MARCH 2021

NORTH HARFORD HIGH SCHOOL

211 PYLESVILLE ROAD, PYLESVILLE MD 21132

March 29, 2021

410-638-3650

Mason takes third place in local competition;

Black History Oratory Contest announces winners ALEXA FALLS Reporter

eo I submitted was also my second take: I knew if I kept going it would get too rehearsed, so I stopped while I was ahead.” The quote from Chisholm was chosen by Mason. The quote states, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” Chisholm was an American politician and educator who became the first African American woman to be elected

To celebrate Black History Month, Maryland News station WJZ-TV hosted their Black History Oratory Competition for 2021 virtually and there were only three winners out of the 18 finalists. Third place was won by North Harford Senior, Taylor Mason. To enter in the competition, contestants had to choose one quote out of three said by influential African American individuals. The different quotes were stated by Shirley Chisholm, Martin Luther King Jr, and Mary McLeod. Contestants had to describe what it meant to them in 600 words or less. Mason has competed in Speech and Debate, so the 600-word count limit wasn’t difficult for her to achieve, “When I competed in Speech and Debate, I usually talk for 8-10 minutes.” She adds, “But when I had to film myself, it felt short […]. My WJZ video Senior Taylor was about 3 minutes, ry Competition. She won way less than what I Photo Credit: WJZ-TV was used to. The vid-

to the United States Congress in 1968. She represented New York’s twelfth congressional district in which she served seven terms from 1969 to 1983. Chisholm’s quote was chosen by Mason because, “Historically, tables have been the sites of the most influential successes and failures.” Mason says, “I connected this idea with my love for kids and then my next thought was

were from Civil Rights-era leaders, they encompassed the Black Lives Matter and other racial injustice protests of today.” She adds, “2020 showed all of us how much work still needs to be done to reach racial equality. Each quote inspired me in a different way and all of them together motivated me to enter the contest.” Prizes for the top three contestants varied. River Hill High junior, Nefertiti Griffin, won first place and got $700 from WJZ and a $2,000 scholarship gift from Toyota Financial Services. The second-place winner Teni Adedire, freshman at Eastern Technical High got $400 from WJZ and a $1,000 scholarship gift from Toyota Financial Services. Mason won $200 from WJZ and a $500 scholarship gift from Toyota Financial Services. Mason was asked if she would change her speech in any way to win first or second place, she says, “I really wouldn’t change anything about my speech. I am very proud Orato- of it.” Mason adds, “I listened to the other comcontest. petitors’ speeches and they were all amazing.

about the kids’ table: the biggest exclusion of children ever.” She explains, “It sounds silly, but when you’ve been turned away from the grown-ups table enough times, you start to want to bring up your own folding chair and make them listen to you.” Mason chose to participate in the contest because of the quotes. She says, “All of them were interesting and even though they

Mason’s speech entry for WJZ’s Black History third place competing with 18 other finalists in the

Meteorologist gives insight to aspiring journalists ERICA OTTE Reporter Timothy Springer, a daybreak meteorologist from Wichitaw, Kansas on the news channel KOLR10, visits the North Harford High School Journalism One (J1) class. The aspiring journalists were able to learn a lot from an experienced TV personnel. Cole H, a J1 student commented on this, saying he learned that journalists should “Try to be relatable to the audience as much as possible, such as clothing or hairstyle. Also, try to talk to your audience like you would your own family.” By relating to these students, Springer is positively impacting how they feel about the subject. He is showing that someone just like them was able to accomplish this much, so they can do the same, therefore inspiring young minds to continue pursuing their dreams.

Being on TV, no matter how really young age that it is somemany people see him, Springer thing we’ve wanted to pursue.” faces criticism daily. Another J1 Learning from criticism is a vistudent, Noel Baileyo, comment- tal lesson to learn when working ed “I was surprised about the in an industry reliant on the peonumber of negative comments he ples’ opinions, however it is best got. He also mentioned that you to “Listen to the critiques and just have to sit back and lismove on,” Olesya James ten to it” because you stated, summarizcould learn from it, ing Springer’s however he ultidedication “Listen to critiques mately knows to the job and move on.” that these comwhilst sharments should ing what - Olesya James, not become a she thought freshman setback since was the most his dream of beinteresting ing a meteoroloand insightful gist is something he part of his presentahas always wished to pursue. tion. Another great piece Springer agreed saying, “. I was of advice given during his visalways that crazy kid that was it was, in Gabrielle Moxham’s going out into thunderstorms opinion, “When you mess up, or running out and watching just shake it off and keep going hurricanes come our way[..] A because you are probably going lot of us have realized from a to do it in another two seconds”.

Another important aspect of being on TV and being the face of a news station is the toll that criticism takes on your mental health. Since the station Springer is on, and most other TV stations, are on most of the day, they need to be prepared to have little time to recuperate. Even when the station is not up and running, they are on social media and other platforms that can have a negative effect on mental health. It is just another part of the job, however in Springer’s experience with it, he says “I’m thankful I haven’t dealt with depression or too much anxiety. But occasionally we all can deal with it and I just try to take a step back and regroup.” Being a meteorologist, Springer has to chase after his own stories, dangerously gaining information about storms by going towards them himself. J1 student, Gary

“Thought it was very cool how he goes into storms and kind of risks his life for his job. He talked about it with such ease that it was kind of impressive.” Brookelyn Priebe adds, “I was kind of surprised about how you have to actually chase a storm and that [weather reporting] is not just a thing people say. I think it’s pretty interesting how he could just come up with a weather update off the top of his head and still sound professional and real.”This professionalism rubs off on the students who may want to follow in that same path. Springer was able to become a great example of what an experienced public speaker looks like, illustrating what the students should and should not do when in the spotlight. Springer adds that being able to take hurtful criticism is crucial in being a successful journalist

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Cry of the Hawk

March 29, 2020

Speaking out against Autism Speaks Organization that damaged millions VIEWPOINT When you think about autism research, your mind most likely goes to Autism Speaks, a company with a lot of mainstream attention, and a seemingly good track record with helping people with autism. However, in the past few years, they have been shown in a much more negative light because of the gravity of their past misdeeds. Autism Speaks was founded in 2005 by Bob and Suzanne Wright, the nonprofit currently maintains the vision of creating a “world where all people with autism can reach their full potential.” Despite this, Autism Speaks has undermined their goals by demonizing the cause they claim to be researching and dehumanizing the people they claim to help. A 2009 commercial by the organization titled “I am Autism'' depicted Autism Spectrum Disorder extremely negatively, depicting it as an inevitable threat to the happiness of parents and children. The ad claims that autism “works faster than pediat-

ric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined”. Given the extremely large platform Autism Speaks has, even in its early years, their negative statements are particularly harmful, with the potential to damage the millions of autistic people in the US alone. In 2013, the night before a summit in Washington D.C., founder and then-CEO Suzanne Wright published an opinion/editorial piece calling for action amongst government and citizens. The article has since been removed from the website but has been preserved thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. The article establishes that households with an autistic person is “not living”, perpetuating negative stereotypes families face, and furthering their agenda of Autism being an inherently terrible thing, rather than a purely medical definition, Autism Speaks’ habit of sensationalizing autism has done nothing to help the people they claim to, and instead exacerbates discrimination due to a person’s neurodivergence. Previously, Autism Speaks researched the idea that vaccines

Cry of the Hawk 211 Pylesville Road Pylesville, MD 21132 (410) 638-3650

were associated with a higher risk of autism, as late as March 2010, they claimed they would support research to “determine whether subsets of individuals might be at increased risk for developing autism symptoms following vaccination”, despite a court ruling, and scientific backing, that demonstrated otherwise. The company reevaluated its mission statement in 2016, previously the company spent a large majority of its budget on advocacy and lobbying, rather than research and community outreach, according to their 990 Tax Exemption form for 2015. Recently they have shifted their focus, reporting that 85 cents per dollar donated funds research, advocacy, programs, and services, as well as going back on many of their previous claims. However, without continuing to pay reparations for their previous misdeeds, they should not be redeemed so easily. It is important not to forget an organization’s past, especially when they have the potential to do just as much harm as they claim to do good.

Wealthy getting wealthier EDITORIAL There are two facts about the Coronavirus: over 470,00 Americans have died from the virus, and over 22.2 million jobs were lost, most of them were lower class jobs according to cbpp.org. Here's another fact: while all of this was going on, all the people already very well off, got even more money. The world's 10 richest billionaires have all seen their collective wealth grow more than $540 billion when looking at net growth. While most people should see an obvious problem with this hoarding of wealth there seems to be no stopping the people who are already living the capitalist dream. One very poignant example of this happening is Elon Musk, who back in March 2020 had a net worth of around $24.6 billion to now amassing $170 billion in nine months. This is mostly from the massive increase of his electric car company, Tesla. There is also the staggering statistic, the wealthiest 10 percent of households (or rather 13 million American families) own 88 percent of all stocks according to the Federal Reserve, who are also massively gaining money from raises in major corporations and the fall of others. A lot of the rise in stock can be attributed to the government's policy. With zero interest rates from the Federal Reserve, they hope to bring and stabilize a broader, more stable economy but also encouraged hungry investors to buy shares instead of bonds.

Health and Science Editor: News Editors: Marissa Altenburg Caitlyn Allen, Kensington Boyanich Entertainment Editor: Opinion/Editorial Editors: Maura Chaney Hannah Krizek, Kylie Redding Sports Editor: Features Editor: Greer Strine Zoe Mikles Business Manager: IDR Editor: Kendell Schubert Rachel Keeney Reporters: Society, Students & Culture Editor: Addy Dean, Grace Feldbush, Madison Fetherston, Meghan Kalck Jake Gay, Summer Grace, Malinah Jercheid, Erica Video Managers: Otte, Annie Finholm, Ben Sersen, Jackie Bultman, SilEmily Green, Lauren Brandis via Martinez, Jessica Fannin, Kimberly Edgar, Chloe Copy Editors: Ward, Dani Becker, Alexis Haigler, Colby Criss, Paige Emily Iampieri, Lilliana Greco, Leah Hillier Webster Social Media Coordinator: Announcements Tech Evan Kuzemchak Victoria Hanna

Simultaneously prices of real estate grew to a 15 percent rise in the median home sale price to an all-time high of $320,625 as said by AP news, which benefited all homeowners, but especially to the owners that are looking to cash out for the highest selling prices. This makes sense with the demand for single-family living spaces with federal interest rate policy, which also helped make mortgages cheaper. In 2020, if you owned real estate or stocks you had a money tree without much effort, besides fighting the urge to sell when the market tanked in March. But what goes up must come down and many on-paper gains during the pandemic may not be permanent as seen with the GameStop stock fiasco caused many Reddit users to grab a lot of money from uniform investing but new regulations are causing many users to lose their stocks and money being seemingly stolen after trading app Robinhood put restrictions on the buy and sale of GameStop stock. The government did try to help some of the lower class suffering from the effects of the pandemic when the shutdown happened by providing stimulus checks. In December, the second check of $600 was sent to households across the country, with a promise from President Biden to soon get a third check of $1,200. While it did help many people it is still no comparison to the massive wealth being collected from the top one percent, and it seems the government will continue to give citizens just enough to get by and stay quiet.

The Cry of the Hawk newspaper is published 10 times a year by North Harford’s Journalism II/III class. All editorials and viewpoints express the feelings of those on the staff and not necessarily those of fellow students, administrators, or teachers. Please do not hesitate to submit letters to Advisor Jen Chandler in room D207. Letters should be no longer than 300 words, must be signed, and may not contain vul-

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March 29, 2020

Cry of the Hawk

Surviving social media Six books removed from shelves at stores; RACHEL KEENEY Column

I think it’s fair to say almost every student at North Harford has some form of social media. With social media comes the power to post and share what you think. But what no one seems to talk about is the negative side effects it has on us. I'm sure we’ve all heard from our doctors or parents to “limit screen time” or to “just put down your phone.” That’s great and all, but my generation is physically addicted to our phones. Now imagine the effects of a 12-year-old on Instagram. The constant comparisons, checking their followers, or maybe why their friend has more likes than you. This must influence their self-esteem, maybe even their mental health too. Mid-

dle schoolers should be playing outside or with their friends, not worrying about Snapchat. It sets us up at an early age to persistently be judging ourselves and others just based on what an Instagram account says. We are so dependent on what an app tells us we cannot go a day without checking our status. Not only is being on social media draining but seeing other people's drama unfold online is a whole other story. During the 4 years I've been in high school, it's become a trend to have a fake Instagram, or a “finsta” where basically you post more personal or funny photos that you wouldn’t post on an actual Instagram account. However, I've noticed that many girls use this account to “dish” on other girls. I guess they believe that airing out some meaningless drama about somebody will help, but it doesn’t. Social media can be helpful and fun to keep in touch with old friends, I just think too much social media has a negative effect. If you find yourself struggling to cut back on your socials, try setting a timer to limit how long you're on an app. I promise you, once you stop depending on what's happening on social media, you'll never feel like checking it,

Bringing home the gold; Participation trophies are pointless VIEWPOINT Remember back in second-grade soccer leagues? At the end of the last game of the season, coaches would come out with a box full of shiny gold trophies to give each and every player, just for showing up. In a poll of 150 North Harford students, 91% said they received some sort of reward for simply showing up in their childhood. Handing out participation trophies to children is a form of overprotection. They don’t learn the value of learning from failure, or how to learn from it. In a 2017 Spartan News Room article, Dan Gould, a sports psychologist said “for rewards to work, they need to be earned. If you’re trying to increase a kid’s motivation, emphasize health or emphasize how fun it is to move or play ball.” Rewarding children, even if they fail, doesn’t teach them a lesson on how to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and to accept that it’s acceptable to not be perfect at everything. Even professional sports athletes have come to voice their opinions on the argument. In 2015, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison took to his Instagram, posting a picture with the caption “I came home to find out that my boys received two trophies for nothing, participation trophies. While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies

will be given back until they EARN a real trophy.” Like Harrison, many argue that the participation approach backfires and leads to the attitude circled around “everyone’s a winner” carries over to later years when teens are less motivated and put forward less effort simply because they expect to be rewarded no matter how their performance is during the season. When 150 North Harford students were polled, only 54% said they believed only winners should be rewarded in high school sports. This just shows how the lessons we were taught in our childhood sports teams can carry over to our performance now. Many teens have been led to believe that they are entitled to compensation simply because they decided to wear a bright uniform and pay the fee to be included on the team. After his team lost a game in 2016, head coach of the University of Louisville women’s basketball team, Jeff Walz spoke against the idea of participation trophies saying, “Everybody thinks they should get a good job. No, that’s not the way it works. But unfortunately, that’s what we are preparing for. I mean, not to be too blunt, but you’re a loser. Like, we’re losers, we got beat. So, you lost. There is no trophy for us.” The result is a generation of individuals not prepared for the harsh realities of the world outside of little league and high school lacrosse tournaments.

