Trevor
Oakes Guest News
Back to the Future
A Look at ORHS in Ten Years
Oyster River in 2024. It’s pretty frightening to think about. Maybe the high school is a glimmering tower, stories high, a beacon of the future. Or maybe there is no ORHS, instead a bleak wasteland, the product of years of nuclear fallout. The most likely case? Probably neither of those scenarios. But the future is coming – and faster than you may think.
Todd Allen, principal at ORHS, says that the school district had just completed a new strategic plan. The plan involves three parts: Instruction, communication, and facilities. That involves
“From the instructional standpoint, there’s a lot of pressure to [create] more of a ‘21st century learning environment. More technology, more dual credit options (courses that award high school and college credit. That way, kids can graduate from high school with a semester or even a year’s worth of college credit under their belts,” says Allen. But the school also wants to expand a lot of “real world experiences” for students, such as internships, and the “world of work.” “The big thing though, is keeping really high standards, but we don’t want to limit ourselves on focusing just on sending kids to college,” he continues.
Celeste Best, a science teacher at the high school, is one of the leaders in the technological push taking place at ORHS. She already has a “Promethean Board”, an interactive multi-media whiteboard, as well as a number of IPads she shares with the rest of the science department. Though she received all $180,00 worth of technology through grants she wrote herself, it’s now becoming a focal point of a portion of the school’s budget. “I wouldn’t go back,” she says. “I can’t draw to save my life, so being able to have good pictures, videos, diagrams, it makes the lectures that much better and easily understood.”
for her classroom, hoping she can teach “one-to-one”, with the students being able to access all sorts of media on the devices while she leads them on the larger board.
“I would love the technology,” says Andrea Drake, a mathematics teacher at ORHS. “I don’t know it necessarily makes for a better class, but it certainly makes for a more interesting class. It adds another tool to your toolbox, if you will.” Drake can foresee a future where it may become a distraction, which is why its introduction into the classroom must be a cautious process. “If we’re just using technology for technology’s sake; we need to use it correctly, be mindful of what we’re doing. From a math perspective, I like it, it adds a lot more variety and depth to the lessons.”
whole district. The school board must think
ORHS may look a whole lot different a decade from now.
Drake thought the way the school approached technology now was a little weak, and offered an “all or nothing” ultimatum. “The way we have it set up now, it always seems like it’s a distraction, because it’s a novelty that we don’t fully understand how to use. It’s like if you’re only seeing it once a month, you have to try and learn something. It’s like practicing for a sports team once a month: you’re never going to win a championship that way.”
Technology has it’s uses, I’ll give you that; but it comes with a price.”
-Lou Mroz
Could all classrooms utilize this influx of technology in day-to-day lessons? Best thinks so wholeheartedly. “It it widely available now, if it was a district initiative. The other schools are all building up on their devices, and we by far have the least.” The distractions these devices create obviously present a potential problem, yet a lot of teachers aren’t worried. “There’s an expectation that you need to use the ‘devices’ for what needs to get done, but kids won’t always follow that. It’s expected though, really with any type of teaching,” she says. Best has set her sights on a full set of IPads
Students may be a bit more skeptical. While it may appear that teenagers would love this aspect of constantly being plugged in and connected, especially in school, there are quite a few students who feel that technology has the potential to rid much of the personal connections formed in the classrooms. “I think schools need to incorporate it in order to keep up with the increasing presence of technology in the workplace. I’m all for it as long as it doesn’t change education from human interaction to only computer interaction,” says Colby Runk, a student at the high school. Runk isn’t necessarily against the changes in education; he just hopes it doesn’t change entirely. He too sees the necessity to implement more technology in school. “[It will] teach kids the skills they need like how to use computer software and interact on computers. You need to know how to type or you can’t function in many different work environments. Soon it’s going to be critical that we learn how to use it.”
As the high school embarks on its shift to the totally digital age, so to must the
of new ways to relay school information out to parents and students that encompasses its new philosophy on technology. “It’s a work in progress. Twenty years ago everybody used to read the newspaper, get an article in Foster’s, and they’d go ‘okay, that pretty much covers it’. But that’s just not how most people do it anymore. So [we’re] looking at our website, looking at social media, and a bunch of things I don’t know squat about,” says Allen. The big rationale for this is that the towns of Durham, Lee, and Madbury no longer have a lot of families with children in the district. “Around one in five families has a child enrolled, which means eighty percent of people aren’t really concerned in what goes on in the school, so if we need to talk to them about raising taxes for building facilities, they won’t really care. So this is a way to figure out how to talk to those people,” he suggests.
But the main concern for Allen right now? He explains: “Looking at what are needs are going to be over the next ten year, at some point, the odds are pretty good we’ll either have to either spend a ton of money to renovate it, or build an entirely new school.” A new middle school? For most students, middle school seems rather recent, and the idea of a new building seemed a bit odd. “I doesn’t seem like it’s in terrible shape to me,” says Kevin Kerrigan, a sophomore at ORHS. “But I guess administration knows more about it than I do.”
What students will most likely be excited for though, are the changes coming to the facilities at ORHS. That means large-scale enhancements to the fields, plus a whole host of other (hopeful) additions to the high school athletic grounds. Allen is hoping to push for these new athletic facilities within the next year or two, citing the upgrades as one of his “pet projects”. “[We want] to get our turf field, track, stadium lights and bleachers, so we can have some high-caliber programs, and we won’t miss out on things (continued on page four)
Back to the Future, Continued From Page 3
like hosting tournaments. There is enough room at the high school, but it requires careful planning. But it can be done,” says Allen.
Kevin Kerrigan would certainly be excited for new fields and a track. Kerrigan, a three sport athlete, would “love” to utilize new sports facilities. “I think more people would come to sporting events if we had a stadium or something similar. Students wouldn’t have to sit on the ground or bring their own chairs. I know people are also pushing for football to come to Oyster River, to that would allow for a football program too,” he explains. “It would take a lot of time, money, and effort, but I think it would work.”
Pieter Zwart, the student representative and a junior at ORHS, will be long graduated from high school and possibly college by the time these changes are set to take place, but he still has a vision of what the school may look like in ten years. “Ideally, [it would be] a school where people can take whatever classes are right for them. I want the student representative
to make sure that the voice of the student body is heard,” Zwart says. Moving forward, it will be crucial for the school to look at the interests of not only the taxpayers, but the students they strive to teach. Allen agrees: “If we’re going to be successful over the next decade as a school, we need to meet the needs of the most important people in the building: the students.”
Is there anyone who doesn’t want these changes to happen to the school? Enter Lou Mroz, an ORHS social studies teacher. Mroz isn’t necessarily opposed to all of these advances, but he is somewhat of an anomaly among teachers today.
Students use Ipads in school, part of the recent growth in technology at Oyster River.
“I look at these plans, and I wonder if they’re really necessary. Technology has its uses, I’ll give you that. But it obviously comes with a price,” he says. Mroz fondly remembers a time when teachers could interact in a teacher’s room, chattering away and socializing.
That’s far cry from the solitude of checking e-mails alone during lunch breaks, the daily routine he says a lot of teachers have. Sure, he admits this isn’t a debate about whether
or not technology is destroying the social capabilities of a generation, but it is a question of the necessity of these changes to teaching styles. “They say that we’re teaching students how to utilize the tools they’ll need in the real world, but at what cost? Kids today are taking all sorts of online classes and the like, and they’re not learning anything. If we start to bring more of this type of work into the school district, it may have a few unforeseen consequences.”
Mroz also brings up what will be a major talking point about the new athletic facilities.
“Durham and the entire Oyster River community is a very, very affluent community. It’s a phenomenal place to live, sure, but the taxes are astronomical. Building a new track or field is going to cost a lot, and we need to ask ourselves if we really want to spend the money when the [University of New Hampshire] has a track only a mile away.” Over the next ten years, the Oyster River school board will make with a series of unprecedented decisions dealing with the future of the district. Members will have to meet the needs of the students, parents, teachers, and taxpayers. They’ll need to figure out ways to introduce technology into the daily lives of every single member of the community, while still keeping the educational values intact. Zwart even hopes for a little more.
