NORTH HARFORD HIGH SCHOOL 211 PYLESVILLE RD, PYLESVILLE, MD 21132
410-638-3650
VOLUME 44 ISSUE 10
JUNE 12, 2023
Students achieve notable academic success; 2023 Valedictorian, Salutatorian announced MEKENZIE MCCANN H/S Editor
Being named valedictorian and salutatorian is the pinnacle of academic achievement for a graduating senior. On May 25 at the Senior Awards Ceremony, senior Tyler Huneke was named valedictorian, and senior Sierra Wendland as salutatorian. Huneke states that he will be attending “Harford Community College (HCC) for mathematics, mainly for financial reasons.” Huneke comments that “the award [of being named valedictorian] is an honor, because it recognizes me as the top of our graduating class as a reward for the work put into classes.” In the fall, Wendland states that she “will be attending the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK).” She is “going to double major in microbiology and paleontology.” She chose this school “because it is a good distance from home (about eight hours), and I am able to bring my car so I can go back home for a weekend if I need to,” says Wendland. “I also loved the school spirit and how welcoming the whole
town was. There are also so many opportunities in Knoxville that partner with the college,” Wendland says. “It is an honor [to be named salutatorian] because a lot of my classmates are very smart and
states Huneke. Wendland gave her speech at the Senior Awards Banquet on May 25, and she says that she prepared by standing “on a stool in front of my dad and practiced.” Huneke states that to achieve valedictorian, “it really was a lot of studying and good work habits that got me the title.” During high school, Wendland comments that she “took a lot of honors and AP classes and tried to avoid unweighted courses. I also took gym at HCC so it did not yank my GPA.” “The main classes I struggled with were Tyler Huneke, Valedictorian AP Chemistry and AP English Language and high achievers as well, so I real- Composition, but I defily had to go above and beyond, nitely grew as a student and it is great to be recognized,” from pushing through states Wendland. them,” states Huneke. His valedictorian “speech [for “I learned the best lessons from graduation] was written with the two AP English classes [Enlots of drafts and revisions until it glish Language and Composition, finally was ready for graduation,” and English Literature] - in lang
[I] learned how to write, and in AP Lit, [I learned] how to develop my thinking,” says Huneke. Wendland states that the class that she struggled the most with was AP Physics, and she “hated the content and it was a lot of math and complex concepts, but [physics teacher] Mrs. [Christine] Jestel taught me how
[English teacher] Mrs. [Carla] Harward taught me how to write and be vocal. [Fellow English teacher] Mrs. [Joanna] Dallam taught me how to think and be confident in my thoughts,” says Wendland. She also would like to give a shout out to Jestel, Harward, and Dallam all “for pushing me to be a better student.” “I’d like to thank Mrs. Dallam, Mrs. Jestel, and [math teacher] Mrs. [Jenny] Beigel, each of whom not only made classes enjoyable, but helped me grow significantly as a student and as a person,” Huneke says. Wendland gives “thanks to [science teacher] Mrs. [Patricia] Massetti; I aided and mentored for her my junior and senior year, as well as had her for biology my freshman year. [Massetti] really pulled me into biological sciences and I loved the way she presented the Sierra Wendland, Salutatorian ecology and evolution units because I really to work through that way of enjoyed learning about natural thinking.” selection and ecosystem health, “Most of my AP courses will which is part of the reason I want help in college, especially AP to work on environmental restoPhysics, but definitely also AP ration or ocean exploration in the English Literature and language. future.”
Hawks display student creations at art show LILY CORCORAN Copy Editor
From Wednesday, May 17 to Friday, May 19, NH hosted its annual Art Show, which featured more pieces than last year, according to art teacher Mrs. Lisa Campbell. Organizers said the show had a large turnout during the evening show on May 17, with many community members observing art students’ best work. Art teacher Mr. Jason Blevins’ classes, which include fine art prep, drawing and painting, advanced drawing, and advanced painting, had pieces ranging from scratchboard hyenas, created by sophomore Liz O’Brien, to drawings of Igor Stravinsky surrounded by cats, which was created by freshman Sascha Kendall. Campbell’s classes,
which focus more on three-dimensional design, had works such as stained-glass mobiles, made by senior Elyse Friedman, and a mosaic elk skull, made by sophomore Claire Moffitt. Fine art and drama teacher Mrs. Nancy Green’s class made various Venetian masks, which were also featured at the Renaissance festival in November. The show itself was set up by both art students and the NH Art Guild. The groups arranged the works on various accordion boards to create a walk-through gallery, while more art was glued to shelves and arranged on more tables. Towards the back of the library were the senior spaces, featuring art created by senior artists such as Ren Kramer, A. Keenan, Sanaa Johnson, and Isabella Singh. Kramer said, “this
is the proudest accomplishment of my high school years. I’ve put an ungodly amount of time into helping plan and execute the show and I’m extremely satisfied with the outcome. I’m also incredibly proud of my senior setup.” They add, “I just can’t believe that it’s over after so much preparation.” The show was open to the public on May 17, at the same time as the choir concert. Many showed up to the show, such as O’Brien and their family. O’Brien is a member of the Art Guild and helped to set up and break down the art show. They said, “my experience with helping at the art show was a lot of fun. I was so amazed by the talent and effort put into the art pieces and the setup of the Art Show.” O’Brien continued, “My favor-
ite moment was going to the Art Show [on] Wednesday evening because it made me happy that so many people were showing their support for the arts and for the students that put in so much hard work. It was so exciting to watch it all come together, and I can’t wait to see what students make next year.” Other students also showed up to the art show, such as sophomore Melayna Tidwell. Tidwell had multiple pieces of art in the show. “I liked having pieces in the art show because I felt like I was actually accomplishing something with my art, and it felt very rewarding, especially after all the hard work I put into it. At the same time, it made me pretty self conscious, because while I was proud of my work, I couldn’t help but com-
pare it to art that I thought was a lot better than mine.” Tidwell noted that her favorite piece was the “one with the clocks in the tree stumps,” created by sophomore Maddie Dietz because “its concept and execution was just beautiful and combined to make something reflective and memorable.” Tidwell continues, “I really liked how every art student had a chance to showcase their work regardless what grade or skill level they were at. I wish that the accordion [boards] weren’t so close to the ground, though, because I feel like there was a lot of good work that got overlooked since it wasn’t in the natural line of human sight.” Overall, the 2023 NH Art Show was a success, with many praising the artists and the coordinators.