North Nation Station

North Nation Spirit he North Nation Station is the go-to store for all things Liberty North and spirit wear. The store is filled with new clothes up for the purchase with different colors and for almost any activity. The local store is looking to also add an online store for people to buy anything and everything without having to worry about going to the store. Other than this new addition, they are open every afternoon and during 7th hour for people to browse the many different clothes and accessories available with the change of hallway rules at the school. “I’ve been here for six years teaching fashion and fashion merchandising so it seemed like a natural fit. I’ve been a retail manager in the past and I thought I could make it relevant to my students and get them on the right career path,” North Nation Station teacher Traci Silvey said. With the thought of making an online store eventually, it might boost sales and make it more accessible if people can’t go after school or during 7th hour. The team is thinking about the different ways they can make an easy-access store for everyone to use this school year. hour or missing a ride if someone wants to come after school. “We are considering being open before school. Just to try and get more time for people to come to the store,” Silvey said. Silvey has a class during 7th hour that works the store and helps make new designs for the store and the items in it. All the students work and help out whether it’s keeping the store clean or making a new shirt design. They even work football and basketball games. “The class all works together during 7th hour and we come up with designs and T written by: Morgan Griffin

Students have to work together to get things down for the store. This year they have to work together inside, and outside of class, “The class all works together during 7th hour. We also work the football and basketball games,” Junior Brooke Coffer said.

“The hours are a lot different because of the study hall rules and not being able to really walk around. We are open during 7th hour, but eventually, you’ll be able to order online and get it delivered during 7th hour,” North Nation Station Manager Traci Silvey said. Silvey decided to take on the role of manager for the North Nation Station because she already teaches fashion marketing and that helps her seem like a good fit for the role. Her experience includes retail management and teaching different fashion classes. “We have been working on creating an online store. We are very close and thinking about taking the avenue of Instagram to create the online store,” Junior Sophie Silvey said. The school year has also brought a change in time the store can be open. Last year it was open during lunch, but this year it couldn’t when new rules for traveling in the halls occurred. Silvey is trying to find more time for people to be able to shop at the North Nation Station without having to worry about a pass when coming during 7th photo by: Ashton Overby

keep the store clean. We also work the football and basketball games,” Junior Brooke Coffer said. The staff does many different things for the store, from organizing the store to adding products to the system. All the roles are important and it takes a team to get it all done. The students will work together to make sure the store is perfect and everything is just how they want it.

Students in the class have said that it is very hectic. This year is no different, but has new challenges for some, “Mrs. Hittner set up a system using a district-wide PayPal and having it linked to the inventory of the store. So every time someone buys something it goes through the district PayPal. The next thing will be that I set up the PayPal connected to Shopify and getting it online,” Silvey said.

photo by: Ashton Overby

“I’m in charge of uploading all our new products in our system, organizing, and cleaning up the store,” Senior Breana Sola said. Many students are always working at the store and this can cause many things to be going on at the same time. The store could be calm one moment and very hectic the next. The staff is almost always busy doing something, but even then the staff members can still find a way to have fun during all of it. “It’s fun. It’s a lot of work, but it really pays off,” Sola said. The store has gone through a change in ownership with Silvey now in control of the store rather than Mrs. Hittner. Silvey is using some of the things Hittner used, for example, the system for purchases when she had ownership of the store. “Mrs. Hittner set up a system using a district-wide PayPal and having it linked to the inventory of the store. So every time someone buys something it goes through the district PayPal. The next thing will be that I set up the PayPal connected to Shopify and getting it online,” Silvey said Trends can change often in the fashion world and to keep the interests of students and just having new clothes more often, in general, has been always been a thought for Silvey. Silvey has her students vote on new designs and tries to have new designs every month. “The trends are changing and with stuff in the thirty dollar range, people want what is trending. I’m trying to make something new every month,” Silvey said.

Mrs. Silvey has taught classes at Liberty North before. This year she decided to take on the North Nation Station, “I’ve been here for six years teaching fashion and fashion merchandising so it seemed like a natural fit. I’ve been a retail manager in the past and I thought I could make it relevant to my students and get them on the right career path,” North Nation Station teacher Traci Silvey said.

When creating designs the staff will use any things as inspiration. Most of their inspiration is ideas from current trends that are popular, but they make sure to put their own touch on the designs for everything. “All the designs that are in the store now, in the past and future is all our ideas. We also take inspiration from popular ideas but add our own spin and special touch to those designs,” Silvey said.

For the students in the Liberty North Orchestra, practice truly does mean perfect. No matter which instrument each member plays, each one has a specific role in a concert they have to spend hours practicing for, both at school and at home. Even with only a few rehearsals away from their concert on December 10th, the various members of the Orchestra are confident they can once again pull it off without a hitch. “I’m actually in MYL, and we only have about seven rehearsals, so we practice at home every single day so we’re able to get by with that little amount of rehearsals. I think we’re in pretty good shape,” Sophomore Cole Bryant said. Bryant is a cello player in MYL, an Orchestra that largely practices at home and only has a few rehearsals throughout the school year. With this in mind, the students involved in MYL are already used to cramming in extra practice to ensure they know all they need. “It really helps when you practice at home, because if you don’t and only practice at school, Ms. Trustee has a saying where she practices ‘for’ you. It just gives you more time to prepare yourself for the concert,” Sophomore Jeremy Litster said. Litster has been in the Orchestra since the 5th grade and plays the Cello in the Concert Orchestra, and has already been the turnaround once before his Freshman year. Hannah Spainhour, a Junior that plays the violin in Chamber Orchestra, already has a lot of experience with the December concerts. “We have until December 10, about four weeks from our last concert. We start rehearsing December music before our October concert, so we have more time to learn it all,” Spainhour said. Orchestra Teacher Alysse Trusty, however, has been through the most, experiencing. many years of practice, failure, and triumph. “Our October concert is always pretty close to the Halloween holiday. We had our Orchestra Spooktacular, which was October 29th, and with the way the 1st semester ends, we’ve got a pretty quick turnaround with our next concert on December 10th,” Trusty said. Trusty, in her time as an Orchestra teacher, has formulated a strategy to get her students on track and successfully get through the turnarounds. “We prep to give our kids a little less stress with all of the other extracurricular and cocurricular activities they do. My goal is to prepare for the October concert as well as the December concert, so with that turnaround, even after we’re done with the October concert the new December concert that we’re prepping for isn’t brand new music,” Trusty said. Despite the short timeframe, Trusty is confident that the students in Orchestra will be able to make it through the quick practice and pull off, once again, an astounding concert on December 10th. “I think we’re getting close, we’re down to about three weeks before the December 10th concert. We’ve got the Thanksgiving break, which can always be a little iffy as far as coming back and seeing what we remember, but we have always had great successes and great traditions that we will continue to do.” F photo by: Ashton Overby Pieces being played by the Orchestra: Concert Orchestra: On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss by David Holsinger Rhythmic Snapshots of Christmas by Brian Balmages Symphonic Orchestra: Deck the Halls arranged by Robert Longfield Declarations by Jeffrey Bishop Chamber Orchestra: O Holy Night arranged by Jeffrey E Turner Simple Symphony, movement No. 4, by Benjamin Britten People in orchestra have been encouraged to practice at home. This year was no different, “It really helps when you practice at home, because if you don’t and only practice at school, Ms. Trustee has a saying where she practices ‘for’ you. It just gives you more time to prepare yourself for the concert,” Sophomore Jeremy Litster said.