Dr. Seuss called “racist author” EDITORIAL “Six children’s books written decades ago by Dr. Seuss were pulled from publication because they contain racist and insensitive imagery,” states the company formed to protect the Dr. Seuss legacy. Dr. Seuss is a legend for his fun rhyming books that children love. His career first started with “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” and now 84 years later, it’s one of the six removed off of the shelves. According to the company, even “The Cat in the Hat” is rumored to be removed in the foreseeable future. How could they take away a book everyone knows and loves over some analyzed images? Reuters from Indian Express states that there were Asian culture stereotypes and racist images in Seuss’ first published book. “The lines for eyes and he was eating with chopsticks”. According to Dr. Seuss enterprises, each of the six contained hurtful racist images and they wanted to preserve his legacy by being kind to everyone, so they stopped their future publication and distribution. Instead of “preserving” Seuss’ legacy, they are taking away

books that everyone loves. The stereotypes in question were normal back then, and it is not as intense as they’re making it to be. Seuss is rolling in his grave as he watches his books being taken away from the children. “On eBay, some of the discontinued titles surged in value on Tuesday. A copy of “If I Ran the Zoo,” with a starting price of $48 in the morning, was commanding a bid of $410 within an hour,” says Reuters. If you own the following books, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” “If I Ran the Zoo,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!” “Scrambled Eggs Super!” and “The Cat’s Quizzer,” you could make quite the penny. No one wants to ruin Seuss’ legacy, or so they say, but removing these titles is wrong. They are erasing history right before everyone’s eyes, just because someone got offended. If every book were removed due to someone getting offended, there would hardly be a single book on the shelf. These books are meant for younger children, no child would be able to analyze every image and recognize that this image is “racist”. They would only enjoy the fun rhymes, which was Seuss’ intention. “I don’t believe children would notice anything like that until it is pointed out or

taught to them,” states teacher Megan Fries. Fries also says, “I love the memories I have behind Dr. Seuss books. It is something that I grew up with and enjoyed reading with my parents. From a teacher and parent standpoint, I enjoy the fun aspect to them.” However, it is important to recognize when titles are hurtful to communities, these are children’s books. The intended audience would not only not see what professionals and adults see, but they would lose some great rhyming books for their childhood. “Not everyone was pleased to hear in the news. In New York City, Greg Zire, 46, said the decision was another example of “cancel culture.” “It’s getting to the point where, you know, you get deleted from history,” the culinary sales worker said. “What people need to realize is, if Dr. Seuss can get canceled, what can’t be?” also states Reuters. Seuss wrote over 60 classics, and for them to slowly start being removed off the shelvesis cruel. Dr. Seuss Enterprises claims they are doing this to preserve his legacy, when in fact it is dragging his name through the mud as a “racist author”.

Animals affected by deforestation EDITORIAL

Animals around the world are endangered as a result of deforestation and the destruction of habitats. The lack of information produced to bring attention to the issue has also become an issue. As a result, many people don’t know the effects that deforestation has on animals and our environment. According to Endangered Earth, there are now 41,415 species on the IUCN Red List. 16,306 of them are endangered species threatened with extinction. The list of endangered animals increased from 16,118 in 2019 to 16,306 in 2020. These numbers are constantly increasing, and also include plants that have become endangered as well. These animals and plants are vital to our ecosystem. As more animals go extinct and more deforestation is occurring the harder it will be to help. Over 80 percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests. Species that live in forests and have become endangered include the Orangutan, the Sumatran tiger, and many different species of birds. There are many other animals that have been affected and put on the endangered animal list. Many of these animals have become endangered due to deforestation Deforestation has become increasingly more of a problem as the demand for products that call for materials that trees can make increased. These animals' homes

are being destroyed daily, forests There is a large lack of inforare a source of food and shelter mation and concern for animals once there aren’t forests left to that are being affected by deforlive in animals are at risk of being estation. Many people know that hunted down and killed or they there is an issue of deforestation won’t be able to live long enough but very few are informed and to reproduce causing their entire understand that things need to species to become extinct. change to help these animals. You In a poll of 45 people, twen- may see a post about deforestaty-five people said yes, anition on an Instagram page but mals are being put into rarely is the issue brought danger, nine peoto people's attention. ple said no they Attention needs to don't think be brought to the “The list of endanthey are beissue of deforing put into estation now. gered animals indanger, and we wait too creased from 16,118 in Iflong eleven said to act that they 2019 to 16,306 in 2020. hundreds and might be even thouThese numbers are conin dansands of anger. These stantly increasing, and also imals could numbers include plants that have become ensuggest dangered or become endangered as extinct that most due to people believe well.” the lack of acthat animals tion. are in danger Our forests and and understand animals need our help that some things need now before it becomes too to change to help these anilate to help them. We need to mals. In another poll of forty-five find a way to help these animals people, eleven people said they as well as find a better way to were informed about deforesta- get the resources that we need. tion, nineteen people said that It is time to act. If you are able they were not informed about to sign petitions, donate money the issue, and 15 people said to help animals in these areas of they were somewhat informed. deforestation please do anything These numbers suggest that peo- to help the many endangered aniple know that animals are being mals. These animals are in danger put in danger but they aren’t in- right now, they need help right formed about the topic and they now, if we wait too long there are unsure of how they can help. may be no way to help these anThis shows the lack of informa- imals. We can’t risk letting all tion given about deforestation these animals go extinct.

March 29, 2021

Cry of the Hawk

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Super straight or super transphobic? Decide to be powerful Trend being used as attempt to mask bigotry EDITORIAL Most social media users know that all kinds of new trends arise every day; however, the newest trend comes with underlying transphobia and hurt: the “super straight movement.” According to some social media users, super straight is a new sexuality that is for persons who would only be romantically involved with someone who still identifies as the gender they were assigned at birth… in other words, they won’t date transgender people. Though to many, on the surface, this trend seems like a harmless “preference”—in reality, it is inherently problematic. The origins of the trend come from a TikTok video where the speaker states “straight men like myselfI get called transphobic because I wouldn’t date a trans woman. You know they’re like, ‘would you date a trans woman?’ I’m like, ‘[..] uh no like that’s not a real woman to me like I want a real woman.’” This user, who has since been banned, continues to say “so now I’m super straight, I only date the opposite gender. Women that are born women. So you can’t say I’m transphobic now because that’s just my sexuality, you know?” It is abundantly clear from this clip that the “movement” was started by somebody who does not support the LGBT+ community— which accounts for the transphobic name. By referring to themselves as super straight, they are implying that they are somehow more straight than those who would date a member of the transgender community. However, a straight man who dates a transgender woman is no less straight, and the same goes for a straight wom-

an who dates a transgender man. To suggest anything else is to invalidate the identity of trans people, which is never okay. Moreover, the super straights are considering themselves to be an “oppressed” addition to the LGBT+ community and are using language that is commonly used to defend those who identify as queer. By doing so, they are essentially invalidating the hurt felt by those in the LGBT+ community and making a mockery of those who have actually been historically, systematically oppressed. It is also important to note that this “harmless” trend has supposed ties to

“It’s honestly just really humiliating to people who are trans.” -Aegis, Harford Tech junior

neo-Nazi groups. After its introduction on TikTok, the trend made its way to an anonymous imageboard website called 4chan where a logo for the movement got spread around. The logo consists of two capital S’ that are shaped like lightning bolts, and they match the logo of a paramilitary organization that was operated under Adolf Hitler, called Schutzstaffel. Screenshots of deleted posts from 4chan also show that users associated with neo-Nazis admitted that their goals are to “drive a wedge between tr*nnies and other f*g groups” and “use the left’s tactics against them-

selves, call them bigots for not accepting super straights.” Because the transgender community can understand the hurt caused by this movement better than any cis person, it is important to listen to and amplify their take on this trend over anyone else’s. Harford Tech junior, and member of the transgender community, Aegis stated that “it’s honestly just really humiliating to people who are trans. I mean we get hate constantly and now people are trying to insert themselves into our community by excluding us.” He continued to share that “it’s just a fancy way to be transphobic, which of course is hard for any trans person to read in general.” According to Aegis, “obviously, you don’t have to date a trans person because you may not be attracted to their sex, but it’s so dumb to make a whole new identity for it.” He summed it up perfectly—very few people are actually claiming that it’s transphobic for someone’s dating preferences to exclude people who are transgender; but if that’s the case then you simply have a preference, not a new sexual orientation. And for the record, everyone has preferences. Whether it be eye color, height, ability to have children, sex organs, or anything else, preferences are a natural part of being human; but decent people don’t announce to the world who they find unattractive. Bottom line, people can date who they want to, and likewise, refrain from dating who they want to, but the super straight trend only exists as a means for internet trolls to spread bigotry and invalidate the LGBT+ community—especially those who are transgender.

SILVIA MARTINEZ Video Editor

Some people, maybe even yourself, will tell you you’re too insignificant to change or do something regardless of how big or little it is. Let me just say, this misconception is very dangerous. Especially when you think it’s the truth in every situation you’ve faced. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in this idea, and you can’t blame people for it. You really shouldn’t blame anyone, or call people cowards for not acting on something. It’s okay to be too scared or to not feel well enough to take matters into your own hands. Sometimes, you don’t have the resources, strength, or emotional support to make something different at that moment. Whether it be applying for a new job, or deciding to turn your whole life around, sometimes life gets to you and you just want to rest. That’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to take care of yourself before taking action. That’s what you should do first. What I’m saying is, never sell yourself short. Don’t decide not to start something before you even get the chance to start it because you think you won’t get the outcome that’ll save lives or change yours. When you tie your own hands

behind your back, that’s another day lives are lost and yours stays the same. It’s another day you let yourself or others continue suffering. Even when you feel lost, wronged, and like you can’t win, give yourself some hope. Tell yourself things will change for the better, and that when you’re well and ready, you’ll be there for it. Don’t just peg yourself as powerless. Regardless if you’re not seeing progress while actively doing something, don’t think you lack the power or talent. This is something that takes time. Don’t leave the job unfinished either. Most importantly, don’t let anybody prevent you from finishing. Any oppressors, or whoever has done you wrong, wants you to not change things. They want you to be afraid, and while you have every right to be, you can’t stay that way forever. If you look back at history, people had to take initiative before creating a new world. Take the American Revolution for example. The colonies were so small, while Britain was a world superpower at the time. The colonists went and fought anyway, and they won. Against all odds, they won. Sure, they got a lot of help from the French, but the colonists took the initiative to reach out for help. The French helped the colonies end the war, but they didn’t start it for them. That’s the thing that takes the most effort. Starting. The colonists decided they would, and while I’m not telling you that you need to go win a war, maybe you should get more comfortable with the idea of starting one. Not literally though. Get some faith, family, friends, neighbors, and anybody really, and decide you’re not powerless.

Texas is hot mess, or rather, cold mess; Climate change, ending mask mandate, causes concern EDITORIAL Being from the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, it’s hard to understand how a few inches of snow could cause such a problem. Marylanders attended school last year during a snow squall for Christ’s sake! How could Texas be so freaked out? Geography. Maryland is located in a region with incredibly bipolar weather. In late February, it snowed a good few inches, and then two days later the temperature was in the 50s and people were wearing shorts! But enough about Maryland, this about Texas. Being in the south, Texas is typically a warmer state. According to weather.com, the average low in February is 42.4 degrees. And, in order for snow to fall, the temperature has to be 32 degrees or lower and there has

to be a chance of precipitation. The odds of snow falling in Texas were incredibly low. Due to that low chance, the state was entirely unprepared for what would ensue. The winter storm caused power outages, bursting water pipes, water and gasoline shortages, and at least 51 deaths. Texas was incredibly illequipped for the winter storm. Their infrastructure is built to withstand high temperatures and droughts, not single digit weather and any amount of snowfall. Fortunately, the events in Texas serve as a warning for other states that they are not immune to climate change. Hopefully, the southern states will begin to make the necessary changes to prevent this from happening again, and the northern states will prepare for the possible threat of weather that was

once thought to be impossible. If Texas can freeze, couldn’t Washington experience drought? Or Minnesota go through an extreme heat wave? While on the climate change end of things, Texas serves as a warning, the Covid end just made the state the guinea pig. On March 2, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that he will be ending the statewide mask mandate and allow businesses to operate at full capacity. “It is now time to open Texas 100 percent,” he says. Really? With 7,240 new cases on the day that was announced (New York Times)? That’s when it’s time? Anti-maskers argue that this is a great idea. “Masks don’t work anyways and Florida’s been open since September and they’re doing just fine!” Actually, both of those statements are painfully incorrect.

First of all, while Florida initially saw a drop in cases after ending their mask mandate, they saw a huge spike around the holidays with a peak on Jan. 8 of 19,530 new cases (New York Times). This spike was likely due to large gatherings with no masks for the winter holiday season. Plus, Florida has been accused of altering death counts around election time. Florida newspaper South Florida Sun Sentinel reported “the public didn’t see the actual dates of the deaths in that tally. What the public saw: a death count that declined in the days leading up to the election, and slowly climbed back up in the days after it.” The newspaper also stated that “The Florida Department of Health has refused to release COVID death certificates to scientists or journalists to review.” They also pointed out that these

records had been made available to the public in the past. The point in that being that Florida is not a reliable card to pull when arguing the effectiveness of mask mandates. That being said, a study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported that masks are most effective when worn (correctly) by 100 percent of the population. The same article reported that individually, masks are 79 percent effective in preventing transmission. Overall, Texas needs to be watched carefully to ensure that cases and deaths are being properly reported. Hopefully, when things turn out horribly, horribly wrong, Texas will realize their mistakes and revert back to safer guidelines, and the rest of the US can make careful note of what not to do.

