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Photo Credits: Anjali Anantharam Poetry is literature in performance. It allows the reader, performer, and listener to dive into human connection and explore past experiences. By writing poetry, we are able to connect with our inner selves and express that to others. Poetry has always been present in human identity. The Poetry Out Loud Competition allows students a chance to explore past poets and themselves, sharing their discoveries with others. Our school sponsors Ms. Rob

By Sophia Chen and Astha Mehta Photo Credit: 1rebelrobotics (VHHS Robotics Team's Instagram) Between bags of SkinnyPop and Chipotle runs, Vestavia's robotics team 99040B Blackout had plenty of ways to keep themselves fueled throughout the Smoky Mountain Forge Signature Event. On October 9th-10th, the team travelled to Tennessee to compete against teams across North America. Blackout placed first in preliminary matches, advanced to the finals of the tournament, and also earne

Photo Credit: Ally Bryant The annual Fall Choir Concert is always a spectacle of the autumn season. On this distinct night in October, all seven choirs join together to produce a medley of harmonious music. This year’s concert was just as incredible as the last, for it contained several standout pieces and unforgettable moments. Here is an overview of the concert from start to finish, detailing each choir’s performance and everything special in between. The concert began w

Photo Credits: Aim Academy Online Last year, the class of 2028’s APUSH students had an abrupt change of teachers (who typically teach a two-year-long course). Although the students miss their sophomore teacher, the teacher switch-up has also encouraged students to get closer to their new teacher, who has definitely done a fantastic job with the move-in. Mrs. Lewis has already made great connections with students in the first quarter, as Audrey Kim explains that, “It’s super

Photo Credit: Wikipedia AP Photography is an advanced art elective taught by Dr. Fisk. This class is usually offered to juniors and seniors who have completed other photography courses throughout their time at the main campus. This elective allows students to express themselves through photography. Throughout this course, students learn different camera techniques, lighting, photo composition, and Adobe Photoshop, as well as other photo-editing skills. For students who enjoy

Photo Credits: Jason Ding On Saturday, October 24th, the VHHS Robotics Team competed at their first local tournament at Spain Park! From 7:30 AM open doors to the awards past 5 PM, our five teams had a long, full day of competition to show off the hard work they’ve put in so far. Photo Credits: Jason Ding Though the tournament was local, many competitive teams arrived on scene, creating great matches to both compete in and spectate. Moreover, this tournament being early on

Photo Credit: Mr. Davenport What do a business idea, a team of students and a panel of judges have in common? They're all part of the entrepreneurship experience at Vestavia Hills High School! The class gives students the opportunity to explore the process of starting and developing a business. Through hands-on projects, collaboration and real-world business concepts, students experience what it takes to develop an idea and bring it to market. Taught by Mr. Davenport, the c

Photo Credits: BBC Imagine you actually set out on a goal that was so out there, so distant, so expansive. Well, Karl Bushby did. The goal? To walk around the world. The Manifest It's not so often that we hear a common child’s dream genuinely pursued. That's what makes this story so important to be heard. It all started when Bushby was a school student with severe dyslexia. He claims “I used to dream about great big journeys on foot. I started drawing lines on maps, and the

Photo Credits: c - Album Cover by Lucy Bedroque 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. ISOxo’s sophomore album Hardcore Diva was released just a day before the annual Niteharts Festival in California. Hardcore Diva primarily serves as a hybrid trap EDM album with rage elements most similar to ISOxo’s first album kidsgonemad! Personall

Photo Credits: @nobelprize on Instagram CHEM Club, sponsored by A.P. Chemistry teacher Mrs. Sutherland, recently discussed the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the last club meeting. The prize was awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis." Simply speaking, these laureates discovered a way to spontaneously produce homochiral molecules with a specific “handedness.” Molecules called isome

Photo Credits: Pixel What superpower would you want? It's a question that's been asked during millions of icebreakers. Answers vary, from flying to reading minds to time travel. But have you ever wondered what your teachers thought about having superpowers? Especially about superpowers that could help them teach? Faculty at VHHS were asked the question, "If you could have any superpower to help your teaching, what would it be?" Here are their answers: With the end of the fi

Photo Credits: Yeshani Joseph on Medium 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. Introduction: Hey Everyone! Today I will be doing an analysis of The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. Something that makes this book excellent for reading is that it has 20 points contained in 20 chapters. I will be giving a brief summary of some chapte

Photo Credits: Kelly Chen As homecoming season at Vestavia Hills High School comes to a close, the SGA has been working hard to fundraise for this year’s fall charity, the Prescott House. One of the most highly anticipated events of the year, this year’s Student vs. Faculty Basketball Game certainly did not disappoint, uniting students of multiple grades as they let their Rebel spirit shine through against their common enemy, the faculty basketball team. The faculty team s

Photo Credits: Grace Ding Happy Toga Day! On October 8th, right before Fall Break, the senior class had their annual tradition of wearing togas for the pep rally against Hoover. Usually, the dress-up day, pep rally, and football game would all take place on a Friday, but because of the altered schedule for Fall Break, there were some changes: the dress-up and pep rally day took place on Thursday, while the football game occurred on Friday. Unfortunately, the schedule change

Photo Credit: Vestavia Hills Health Literacy Club Instagram Last year, the Health Literacy Club was founded by Dev Patel and Divya Ramani, quickly gaining traction and attracting over 20 members in its first year. The club was founded with the objectives of teaching members about health equity and helping the Greater Birmingham area, where several communities are designated as “Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs)” due to limited healthcare resources. That is the gap the club