“It’s pretty big thinking, but hover cars and buses wouldn’t be a bad idea. It may solve the problem of bad roads in the winter,” he added jokingly. While Zwart’s hopes are (probably) in vain, there’s no reason not to be optimistic for the future of the district.
Oyster River Gets Poetic
Poetry Out Loud Comes Around at ORHS
“It’s a throwback to early 19th century entertainment,” says Assistant Librarian Wally Keniston.“It’s before we had television, radio, movies and internet, you had to learn to make your own fun.” For a veteran poet like Keniston, January at Oyster River is one of his favorite times of the year. Poetry Out Loud is a chance for OR students to express themselves through poetry by reciting poems that are chosen from a database online.
Writer
“Memorization is not a skill that is as valued today as it was years ago,” says Keniston. “POL gives students the opportunity to show that they can demonstrate, poise, articulation, and being able to introduce the concept of the poem in an easy way.”
Every year at Oyster River, POL rolls around again, and to some its a drag, but to these poets, it’s a chance to let their true talent show. This year, Junior Marina Schwadron was the winner for the POL competition for ORHS,
which was held at the Durham Library. “I wasn’t actually that into poetry until I took Poe/Fic with Ms. Horsley. We took the time to really explore poetry as an artform, and I grew to appreciate it much more.
I also got to be around people who were passionate about it, so it kind of rubbed off on me.” says Schwadron on finding poetry.
When asked about the competition, Schwadron replied, ”It’s intimidating. The last competition was very competitive, so I have no idea what the regional level is going to be like. Regardless, I’m excited to go. Performing poetry, and watching people perform poetry, is always fun, no matter how nervous I am.”
Erin Robert, a senior at Oyster River says, “I seemed to learn about poetry in almost all my English classes so far and I think the big-
gest influence I had was when I did POL. Poetry is a way of translating information not only informally, but through colors, textures, imagination, idea’s and hues all seemed to be set in a structured form of literature.”
POL is the chance for students at ORHS to showcase their true talents with poetry. When asked what she did with her winnings, (a gift card to Barnes and Noble), Schwadron replied, “It’s sitting on my desk right now. I’m excited but I don’t know what to do with it.”
Gabi Meyerson Guest News
Poetry Out Loud in the new Durham Library meeting center.
San Colby News Writer
Gap Year Fair Recap
The Bare Necessities
Oyster River Director of Counseling Heather Machanoff says this year was the sixth gap year fair. “It started out because more and more students were talking about it,” she says. “The gap year fair is similar to a college fair where a lot of organizations come to present information,” Machanoff explains. She adds “the difference is it’s about gap year opportunities.” The fair was initially expected to attract around 20-40 different organizations. These organizations presented opportunities to have varying experiences during your gap year. “The experiences range from helping a local organization a couple times a week to going to a faraway land,” explains Machanoff. Despite what you may decide to do, the gap year fair
was simply “Information for students who aren’t sure that they want to go to college, or aren’t sure what they want to go to college for,” says Machanoff. She also adds “One of these programs can help spark an interest.” Machanoff explains that she believes “A gap year really needs to be a planned thing; the value in the gap year is to have a very directed, focused plan.” Machanoff believes that simply traveling to another country and immersing yourself in the culture is not a valuable gap year.
ORHS Junior Haley Parry went to the gap year fair to learn a bit more about her possibilities after high school. “I learned about all the different opportunities and how you can get college credit for different things and how it’s really beneficial for your mind,” says Parry. Parry recalls the events of the fair: “First we walked in and there was this lady speaking about gap years and what not. We then walked into the cafeteria and there were booths set up everywhere and people could inform you about gap year programs.” Parry is still not sure ex-
actly what she wants to do during her year between high school and college, but the gap year fair gave her a better understanding of her options. Parry would advise it so students in the future.
“The experiences range from helping a local organization a couple times a week to going to a faraway land,”Heather Machanoff, ORHS Director of Counceling
scholarships A Push Towards the Future
Currently in the United States there are over 4,400 colleges to choose from. All of these colleges range from zero to over $60,000 a year to attend. On average a student takes two to four years to complete college, and that would be if they didn’t switch majors. That amount of time combined with the amount it costs to attend a college is something many do not wish to think about.
Kirsten Weiker News Writer
“The times I have sat back and really thought about the amount of money college will cost makes the prices quite large and intimidating,” Zachary Martin, senior at Oyster River High School said. What many are not aware of is that there is a way to contribute to the cost of their futures, and all it involves is a trip to the guidance office and a little hard work.
Upper classmen at Oyster River High School and parents, if you go into the guidance office and talk to Sandi Osterloh (the counseling secretary behind the front desk) or your counselor, they will direct you to two methods of scholarship searching. One will be with the school
website; they will take you through the guidance tab and into a site containing all of the links to the scholarships offered.
“Waste no time with this, any help is great and the earlier you take action the better.” –
“This page is updated regularly, new scholarships are being added and old [scholarships] whose deadlines have already passed are being removed,” explained Osterloh. The second method is through a large three ringed binder that contains letters that the guidance receives in the mail. This binder is separated by month, so a little more work must be done to get through and see what deadlines have passed, but will sometimes have more than the website has to offer.
Sandi Osterloh
scholarship binder that can be found in the guidance office.
When searching through scholarship offers, a student must keep in mind the requirements needed to apply. Many depend on the field of work you wish to study; some depend on things like community service, sports records, or just inter-
ests (such as art). Most scholarships offered give up to $1,000 and on the rare occasion might give a little more. But not all scholarships are solely for seniors. “On occasion, if you come early in the year and are willing to dig through and read up on all of the scholarships we have there are a couple that juniors can apply for,” Osterloh said. Not many scholarships do this, but if a junior applies for a scholarship they will hold the money if you are chosen, normally up to two years. After those two then you lose the scholarship money given. “Waste no time with this, any help is great and the earlier you take action the better,” Osterloh said.
The
Sadie Moore News Editor
“till death do us party”
ORHS Drama Club’s Murder Mystery
There was a murder at ORHS?! Muffy killed Lizzie?
If you heard this rumor do not freak out- it was planned by the drama club. On January 30th they put on a Murder Mystery pot luck as a fundraiser for the musical. Over 40 people came to the high school multi-purpose room and ate and watched. The impressive part is that it is almost completely run by the students of the drama club and isn’t completely scripted. “It’s mostly improv but the pivotal moments are slightly scripted,” explains senior Morgan Smith, who is in charge of the creation and production of the show along with senior Julia Katz and Drama Club advisor Meredith Freeman-Caple.
“The Bride (Claire Hawkes), can’t wait to be getting married. [She] has dreamed her whole life of this perfect moment, surrounded by friends, family, and murderers,” summarizes Smith.
“The students write and rehearse the Murder Mystery. They sell tickets and promote it as well,” explains drama club advisor Meredith Freeman-Caple. Although her work in this production is less than usual due to the hard work of the students, she isn’t off completely scott free. “I oversee the production
weeks ago,” Hawkes says.
Just because it’s improv doesn’t mean the actresses have been sitting around for the last few months to just wing it that night.
“It’s rehearsed improv. For a few weeks we just practiced a bunch of different versions,” says Julia Katz who played the grandmother, “but this version has never happened before,” she adds.
The night starts with the bride and her excited bridal party rushing into the room. The guests (spectators) are greeted by table by their waiters and waitress. We are shown right off the bat that Bambi Johnson (senior Miranda Miler), the maid of honor, is having an affair with the groom. We also see that many people including the mother of the bride (senior Amanda Martin) and sister of the groom (senior Shanna Argyos) do not want this wedding to occur. The mother doesn’t approve of the traditional jewish ceremony and the sister wants the groom to marry friend Prudence Uptight (junior Alanna Bagdon). Young-hearted grandmother Astelle McBride (senior Julia Katz) arrives with mysterious cousin Ronda Wrongdoing (senior Izzy Beagen) who we later find out was broken out of jail by the grandmother.