Cry of the Hawk

March 29, 2021

Page 5 - News

Changes in sports that will make this spring S t u d e n t sports season la(cross)e onto new paths fired up for ERICA OTTE Reporter School has gone through many changes this past year, whether that means a lack of clubs or hybrid learning in schools. North Harford High School is also undergoing many changes as it goes into hybrid learning, so this spring sports season will additionally have to adapt to these new changes as well while making new adjustments as well. Social distancing has become a vital part of everyday life, causing dividers between the desks at school, many students choosing online learning as an alternative, wearing masks every day to prevent the spread of COVID-19 along with many more adjustments. However, teachers along with many students are still able to prevail through these differences and create an environment in which students can learn online and in person through hybrid learning. Sports are also attempting to persevere through these changes, giving kids the ability to continue the activities they enjoy, even through a difficult time where people cannot be near each other in most circumstances, improving mental health tremendously. Choosing to continue certain sports is a very positive light within the hard times a lot of people are having, showing school sports’ improve-

ment from when Cross Country had an online season in the Fall. Sports are trying to social distance in any way possible, such as using tickets as a way to have

less people in the stands or maybe not even having people in the audience at all. One of these sports is tennis in which there are certain changes being made

We have put zip ties on fences to promote social distancing. This will be a change for students tto try and social distance while still trying to practice. Photo credit: Google images

to fit the situation, both helping students stop the spread of this pandemic throughout the team while also possibly hurting their abilities to play the sport. Jonathon Roth, a first-time North Harford High School tennis player and Junior, has experience in the sport but lacks the high school sport experience, so while he cannot say what tennis was like before the pandemic, he sees the obvious changes going on around him. “There’s zip ties on the fence that keeps us six feet apart and we have to keep our masks on unless we’re doing intense activities,” Roth commented. Roth also says that other than that it is not that different from how tennis would be usually besides “the forms we have to do before we enter the court consisting of many COVID questions” along with agreeing that they are okay with the fact that they might be at a risk for catching the corona virus. This form is a standard procedure for anything, but it is mostly relevant because of the lack of masks during very strenuous exercise. Sports are very different this school year, but having these spring sports in the first place is a positive change that could start to lead us back to how life was pre-pandemic with less fear and more socializing with this only being the first step!

Alumna becomes accountant for popular movies KYLIE REDDING Op/Ed Editor

that they bring.” But she also detailed that, “as a young person starting out in L.A. I was broke!” It took a lot of budgeting to survive.” She continued to describe, “I often ate mac and cheese and

peanut butter and jelly and shared a house with three roommates.” She recalled that many North Harford alumnae, Holly evenings consisted of game McGreevy Scott, went from being nights at home because they a small-town student, to working “didn’t have the money to go out on movies in Hollywood. Scott, on the town.” class of 1994, spent her However, afhigh school days getting ter a friend recinvolved in whatever she ommended her could. This included being to his boss, she the forensics captain, track scored her first and field captain, Nationjob as a producal Honor Society presition assistant on dent, class treasurer, and a movie. In this a peer helper; along with position, Scott participating in orchesran errands, tra and the symphonic, stocked the ofmarching, and jazz bands. fice, made cofAccording to Scott, she fee and copies, had “no idea” what she and got lunches. wanted to do after high While explainschool. She stated, “I tried ing the various out many different areas titles she has in college looking for the held, she stated right fit for me,” but she “I worked as a eventually landed on a Travel Coormajor in mass communicadinator and as tions. After college, Scott’s Assistant Proboyfriend at the time “exduction Office pressed interest in Los Coordinator beAngeles” so she said, “why fore I switched not?!” She explained “I still to accounting.” had the travel bug and For the last nine didn’t want to settle down Holly McGreevy Scott and her husyears, she has in Maryland at that time.” band, Alex Scott, at the 70th annual DGA been the head Scott shared that she awards in 2017. They attended to support of the accountloves living in a major city Greta Gerwig’s nomination for Lady Bird. ing department. because “you can find so According many different types of Photo credit: Holly McGreevy Scott to Scott, the repeople here, and the art, sponsibilities of food, music and culture

being a feature film production accountant include: budgeting the cost of the film, keeping track of how much was spent each day, paying the bills of the project, paying all the cast and crew, and tracking and submitting costs for production incentives”. Scott commented, “it’s imperative to stay on track. No one wants to go over budget but coming in under is also an issue.” She elaborated, “that money could have been spent by ‘putting it on the screen’ or making the project better.” Scott compared making a movie to a “circus travelling from town to town.” To paint this picture, she explained how they need to figure out where they are shooting, set up an office from scratch— “including furniture, internet, phones, security and craft service”—hire hundreds of people, find locations, create the costumes, sets, props, hair, and makeup designs. And she pointed out that they do it “in a matter of a couple months.” She also noted that the intensity is upped even more after filming begins, admitting that the hours are long and they run on “not enough” sleep. Then just like that, the project finishes and they need to undo all the work they did while making the movie. Scott stated, “we have to close up shop, lay everyone off, store or dispose of the costumes, sets, and props, and close down the offices.

business

BEN IAMPIERI Kris Gray, North Harford freshman, has started a candle business over quarantine. “I was extremely bored doing the same activities everyday. Then, I looked around my room and saw that there were candles everywhere,” Gray starts. “I’ve always loved fragrance and smelling good so I thought, ‘Well, I should make my own candles.’” Making candles started out as a hobby, “It’s my hub for relaxation. I listen to music and just try to vibe,” she says. But then Gray’s dad had the idea of turning the candle-making into a company. At first, she “struggled with staying organized and creating a consistent product,” and “almost gave up at one point because [she] couldn’t seem to make a good-smelling candle.” But after some research, she is “at the point where [she] has regular costumers, great candles, and a consistent profit,” according to Gray. “I get everything from CandleScience. It is a website where I get all my ingredients and materials,” Gray says. “They have videos and tutorials that answer every question you could have about the candle making process. Starting a business may appear overwhelming for a teenager, and Gray thought so too. “Now, it’s not a big deal because I have improved my time management. I cut out procrastinating and I organized my day from most important to least important,” Gray explains. “[One] sacrifice I had to make was that I can’t participate in school sports because then I wouldn’t have the time to focus on my business. I still will be a part of clubs and community activities though.” One of the problems Gray ran into when starting was not researching candles. “In the past, I started out with lots of baseless ambitions and was being a little too creative. My entire process was creative which was the problem. I did not conduct any research on candle making and the results were insufficient,” she says. “I realized because I’m not a candle expert, I should just stick to what I’ve learned from other companies and organizations that specialize in candle making completely. Especially because it is a product that I’m selling to customers and they should be able to rely on the results consistently. So, whenever I try to tackle a different jar or fragrance, I make sure I research it so that I can get the best result.” As for making the candles, Gray only uses two ingredients: soy wax, and fragrance h a wick sticker. He states “it is a lot easier than you may think.”

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Cry of the Hawk

North Harford’s ag program takes in new animals:

Stanley, Bubba, Forrest adapting MARISSA ALTENBURG Reporter

The equine class will work closely with him. He tends to be a little “mouthy” (likes to tug on shirts, sweatshirts, etc) so we will be breaking him of that habit. He will also be used for

be available for the sale.” Ag is a very student based and North Harford welcomes a hands on class. “When students new animal friend to the padare in the building we have been dock. ​His name is Stanley, and able to take them to the barns, he is 7 years old. S ​ tanley is very work in the greenhouse, do outlarge, he stands at 67 side field work or inches, and he is a utilize the aquaculquarter horse. ture lab. “Stanley was doThe barn has a nated to our program hot spot so students from Chesapeake on line can particTherapeutic Riding,” ipate in the lesson says agriculture teachand observe. Teacher Aimee Densmore. ers have used their According to the CTR phones when doing website,“The mission outside field work of CTR is to deliver so that students can healing and learning ask questions and to individuals and see what is being groups whose minds, taught,” adds Murbodies and spirits will rell. benefit from the transDuring a normal Stanley, a quarter horse, comes to North year students help formative connection between people and Harford. He was donated by the Chesapeake the staff with barn horses,” Stanley was Therapeutic Riding organization. chores and keeping used for veterans to ride Photo credit: Amiee Densmore up with the care of who are recovering from the animals. The acinjuries. He had a hip issue, so he our EAGALA team building and tion plan for this hybrid schedule is unable for anyone to ride him therapy sessions. is described by Murrell, “Stuanymore. Murrell talks about upcoming dents are helping when here. The “Stanley was accepted very plans for the g program saying Staff has divided the week up all quickly and easily into the herd. “because most of what we do year and each took a day during Teika (the other horse) and is student driven and student the week to care for animals. Dusty (donkey) especially like based we have limited breeding Weekends are the staff just like him,” Densmore adds. Mr.Gregthis year. in years past” ory Murrell says “All of the anPigs and lambs will be in Murrell also adds that because imals are evaluated by the staff the plan for next school year there are complications to get all before coming to NHHS, we 2021-2022.” Murrell also added students in hands-on activities, review health records and work that “We have two new Brown there are no piglets or lambs born mostly with people we know or Swiss Dairy Steers that will be this year and they will be planned breeders who have a strong repshown at the Fair this year and on for the 2021-2022 school year utation” then shown again next year and and fair.

Substitutes filling shoes of teachers; Hybrid learning presents challenges MALINAH JERSCHEID Reporter North Harford recruited the help of three substitutes this year to fill the shoes of teachers. According to most of the staff, virtual/hybrid learning has been a big challenge they had to overcome, and according to the substitutes in the building, they have adapted to the same challenges. Nicholas Petraglia was offered the position of a long-term substitute filling in for Mrs. Allred this year. Petraglia graduated from Towson University in May of last year. He was a student who dealt with the challenges of learning virtually. Although he was still a student for some time during the pandemic, he stated that he “doesn’t think anyone (including the other teachers and administrators) was prepared for this means of teaching.” Being not much older than the seniors enrolled, Petraglia says one of his struggles stepping into a role of a teacher this year has been his age. He stated in an interview “I am young and not much older than my oldest students… On one hand, I can relate to the students in a way others can’t. On the other hand, sometimes it can feel like I am more

of a peer than an instructor.” He added that growing up in a younger generation than most other teachers in the building has more perks than one when it comes to adapting to virtual learning, saying “being younger and more familiar with all of the social media platforms everyone uses is helpful. I grew up during a time where technology was just starting to become what it is today. The first iPhone came out when I was in elementary school. I think being able to bridge that gap is what can make me unique.” Despite the changes, Petraglia said that he still plans on becoming a full-time teacher after this year. When asked about his plans, he stated “I absolutely want to continue my path towards becoming a teacher. Sitting in front of a computer all day is never the reason anyone gets into teaching, but it has not deterred me.” He went on to add that “the goal is to become a fulltime teacher next year, be it at North Harford or elsewhere.” Petraglia stated that adapting to the role of teaching at North Harford has been easier due to the “administration along with the rest of the staff has made me feel like I belong.” Kathleen Rea is another longterm substitute, filling in for Mrs.

Pang this year. Rea said that “since [she] retired in 2012, subbing gives [her] the opportunity to still work with students and to travel during the summer.” Being a substitute is nothing new to Rea, when asked what made her want to work on the NH staff this year, despite the new means of educating, she said “Since I have been substitute teaching for so long, it was not difficult to come in during this unusual year.” She went on to add “I am glad that I started the year teaching English because it is an easier subject to have completely online because there are no “virtual labs” to deal with and to try to explain math concepts including those in science. I like working with students and I get a chance to teach different subjects.” Virtual learning is a different means of teaching than what the staff has been working through since the beginning of their careers. Rea said that in relation to the adjustment to virtual learning “I am glad that I have a good understanding of using a computer in teaching, as this made the transition easier. The teachers are very helpful when I have questions about ItsLearning. Thank you, Mr. James and Mrs. Jestel for all of your help.”

March 29, 2021

Misentity Magazine released KENSINGTON BOYANICH trate a poem, essay, short story, News Editor

or journal. Sometimes a writer is A North Harford tradition inspired by a piece of visual art.” continues to be carried as Mis- This can help with the formatentity Magazine’s Winter 2021 ting on the page and the layout. issue is released. “I joined the “Often, we pair pieces together. NHHS staff in fall of 2012 and Everything is up for grabs each I was fortunate to inherit the year. Student editors decide on literary magazine, Misentity. It size, length, format, images, and has been a school publication every other decision. We include since the 1960s. We found a few any work that is school appropriearly issues, and we proudly car- ate, and we push that just as far ry the torch forward,” says Jo- as we can each year.” Another student, junior Lauren anna Dallam. Smith, whose writing was feaThe inspiration for this seatured in the article states, son’s edition is described by “I usually don’t have Dallam as, “Anything inspiration for my that transcends the poems. More ofordinary.” The new “We include any ten than not, virtual environment has caused work that is school there’s some random idea some problems appropriate, and we that passes with the magpush that just as far as through my azine. “Last head and I year, with the we can each year.” think, “Oh, extraordinary -Joanna Dallam, well, that’s circumstances pretty good!” of the inability to English teacher and then I just physically print the run with it really. magazine, we moved But there are some to a digital platform poems that I write with called issuu,” Dallam states specific characters in mind. I about the virtual struggles. watch a lot of different shows Senior Amber Gray, whose art was featured on the front and anime and so sometimes page of the issue, talks about her there’s a specific concept that I inspiration behind it. “My inspi- think fits with a character really ration for my art was the feeling well and then I write about that.” “As for the writing process, of being taken over and my safe that takes a bit longer. I’ll write spaces being crumbled.” a line or a stanza and then when Gray also states about the I look back at it, I’m a bit disaplockdown and lack of inspirapointed with how it came out. tion, “The process to create this I end up scrapping a bunch of piece was a bit difficult. Being in lines or stanzas before really liklockdown from COVID it was ing the final result. I guess you hard to find a spot to draw from could say it’s like beating a dead reference, so I decided to draw horse. You write it, look it over my bed. This led to an outburst once, edit it, and then repeat” of ideas and ways I wanted to convey my thoughts. In the end I says Smith. Dallam states how “the entire finally came up with this piece.” school is invited to submit their Dallam talks about the comart.” munication between artists and She says to email pieces to miswriters, “Sometimes a writer entitymagazine@gmail.com. will ask a visual artist to illus-

One parent fights for students DANI BECKER Reporter Many high school experiences have been ruined for all grades because of Covid-19. A huge moment for many students in high school is their graduation. Once word spread around that seniors might not get to walk and have a somewhat normal graduation, senior mom, Kelly Shincarick, took a stand. Shincarick had posted an announcement on Change.org, a website that allows you to create petitions for anyone to sign. She had posted the link to Facebook and had her daughter, senior Rylee Vance Daley, to share it with all her fellow seniors. The petition started with a goal of 100 signatures; it has now accumulated over 1,000 signatures. It is not only students signing but also parents and other community members. Graduation is the final goodbye students get in high school. Se-

nior Haley Ries says, “Covid-19 has already taken so much from me and my fellow classmates. I’d hate to lose my graduation.” Another senior, Aliyah Gomez, states, “ We have been robbed of our football games, homecomings, and prom, we cannot lose graduation.” Many of the students signing the petition refuse to have a graduation done in their cars or in front of the school building. Shincarick found a way for the students’ voices to be heard. She says that starting this petition “felt necessary.” Shincarick mentions the struggles many students and families have faced from this ongoing virus. She believes, “the children deserve to celebrate their accomplishments during a difficult year.” Shincarick is not the only parent to feel this way as several students’ parents signed and helped communicate with other parents to sign the petition.