All photos provided by Hannah Chen At the end of this September, the VHHS math team took a trip to Colorado for a tournament at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). Apart from the actual competition, math teamers were able to explore both Colorado’s rocky, mountainous landscape as well as the town Manitou Springs. On the first day, the team traveled to the Royal Gorge, where they rode the Royal Gorge Aerial Gondola. The aerial gondola featured a clear, glass

Photo Credits: Irinia Fedorova on iStock At the end of every grading period, life gets very stressful for students. Freshman and juniors are tired from their first quarter of high school, sophomores have the pre-ACT coming up, and seniors are overwhelmed from college applications. Most students will agree that a break at this point in the year is not just wanted, but a necessity. Having a chance to enjoy themselves without the pressure of schoolwork, students did all sort

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: 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 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 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

All Photo Credits: Ruth Graham Our Vestavia Singers have had a great season. They hosted a successful Contempo at home, placed third in their division at the Hoover Showchoir Smackdown, scored second at the Albertville Diamond Classic, and landed third again at King of the Mountain—a special shoutout to Mary Pitts for winning best female performer! But honestly, show choir deserves respect and applause from the entire student body, not just this article. It might be one of

Photo Credits: Lily Xie 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 . Even though we’ve experienced of Vestavia’s coldest weather recently, many juniors and seniors at VHHS are already looking forward to a classic spring tradition: prom! From setting up groups to finding the dress, booking restaurant reservations to planning afterparties, a

Photo Credits: Claire Placzek New Orleans doesn’t know what’s coming for them, as French 5 from VHHS makes their entrance in The Big Easy. In order to learn more about French and Creole culture, French 5 went on a trip to New Orleans, where they would take part in learning about the culture, food, and history of New Orleans--a time filled with laughter, joy, and tours for native French speakers, as well as multiple visits to the original Cafe Dupont (where the beignets ri

Vestavia Hills Track and Field at the CrossPlex in Bessemer The Vestavia Hills Track and Field team delivered an outstanding performance at the CrossPlex Indoor Track State Meet that took place in Bessemer on January 31, 2026. The girls team claimed State Runner-up, earning 63 points with 9 girls in 17 events; additionally, the boys team, consisting of 12 guys in 16 events, won 4th place with a whopping 70 points! Vestavia Hills’ outstanding track athletes competed in a v

Name: Tanya Athienitis Grade: 12th Fun fact: “I was born in Greece and lived there until second grade.” What’s your biggest hot take: I actually like exam week. If you had a theme song what would it be: Lost by Frank Ocean What’s your roman empire: Sephora Where do you see yourself in five years: “I see myself in medical school five years from now” Name: Isabella Shunnarah Grade: 12th Fun fact: “I speak a little Arabic.” What’s your biggest hot take: “Oh easy, I do

Photo Credits: Linear Collider The Vestavia Hills Sadie Hawkins Dance took place on January 24 at the Civic Center, and it proved to be a huge success despite several obstacles leading up to the event. With unpredictable weather and concerns that the dance might be canceled, many students were unsure what the night would hold. However, thanks to careful planning and strong attendance, the evening turned out to be one of the most memorable school events of the year. This yea

During the spring semester, VHHS is excited for our new season of RISE. Each year, RISE brings students, faculty, and families together to support cancer research at UAB O’Neal Center. During this special season of RISE, it’s important to mark our calendars for some important fundraising dates. First in January, the kickoff assembly featured Olympic-style performances and a torch lighting ceremony. After the kickoff assembly on January 24th, students danced and celebrated a

Photo Credits: Instagram, VHHS Rebel Marching Band at Mud Creek Marching Festival The new year, for many, is a time of self-evaluation and profound hope. The first of January inspires goals and promises of personal refinement (go check out our article on New Year’s Resolutions) and invites an excitement to leave the past year behind. Even so, our most popular anthem for the New Year, originally a Scottish poem, reminds us to step into the future with remembrance and apprecia

Every day, students pass through the hallways rushing to their next classes, leaving for early dismissals, or heading off to practice. In all of this constant movement, it’s easy to stay focused on our own routines without stopping to wonder about the lives unfolding around us. While walking through the school one day, I felt this way about one of the fellow seniors in the class of 2026, Sally Grace Ward. Every single morning, she’s seen walking through the halls with her b

The second semester of school is always a whirlwind of varied emotions. We’re sad the break is over, tired from adjusting our sleep schedules, happy to see our friends, and stressed about our GPA. In this sense, school is really the same. But there’s a freshness that comes along with a new year—humans like a clean slate, after all. There’s a surge of motivation to embrace self-improvement and a sober determination to be the “you” you always wanted to be. What better demonstr

By Audrey Kim and Aiden Billano It’s that time of year again: the time we get to decide how we’re all going to spend the next year. With course selection fast approaching, as you look at potential classes in Vestavia’s Next Steps Live Binder , you may notice a few new additions since last year. After listening to student interest, these new courses were proposed by teachers and approved by the Board of Education to be available starting this year. Unfortunately, these course

Photo Credits: dadot.com In early December, our Track and Field team began the official indoor season with the Magic City Invitational. Located at the Crossplex, our athletes spent their afternoons competing and supporting as they broke into the competitive season. In the 60m ambulatory, Vaughan Rainer ran a 10.03, winning the event. In the 60m, Cance (Derek) Mills ran a personal record of 7.02, placing 7th in the overall meet and putting himself 2nd in the school’s record

Photo Credits: Astha Mehta On December 5th and 6th, the Vestavia Hills Speech and Debate team competed in Montgomery at Montgomery Academy. The Big GUMP Classic -- one of the most anticipated competitions in the region -- has always been a Vestavia Hills favorite. The adored clay trophies feature a variety of extravagant animals, and the competition is a great way for competitors to grow and learn. The team competed in a variety of events, including Public Forum, Congression