As the guests get food from the buffet partially provided by themselves, the cast mingles with the guests as their characters. At one point, bridesmaid Mackenzie Shouldabeen (senior Erin Robert) borrows a guest’s phone to take photos which is just one example of the interactive element of the night. As the drama continues, Bride Lizzie and Grandmother Astelle get into an argument, Lizzie storms off to the bathroom.
Mother of the bride comes running in with a white boa, covered in blood screaming about her dead daughter in the bathroom. Detective Whodoneit (senior Catherine Geiger) comes to solve the mystery. The guests are invited to hand in a slip of paper with their guess of the murderer, and their name.
The detective starts clearing suspects, explaining their motive but also a countering reason they couldn’t have done it, starting with Olivia Catherine Donttouch, then Astelle, followed by cousin Ronda, and Mother Mary, sister Hanna and Prudence are cleared, along with Mackenzie, then Bambi. We are left with Poppy and Muffy. Muffy is accused as a crime of passion. As she is being handcuffed she explains how she expressed her love to Lizzie who rejected her, Muffy yells “If I can’t have her nobody can!” as the show ends.
to keep it running smoothly, advise the actors on how things can be made clearer, and I buy the refreshments and plates, cups…” she adds.
Since it is improv, many of the lines and things done were made up on the spot to go with the flow. “A few planned lines were dropped because it’s hard to think ahead to make it work in the moment,” explains Claire Hawkes who played the bride. “It went better than we thought it was going to a few
Mackenzie Shouldabeen, who is a lifelong friend of the bride and very jealous that she isn’t the maid of honor has a revealing chat with fellow bridesmaid Muffy Mcjay (senior Tiffany Marshall). Muffy confesses her love for Lizzie and her jealousy regarding the wedding. Bridesmaid Poppy Bubbles (junior Marina Schwadron) is a college friend who is nothing more than a party girl; she spends the night drunk. As all this unravels, bar owner and hostess Olivia Catherine Donttouch is religiously cleaning everything in sight.
It is announced that eight people guessed correctly but junior Amy Halstead is randomly chosen as the winner who received tickets to the spring musical Oliver. “I am excited to see the musical and this was really fun,” Halstead says. Spectator Sam Rigazio also guessed Muffy as the culprit “I thought it was her because whenever there is a friend who doesn’t understand personal boundaries, they’re guilty,” he explains.
The seniors have the main roles with a few juniors mixed in. “The underclassmen are the waiters and staff so we get everyone involved,” says Smith. The seniors are the ones who come up with the idea of the plotline, important lines, and casted parts.
“I came last year and had a lot if fun so I came back. It is a good thing that the drama club does and it’s part of their learning experience,” says Oyster River alumna Jamie Miller.
Trevor Oakes Features Writer
K-Rod Rules The World
The Many Faces of Kai Forcey-Rodriguez
You can’t help but notice the bright orange suit with matching fedora immediately. As he walks through the door with confidence and a friendly smile on his face, it’s obvious he couldn’t care less what others think of the flamboyant ensemble. That, ladies and gentleman, is the mysticism of Kai Forcey-Rodriguez, the most interesting student at Oyster River.
Kai is a senior at ORHS. Kai is both bold and unique. Kai has a pun for every situation. Kai is friendly, and an advocate for justice. Kai is an adventurer, and a hair-metal rock star. Kai is a deep thinker, and a comic. But most of all, Kai is memorable. Throughout his “17.83 years” on this Earth, the different personas of Kai have developed into separate entities. “I bring out the different sides of myself sometimes,” says Kai. “But together they all make up my personality and my life.” So here they are, in no particular order, the many faces of Kai.
Activist Kai:
First and foremost, Kai is a caring person who wants to change the world. In 2011, he helped to form New Hampshire Youth for Peace and Justice, a student activist network centered in Concord. “That was around the time I become more interested in politics and how our community and generation will be responsible for trying to solve upcoming issues,” he says. Kai described the project as “Alex Freid’s baby”. Freid, one of the three founders of the recycling program Trash for Treasure, spurred Kai in action. A council of around ten students, the group meets in Concord every month to organize events that educate the public on world affairs. So far, Kai has been affiliated with a few protests, one being “NH Says No on Military Involvement in Syria”, on Spetember 9th in Concord. More recently, Kai participated in a movement against Walmart on Black Friday.
“Kai is confident and full of energy, sort of like a young Jay Leno.”
-Drew Thibault
“Kai is a very committed member of NHYPJ. Those who know him know that he can be very passionate and knowledgeable about issues he cares about and he certainly brings that energy to the group,” says Freid. Is a future in activism on the Horizon for Kai? Fried certainly seems to think so. “Kai really cares. He obviously will continue in this field in college and beyond and I’m sure he will wind up working towards peace and justice for others for the rest of his life. It’s always great to work with someone as young and as passionate as he is.”
Musical Kai:
Kai’s Favorite Personal Philosophies:
#1: Treat everybody you meet like they are your brother or sister because we are all different people with all different ways of life, but we are all human.
Kai credits music as a huge influence in his life. A drummer at heart, Kai has since become a bassist and a master of the air guitar. In a recent performance at the ORHS Coffeehouse, Kai performed original material as well as “Overnight Sensation” by the band Firehouse. “Music has been my main influence and helped through tough times. It calms me when the going gets rough,” he says.
# 15: Wisdom is best spread through the support and open ears of your peers.
# 22. Unity is the key to working towards building new bridges thus, allowing love to spread all over the world from country to country.
Always involved, he wants to make sure justice is brought to all corners of the world, even tiny Durham New Hampshire. Freid has known Kai for many years, and worked on numerous projects with him.
Kelsey Hogan, a longtime friend of Kai’s, admitted that Kai’s constant need for air guitar solos may be a bit off-putting for some, but a welcome distraction from the daily grind. “Any positive and unique energy that can be brought into our school is awesome in my opinion. Kai’s clearly not afraid to express himself or be who he is, which is
a really admirable quality,” she says. Why the 80’s music all the time? “I find it better written than some of the modern day music. Don’t get me wrong, it is fine all the same but I like the look and the energy put into making the music flow during a time where there auto-tuning sound hadn’t been created,” he explains. So don’t be surprised the next time you see Kai walking around garbed in leather pants, flowing locks, and a headband.
K-Rod Stud:
Throughout his freshman year, there was hardly ever a day where Kai wouldn’t be dressed in one of his fifteen different suits or jackets. “I thought it was fun, until I started getting feedback from my parents was a little over the top. But it was making me stand out, more recognizable. I was more of an individual, just by wearing those [suits] to school. While it was mainly just for fun, it’s kind of what makes my legacy,” Kai explains. Nowadays he only dons the lavish clothing for debate class, but there will always be a place for the orange suit in Kai’s heart.
Drew Thibault, has known Kai for over a decade. “Kai is confident and full of energy, sort of like a young jay Leno,” Thibault says. “His suits sort of show that about his personality.”
Philosophical Kai:
Last December, Kai published a list of his personal philosophies on his Facebook wall. “My philosophies mean a lot to me because they are my way of expressing my thoughts (Continued on page 10 )
Kai rocks out during a recent performance at the ORHS coffeehouse (Photo Credit: Sam Colby)
Matthew Segil Editor in Chief
Not Your Average Joe Oyster River’s First Coffeehouse of 2014
Mouth of The River’s second Coffee House of the Oyster River school year occurred on Thursday January 9th. Smells of coffee, sounds of laughter, and vibrations of music filled the room. With over 60 students attending the Coffee House the bustle between acts created a warm white noise. Senior rapper Trevor “T-Peps” Peppers describes the mood of the House perfectly saying “There was a lot of unexpected energy in the atmosphere.” Or maybe that was just the coffee.