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Governor’s First Lady Art Show: Student work selected to be exhibited EVAN KUZEMCHAK Social Media Coordinator “The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) works with its partners and with First Lady Yumi Hogan to host a bi-annual statewide student artwork competition and exhibition. 48 pieces from all 24 local school systems and all grade levels hang in the House of Delegates in Annapolis, MD.” MSDE talks about the Governor’s First lady(Yumi Hogan) spring collection of Maryland students art. Hogan is “an artist and she hosts an art exhibition” where she chooses “two examples of student art from each county.” Normally the art would be “presented in an in-person gallery” but this year it will happen virtually. When the exhibition happened on March 18 there were “three jurors there were selected to blindly grade the artwork.” The jurors graded the art on a “variety of criteria like artistic vision, artistic voice, etc. the two highest scorers for each county are selected.” One of the people being Annika Peterson, junior. Peterson says they “were never shown the grades, but the highest scorers from each grade level got a governor citation.” “I was really surprised when

I first found out that my artwork had been chosen. I remember feeling super shocked and happy at the same time!” Peterson said, after finding out the news that she was selected. Peterson says that “all of the pieces that won were amazing” and there was some good competition. She feels it was “really cool to see [her] art with such great work” and she is very content. She “actually didn’t make [her] art to submit it to any contests, so [she] never even considered that it might be selected for anything.” Yumi Hogan once said, “Your artwork is an expression of your genuine self.....In other words, you alone have the control to create your special identity through your artwork.” In Peterson’s art piece she wanted to “create the effect of moonlight filtering through the trees.” She said overall that it is supposed to convey a sense of peace and “calmness.” Peterson feels that she “definitely succeeded,” and says that “it’s always really nice to get recognition for your work.” Peterson plans to pursue her art career by creating various amounts of art for school as well as “illustrating the September page in the yearbook” and also plans “on entering more contests in the future!”

Three trees with faces stand as moonlight shines through them, the rest of the trees are faceless. Photo Credit: Annika Peterson

Virtual college tours become popular GREER STRINE Sports Editor For the class of 2021 and now 2022, there has been a new way of going on college tours. With the pandemic, it isn’t easy to travel to the school of choice and just walk around campus. There had to be a more COVID safe way. College tours virtual allows students who may want to attend an out-of-school state more within reach. Colleges across the nation have been using platforms such as YouVisit, a 360-degree video, showing you every angle of the spots on campus where the cameras are located, giving that in-person feel. An admissions officer at Hofstra University told The New York Times, “When you’re doing these college visits, you go and sit somewhere on campus with your

mom and dad next to you and you watch the kids. You can hear the sounds and smell the smells. You can see yourself being there. We’re trying the best we can to deliver that virtually.” With virtual visits, there is no travel time in between you and the school. Emily Messick, junior is expressing interest in southern schools like Auburn University. Messick explains, “Virtual tours allow me to see the school when I’m unable to go in person. It certainly is helpful that I can see the school before visiting in person to know what I am expecting and find what I want/ don’t want in a college.” The New York Times stated, “Many universities closed their campuses in March of 2020, prime season for accepted high school seniors deciding where they will spend the next four years.”

March 29, 2021

Reflections Contest features students;

Participants explain experiences KIMBERLY EDGAR Reporter

to the competition, but this year’s theme “limited her options,” so instead she submitted a poem. “Reflections is a National PTA Layman felt “satisfied” when arts recognition program that seeing her final product, she endhelps students explore their own ed up titling her poem “I Am Me”. thoughts, feelings, and ideas, deShe described that the writer’s velop artistic literacy, increase block gave her some challenges, confidence, and find a love for but she found help with her famlearning that will help them beily. Layman received the come more successful not Award of Merit when only in school but in life. the contest concluded, Students create original meaning she was a runworks of art in response to ner up to the best pieces a theme,” states the coorof that category. dinators of the Reflections Similar to Layman, contest. Junior Grace Herron did The theme for this the contest this year as year’s program was “I she has done every sinmatter because…” The gle year since elementaavailable art categories ry school. Herron states are dance choreography, that “it is a way to exfilm production, literapress my creativity, so I ture, music composition, love participating in it.” photography, visual arts, Elena Schell playing the guitar Unlike Layman, Herron and special artist category. “While the primary focus displaying her musical talent. She partic- loved the theme. She exof Reflections is a celebra- ipated in the Reflections Contest and won plains that she loves writtion of creativity through the award of outstanding interpretation. ing “interpretive poems” positive recognition, final- PHOTO CREDIT: Pamela Harvey Pho- and that the theme fits her very well. ists from NHHS PTSA will tography Herron submitted move on to the HCCPTA a “poem called A Lost level,” also mentions the coDandelion Wish, which was a artist, the uniqueness of the inordinators. Shakespearean sonnet following “Contestants interpret the terpretation and the quality of iambic pentameter.” Herron had theme by writing, creating art, the entry are heavily weighed.” also received the Award of Mertaking a photo, composing mu- Some students’ works have sic, making a film, and/or choreo- been featured at the Statue of it, meaning she was also a rungraphing a dance. There is a brief Liberty! This contest gives stu- ner-up. Herron says she might written portion wherein the con- dents many opportunities to receive a certificate in the mail testant explains his interpreta- take pride in their work so that for her award. Senior Elena Schell also partion of the theme. Special artists hopefully in the future as adults ticipated in the contest every are welcome to participate and they can pursue it. year since elementary school. Sophomore Maggie Layman have their own set of guidelines. Schell entered “an original song The contest is inclusive of all ages participated in this year’s conthat (she) wrote called Daisy to and abilities from PreK-12,” says test, Layman has participated Rose about the fact that kids in Reflections Committee Chair- every year and looked forward our generation are growing up to participating this year. She person, Kimberly Truxel. way too fast.” Schell was excitTruxel explains that every par- said that she was excited, but ticipant is celebrated, there are she did struggle at first, “the ed and prepared for this theme, “no wrong answers.” “At the local theme was more difficult this she states, “I was excited about schools, students are honored in year than it has been in the the theme “I Matter Because” besome way. Any entries that are past.” Layman explained saying cause it can pretty much be apconsidered at the county level are she usually submitted drawings plied to anything.” honored in a county-wide recognition ceremony AND the top entries, as chosen by judges, receive $50 Barnes and Noble gift cards,” states Truxel. The judging of the contest is difficult according to Truxel, “art is impossible to judge, but the written statements of the

Changing perspective: physics teachers explain how teaching in an online world effects them BEN SERSEN Reporter “This year is a completely different animal” claims Mr. Michael Knoll, physics teacher, when asked about the engagement of his students. “I thoroughly understand what my students are going through,, I have a son who is in college doing his classes virtually right now, and another son who is a sophomore in high school doing his classes virtually,” The NH science teacher adds, “I see from their point of view and from the parents’ point of view what some of the frustrations are with this [virtual learning].” Knoll also claimed “With the subject that I teach as well, it’s frustrating not to be able to do some of the hands-on activities that we normally would do in a science class.”

The 28-year veteran teacher claims “It’s not the same” when comparing a virtual physics lab to a public school physics lab. “It’s a lot more engaging when you’re doing it in a classroom with a group of students working together as opposed to trying to talk about it over a computer screen.” He adds, “As far as the variety of lab activities we would be doing, most of them weren’t conducive at all to doing at home because we have equipment at school that most people aren’t going to have in their home to perform the labs.” Knoll is one of two Physics teachers at North Harford and he is not the only one finding difficulty in teaching virtually. Mr. Douglas Heeter, the other physics teacher at North Harford, claims “probably the biggest is-

sue I’ve experienced personally is that engagement aspect” “I like the hands on, being able to roam around and interact - you can kind of do that a little bit on the computer, you can have some conversations [but] it’s not quite the same.” Heeter stated, “You learn by doing in science and [we’re] without that opportunity throughout this year up to this point, it’s been rough.” when talking about the difficulty with the engagement process. The 25-year veteran teacher looks towards the bright side claiming “we are kind of fortunate with the science classes that we have all kinds of online simulations and things that we can do.” Students at NH will return to 4-day a week in person instruction beginning April 7.

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March 29, 2021

March 29, 2021

Cry of the Hawk

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March 29, 2021

Cry of t

‘ blood.”

On March 8, 2014 over 200 people aboard a Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared out of mid-air. Time explains that “despite government officials setting out on what they called an “unprecedented” search by air and sea that involved multiple countries and spanned at least three years. The aircraft and the remains of the 239 passengers remain missing.”

CHLOE WARD Reporter From songs to movies to books about scientific theory, dreams are a part of the universal human experience. They can be vivid or abstract, and most of the time, they are not even remembered the next day. But why do we all share this strange phenomenon? Some theorists take a scientific approach, and believe there is no supernatural meaning behind dreams, but instead it is the subconscious’s way of sorting through memories and complicated feelings from everyday life (healthline. com). This happens during the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) period of the sleep process, when the brainwaves are almost as active as they are when the person is awake (health.clevelandclinic.org). The visuals people get can come from experiences mixed with imagination.

Junior Maggie Sadiq conveys the power that the subconscious holds, and that dreams can help us comprehend things that the conscious mind cannot, mostly helping us process and cope with what happens in life. “They can also tell us a lot about ourselves, and how we perceive the world around us,” she says. However, not all think it is so straight forward. Some attempt to interpret the dreams as a deeper experience, sometimes linking them to predicting the future or religious prophecies. This art is known as Oneiromancy, and goes back to Greek mythology as a form of divination, according to britannica.com. Often throughout history the religious would association dreams with divinity, and would be hailed as Prophets amongst their followers. Today, there are psychologists and even

psychics who specialize in interpreting dreams. Theresa Chung is a spiritual Author who wrote several works helping people interpret them at home, including “The Dream Dictionary from A to Z.” She breaks down different symbols that may occur in a dream, and helps the reader to analyze what it may mean. For example, cats can mean creativity, power, and independence, or they may mean luck or deception, depending on the situation. These symbols may also predict the future in the eyes of psychics. Sadiq mentions that she has “dreamt of things happening before they ever actually happened,” and she knows people who have had similar precognitions. While this may just be the brain deceiving and coping with a situation, a similar phenomenon to déjà vu, there is always the possibility that people can predict the future.

scie n

The Taos Hum is in a small city in Taos, New Mexico, where residents and visitors of the town hear a “low-frequency hum in the desert air.” Only about two percent of the town report hearing the hum. It’s said no one can locate the sound’s origin, some believe it’s because of unusual acoustics but others believe it’s “mass hysteria or some secret, sinister purpose.”

Compiled by: Kendall Schubert

Why do we dream?Is there prophetic meaning?

and weird th ings

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Residents in Strasbourg, France “were struck by a seemingly uncontrollable urge to dance.” The “dancing plague of 1518” was originated by Frau Troffea when she stepped into the street and started dancing, which then continued for almost a week. As time went on more and more people joined her in dancing. There was no explanation and “local physicians blamed it on “hot

Wacky

10-11 - Features

the Hawk

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“ I think that we have made a lot of mistakes but most of them have stemmed from our greed. We want the most of everything and the best of everything. For example, countries were land grabbing and conquering ir other people’s land just to satisfy the l leve t trus a own greed. This broke amoung humans.”

Lucas Sexton, senior

Compiled by: Zoe Mikles

Compiled by: Rachel Keeney

“Somewhere out in the universe there are more beings and I think something like humans, space is endless, and they have found another planet like earth. There's definitely other life out there.” Caroline Ulmer, senior “There's no doubt in my mind that there's different planets suitable for life, just not in our galaxy. Space is literally so massive you can't even begin to wrap your mind around it.” Lauren Sawyer, junior “The multiverse theory is my favorite theory. There is definitely multiple universes.” Clare Cummings, junior

“The new earth is an explanation on how Heaven is not the final destination. It's more of a waiting room for New Earth. This is a perfect version of earth where there is no sin.” Sierra McManus, sophomore “Aliens definitely exist but there's no way there's another planet with people like us out there.” Nicole Hackett, senior

Little moments with beloved people become memories that last a lifetime MEGHAN KALCK SSC Editor

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Does outer space end? Is there another Earth?

