream because it reminds me of where I used to live in Minnesota,” he said in his learning statement. “I enjoyed using acrylics with this piece because it was easy to get some bright and vibrant blues and greens into my piece.”

Josh’s next upcoming art shows include:

·     1.  Elementary art in the Instructional Resource Center, 14090 Black Bob Road, May through September

·      2.  All grade levels in the Education Center, May 6 through early fall

The Right Brained Genius

There are some attributes and skills that separate some students from the rest. Some students use the left-brain thought process, while the unique others use the right-brain thought process.

Being a left-brain thinker means that you are good for logic, analysis, sequencing, mathematics, and computation. If you are a right-sided thinker then you are best for your creativity, imagination, visualization, and daydreaming.

John Hickman, an artist at Olathe Northwest, uses his right-brained abilities to create visual masterpieces.

"I visualize things when I am daydreaming and putting those visuals onto paper is a form of my self expression," Hickman said.

Hickman has been a part of the art community for a while now. Some of his pieces have been shown in local art shows, and he has been enrolled in art class's all four years of his high-school career. He is currently taking AP studio art, but mentions some of the weekly obstacles.

"Sometimes my creativity runs out when you have to produce an art piece a week," he said. "In my opinion, creativity can never be placed under a deadline."

Any of John's art pieces can be identified from a mile away. His creativity is unlike any other, and calling his mindset unique would be an understatement.

"I think I owe my creativity to my ability to consistently daydream. I don't excel as well in my core classes, so I hope my gift pays off in the end."