A few soft lights and chairs adequately transformed the stage of the Multi Purpose Room from a scratched up old floor into an intimate venue. To give some perspective, both the bands and the listeners were on the stage itself with musicians and seats being located at opposite ends. At the start of the night a microphone, a drum set, and an amp were laid out; those alone meant nothing. It took the energy and courage of seven differ-
ent acts to bring them to life.
Senior Evan Rogers attended his first Coffee House this Thursday the 9th. “I was impressed. We have some really talented musicians and performers at ORHS,” says Rogers. Rogers enjoyed all of the acts of the night but lists his favorite part as “undoubtedly J-Swag.” Rogers himself declined a slot to perform at the next Coffee House due to having “no palpable musical talent.
Coffee House musician Reilly Webb premiered this Thursday with his band Dave. Dave consists of a vocalist, drummer, bass guitarist (Webb), and a tentative pianist. According to Webb, Dave is “a week old and still infantile.” As far as the band’s reputation goes, Webb sees the Coffee House as a great starting point, even listing “future Coffee Houses” as planned venues.
fee Houses and that he felt “Good vibes throughout the whole thing.”
“It was the first time I had seen some of my classmates perform, and being able to see them do what they love was awesome.” -Adele Ziemek
During DePasquale’s day the Coffee House was primarily an acoustic show with the occasional rock spice. This year’s Coffee Houses have seen four different artists performing under the rap genre. Peppers, who began rapping right before high school, is a musical blur playing piano, flute, and the djembe (a west African drum). Peppers loves rapping and took the stage with fellow rapper Trevor “T-Chill” Chilcott. During the performance both rappers brought original songs out and even freestyled to a beat created by DePasquale and friends.
The Coffee House not only attracted Oyster River students but also Oyster River alumni. One such alumni D.J. DePasquale revisited the Coffee House scene after graduating last year. DePasquale who helped run the Houses last year said that the House was “slightly different [from last year], but not by much.” DePasquale came back to the House to “reconnect with some of the guys I was jamming with before I left. I wasn’t too focused on the whole performance side of it, mainly just the fun of jamming.”
DePasquale cites his favorite part of the night as the “Soul Sacrifice jam. We had no preparation prior to playing that so it was real interesting. Real cool to have that extensive of a percussion section, definitely added to the experience.” To clarify, the “extensive percussion” section of the jam consisted of roughly 5 senior boys loudly hitting or shaking wooden objects in time with the music. DePasquale wrapped up saying he would definitely be interested in playing at future Cof-
In the future Peppers wants to take his music a little farther past the ambient simplicity of a high school Coffee House. “I want to take my rapping in front of thousands of people who I will enjoy it as much as I enjoy it and experience the creativity of music,” says Peppers. Peppers is “definitely” planning to perform at future Coffee Houses and thinks they are “a good way to share my music with the school population, and to get feedback.”
For spectator Adele Ziemek the show was about an entirely different school rapper. “I heard a rumor that this kid J-swag (Alias James Tuliano) was performing so I went to see if he was any good. I also had friends that were going and I had never been so I thought I’d check it out.” Ziemek was not disappointed by the House saying “the performances were great! I was very impressed and would go back again just for the music.”
Overall the Coffee House was a huge success and showcased the talents of Oyster River’s students and alumni alike. Ziemek accurately surmises the entire event saying “I really enjoyed seeing all of the talent that kids have. It was the first time I had seen some of my classmates perform and being able to see them do what they love is awesome. Being able to spend time with friends while listening to great music is always a good time.”
Ziemek says the only thing she would like to see in future Coffee Houses is “more people there! It’s a really fun event and the money goes to a great cause.” The money raised does in fact go to a “great cause”, that being printing and production fees for Mouth of The River. If the Coffee Houses continue to be this incredible Mouth of The River is on track to producing its first ever color edition by the end of the year! Much is in store for Mouth of The River and its all thanks to the amazing musicians and students that brought this month’s Coffee House to life! Get ready for the next Coffee House on Thursday, February 20th.
DJ DePasuale jamming out, (Photo Credit: Sam Colby)
Best of 2013 Albums That Made 2013 A Great Year For Music
Phoenix- Bankrupt!
Phoenix was founded in a garage in Versailles, France by Thomas Mars, Deck d’Arcy,and Christian Mazzalai in 1995. Adding guitarist Laurent Brancowitz later that year, they were officially signed to Loyauté in Paris and Glassnote in NYC in 1999. Most known for the singles “1901” and “Lisztomania”, Phoenix has been on Jimmy Kimmel Live! more times than you can count, but for good reason. Bankrupt! was released on April 23rd 2013 in the US, immediately soaring to the top of alternative and pop charts across the country.
Gabi Meyerson Features Writer
Although many have said that Bankrupt! is different than what Phoenix normally produces, it brings in a new sound for this band, opening many doors. Colorful sounds emerge from Bankrupt! never letting the listener become bored with what’s playing. Combining style with a solid-gold sound, the track “Trying to Be Cool,” has a groove that would be compared to ABBA, or more recently, all of Daft Punk’s, Random Access Memories (2013, Columbia Records). “Entertainment,” the first single and track off Bankrupt! is a strong start and lead for this album. Finishing their world tour in early 2014, Phoenix released a video for the track “Chloroform,” which was directed by Sofia Coppola, who is married to vocalist Thomas Mars. Bankrupt! is full of synths, shimmer, and leaves you with summery feel, but if you’re looking for a sequel to “1901” or “Lisztomania,” you’re not going to find it on Bankrupt!
Arctic Monkeys- AM
Ten years ago the Arctic Monkeys emerged from Sheffield, England, bringing with them a new sound. After releasing Suck It and See in 2011, Arctic Monkeys released the highly anticipated album, AM, was released in late 2013. AM has big names on the track list, including Josh Hommes from Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, The Desert Sessions, and Foo Fighters.
In an interview with Zane Lowe for BBC Radio 1 in early 2013, Alex Turner, lead vocals, explained, “The Josh thing was very much a case of one of us returning a back scratch to the other,” referring to Turner’s contribution on the Queens of the Stone Age album,...Like Clockwork, (Matador, 2013). Turner continued, “He came down and sort of got us out of a little rut. It’s just fun, it’s friends, extended family now – [they] came round, had a fun night. His contribution to our record is really exciting, it’s probably my favourite. The 30 seconds that he’s in there is just, I dunno, it’s like something that I’ve never heard before. Not to blow my own trumpet or anything, but you know what I’m saying.”
AM takes influences from OutKast, Aaliyah, and Black Sabbath. The Velvet Underground was the main influence on AM, Turner and the rest of the band even using ideas from the Velvet Underground to name this album, (talking about the Velvet Underground album, VU.)
STRFKR- Miracle Mile
The dreamy sound of STRFKR’s new album, Miracle Mile, is nothing like their older albums. The self-titled EP that was released in 2008, is on the other side of the spectrum. Caught somewhere between electronica and indie, STRFKR is the obscure but specific space between the two. But the dreamy sound that 2013 gave the world of music is something that won’t soon leave the music scene. STRFKR was originally a solo project for frontman Josh Hodges aka Sexton Blake, but turned into an album that was recorded in his bedroom with himself and his 6 closest friends.
After their song from their self-titled album, “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second”, was used in a Target commercial in 2009, the band’s popularity has risen online and in media print. The single off Miracle Mile, “Atlantis”, was released in late 2012 to Rolling Stone, and they took off from there. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hodges explains the background to Atlantis. “This is an old song that has gone through many versions,” Hodges told Rolling Stone. “It was actually written for a small Portland label company that never came out, so we revamped it and used it on the album. It fit in well with the end-of-the-world theme on Miracle Mile.” Miracle Mile was released on Polyvinyl Records.