Life’s little moments can turn into the best memories that will last a lifetime. To some people these memories are moments where they felt they were truly alive Sophomore Audrey Letourneau has felt like she has not truly lived yet in her life. “To me, truly living means that I would have to be truly happy with my life and myself,” Letourneau stated She said that she does have fun moments with her friends and that she has been happy in her life before there was anything “significant” in her life that has made her feel like she truly lived. Sophomore Abbey Saltzer has felt like she was truly living when she went on a recent trip to the Florida Keys. She was out on a boat

looking at reefs. “We slowly ascended and just like that we were in a different world,” Saltzer stated while they were scuba diving in the reefs. She stated how it was a “crazy concept,” to be able to scuba dive even though it took a lot of training. “It is truly one of the most rewarding experiences,” Saltzer stated, this moment in her life was one of the best and the ocean was “breathtaking,” how they did not just see the beautiful reefs but also all the different species of fish, lobsters, and jellyfish. Senior Abby Merson has also felt like she has truly lived during summer of 2019. She and her family were very busy that summer and they did a lot of traveling. “We went to South Carolina for a week, and then went on a day trip to

Georgia,” Merson stated, she got to try a bunch of authentic southern foods like Hush Puppies and Shrimp & Grits. They also went down to Bethany Beach and a concert that summer as well. “My mental health was great, and I was the happiest I had ever been,” Merson says. Merson was really excited to be able to travel because it is one of her favorite things to be able to do. “I was able to try new things and explore new places, and now I have lots of great memories to look back on.” According to website projectwednesday.org “To truly live means to be in the present, to live in the moment and not waste your time dwelling on the past, or what could have been. To let go of what has happened and focus on what you can do right now. Wha ti mos s the tere t inst the ing ory

? “ My Com favo pi rite t Zoe led by: expl Mikl h o e r o e r d in tube y is t es a h t expl itled The video on e one ains Y E ou gg t ever y life hat we w . It basic can b time on ill expe ally rie E ec -Car ome a h arth bef nce ore w oline ighe r Ulm er,se being.” e nior

Page 12/ ENT

63rd Annual Grammys fall to lowest ratings

Fans question fairness of award show MAURA CHANEY Entertainment Editor After the build of anticipation, the 63rd Grammy Awards took place on Sunday, March 14. With exciting performances, tough competition, and record holders, fans tuned in from around the world to support their favorite artists. Excitement boomed from around the world as Harry Styles accepted his first ever Grammy Award for his pop solo performance of “Watermelon Sugar.” Senior Jayden Weiman predicted this win last month, and she says she was so proud to see him win. “Watching Harry Styles win his first Grammy was literally the best night of my life,” says Weiman. “He deserved it!” Styles also opened the show with an upbeat performance of this song, his first time taking the stage since December. Rocking a leather suit and a green boa, Styles and his band brought the energy with an exciting opening performance. Weiman says this performance is now her favorite from him. Beyoncé made history this year with her 28th win, breaking the record for the most Grammys by a female artist. Senior Ben Ewers shares his excitement and love for the singer, saying, “It makes me feel so proud as such a huge fan of Beyoncé to see her winning

March 29, 2021

Cry of the Hawk

and getting this recognition because she truly deserves it. She has worked so hard for all of her accomplishments and success.” Beyoncé took home four awards from her nine nominated categories. “She is always outdoing and elevating herself as a performer. She is such an inspiration and icon,” Ewers adds. Her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, also took home her first award for her role in the music video for

“Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there’s no nomination considerations.” ~ Zayn Malik

“Brown Skin Girl.” Two of these four awards were received from a collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion for Beyoncé’s feature on the remix of “Savage.” Megan Thee Stallion also won Best New Artist. Taylor Swift accepted her third Album Of The Year award at this year’s show, making her the first female artist to receive this award three times. Senior Emily Johnson had hoped for this win for Swift, and after hearing the news, she says she could not imagine anyone else receiving that award. “Her album ‘Folk-

lore’ is so good and she is such an inspiring person. She fully deserved this,” says Johnson. Swift also performed a medley of songs in a scenic indoor setting. Swift and Beyoncé made history as an award winning female artists, but awards show itself catered towards the inclusion of women and people of color. The nominees in the Best Country Album award and Best Rock Performance were all female or bands with a female lead. Also, the nominees for Best New Artist were all women or POC. Although many artists broke records, received first time awards, and performed their hit songs, this year’s Grammy ratings hit an all-time low. According to Deadline News, only 8.8 million people tuned in for the show, down by 61 percent from last year. Some artists are also commenting on the possibility of the show being rigged, and fans are now referring to the show as the “Scammy’s.” Singer Zayn Malik spoke out on Twitter about the Recording Academy, where he wrote, “Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there’s no nomination considerations,” despite releasing an album after the eligibility period, which is leading to great speculation about the show, especially after fans and artists had hoped for nominations for songs that had performed well.

New Avatar film raises excitement CHLOE WARD Reporter

Earth, water, fire, and air reunite once again in the expansion of beloved Nickelodeon franchise, Avatar the Last Airbender. Avatar Studios was recently developed, led by the original creators, leaving fans to wonder what is to come. Avatar was an animated fantasy series on Nickelodeon in 2005, introducing a world where people can “bend” one of the four elements to their will, like magic. In this universe, there is one person who can control all the elements, and the series follows his journey on bringing peace among the warring nations. The series finished after three seasons, and was well received by ages. A live action adaptation directed by M. Night Shyamalan was released without the involvement of creators on the animated team, and inevitably received almost completely negative reviews from critics and fans. Memes spread across the internet quickly denouncing the movie and even denying it’s existence. This has lead to fear of new adaptations not being loyal to the source material. While there is fear amongst some returning fans about the series returning, junior Kyle Fannin is optimistic. He watched it in elementary and middle school

with his siblings on Nickelodeon, so he is counting on high nostalgia in future additions. “I hope for the new movie to be as close to the old show as possible,” he says, along with including realistic stunts and as entertaining of a plot. The 60 episode series gained a resurgence in popularity on Netflix after being released on the platform in May 2020, bringing in a new generation of viewers. It broke records, remaining at number one on their chart for over 60 consecutive days, according to forbes.com. Netflix quickly began production of a new live action that Summer, but original creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko did not like the direction it was taking, so left the project, much to the disappointment of awaiting fans. However, there is a silver lining; they will be running the new studio as co-chief creative officers, ensuring the story will be expanded in the direction they choose. DiMartino has a running Avatar graphic novel series as well, which may inspire future projects. As of now, most voice actors will also be returning, hinted by recent reunions at several conventions and shows, including a virtual reunion for SYFY, a cable channel covering the new live action rumors.

Big Time Rush will be coming to screens this month MALINAH JERSCHEID Reporter Netflix announced in February that Nickelodeon’s hit show Big Time Rush will be coming to screens everywhere on March 26. The boys of BTR took to Instagram to release the big announcement by creating a video that shows a group chat. The video starred each of the boys, sending videos of themselves, all preparing for something, but viewers weren’t sure what. The last text of the video was a release date from Netflix itself. BTR members, Carlos PenaVega, Logan Henderson, Kendall Scmidt, and James Maslow each reposted the video on their individual Instagram accounts. Each post gained thousands of likes and comments rather quickly. Stephen Glickman, who played the band’s producer Gustavo Rocque on the show, commented on PenaVega’s post with “GET IN THE STUDIO DOGS’, his signature line throughout the show. Teen Nick also commented on PenaVega’s post with “oh oh ohH OOOOH”, which may sound familiar as it’s the beginning of the show’s theme song. The show was aired November 28, 2009 on Nickelodean. It follows the story of four hockey players from Minnesota navigating through Hollywood when they’re selected by mega music

producer Gustsvo Rocque to form a boy band. The series consisted of seventy-four episodes that were released over the span of four years. The show is the sixth longest-running live-action series on Nickelodean to date. The show came to an end in 2013, when each of the boys who were not so boys anymore decided to focus on their solo music careers. In addition to the series, a film adaptation was released in March of 2012. The movie follows the group as they visit London during their world tour. It pays tributes to The Beatles, which Kendall calls “the greatest band to exist”. The band just happens to save the world during their trip, and cover multiple Beatles hits, including “Help!”, “We Can Work It Out”, “Revolution”, and “A Hard Day’s Night”. Students of North Harford who grew up watching the show throughout middle school are just as excited for the release. In a poll of 160 students, 92% of people said they couldn’t wait for the series to come back. Sophomore Lily Jerscheid said the show was “long overdue” and added that she “can’t wait to binge watch the show after school. It’ll be middle school all over again.” Senior Shanyn Wolfe said that BTR is “such a nostalgic show

from when we were younger so it’s great to be able to rewatch it”. Junior Abbey Huneke said in an interview, “I’m excited! I never really watched the show growing up, so I’m excited to watch the whole thing and see what the hype is about”. Netflix has yet to release whether they will be putting all four seasons of the show or simply a limited part of the series. Fans are now requesting a “Big Time Reunion Tour”, when the pandemic is over, that sparked from the band reuniting via Zoom amid the shutdown back in April of 2020. The band released a socially distanced acoustic cover of their song Worldwide, with the caption “These challenging times around the world have made us want to connect with all of you so much. They have also made us want to stay connected with each other. We got inspired to record and sing together again seeing how many smiles our check in video created weeks back. We spent some time recently recording one of our favorite songs (safely apart) and wanted to share it with you all as our small way of saying thank you. We are sending love to all of you WORLDWIDE. Please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, pls take care of all of your fellow neighbors. We’ll be thinking about you...”.

Avatar Studio’s continue to build excitement for new projects in the future. Fans await news on upcoming films. Photo Credit: Nickelodeon.

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Cry of the Hawk

*Spoiler Alert*

WandaVision takes over Disney+ ADDY DEAN Reporter

“WandaVision’’ is a Marvel Studio’s television series that can be exclusively streamed on Dinsey+. The series debuted on January 15 and according to Forbes it was watched around 6.5 million times in its opening week. Head writer Jack Shaeffer and director Matt Shakman brought the Marvel comic characters; Wanda Maximoff, Scarlet Witch, and Vision to life. Marvel described the show as “a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Starring Elizabeth Olsen as

warp reality. Marvel also refers to her as a hero who attempts to hone her abilities and do what she believes is right to help the world. Her powers also include a form of telepathy that includes mental manipulation – she has been able to put her enemies into nightmare-type visions of their past or potential future. Senior Jackie McGowan was an avid watcher of the super hero mini series. She had described it as “very intricate and visually detailed.” The show is very visually intense, McGowan added “the

WandaVision premiered in January 2021 with nine episodes. Deadline.com says it notched a series high with 589 million views in the first few weeks. Photo credit: DigitalSpy. Wanda Maximoff, a seemingly normal suburban wife and Paul Bettany as Vision, a seemingly normal suburban husband who is actually an advanced android. These two main characters idealized suburban lives with white picket fences and working 9-5. However, in the previews and quickly into the first episode, scenes lead viewers to believe everything is not what it seems. Vision is a fictional superhero character created by Roy Thomas and first appeared in Avengers volume 1 #57. His character is also reportedly loosely based on the Timely Comics character of the same name who was an alien from another dimension. Vision is a fully unique being, Vision came about thanks to a combination of Wakandan Vibranium, Asgardian lightning, an Infinity Stone, and more. Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlet Witch, has been a “master of mystical arts for both the X-Men and the Avengers”. According to Marvel, she is a sorceress who has the ability to

visuals added so much to the plot the warped reality felt real. That is what originally drew me into the series. The way Marvel movies are made, the cinematography was always so well done.” According to Cheat Sheet, the budget for WandaVision was upwards of about $25 million per episode, making the final budget of the series around $200 million. The senior says she has seen all the Avenger’s movies and it is her favorite series. “It is so easy to attach yourself to the characters and I love the emotional bond you can create with them. My favorite aspect of the show [WandaVision] was how strong Wanda’s pain and grief was, it showed how powerful she was.” Wanda’s grief stemmed from the loss of her family and through her powers she was able to create an alternate reality that brought her family ‘back to life’ McGowan explained “she learned how to control her powers in order to bring them [her family] back and it led to her realizing that she is the Scarlet Witch.

March 29, 2021

Triple the titles: new Spiderman movie revealed

LILLI GRECO Copy Editor

In summer of 2019, the most recent movie in the Marvel Spiderman trilogy - Spider-man, Far From Home - was released. The movie racked up about 1.132 billion dollars in the box office and left the watchers on a cliffhanger at the end, revealing to the world Spiderman’s secret identity as Peter Parker. Needless to say, with that ending, fans have been waiting for the next installment of the series eagerly. By the looks of it, that wait is coming to a close. On February 23, three of the actors featured in the Spiderman movies (Tom Holland, who plays Peter Parker, Zendaya, who plays MJ - the love interest, and Jacob Batalon who plays Ned - the lovable best friend) all posted on their Instagram pages title drops for the upcoming movie. Only,

all three titles released were different, according to whose page you looked at. From Tom Holland, Phone Home. Zendaya gave us Home Slice, and Jacob Batalon - Home Wrecker. Naturally, people were questioning which title was the real one. The answer - none of them. On February 24, Tom Holland posted another video - this time with the real title revealed at the end. The movie will be called No Way Home - an ominous title to pick up where Far From Home left off, especially considering how the last movie ended. The title was revealed in a short video with other failed titles (notably Work From Home, which was crossed out and someone had written “Noooo” next to it). Elena Schell, senior and self proclaimed avid Spiderman fan, is really looking forward to this latest installation in the series. “I think he [Spiderman] might have a lot to deal with about

Tony Stark’s death.” Schell said. “Since a lot of the themes in the two previous Spiderman movies had a lot to do with Peter and Tony’s father and son relationship.” There’s still more to work through following the previous movie, moving from Iron Man’s death.. And now with Mysterio’s death and betrayal at the end of the same movie, Spiderman seems to have a lot of mourning in his future. “Also, there might be some time travel or something, since they can do that now.” Schell said. “Plus, if Spiderman gets stuck in an alternate timeline, that would be great to set up the Doctor Strange movie.” On the title reveal, Schell said, “It made me mad, but it was really clever. I liked to see all the possible titles that they could have gone with, and that all three of the main actors were involved in the process.”

Netflix aims offensive joke at Taylor Swift

Fans speak now in pop-star’s defense MAURA CHANEY Entertainment Editor The new Netflix original series Ginny & Georgia is receiving backlash after making a sexist comment about singer Taylor Swift in a recent episode that has fans and Swift herself in a spiral on Twitter. This series has gained attention for its diversity, inclusivity, and positive messages being spread. However, the positivity of the show is being questioned after main character, Ginny, comments on Swift. In the show’s finale, Ginny, played by Antonia Gentry, and her mom Georgia, played by Brianne Howey, get in a fight after Georgia finds more things about Ginny’s life and relationships than she would have liked to have been shared. In a fit of anger and frustration, Ginny mutters, “What do you care? You go through men faster than Taylor Swift.” This line took over the internet almost instantly and caused major controversy. Fans of Swift

ran to Twitter to defend the singer until she had spoken out, and since her tweet criticizing the show’s comment, fans have backed her up and supported her response. In the tweet sent by Swift, she criticizes Netflix, and says, “Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard working women… Also, Netflix, after Miss Americana, this outfit doesn’t look cute on you. Happy Women’s History month I guess.” Swift references her documentary that was put on Netflix in January of last year, where she spoke about her personal-life and struggles. A main point she had made was her relationships and dating life, and the decade-long struggle for her to be taken seriously as an artist, rather than perceived as a young woman on dating sprees, a narrative created that she has no control over. Fan of the singer, senior Juls Jackson was disgusted by the

comment made. “I think it’s super disrespectful because this is the second time they have done this to her after filming her documentary for the company. I wish the whole ‘serial dater Taylor Swift’ narrative wasn’t something that was widely known and used because it’s honestly sexist. It’s also not their business who she has dated or how many men she has dated,” says Jackson. She adds that Swift is a “brilliant icon for many young women” and she wishes that the comments and attacks would come to a stop. Gentry has since spoken out about the comment, saying that she feels her character “reflects all of life’s contradictions and imperfections,” as she explained on an Instagram post. She adds that her character “makes mistakes – morally, mentally, physically, emotionally – and not just within herself, but within the broken world she lives in.”

