After being without a choir director for a whole semester, AHS has finally received one. Hunter Khongmaly is a fresh graduate from Iowa State University. He previously attended high school not too far from Atlantic at Valley in Des Moines and was close enough to hear about Atlantic’s past success in music. He was surprised when he heard about Atlantic’s efforts to find a choir director. Although he originally wasn’t planning on taking a job for the spring semester, he thought he would come to Atlantic and “hit gold.” When asked what his favorite part of teaching Choir has been so far, he said, “I get to share my love for music with a lot of different people.”
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Choir Program Under New Direction
NEWS BRIEF
January 18, 2026
New vocal music teacher Hunter Khongmaly meets the Atlantic audience at the Jan. 15 Swing-Inn concert.
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About the Contributors
Gabrielle Engler, Staff Writer
Gabrielle Engler is a sophomore and second semester journalism student at AHS. Engler’s strong suit is writing. “It’s just fun to do. I like being able to write about things that I also want to learn more about. I get to learn a lot more than I thought I would.” She plans to be active in journalism for the rest of her high school career. “I’m passionate about that kind of stuff.”
Outside of journalism, Engler enjoys running, archery, and softball. She plays instruments such as the bass clarinet, harmonica, and guitar. Engler has been involved in multiple musical and play productions throughout high school. When she graduates she would like to attend a university and participate in their running program, then continue to get a graduate degree to become a lawyer.
Bio by John McCurdy.
Jordan McCool, JP Student
16 year old Jordan McCool is a student here at Atlantic high school. McCool says his hobby is photography which plays a big part as to why he joined our journalism program. He states that writing for articles and the pictures he takes is also fun. He also says that he did archery in 8th grade and he would like to get back into it. Not as a school sport but as another hobby as his. Another one of his hobbies is art. He said he used to do graphic design and was hoping after school he does art for a living. Whether that’s music, photography and animation. At home McCool plays a decent amount of video games. He mentions that he is in the school’s game club as well. Other things McCool has said to me are the main reasons he joined is for the photography and capturing the art in the photos he takes. He has also enjoyed doing interviews. “I’ve also enjoyed a lot, somehow since i’m not the biggest fan of talking, is interviews. I’ve actually had a lot of fun with it.” McCool always tries to ask questions that he feels are important and what can help with details. One more fun thing that McCool enjoyed with journalism is the journalism conference trip we took in October. McCool said that he learned a lot from it and is happy he got the opportunity to go.
Bio by Stellah Van Aernam
John McCurdy, Staff Writer
John McCurdy is a freshman in journalism for his first year. He joined journalism because he’s always been interested in the field. He said, “In fourth grade I made my own newspaper and I work at a radio station.” McCurdy finds his favorite part of journalism “Hard to narrow…down.” Since joining journalism, he has been able to expand his writing skills.
McCurdy is also involved in Civil Air Patrol, speech and debate, drama, tennis, cross country, and 4-H as an officer. Furthermore, he volunteers at local organizations. In his free time, or as he says “what’s left of it,” he enjoys short wave radio science, reading, writing, building model airplanes, and Bible study. In the future, he plans to go to a service academy and receive a commission in the US Military.
Story by Gabrielle Engler