Peace- In Love
As long as teenagers exist, albums that are oozing with the “drunk in love” vibe, will sell. Hailing from Worcester, England, this indie rock quartet are producing tracks for the wide spectrum of this genre. Receiving glowing reviews from both the UK and the US, Peace have headlined stages at Lollapalooza in the US, and the popular NME tours in the UK. Being able to bring music that both the UK and the US can agree upon is something that takes talent, and their album, In Love, is just what’s needed to bridge that gap across the pond.
In Love, was released on Columbia Records in March of ‘13, bringing with it the singles off the album, “Wraith”, “Follow Baby”, “California Daze,” and “Lovesick.” The track “California Daze,” is dreamy, leaving you hanging on the end of each line. “Oooooh, she tastes like sunlight/And she’s always gonna be there, in the back of your mind,” putting in your mind the ache that a first love, (so you think), leaves behind.
Night Time, My Time
After releasing Everything is Embarrassing in 2012, model turned singer Sky Ferreira released Night Time, My Time, on Capitol Records in late 2013. It’s as if its 1985 and you’re listening to the Breakfast Club sequel that was made up in her head. Taking influences from Debbie Harry (Blondie), Madonna, and Prince, this album is as close to the late eighties/early nineties as you can get. After recently becoming the spokeswoman for Redken haircare, Ferreira is rising up alternative charts. With help from her boyfriend, Zachary Cole-Smith of DIIV and Beach Fossils, these two have created something that will last through the ages.
In the Madonna-esc track “I Blame Myself”, lyrics of a troubled teen girl ring through with synths and drum kits. “You think you know me so well/How could you know what it feels like to be outside yourself?” Which, to a teenage girl, is something to cling to in the hard times of being a teenager, and feeling as if no one understands you.
That’s a
Rap
Yo, check it out dawg
Responsible for movements, love, equality yet blamed for hate, murder, and rape, hip-hop h as to be the most loved or the most hated genre of all time.
Love it or hate it, there is no denying that the genre is the most controversial style of music of all time. The impact that rap has on our society is fierce. Many people are starting to take it one step further and actually creating their own rap songs. Here is how some people are expressing their musical talent by creating their own hip-hop songs.
James Tuliano Features Guest Writer
forming at small gigs is a lot of fun for Pep pers, he hopes to take his music to the next level in the future.
“I want my music to be available to people of all ages like families and children, but
I also dream of performing in front of large multitudes of people and have a good time,” Peppers says.
T-Peps is friends with fellow rapper Trevor “T-Chillah” Chilcott, or T-Chill for short, who raps with T-Peps on their own original songs.
“My goal through my music is to inform people there is a extinct prince between hip-hop and rap, and to bring the old school back,” explained Chilcott
“Rapping is expressing myself through metaphorical creativity and poetry, and music is what makes it” - Trever Peppers
Trever “T-Peps” Peppers has been rapping since before he even entered high school. When asked what rapping is, Peppers replied “Rapping is expressing myself through metaphorical creativity and poetry, and music is what makes it.” Rapping means much more to Peppers than just music. He uses Hip-Hop as a way to express himself and explore his creativity skills.
T-Peps has quite a resume when it comes to performing. T-Peps has performed in Bangor PA, Harmony ME, Seabrook ME, Durham NH and Boston, MA. While per-
The two performed together at the Coffee House on January 9th, 2014. Other than performing in front of a variety of people, the pair practice their flow and rhyming skills with each other. The undeniable friendship between the two is extremely visual when they are performing with each other. When Chilcott went on the stage for his solo at the coffee house, Peppers watched in the crowd and rapped along with every lyric Chilcott spit.
“I’ve heard T-Chill rap on multiple occasions,” explained Chris Clement, a fan of TChills work. “Sometimes I beat box for him, but I have never heard T-Peps rap”.
K-Rod Rules the World , Continued From Page 7
wand beliefs. It also gives people a perspective on what kind of a person I am trying to be,” Kai reveals. He wanted to flesh out his innermost thoughts out on “paper” so that others might grasp what his life is about, and also so they might take away a few lessons. Being a positive influence is one of many goals Kai has, and this is a way he can achieve that. “I believe that once someone, who is decently well-known in school, shares his or her views it may give people an idea of what my life is like and help people live on, because we have an important future in front of us.”
Putting his core beliefs out for the world to see was a rather bold decision, but Kai remains unaffected. Hogan concurs: “I honestly think that Kai is by far one of the most genuine people I know at our school. It’s impossible to pass him without a wave or hello and that’s getting much harder to come by.
He hasn’t changed a bit in all the years I’ve known him and does nothing but help others so all in all I think he’s a really cool person. Self expression seems to be something that he finds natural and I think we could definitely all learn a little bit from the inner thoughts of Kai.”
Kai the World Traveler:
For someone who’s only seventeen, Kai has visited enough countries to make anyone green with envy. Besides living in Italy with his family twice in the past five years, Kai spent his sophomore year studying abroad in the Netherlands. Overseas, Kai “met many people who are now lifelong friends”, and gained an invaluable amount of memories and experience. “I met great people and loved exploring and learning more about their culture. It made me more accepting and more mellow,” Kai says. He admits there was a little bit of difficulty
Clement praised T-Chill’s lyrics and says he reminds Clement of Immortal Technique, a rapper from New York. Not everybody, however, is a fan of T-Chill.
Chris Buchanan, a student of Oyster River has heard T-Chill freestyle rap before, but was not impressed.
“They can’t really keep a good ‘flow’ and sometimes it doesn’t make sense,” explained Buchanan. Buchanan admitted that he never really got into the genre, but he has been listening to it since 8th grade.
Whether you like them or not, it is hard not to respect all of the work they put into their music. You will be able to hear T-Chill’s album which will either be called “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” or “The Essence of Adolescence” hopefully soon. T-Peps is holding off on his own album until he has an “over abundance” of recorded tracks to choose from.
keeping on track to graduate in New Hampshire, but it was worth it in the end. The traveling doesn’t stop in high school for Kai; No, he’s going to make a career of it. “My future plans are to take a gap year in Israel and learn Arabic and Hebrew, which may help me later become an ambassador or someone in the State department,” he conveys. After the gap year, Kai plans on studying International Affairs and Political Science at UNH to fulfill his dream of becoming a diplomat. Kai may dream big, that’s for sure, but those who know him will tell you that he’s capable of a lot more.
All You Need Is Love Fall Head Over Heels For the Sociology Love Panel
“I tricked her. Mrs. Raiford says it’s kidnapping. I say that I just didn’t bring her back when she was supposed to be. She wouldn’t go out with me, so I had to resort to drastic measures,” said Mr. Troy, Oyster River’s woodshop teacher. “[My wife] did not want to go out with me. I was persistent, persistent, persistent and we’ve been together twenty years.”
This story of how Mr. Troy met his wife was shared with students in previous years in a love panel held by the sociology classes. This is a time where students can ask teachers any questions about their love and relationship life. The panel is held towards the end of sociology when students study a love and marriage unit. It is a perfect way to personalize students and teachers while also educating one another about love.
The sociology classes have held this love panel “on and off ever since I started teaching it, so probably sixteen years,” shared Mrs. Raiford, sociology and social studies teacher. This love panel has given students a chance to ask their favorite teachers any question about love and relationships. “I felt like it’s just a nice opportunity for students to talk to teachers about real life issues,” Raiford stated. “It’s just so often that teachers who speak about their experiences with divorce and relationships and love that they offer such great insights; so I think it’s helpful and educational but it’s also really just kind of personalizes teachers in a way that I think is also really helpful with students,” Raiford continued. Raiford also commented that she created this panel “especially for students who may be struggling in a relationship or coming against some issues that might be harmful or unhealthy, that they can hear the other people who dealt with similar issues and then have a resource and may be more likely to seek out support if they need it.”
“There
is no one face of love, [...] there’s a lot of reasons that people do fall in love; so it’s okay that there’s different ways or different ideas.”