Page 14- Student, Society, and Culture

Cry of the Hawk

March 29, 2021

Guy Fieri opens up Flavortown restaurant; Student spring must have’s

Locations receive mixed reviews

MARISSA ALTENBURG H/S Editor

Guy Fieri opened pop-up restaurants in 20 states across the US. Fieri is opening five locations in Maryland serving a variety of foods on a menu curated by Fieri. Fieri and the co-founder Robert Earl who is the post executive chef of Hard Rock Café are working together to buy franchises going through bankruptcy and building their Flavortown restaurants. Their franchises in Maryland and other states are all running out of old Bertucci restaurants. The locations are all ghosting locations, meaning there is no dining inside and everything is either delivered or picked up. The prices of his foods range from 4.99 to 14.99. The menu features a variety of items cheesesteak egg rolls (14.99), bourbon brown sugar BBQ wings and buffa-

lo wings (13.99), the chicken guy (11.99), the crazy Cuban sandwich (9.99), the ‘OG’ caesar salad (8.99), cajun chicken alfredo (14.99), fried pickles with ranch (6.99) and more including vegetarian options and desserts. According to 150 reviews there are mixed opinions. No reviews have been written for the Bel Air location however the general rating of the chain received a 1.9 out of five-star rating. 64 percent of North Harford students said they will or would like to try Flavortown’s food. Those people that said no either said they don’t know where it is located, or they did not know it was going to be around in Maryland. Reviews include one star, “All orders have also been over 30 minutes late. Food was cold and soggy; I live five minutes down the street. I ordered us-

ing their own delivery app.” Two stars, “If this restaurant had my name on it, I'd be concerned. Cuban was good but hard to eat. Chicken sandwich was over cooked and too big to eat easily. Fries were decent. Neither was something we'd order again”. Five stars “The food is out of bounds! Loaded with flavor, quick service, and friendly staff. Classic Flavor Town location.” Sophomore Julia Eakes says, “I’m surprised by that rating because the restaurant is supposed to be really good and Guy Fieri should certainly know how to run a good restaurant. I’m not sure I would still be interested in trying. I’d want to look at what was wrong with it and then decide if it’s still worth it.” The Maryland locations other than Bel Air include White Marsh, Gaithersburg, Columbia, and Timonium.

GRACE FELDBUSH Reporter Spring is right around the corner and students are ready. Sophomore Madalyn Rutch says “Having a small speaker you can take with you anywhere has made everything so much better.” Rutch says she got a cheap small one from five below so she doesn’t have to worry about it too much, and is easy to carry around places. Rutch says she takes the speaker with her everywhere, on walks, laying in the sun, hiking, and swimming and listening to music makes everything so much better. “A good pair of headphones is also a must have in my book.” Rutch says. Rutch also says she makes a new music playlist every spring for the upcoming spring and summer, and she listens to it all the time. “This has been a tradition for a few years now and I want to keep it going,” She says.

Summer Bummer;

Student perspective on Senior Week MADISON FETHERSTON Reporter As we steadily approach the end of a virtual school year, students look forward to warmer months and the anticipated end of a long year. While schools' welcome back students and other public spaces become more social, the thoughts of Senior Week are ever-present in our seniors' minds. A year ago, the class of 2020 had their senior year flipped around at the birth of the pandemic; No dazzling prom, no big graduation, and a hazardous senior week or no senior week at all. A year later, our students are three quarters in and prepared to return slowly to an in-school setting. With all the recent updates on COVID-19, what do our seniors think their summer will be like? 78 percent of students plan on attending senior week this summer, while 22 percent of our seniors will not be attend-

ing senior week due to the prevalence of COVID-19. Of the 78 percent, many members of the 2021 class agreed that it was necessary to be cautious, but they still plan to have fun. Senior Caroline Ulmer suggests that, “It’s all a little dangerous but if you and the group as a whole make smart decisions, you’ll have a good week. Social distancing and masks are still just as important.” In previous years, groups packed into hotel rooms, roamed the boardwalk, and soaked up all the fun that Ocean City had to offer. Last year, Ocean City became a hot spot for COVID-19 due to the crowds. For this exact reason, senior Elena Schell states, “It’s kind of dumb. Ocean City is not the place to go and add to the numbers.” To lessen the hazards of a possible senior week, smaller groups and a limit to seniors has been suggested. Junior Colin Smith encourages the limit to seniors for senior

week as he agrees, “Only seniors should go to senior week. We’ve all had a long year but us juniors still have the possibility of going to events that our seniors didn’t get this year. It’s only fair to let them have their senior week when they didn’t really get a senior year.” In Ocean City, for the span of about three weeks, the beaches tend to be overrun by the graduating class between the end of May and the beginning of June. “With so many people in one place, it’s going to be a risk. Unless everyone is vaccinated or going with very few people, it should not be happening. COVID is not gone and there’s people at home who are at risk.” Senior Sam Meisel reminds her peers. Many students and staff agree it’s been a long year that was hard on most everyone. While the thoughts of summer buzz around in conversation it’s important to take action and be smart during the ongoing pandemic.

Radel states. She says she needs at least a few spring rainy days a year, because it is her all-time favorite weather. Radel thinks it is refreshing to have rain, after having warm days so many days in a row. Senior Daniel Beichler says he loves the outdoors and

Daniel Beichler loves camping in spring. “Good camping equipment is essential for me because it is one of my favorite things to do,” Beichler explains. A good tent, sleeping bag, and chair goes a long way. Beichler says right when it gets warm enough, he swims in a pond that his family owns, so it is essential that the pond is clean and ready to go. He also needs pool noodles, and other floaty toys to relax in the pond.

Madalyn Rutch Sophomore Valorie Radel says, “Sunglasses are a must have for me, sun shining into my eyes is my least favorite thing about spring.” Radel also says that bug bites are her least favorite thing, and makes her extremely uncomfortable, so carrying bug spray with her is a must. “This is not really something you can buy, but my favorite weather is spring rainy days,”

Valorie Radel

Caitlyn Nailor “I love laying in the pond relaxing, with my dog, it is one of my favorite things to do.” he explains. Sophomore Caitlyn Nailor says she loves going on walks with her dog in the spring, since it is perfect walking weather. “I need a good leash and walking shoes and clothes for my walks, to make sure I am comfortable,” Nailor says. She explains she loves spending time outside in general, and gets burnt so easily, so a good sunscreen is also a must in her book.

March 29, 2021

Cry of the Hawk

Page 15- Student, Society, and Culture

Graphic design to illustrator;

Student discusses experiences in art COLBY CRISS Reporter

No stress weekends give students break; Escapades with friends create memories JESSICA FANNIN Reporter Getting away on the weekend is important to many students at NH especially for a junior, Marissa Altenburg. She explained how her, “trips are the most memorable because [...] [they] get to all experience things together and just having more time than a sleepover,” makes it memorable. Altenburg’s favorite trip with her friends so far was to, “Cape May because [...] [they] saw the most beautiful sunset the first night. It felt like a rush to see something like that in person. Driving around at night was fun along with not seeing many people there because it was winter. It felt like the place was all,” to themselves. This trip made her, “appreciate being away from school and stress for the weekend.” Along with trips away from home Altenburg also values “quality time to relax.” As long as she has “good friends and good conversation [...] [she] can make an experience.” In the future she hopes to “go to a place called Fred W

Symmes Chapel in South Carolina because of its breathtaking view.” For senior Kierstyn McManus and her friends, they “love exploring.” They like to go to places they have been before and then “find more discrete places from there alongside streams,” to hang out. She values “talks about deep stuff,” when she spends quality time with her friends. McManus believes, “there’s something about nature that makes you feel authentic and connects you to your surroundings. [...] She loves getting out and just enjoying the quietness and beauty of what’s outside.” A trip to remember for McManus was in “this past December” when she “drove to the Lost City, West Virginia with two friends. It was very mountainous and covered in snow at the time.” She found it, “such a great getaway.” To keep the adventure alive, McManus and her friends “plan to take two years off after college to travel in a van around the country. [...] [They] are saving up tons of money

now to travel out west and up north each summer.” They really want to do this, “especially because [...] [they’re] all going to different colleges and traveling is something we all promised to do.” Jackie McGowan is another senior who goes on trips with her friends. What makes them memorable is the time they spend together, “there is never a dull moment.” It does not matter what they are doing because they “always grow closer just a little bit more,” each time they hang out. Her and some friends like to, “go and explore the amazing nature hikes with snacks to sit down and have a little time to appreciate it fully.” Her favorite trip, “was to Susquehanna River because of being right on the water and it was so peaceful to be present there.” On the trip, McGowan and her friends were able, “to live life to the fullest.” She “hopes to do the same adventures in the future even though,” they’ll be older and have different lives outside of high school.

Altenburg and her friends raced down to the beach to catch a glimpse of the sky as it exploded with more color, “than [...] [they] have ever seen.”; She hopes, “to go on longer trips in the future.” Photo credts: Marissa Altenburg

The world of art includes many forms of expression. According to Arthearty, some notable forms of art include painting, sculpture, literature, architecture, music, dance, theater, photography, and films. However, one student’s art of choice strays from this norm. University student Sarah Fannin is currently finishing her bachelor’s degree at Towson University and has been focused on a specific form of art, known as illustration. Illustration is defined by AspireArtStudios as a visualization or depiction created by an artist that revolves around drawing, sketching, painting, or photographing things seen either imagined or remembered through graphical representation. “I’ve been studying art in general for about 6 years and illustration for about 3 of those years. I started off as a graphic designer but found the common vector style and approach of graphic design to not be very inspiring for me,” said Fannin. “I was introduced to graphic design while I was studying my associates in fine arts.” Her passion for illustration would lead her to attending Towson. She gave her thoughts on the difficulties of being in art school. “I wouldn’t say it was necessarily difficult to learn because I had a passion for it,”

Fannin said. “The biggest difficulty was finding my own style in art school. They can teach you for years about the basic rules of art, and the approaches you can take. But, in the end, whether your art is good or not is completely up to your own drive.” Her drive for illustration is not over yet, despite her schooling ending. “[She’ll] continue with illustration. [She’s] graduating with [her] bachelor’s at the end of this semester and by that time, [she] will have opened [own] shop where [she] will sell my stickers, prints, and commissions,” Fannin described her plans after school. However, that is not her only ambition. “I’m sending my art to art directors of various companies in order to persuade them to hire me for illustration projects,” she says. Fannin also noted her biggest project yet. “My biggest project so far would probably be my BFA thesis project, where I’m creating six 5”x7” posters of normal things in strange environments,” Fannin explained. According to Barry University, a BFA is your Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, which is the degree Fannin is currently working towards. She noted her excitement towards her profession, stating “I’m really grateful to have a profession that brings me genuine joy.”

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Cry of the Hawk

March 29, 2021

t h g u a C in Time⏰ Trailblazers of time travel: Impossible becomes plausible CHLOE WARD Reporter

“It depends on the issue, but usually after an hour I realize there’s no use holding grudges. I think people should be more forgiving.” Sarah Hardiman, junior

“It depends on what exactly they did.” Ian Calhoun, sophomore

“It depends on what they’ve done, and also what they’ve done for forgiveness.” Brenna Rose, senior

s e o d g n o l w o o t H e k it ta mebody? o s e v i g r fo “I normally get over it in one to three days. I don’t like to hold grudges.” Laurel Brown, senior

COMPILED BY EMILY IAMPIERI

Science fiction films and shows like Back to the Future and Doctor Who make time travel seem fun and possible, only requiring a mad scientist, his sidekick, and an elaborate time machine. But is it possible to travel to different moments in time, and how far could we go? Time travel has been theorized for hundreds of years, gaining in popularity around the time of Albert Einstein. His theory of time relativity linked time and space, causing debate amongst intellectuals. According to Einstein’s theory, the faster you go, the slower you experience time. If this is true, there is a possibility that we could develop a “time machine”, that allows us to travel faster than the speed of light. However, this only allows time travel to the future. Sophomore Riley Mason believes that this theory is plausible, but she has some concerns. “You might get stuck in that time period forever, or only for a little while,” she says. Scientists have only scratched the surface on time travel, and there is little information on whether or not you would be able to return to the same world you left behind. Mason says that she would not take the chance, but many would for the sake of knowledge. However, going to the past as well may not be entirely impossible. A man by the name of Ronald Mallett was inspired by Einstein’s theory and began his research in the 1970s on the correlation between black holes and time travel. He has proven that in theory, circulating light in a black hole could create a space-time loop (academicminute.org). In the right conditions, neutrons could be arranged to have up and down particles, mimicking binary code, according to Mallet. This means that messages could be sent through the hole to the past or the future. While this does not prove traveling through time, it is the first step for physicists to realize a real time machine. However, for people to physically travel through time themselves, the human body would have to endure massive amounts of energy. According to astronomy.com, if one jumped into a black hole, they would be infinitely stretched vertically, and would end up “looking like a piece of spaghetti.” Also, if physicists found a way to progress into the future, there is no guarantee of a return, like mentioned by Mason. The traveler would need to reach the speed of light, which according to Space.com and Einstein’s theories, would most likely be fatal if it was even possible. Would you risk coming back to an entirely different Earth, millions of years later, if it meant you could travel through time?

Page 17, IDR

Cry of the Hawk

March 29, 2021

The science of time, Physics or illusion? ZOE MIKLES Features Editor

Making most of time; Every second counts KYLIE REDDING OP/ED Editor “You only live once.” This short and sweet sentiment seems to be the motto that many people live by. But saying it is the easy part, remembering to implement it into real life is where the challenge arises. So how do North Harford students make the most of their time on this planet? Lexi Wood, junior, stated that “I feel like my weeks go by pretty fast because I’m always busy.” She continues to explain that she works 20 hours a week, and when she’s not at work she’s doing schoolwork, at the dance, or spending time with her loved ones. Though Ian Calhoun, sophomore, agrees that “weeks fly by” he feels that “days are slow.” Calhoun also added that “time goes a lot faster when I’m doing a lot at once or when I’m doing something due soon.” In terms of making the time in her day count, Wood shared that “I always multitask. I can’t just sit and do something_ I have to have many things going on at once.” To elaborate on this, she explained “for example, if I’m watching TV, I like to color or do my homework, or if I’m just listening to class, I like to get extra work done to stay ahead.” Calhoun tries “to keep [himself] doing something all day.” He described that “in-between classes, I relax so I can be ready for my next class and after the school’s over I’ll sometimes paint or I’ll talk to my friends.” Similar to Wood, Calhoun seems to keep busy during the day. Though productivity is important, according to psychologytoday.com, it’s equally important to slow down once in a while and be “mindful of the present moment.” For both Wood and Calhoun, the process of staying in the present involves meditating. Calhoun explained, “I meditate, and I use different methods to bring myself down to earth and ground myself.” He reflected that “it keeps me very calm and focused and just overall puts me in a better mood.” Other than meditating, Wood also practices yoga when she gets “anxious or stressed.” Wood not only focuses on making the most of her days, but she also has many aspirations of how she hopes to spend the time in her life. While pondering her future, Wood stated “I wanna travel the world, I wanna go to beaches and especially Greece.” Wood also explained that she also wants to have a family, be a speech pathologist, and spend a lot of quality time with her friends. Calhoun’s life aspirations also include travel. He shared “I want to travel a lot with my friends and family and just make the most out of my life.” He added, “I’m just gonna go with the flow and live life as much as I can.” In the end, Wood says “don’t focus on all the fears and worries life brings you because there’s a positive side to almost every story.”

Timed tests, bedtimes, timed miles, the world seems to revolve around time but, according to physicist Albert Einstein, “the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. “ Physicists define time as the progression of events from the past into the future. It is not something that can be seen, touched, smelt, or tasted but, humans still measure it. While many physicists argue over the many theories of time there is one concept that appears to be agreed upon: the arrow of time. The concept was first explored by astronomer and physicist, Sir Arthur Eddington. According to Eddington, time appears to be inherently directional. The past lies behind us and is “fixed and immutable” the future, on the other hand, lies ahead and is not necessarily fixed. Andreas Albrecht, a physicist at the University of California gives perspective to the arrow of time providing the example that “eggs can be scrambled but not unscrambled and shattered teacups do not spontaneously reassemble.” The original theory of time as stated in 1905 by scientist Albert Einstein. While most people think of time as a constant, physicist Albert Einstein showed that time is an illusion; it is relative. According to Einstein, it can vary for different observers depending on your speed through space. time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast you move relative to something else. Einstein gives an example that a person “approaching the speed of light, a person inside a spaceship would age much slower than his twin at home.” General relativity also provides scenarios that could allow travelers to go back in time, according to NASA. One possibility could be to go faster than light, which travels at 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second) in a vacuum. Einstein’s equations, though, show that an object at the speed of light would have both infinite mass and a length of zero. This appears to be physically impossible, although some scientists have extended his equations and said it might be done. A linked possibility, NASA stated, would be to create “wormholes” between points in space-time. While Einstein’s equations provide for them, they would collapse very quickly and would only be suitable for very small particles. While Einstein’s theory provides a base for the understanding of time, physicist Carlo Rovelli believes it oversimplifies the concept. Rovelli is one of the creators and champions of loop quantum gravity theory, one of several ongoing attempts to marry quantum mechanics with general relativity. In contrast to the better-known string theory, Rovelli states that loop quantum gravity does not attempt to be a “theory of everything” out of which we can generate all of particle physics and gravitation. Rovelli wrote down his theory in a book. In the first, “The Crumbling of Time”, Rovelli attempts to show how established physics theories deconstruct our common-sense ideas. In part two, “The World without Time”, Rovelli puts forward the idea that events (just a word for a given time and location at which something might happen), rather than particles or fields, are the basic constituents of the world. In the final section, “The Sources of Time”, Rovelli reconstructs how our illusions have arisen, from aspects of thermodynamics and quantum mechanics. He argues that our perception of time’s flow depends entirely on our inability to see the world in all its detail.

Cry of the Hawk

March 29, 2021

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Please note that Cry of the Hawk typically covers stories concerning our community and its members. But, we also know how important it is to cover issues and topics outside of our area. This article features Houston teacher, Ms. Sara Gonzales, a friend of NH journalism teacher Mrs. Jennifer Chandler. Gonzales and Chandler met while attending a journalism institute at Arizona State University many years ago.

Weather phenomenon deemed ‘Texas Freeze’; Millions left in the dark and at complete loss JACKIE BULTMAN Video Editor

“It’s so hard to look at your college degree and see that it has water damage on it. Everything that I have worked for my entire life is gone,” Sara Gonzales, a teacher in Northwest Houston expressed. Millions of people without power and countless burst water pipes, the definition of a humanitarian crisis. It all began with a drop in temperatures resulting in a last-resort measure for rolling blackouts. According to the Guardian, “Texas is unique among the 48 contiguous US states in that it relies on its own power grid.” Texas has more control over electricity in its state, but in return, there are fewer power plants the state can rely on for power. The equipment at the power plants could not handle the exceptionally low temperatures so, the choice was between shutting down power for customers or chancing a collapse of the grid altogether. On February 14, Gonzales stated, “lights were flickering five or six times and then the electricity went out.” Gonzales explained her biggest concern was that “we have zero preparation for roads, nothing if we were to have a massive storm.” And she indicated that a week before the storm, “I had kids wearing shorts to school and most of us don’t have warm winter clothes,” meaning the Texans were not prepared in several ways for what was coming. As reported by the Washington Post, “Houston, which was placed under its first wind chill warning, observed a wind chill of 1 degree, its lowest since at least 1990. And its high temperature of 25 degrees was its fourth coldest on record.” Gonzales revealed, “I got to the point that I was so cold Monday evening, I noticed that my toes were starting to turn purple. Inside my house, you could see my breath and the dog water had a frozen layer on top.” She said, “that’s when I started getting a little concerned because that’s not normal.” On Tuesday, now three days after power was shut off, the local grocery stores began opening. Gonzales explained, “As I was about to leave, I hear the trickling of water. I went into the kitchen and water was coming out of a light fixture.” She had water spraying out of behind the cabinets in the kitchen. Water was spraying out of the walls, flooding into her master bedroom, and coming out of the wood. “The water sprayed out as if you were going through a car wash,” she revealed. “I had been using every-

thing I had to keep my dogs and I warm and now it was all soaked from trying to dry up the water,” Gonzales told. With the recovery process in full swing, Gonzales said, “in one day I contacted over a hundred plumbers.” But the problem did not end there, she indicated, “plumbers were charging five hundred fifty dollars in service just to come out, so in times of need and a national crisis there’s always a concern of price gouging.” The main cause of the damage: at least a dozen breaks in Gonzales’s water pipes. The expenses just for her pipes costs at least $550 for each fix. To make matters worse at this point, a week after the storm, the damage had started spread-

of this disaster. People froze to death in their homes. That is not okay. Your home should be a safe space,” she continued. Gonzales believes the first step Texas officials should take, on the road to long-term recovery is to,“take the politics out of this. This is people’s lives. This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue.” “You have several million people in this state that have been directly impacted by this. Figure out what happened and make changes. They need to stop playing a game with people’s lives,” she continued. Gonzales wants people to know, “This…what happened is because people failed us. And because they failed us, now our livelihoods

Caffeine impacts body, health ALEXA FALLS Reporter

Rolling blackouts left millions without communication or power. Texas citizens continue to feel the long term effects of this disaster. Photo Credit: Sara Gonzales ing. “What we know now is that every single ceiling, almost every wall, the bathroom vanities, and the kitchen cabinets have to be taken out,” Gonzales told. “I have used my entire life savings already, trying to get my house back in order” she expressed. Gonzales said that buying her home nine years ago was such an exciting thing and that she loves her little house with her two dogs. “To see it in the state that it’s in right now is so hard. And it’s hard to come to work, it’s hard to be present, and it’s hard to keep moving every day when you know your whole world has just gone underneath you. Because people haven’t done their job,” Gonzales explained. “I had done everything they had said…I had wrapped my pipes outside,” Gonzales voiced her frustration. “A lot of this could have been prevented had our state government done the necessary updates,” regarding the power grids and cold weather preparation, she clarified. “Instead, people’s lives have been put at stake. People have died because

are at stake. And I don’t think that’s fair. I don’t think that’s right when their job is to serve and to help do things for others.” “I guess I’m lucky that I am alive,” Gonzales humbly admits. The community has helped Gonzales by providing her with food, making her blankets, and ordering much needed dog supplies. A close friend of hers, also started a GoFundMe to help cover any essential expenses. But, what made the temperature drop a record low and created the catastrophe, in the first place? According to CBS, the jet stream routinely curves around the polar vortex, keeping the cold air trapped inside. But when the Arctic warms, the jet stream weakens and elongates, allowing the cold air to plunge south. Much more South, the cold plunged further than almost ever, 4,000 miles from the North Pole. The “Texas Freeze” set numerous records and is expected to be on the list of most expensive U.S. natural disasters of 2021, as stated by the Washington Post. And more than 30 people died in Texas alone.

It promotes liver protection, skin protection, and gut health. Many people rely on coffee to Studies have also shown that start their day or to keep them consuming caffeine can decrease awake, but do you know what your risk for cancer and premaeffects it has on you and your ture death. It can improve your body? The most well-known side mood, exercise performance, and effect of the natural stimulant is it can also speed up your metabothat it gives you the energy to go lism stated by Healthline Media. through your day or it helps you Though many think that cafstay focused but, there are many feine is something you should more side effects to consuming stay away from, it is healthy to caffeine, good and bad. About consume as long as you don’t 80% of Americans take at least drink too much. The recommendone form of caffeine a day accord- ed amount of coffee that is considing to Healthered safe is 2-4 line Media. cups per day, or The caffeine about 400mg, “It wakes me up could be from according to coffee, tea, an more so I can focus Healthline Meenergy drink, or dia. Although, more in school.” something else. coffee or any Jenna Wedge, Sophomore other form of Abby Giannicaffeine has its sophomore ni says that her cons as well. main source of Excess intake caffeine is coffee, of caffeine can her regular order from Starbucks cause anxiety, restlessness, iris the “iced white mocha.” She regular heartbeat, and even high adds, “it tastes like white choc- blood pressure even though it is olate and I think cold drinks are considered safe. Too much cafbetter because you don’t have feine can cause headaches and mito wait for them to cool down!” graines as well. Sophomore Jenna She says, “It [coffee] helps Wedge says that she has a couple me focus and wakes me up.” of bad experiences with coffee, “If When asked if it would be hard I try a new one, some have more to quit drinking coffee, Giannini caffeine than others and if I get says, “Yes, because it’s my favor- those then I can’t focus or sit still.” ite drink but not unbearable.” Normally, “It wakes me up more Withdrawal from caffeine can so I can focus more in school.” cause irritability, a depressed Wedge normally makes her cofmood, headaches, migraines, flu- fee at home, but she also orders like symptoms such as nausea, occasionally from Dunkin Dovomiting, and even muscle pain nuts, she enjoys “the iced vanilla according to Hopkins Medicine. latte.” She adds, “I don’t like it On the bright side, studies have [coffee] when it is too strong, but shown that there are many health I also don’t like when the cream benefits to consuming caffeine. and sugar overpower the coffee.

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Cry of the Hawk

March 29, 2021

Sports For Life takes on in-person, virtual activities

Evolving sports

EVAN KUZEMCHAK Social Media Coordinator

social media

other schools.” Dongarra plans on continuing to play corn hole “Sports for Life is a competiinto next year. According to tion for our Life Skill students,” Dongarra, “[She] would like to says Sara Testerman, Teacher. play frisbee, especially when Testerman is a Para-educator it gets warmer outside” at North Harford and helps Club member Gwendolyn out the students with the Sansbury who did not parcompetition. Students are ticipate in virtual bowling offered three sports to take this year says, “Corn hole part in. “This year [they] did is a lot of fun!” The COVID virtual bowling. Starting this friendly game consists of week [they] are having in social distancing in the hallperson and virtual corn hole. way. Sansbury says in order The next sport to be offered is to stay safe they took precaukickball/field games.” Sports tions like “each player [refor Life holds practices and ceiving] their own set of bags at the end of the season they that were put in zip-lock hold, “a tournament involving baggies for easy cleaning.” all participating HCPS high Sansbury says she feels schools.” The students who upset about “not being Kourtney Dongarra mid-bowl during Sports for Life’s virtual compe- able to compete with other participate also get a certification at the end of the season. tition. Dongarra started to practice corn hole and hopes to participate schools” or “meeting new “During Jan. and Feb., in frisbee in the warmer months. PHOTO CREDIT: Kim Dongarra people and seeing old friends HCPS held a virtual Sports that [she] had played with for Life Bowling season this Sports for life member, KourtDongarra says her favor- in years past.” Sansbury’s favoryear.” Katherine Lambert, adap- ney Dongarra, says that her “vir- ite part about Sports for Life ite part about participating was tive physical education teacher tual bowling competition was is “making new friends and “working with people in the says. HCPS was “the only county very different from the in person spending time with my class- school.” As Sansbury’s last year in the state of Maryland to hold competition,” her ability to hit a mates.” She adds that, “[She] is at NH, approaches her favora Sports for Life winter season.” strike was significantly more dif- sad that she can’t compete with ite sport to play was bocce ball. Students who participated this year, “Haven’t so far had a tournament that include other schools but hoping that kickball will be” says Testerman.”

ficult and harder. Corn hole being the next sport the club is going to play, Dongarra has already “bought [her] own mini corn hole set off amazon to practice with.”