-Mrs. Van Dyke
Likewise with Raiford, Mr. Zottoli, sociology and social studies teacher, stated that he wished students realized that “when you’re in high school, sometimes relationships seem like they are everything, and the reality of it is a lot of people will not be friends with a lot of the people that are here. I think that it is important to just be patient.” Participant and art
teacher, Mrs. Rosi, stated that “you guys are inundated with information all day long. A lot of it comes from our culture and our society; and I think the messages about what being in a relationship really is like, that are coming at you, are probably 99.5% inaccurate.” Both Rosi and Zottoli stated that they found the love panel to be a way to show students the reality of love and relationships, which most of the time completely contradict what the media perceives it to be. Troy shared that “I don’t think that [the love panel] just [benefits] the students, it benefits the people on the panel too. I think the kids realize that teachers are just people... We also as adults learn stuff about you guys. There was never a class that I had where I could ask an adult these questions... and I learn a lot about my coworkers too.” Participant and social studies teacher, Mrs. Van Dyke stated that by sharing her story, she hoped students would “be more understanding. That there is no one face of love, and that there’s a lot of reasons that people do fall in love; so it’s okay that there’s different ways or different ideas.” Senior and previous sociol-
ogy student, Colby Runk, shared “I feel like the best way to learn about a long term relationship is through experience, but it was interesting to hear how each person’s relationship progressed.” Runk explained that he thought that the love panel was a great way to connect with peers and other teachers, while still focusing on the main unit of love and marriage.
Unfortunately this past semester the sociology classes were unable to hold the love panel. “Because of time and the length of vacation, it got kind of pushed aside. It takes a lot of time to schedule. Students pick a group of teachers they want to have, but then we have to figure out which ones have [a] period free. So there’s a lot of work that goes into planning it,” Zottoli explains. Although the classes couldn’t hold the panel this past semester, Raiford explained that she wishes to have it this semester when the students wrap up their love and marriage unit. “If I had a free period I would be inclined to pop in for a little bit. Each teacher had their own experience and there were a mix of ages of men and women on the panel so you got a good viewpoint of many different sides of love,” shared Runk.
Alyssa Bangrazi Features Editor
Sociology teachers: Mr. Zottoli and Mrs. Raiford
Where’s Wally?
Librarian by Day, World Traveler by Night
Hav -
ing traveled to over twenty foreign countries, Oyster River High’s beloved library assistant Wally Keniston doubles as a world-class traveler. Starting at eight years old, Keniston has experienced a life full of eye-opening adventures across the world. “It wasn’t until later on that I started traveling worldwide. As a kid, it was simply traveling across the border to Canada,” Keniston explains.
Alex Morrell Sports Editor
The top of his list for favorite countries visited includes India, Chile, and Egypt. “Each country had a phenomenal culture of something quite unique about it,” Keniston explains. “For example, most people visit Egypt to witness the ancient culture whereas the present day culture is what fascinates me the most,” he adds.
While traveling, Keniston explains that his goal “ is to connect with the culture and people who are native to the area.” Whether that means eating authentic food cooked in local restaurants or staying in locally owned and operated guest homes rather than typical tourist accommodations, Keniston tries to get the most unique experience possible.
“While traveling, my goal is to connect with the culture and people who are native to the area.”
-Wally Keniston
When asked what the biggest thing he
has gotten out of all his travels, Keniston explains, “people will always have issues with the United States government; the US government has affected most other countries in one way or another. By visiting so many different places, I have realized that if you are willing to meet people halfway, they are always willing to honor and welcome you to their country as genuine, friendly, and helpful person.”
While in Egypt, on e of his most memorable trips, Keniston explains the photo above. Now a hotel, the large tower built 1961 supposedly with funds from the CIA. Keniston noted that “we could have walked off the edge of the roof. There are few railings, or other safety precautions in developing countries.”
four countries, one being Egypt. In future travels, Keniston’s list starts with his top choices: Bhutan, New Zealand, Burma, and Cuba. “Each country is different in their own way. I have never been to Southeast Asia and Burma is an up and com-
Keniston and the man to his right, a sound engineer, were part of a documentary television crew thst worked in
ing country that I would love to able to visit. Cuba is gradually opening up to American tourists and Bhutan is a quite unusual country,” Keniston adds. “Any country that values happiness over money is a place to visit and Bhutan is just that.”
Three kids on the streets of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic enjoying a lunch on Wally.
(Photo Credit: Wally Keniston)
Keniston, right, on the rooftop of a hotel in Cairo, Egypt. (Photo Credit: Wally Keniston)
Keniston, as the librarian we all know and love. (Photo Credit: Sam Colby)
Issue Three February 11, 2014
Bon Appetite With the MOR Appetizer Contest
You place the sweet treat in your mouth. As you begin to chew, you pick up the strong flavor of chocolate. You continue chewing the sticky dessert, where you are pleasantly surprised to find smooth homemade caramel mixed in with crunchy chocolate chips. After your first bite, you are dying to have more. It’s a chocolate and caramel lover’s dream.
Alyssa Bangrazi Features Editor
The winner of the Mouth of the River appetizer contest, held back in January, was senior Emily Vaughn. Vaughn made a chocolate chip caramel brownie that won voters’ hearts. Runners up included math teacher, Mr. Nichols, who made baked chicken egg rolls that placed him in second by merely two points. In third place, special education teacher Mrs. McGuinness made a not-sospicy wasabi dip with vegetables. Recipes for the top three dishes are online at www. mornewspaper.com under the food contest recipe tab.
Vaughn shared that she began baking when she was about ten years old. “I like to make cakes a lot. I took cake decorating classes. [I also like] entrees and suppers,” said Vaughn. Not only did Vaughn make the brownies themselves, she also made the caramel that went in them, “the caramel was just a recipe I knew,” Vaughn said. This recipe, including baking time, took about an hour to make. She stated that this recipe is one that anyone can make, even the caramel “as long as you don’t burn it.”
Alyssa Doucette described the brownies as “tasting like heaven.” Doucette believes that this dish came in first place because “egg rolls and wasabi sauce are more ‘crazy’. Brownies are more simple, everyone has had one.” She continued to explain why she voted for the brownies saying, “the brownies were sweet, and I have a sweet tooth. I think that’s why I chose them for first.”
MOR appetizer contest winners (from left to right) Mrs. McGuinness, Mr. Nichols and Emily Vaughn.
form it,” Nichols explained. He has been working in the kitchen ever since he was fourteen. “My older brother owned a restaurant, and I started working there. Then I worked in a couple of other restaurants while I was working my way through high school and college,” he shared.
“...I like comfort food, but I also like to figure out ways to make food a little friendlier to the figure.”
-Mrs. McGuinness
“To be honest I’m a little surprised [this dish came in second place], because I thought the egg rolls were better. I don’t know, they were all kind of equally good. I didn’t really want to pick one over the other. I guess it was just people’s preference maybe,” Lizzie Attisano explained. Attisano shared that she voted for this dish to come in first, “I would have preferred to eat the egg rolls over the others if I had a choice.” Cheyenne Willey said that she voted for the egg rolls to place second because “they were good, but they didn’t have that much flavor.”
like to figure out ways to make food a little friendlier to the figure.” In this recipe, for example, McGuinness substituted one cup of mayonnaise (which the original recipe called for) for two thirds cup plain greek yogurt and one third cup mayonnaise.
Nichols’s inspiration came from him “try[ing the egg rolls] a few weeks ago with shrimp and [he] wanted to come back and make them again. [He’d] never made them before with chicken.” This dish took Nichols about an hour to make, and he shared that it’s simple enough for anyone to make. “The way I get most of [my recipes] is that I see some things and get an idea, then I trans-
McGuinness made a vegetable and wasabi dip after explaining that “it was a success over the holidays. Everyone liked it, all ages. If you like hot food, you know, spicy.” She explained that the dish was very simple, and that it took her about fifteen minutes to make. “I think that the cutting of the vegetables, cleaning and washing took longer than making the dip,” she shared. McGuinness stated that she is “more of a main course kind of person. I like comfort food, but I also
Home economics and food teacher Mrs. Kishbaugh stated that she believes this dish came in third place due to a combination of things. “One, a lot of students aren’t crazy about vegetables. And two... I think that [students] like familiar foods first. So what are they familiar with? They are familiar with brownies and they are familiar with egg rolls. So they are apt to like what they already know first of all.” She continued to explain that “[students] like sweets better than vegetables, so therefore the brownies would definitely be first before the others. [Also], I think that maybe the little bit of spiciness if somebody’s not used to it might have been a little off-putting.” Kishbaugh explained that she voted for this dish for multiple reasons. “I thought it was a wonderful combination of colors. The presentation was beautiful. I like the crunch of the veggies with the smooth of the sauce; and the cool of the veggies with the spice of the dip.”