Body shaming in sports; Early upsets ruin March Madness brackets Harsh reality within youth athletics CAITLYN ALLEN News Editor

When you are in a sport, your success depends on how you perform or play. You have on days and off days. But have you ever thought about how you physically look in sports? Not your performance necessarily, but your appearance, your looks, your weight and how you’re judged based off of that appearance. According to the clarity clinic, “body-shaming is the act or practice of humiliating a person based on their body type by making critical and/or mocking statements about their body shape and size.” They add that body shaming is a form of “bullying in which physical appearance is targeted.” Body shaming occurs in many circumstances; however, the main situation is in sports. According to BullyingStatistics, “almost 94 percent of young females and 65 percent of young males have been subjected to body shaming.” They add that, male and female athletes, whether it is pro or amateur, are “placed under body shaming’s negative lens.” There are many different platforms of body shaming in sports, however, the most important thing to understand is that they “all result in some sort of mental trauma,” that impacts the athlete forever. Victoria Jackson, a sports historian and clinical assistant professor in Arizona State University’s School of historical, philosophical, and religious studies shares her own experience with body shaming. Jackson, a former NCAA runner, claims she experienced her first experience of body shaming at age six. Jackson explains her “dance instructor would line us up and point out the parts of each of our bodies that were ballerina-like and parts that were not.” She adds she remembers she “had a friend named Leah that had a long, graceful ballerina neck, and just by calling attention to it, it made the rest of us feel less than [her].” It is stereotypical to think that most of these body image issues are mainly related to girls and sports like cheerleading, gymnastics, dance, etc., however, Jackson explains that it is a “combined gender problem.” Jackson used to coach at the Division one level and on her team, she claims “there were more men on the team that were struggling with disordered eating habits and low self-esteem than the women on the team.” Another study done by the American College of Sports Medicine in 1992 showed that eating disorder affected 62 percent of females in sports like figure skating and gymnastics. They found in this study that sports that “tend to have to be judged” have more body image issues than other sports, however, it “still affects all sports and genders.” Jackson claims she believes the first step in overcoming body-shaming is “to help young athletes appreciate their bodies just as they are.” The sports historian goes on to add that usually “people project, so if they’re insecure about their own body they may be critical of others,” then further goes on to say she thinks it is “good to point that out and have young people reflect more about how they’re feeling about themselves and how we can do better to love ourselves and our bodies.” That is step one, and once young athletes find a healthy relationship with their bodies, they are most likely to “respect and value the bodies of others,” according to Jackson.

JAKE GAY Reporter After being canceled due to COVID, the NCAA men’s basketball Tournament is happening this year. The entire tournament is being played all in one location for the first time ever. Committee members acknowledged the controversy regarding the teams saying “we chose the teams that had the best resumes.” The unprecedented selection of teams this year was partially because of the selection committee factoring in teams

effectively ending their season. As with any year, millions across the country are filling out their brackets. Warren Buffett is continuing his million-dollar perfect bracket challenge. There were over 3 million brackets submitted to the ESPN bracket challenge, after just the first round there were zero perfect brackets left. Senior Dylan Jablon said “I took Baylor. They have the best guards in the country and play great defense.” After an upset win over UConn, the University of Maryland was swiftly beaten by the Al-

Number 10 seed Maryland, forward Eric Ayala (number five), junior, is doubled teamed as his team falls to number two seed Alabama in the round of 32. PHOTO CREDITS: Maryland Athletics being quarantined and how many games they were able to play during the regular season. Although some teams received controversial selections, Gonzaga team was selected first overall. This marks their tenth consecutive time being selected for the tournament. The Bulldogs achieved a perfect record during the 2020-21 regular season. Notably, Kentucky was left out of the “big dance” for the first time in over five years. Coach John Calipari called his team's performance this season “unacceptable.” Though beating Notre Dame just days before, players from Duke tested positive for COVID. Thus

abama in the second round. Maryland Head Coach Mark Turgeon joked about Alabama calling them “the fifth number one seed of the tournament.” Senior Austin Bach said the loss was, “very disappointing, I thought that Maryland could have gone a little further in the tournament. But I’m happy with how far they went.” Those at NH who have filled out a bracket typically choose Illinois or Gonzaga, according to a poll of NH students. Illinois however, was taken out early in the tournament making it one of the first “bracket busters” of the tournament.

over time through DANI BECKER Reporter

Social media has always been an easy way for people to communicate and share information about what they are up to and where they are with others that follow their profiles. Most organizations and figures on social media involve celebrities, personal profiles, and businesses. But recently, one popular new organization taking the social media world by storm are sports teams. Several famous teams have been very popular through all social media. Now high schools across the United States are using social media as a way for communication and promotion. North Harford’s very own boys lacrosse and girls field hockey teams have Instagram pages ran by some of the coaches of each team. They can be followed at are @nhhawkslax for men’s lacrosse updates and @hawksfh for field hockey updates. They both feature pictures of students and inspiration. There is also information for students on the pages as well. One member of the lacrosse team, junior Ryan Tracy says, “I like having the team Instagram, it’s cool to see what the coaches are saying/posting about.” The coaches often post information and inspiration. From taking a look at the pages there are many inspiring quotes and pictures for the team to feed off of. They also tend to post important information for the community and the teams. Senior field hockey player, Zoe Mikles says “Over the summer there were updates about the season that they would post on Instagram and I saw those on my feed before the emails they sent.” Mikles and many other students are very active on social media and this has been a benefit in getting information out to athletes. Mikles also says, “I think having an Instagram is fun.It’s cool to see the pictures they take” Both Tracy and Mikles like that they have easy access to photos from the season. ThemeBoy says, “Studies show that humans respond to visuals much more than to text...” Along with this information you can see the evidence on the app itself. There are billions of users according to Instagram and they are all scrolling and liking as each day goes by. ThemeBoy also states, “Instagram can help teams gain a huge fan base beyond those that are already watching.” Using this information to analyze the school teams pages, it is evident that all of the followers are not just players. There seems to be other students from the school and their friends as well. Along with the students it seems other adults have joined the social media fan base as well. There seems to be a wide range of followers on both of the Instagram’s and from ThemeBoys theory, it seems to be working.

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Cry of the Hawk

USA Field Hockey hosts national indoor tournament, athletes represent NH ZOE MIKLES Features Editor

Hundreds of teams, two locations, one trophy. The 2021 National Indoor Field Hockey tournament (NIT) was spread over three weekends. According to the official USA field hockey website, “The National Indoor Tournament provides a competitive environment for club teams to compete from all over the country.” Due to the large number of teams competing and the limited amount of space available due to COVID-19, the tournament had to occur at two different venues over three weekends. Tamusa.org has the NIT schedule, “on February 26-28 U-10 (under 10) and U-12 teams competed, U-14 girls competed on the weekend of February 12-15, U-16 teams played on February 19-21 and U-19 teams competed on February 26-28.” The U-10, U-12, U-14 and U-16 national tournaments were held at Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Spooky Nook is the “largest sporting complex in Northern America”, according to their website. The U-19 tournament was played at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia. USA Field Hockey comments that there were “around 600 teams”

Students Hannah Krizek, junior (top row; third from left) and senior Zoe Mikles (top row; second from right) traveled to Richmond, VA for USA Field Hockey’s National Indoor Tournament. PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Krizek competing at NIT’s in 2020. The 2021 tournaments had more participation than ever before and due to COVID-19, precautions had to be put in place. Junior Hannah Krizek attended the U-19 tournament and added that, “NIT’s were extremely safe this year in regard to COVID.” According to the USA field hockey website, each team was to enter the building at a different time according to the court they were playing on. There were also “plexiglass separated warm up areas.” Krizek explained that, “every morning players had to fill out a health checklist and masks were worn at all times, even while playing. The National tournament is the last indoor tournament of the club season for many and one of the biggest tournaments of the year. Collegiate coaches were not allowed to attend. USA Field Hockey live streamed the events for free to every college field hockey coach to watch potential prospects they could be interested in recruiting. According to Krizek, “NIT’s is a huge opportunity for college scouting.” Krizek added that her team’s “nerves were high walking into the arena knowing that there were a lot of people watching,” but her nerves calmed as soon as she began to play. U-19 club teams from all over the country migrated to Richmond, Virginia to compete in NIT’s. Krizek commented that, “It was very cool to play teams from other states that [she] hasn’t played before.” Krizek’s club team played teams from as close as Westminster, Maryland and “as far as Chicago, Illinois.” For Krizek, her overall experience was, “much more fun than [she] thought it would be, [her] team pulled together and played really well.” USA field hockey’s official website thanks all athletes who participated and they are, “looking forward to 2022!”

March 29, 2021

Baseball is back; what to expect from NH this spring BEN SERSEN Reporter

Spring sports are back in Maryland! Baseball, lacrosse, softball, tennis, and track and field are all back at North Harford (as well as the rest of the county). Players and coaches alike, anxiously await the upcoming season. Brooks Bondura, sophomore stated “You should expect good things” for the long awaited season as well as claiming “I have spent a lot of time at the gym in the off season” and “Both teams (Junior Varsity and Varsity) seem like they have a lot of potential to be very good this year!” Bondura has not been the only one in the gym this off-season, Garrett Reinecke, junior stated, “My teammates and I have been working out consistently since COVID first hit and we were let out of school last year.” Reinecke is looking to finish out the school year as a Varsity baseball player after missing his shot(s) at regaining his spot on varsity for football and basketball due to the cancellation of the season. Reinecke was also quoted saying “The team is looking good so far, the players are playing fluently and teamwork has been amazing. We’re just trying to make the most out of our season, since we saw how quickly that was ripped away last year.” Bondura backed up

the Reinecke’s stance by stating, “There’s a lot of players that have consistently been doing well and who also are making a lot of smooth and clean plays” Varsity coach and UCBAC champion Timothy Larrimore stated, “I don’t have any underclassmen on Varsity, a first in a long time” due to a large portion of the starters being seniors. In regard to the strong senior class, Larrimore stated “We have a very good senior class. Mitchell Wittkamp is our top starting pitcher and plays second base as well. Charlie Canapp is our anchor behind the plate (catcher). Kevin Halford and Jeremy Weber play first base and DH (designated hitter). Jeremy is also one of our top pitchers. Keegan Bowling, Patrick Weber, Jackson Miller and Tristan Pomeroy our middle infielders. Austin Bach and Gavin Barker are starting outfielders and Barker is also one of our top pitchers.” When asked about names that stuck out as candidates for a breakout year, the 31 year coaching veteran claimed “From what I have seen in the first three days, I'm expecting big things from Wittkamp, Canapp, Halford, Jeremy and Patrick Weber, Bowling, Bach, Barker and Kole Iddings (junior) at third base and Brian Hauer (junior and third year varsity starter) in center field.” The coach had plenty of good

to speak about the team however when asked about what hes observed so far he commented, “I like what’s happening defensively and on the mound in practice. We need to work on hitting, but that is one of the toughest things in all sports to do. All the time off does not help with a skill like hitting.” He added, “We have noticed that many of our players are out of shape. Everything we do at practice we do at full speed. We hustle from drill to drill and are constantly moving.” The coaching staff at NH isn’t just good at helping their players on the field, the well experienced group keeps their athletes in check off the field as well. Head Coach Larrimore stated “ I have also talked with the team about eating habits and spend quality time each practice stretching.” Experience in coaching staff is one thing that the NH Baseball Club has down pat, Coach Larrimore leads the pack with 31 years of experience and he claimed, “We have a very experienced coaching staff and that is to our advantage in a year like this.” According to Larrimore,“Coach Burrows and Coach Heeter have over 20 years in, Coach Martinek has over 10 years in, and Coach Fries as well as Coach Martinelli have a couple of years' experience with us.“

Students react to announcement about spring sports DANI BECKER Reporter Many students at North Harford were excited to hear that the school will be holding an athletic season along with returning to school. However, some were left disappointed when HCPS announced that there would only be a spring season. One thing many students look forward to in high school is football games. When the county decided to only hold spring athletics, not only were fans upset but boys on the team were distraught. Senior player, Hayden Stoneback says, “I was hoping to enjoy my last season of football with my friends.” Another student, senior

Kendall Schubert, shares her disappointment in missing her last volleyball season. Schubert states, “Volleyball was the only sport I played in high school and I am missing my senior season with my favorite girls.” Many others shared dissatisfaction through social media, and sharing memories from past seasons at the Hawk’s Nest. Some students though see no problem in the way HCPS chose to do their sports. Junior Grant Maxa says, “I think it would’ve been nice to have a vote or poll, but ultimately I like what they did.” Maxa mentions that all spring sports are outdoors, creating a safer environment.” He added, “People last year

missed out on their spring season so now, we can make it up.” Another junior, Morgan Buckland, agreed with Maxa. Buckland says, “I don’t really mind which season we have but I missed softball season last year so I’m excited to have this one.” Several students like Maxa and Buckland were just grateful to have a season. Based on the response from students who have spoken up or posted on social media, it seems that the opinion is very 50/50. Many students have tried out for each sport season, so it seems there are a handful of students happy to be playing. Underclassmen are hopeful that next year they will be able to participate in all three sports seasons.

Student heads down south;

Sweet Home Alabama: Kilduff commits to play D2 women’s lacrosse EMILY IAMPIERI Copy Editor

Senior Morghan Kilduff announced her verbal commitment to play NCAA division two women’s lacrosse at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) this past Dec. She says that her major is undecided, but she is “leaning towards psychology.” Kilduff has been playing lacrosse for nine years. Currently, she is the goalie for the Hawks as well as her club team, York Invaders Lacrosse Club, based in York County, PA.

The student athlete says that one of her main deciding factors was that she “really loved the coach and the team energy.” Kilduff also says that she was drawn to the warm southern weather and “all the opportunities [she] had with the city nearby.” She was deciding between Flagler and the Florida Institute of Technology but ultimately made her decision to attend UAH. Kilduff made her decision to commit to a D2 school as opposed to D1 or D3 because she “[likes] how it was competi-

Kilduff signs to University of Alabama at Huntsville as a goalie. PHOTO CREDIT: Morghan Kilduff

tive but still let [her] focus on school.” The other schools Kildiff was between are also D2. The athlete’s recruitment process began with her emailing many schools and awaiting responses as well as playing in tournaments. The lacrosse player says that her recruiting process was “very stressful” because of how the pandemic affected her process. “I had been talking to several coaches before COVID began but then we had to lose touch because of the new restrictions they put into place,” she says.

The commit continues by saying, “But after I had gotten back in touch, it became stressful again because I didn’t have a lot of time to decide and I was worried.” Ultimately, Kilduff spoke with Gail Wallach, the women’s lacrosse coach at UAH, for two months before making her final decision. “I look forward to meeting people and I’m excited for the warm weather,” she explains. She also hopes “to have fun” as she begins her first college lacrosse season next spring.