If you have more competition ideas for the Mouth of the River, please contact Alyssa Bangrazi or anyone else on the MOR staff with any suggestions. We would love to continue to hold these fun and interactive events! Thank you to all of those who participated for this issue’s featured contest.
Awkward Dates at ORHS
Everyone has been on some pretty awful dates in their lives. Some people of them can anywhere from really awkward to just plain horrifying. We dsecided to highlight asome of the best dates that students at ORHS have expeirenced through out the years.
Hayley Poff: Hayley hung out with a guy on an innocent date to play some mini-golf. When they found out the mini-golf place was closed, Hayley spent the rest of the evening sitting in the car at a gas station parking lot, while her date scared people with a clown mask on.
Adam Geddis: Went on an ice cream date with a girl. Five minutes in he had some serious bowel problems and had to restrain himself for three more hours, until the date was over.
Jeff Alhgrim: After a first date with a girl at the movies, he had no choice but to bring her back to the McDonalds they he worked at because everywhere else was closed. Ario Dantillio: Ario and his date had
just come back from a nice date at the movies. On the way home he got pulled over. When the officer got to the car, he asked for them both to get out of the car. After a couple minutes the cop said they could get back into the car and then turning to the girl and saying “you could do better”
AmandaSouvenseng: Amanda went on an awful blind date with a girl, where it ended with the guy trying to kiss her, she pointed at something to distract him, and then ran away as fast as she could.
Fran Jeffery: Freshman year, Fran invited a boy over to her house. They went swimming In the pool and when they came out, the boy was nice enough to put all their clothes in the dryer and turn it on. Little did he know that the cat was also in the dryer…
Evan Rogers: Evan drove all the way up to Dartmouth in order to meet up with a girl from his summer Camp. Little did he know, her entire family would be spending the day with him also, and the dead threatened to kill him if he touched his daughter.
Michael Mandiville: Mike got a text from a girl to meet him in the woods near his house on a cold February night. Little did he know that his other friend that was
with him got the exact same time, and were about to go to the woods with the woods together.
Sandro Calzone: Sandro had a date in Italy this summer, where the girl only spoke Roman Dialect. The entire date, Sandro was trying had absolutely no idea what she was saying the entire date.
Carli Chiodo: As a freshmnan, Carli was asked to a harmless hangout with a senior guy. Little did she know, that this “hangout” quickly turned into a romantic date on top of wagon hill with a lot of extravagant foods such as Sushi. She did not want for it to be a date and wasnt quite sure what to do in a tough situation like that.
Landon Burt Guest Features
Halyley shows her affection towards clowns
Social Media and phones
And how they’re
Durham- It’s almost impossible to walk by a group of young people and not see someone glued to their phone. That is, unless I’m glued to my own. It’s undoubtedly true that social media, smartphones, and the convenience of communication have changed the way people interact on a daily basis, this is old news. However despite my obsession and reluctant addiction to my own phone, I can’t help but realize that smart phones and social media are drastically impacting people’s social interactions and everyday lives.
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In the crazy world of 21st century technology, I think the word communication has changed in meaning. People text their family members from across the house, a tweet has now become a reliable news source, spoken text lingo has changed the way people use the English language, and instagram has seemingly become a verb. As much as I believe modern technology and smartphones have changed my life for the better, I always find myself staring at my phone, resting on top of closed textbooks that I should have opened hours ago. Before starting into the pros and cons of smart phones on social interactions, first let me say my iPhone is my most used possession. The seamless integration of graphic design, animation, media, and physical movements have come together to create the user’s experience as life like and aesthetically pleasing as possible. Yet I occasionally stop and think that this piece of modern ingenuity and design is nothing more than wires and pixels, lighting up for constant artificial stimulation. This stimulation is not natural, not human. Yet in the changing world of art, and ever evolving ways of communication, most people look past this artificial aspect and only focus on the instant entertainment and visual stimulation. Have smartphones created a generation of impatient, instantly demanding, and short attention spanned kids?
My phone is how I communicate with people, it’s how I entertain myself too,”- Katherine Howard
changing everyday life
phones. “Technology plays a huge role in my life,” says Howard. She adds “My phone is how I communicate with people; it’s how I entertain myself too.” I couldn’t agree with her more, the instant gratification of scrolling through tweets or reading an RSS feed seems almost too conveniently entertaining, dangerously so. Touching upon this topic, Howard says “I’m distracted by it so much; even if I turn it off I feel this urge to check it.” However despite the convenience of virtual communication, Howard says “I’m sure talking in person is much more valuable.” Not only has the convenience of (relatively) new technology made it easy to communicate or entertain yourself, but it has also changed the way people stay productive. Howard says “I’m communicating with people on my phone, writing my essay on an iPad, and doing my research on a computer.” Did I mention she said that via text?
“I can almost tell you right when a kid gets a text message during their homework assignments, you can sometimes see the handwritingchance,” _ Dave Hawley
I can only speak for myself when I say yes, my iPhone might have shortened my attention span, or at least changed the way I interact with people. Oyster River High School Junior Katherine Howard shares similar opinions with me, regarding smart-
In Howard’s current situation, multi-tasking and multi device use aides her school productivity, or is it perhaps just making things harder? Is this “multi-tasking” really just the inability to focus on one thing? As I attempt my homework every night, I constantly feel the need to manage the many devices surrounding me.
Oyster River High School Teacher Dave Hawley taught a unit on smartphones and “multi-tasking” last year. The unit focused on this false notion that multi-tasking is productive, when in fact studies have
proven otherwise. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology performed an experiment to prove this theory. MIT students were tested in their ability to multi-task by taking a test while performing other technology related tasks. Their test scores were compared to scores of the same test taken by students in 1993, the results showed a lower performance in the multi-tasking test takers. “They performed significantly lower, the results showed they can’t get their work done as well as they thought they could when multi-tasking,” says Hawley. “It’s impacting an ability to focus,” Hawley explains. When it comes to his high school students, Hawley can easily identify which students are distracted by technology, and when the technology comes into play. “It creates a disjointed logic in the writing, I can almost tell you right when a kid gets a text message during their homework assignments, you can sometimes see the handwriting change,” explains Hawley. Personally I could not relate more, I constantly struggle with my own workload in addition to the distraction of my social media. Hawley suggests; “Move your smartphone to a different part of your house and get your homework done, I think you’d see it get done a lot faster”.
But how do you know when technology has actually changed the way you interact with people? Maybe when you’d rather text your parents than walk into the other room, or when you care about your phone’s condition almost as much as your own health. Oyster River High School Junior Olivia Svanholm shares the same feelings as many teenagers when phone-less. “When I forget my phone at home, I literally feel anxious” she says. (continued on page 16)
Two ORHS students use their phones between classes.
Social Media & Phones , Continued From Page 15
I reluctantly and privately agreed with her, despite knowing this prioritization of technology is absolute bogus. “I don’t even use it very much in school, but it’s just always on my at all times of the day” says Svanholm.
The internet is undoubtedly the most incredible invention of the past century. And today, the internet is in our pockets. With the swipe of a thumb across a phone screen, you have suddenly opened the doors to the most vast and complex collection of information in the history of mankind. The internet seems to circulate around sharing things, and taking in things that other have shared. Even social media for example, I feel the need to tweet when something happens, or communicate by other means through Instagram. But in the time it takes to use social media, aren’t we missing out on real life? Where is the balance between sharing experience in virtual life, and participating in real life? Paul Miller, senior editor for internet and technology conglomerate; The Verge (theverge.com) has an interesting
perspective on such aspects of social media. After “leaving the internet” for a year, Miller seems to have returned with a fresh perspective. In a TedxTalk, Miller explains the way his “year off” changed is outlook over social media. Prior to his year of internet abstinence, Miller explains: “I just felt in a very overwhelming way, that the internet was defeating me and suppressing me”. His decision to quit the internet seemed to stem from his inability to complete productive tasks due the constant distraction that the internet presented. After initially “quitting” the internet, Miller describes the sensation as: “You can’t tell me what to do internet, my life is mine now”.
Oyster River High School Teacher Lou Mroz was around years before the internet was invented. With a much different perspective than any of us, Mroz states: “I’m concerned with how we will be relating to human beings. Instead of talking to each other people are on their phones”. With a piece of insightful advice, Mroz says “Go have your own adventures, I don’t want
to live virtually I want to experience things myself”.
However despite the seemingly hopeless obstacle that social media and the internet poses, there is the productive and luxurious side. Oyster River High School Sophomore Andy McQuade uses the internet almost daily to listen to and download music. It’s obvious that music is a whole has changed drastically over the past decade. “It’s easy to find artists you like on the internet,” says McQuade. He adds “I also think it’s easier for artists to get their music known.” McQuade listens to music exclusively on his iPhone and uses a laptop to download it.
It seems as though, in many regards, the cons out weigh the pros. Or at least people (including myself) haven’t figured out how to only use the beneficial sides of the internet. There’s no doubt that I personally learn more from the internet than even school itself, but it still remains a distraction; quite the conundrum.
“You’re supposed to graduate [high school], get into a good 4 year college, get good grades, party and graduate [college] knowing what you want to do whether that’s a job, an internship or grad school,” explains senior Hayley Poff regarding what the mold is here at Oyster River High School.
Cece Cunningham Op-Ed Writer
In 2013 76% of Oyster River’s senior class went right from high school to a 4 year college, which was a higher percent than the previous four years. 13% of the 2013 seniors went to work or go to the military and only 7% attended 1-2-3 year colleges. A strikingly low amount of senior students from 2013 attended a gap year program, at only 2% of the class.
As I explained briefly with a quote from senior Hayley Poff, the mold is something everything Oyster River High School student is aware of. The mold is something that most students feel they need to fill. But, is that necessarily true? Aren’t there more options they should be aware of?
The answer to that question is yes. There are dozens if not hundreds of gap year programs that so many students seem to be unaware of.
I believe for this situation there is a lot that guidance could be doing. When I asked Mr. Allen what he thought the best approach would be for guidance to explore the best
path for he each student he explained, “[Guidance should] communicate to the kids and families what they’re opinions are throughout the four years.” Meaning, each year things may change for each student and every year you need to make sure that the classes you are taking and the activities you are participating in are appropriate for your future goals. Mr. Allen also explained that he believes more of the core classes should be done freshman and sophomore year so that the students have more options for their junior and senior years along with more freedom.
I believe we are doing well as to how much freedom and options our juniors and seniors have. Although, I do agree that there needs to be more talk with our counselors every year to make sure we are doing the right things to reach our ultimate and future goals.
I happen to be one of the Oyster River High School students who does not fit the “mold.” I’ve known that I didn’t fit the mold since about the sixth or seventh grade. I was constantly told that I would be held back if I did not start to care more about my work. But, I did not believe them what they told me that. I did not believe them because I was so young and did not see how the work I would do at that age could affect me in my later and more important years. To this day I still believe that I was right back then. Unfortunately, I kept this mind set until my junior year of high school, which was much too late. If anything I wish I could go back to freshman year and actually try to care and do much better in my classes. Due to not doing well early on in my high school career, by my junior year it was much too late to
pick up my GPA. Although, I was not even sure I wanted to go to college.
Today, I am still struggling with all of my choices. Do I go to a four year college? Do I do a gap year? Do I work for year and go to community college? There are many options for me that could be the right one. Fortunately for me I had the right group of teachers and an amazing guidance counselor my senior year to help me decide what I want to do. Oddly enough, I have chosen to go straight on to a four year college. It is still so important though that all the students who don’t want to go to college right away are aware of all of their options. I suggest having a teacher to talk to and a good relationship with your guidance counselor and the administration so they can help lead you down the right path.
Who’s In My Spot?
An Inside Look on Oyster River’s Parking Situation
“I get to school around 7:20-ish and usually most of the spots are taken,” said junior Trevor Chilcott. “It is [hard to find parking] in junior lot, but you can always just park on Coe [Drive]; but that leads to people taking each others’ spots,” he continued. Often times, you hear students complaining about how so and so took their spot, or how they couldn’t find any parking in junior lot. If one were to ask the administration about a parking issue, however, they would state that there is no issue at all. While there is no official junior and senior lot, the fact of the matter is that juniors refuse to park in the senior lot, which is rarely ever full, and instead park in staff parking which causes issues. Solutions to the issue have been raised whether to once again have a lottery for parking spaces, or assign parking. The main solution is for the school to assign students parking.
Alyssa Bangrazi
Op-Ed Guest Writer
there’s a possibility that they’ll be towed; we have towed students in the past before.” Senior Julia Katz commented, “come on, really? How many rules do you think we have and you can’t even follow this one where you could actually face something serious for it? We have so much freedom, and you can’t walk five hundred feet to school?”
“There is no such thing as senior lot and junior lot. Seniors can stop being bullies.”
“You get to school late just park on Coe Drive because there’s no spots in junior lot, but even then there is no more room on Coe,” shared junior Brendan McKenna. McKenna agreed with Chilcott in the sense that he finds it very difficult to find parking. Their alternative option is to park in staff.
“I feel like the administration sort of makes a big deal out of [students] parking in staff. I feel as if we pay to park, we should be able to park wherever we want,” Chilcott explained. “Most of the time I park on Coe Drive, if I can get there. Or in staff, and even with juniors parking in staff there’s about one thousand staff spots open,” said McKenna. Senior Shelby Grogan explained that “I think that if there’s staff parking available, like there are extra spots, I think that if it’s C period and all the teachers that are here that need to be here and there are empty spots then yes students should be able to park there.” If a student is parked in staff parking, Mrs. Wotton explains that “we tell them to move it, and they get a warning. If they do it again then we tell them that
-Mrs. Wotton
One solution Oyster River had in previous years was that they held a lottery for parking spaces. “We’d start with seniors, and some schools even start with seniors who participate in sports or have after school activities and clubs and they get put in the lottery first. Then we’d go from there,” Wotton shared. As a student who does not do sports here at Oyster River, I personally don’t like the thought of the lottery. I think that everyone should have a fair chance at getting a space; however I do understand that students who need to stay after school require their car at the school in order to drive themselves home. I think that the lottery should go by grade starting with seniors. Most seniors have their licenses at this point anyways, and the younger you get the less likely you are to have your license. After all juniors get a parking spot and there are still some left over, then I think the parking spots should be opened to sophomores as well.
Another suggestion Chilcott made to help solve the ‘parking issue at Oyster River’ was that “I feel like [assigned parking] would help the organization of it, but I feel like it would just cause more conflict between the students. It would solve the student-administration problem, but it would just create problems with the students.” Grogan shared that she also thinks that students should have assigned parking. “I think that would take care of everything, all of these problems,” she said. If students can’t park in staff and also can’t find spaces in junior lot or Coe Drive, what other option do they have? Grogan stated that she “[doesn’t] mind juniors parking in senior lot; but if you are going to park in senior lot, park in the back. It’s nice that we are even letting them there.” Like Grogan, Katz explained that she doesn’t mind
underclassmen parking in the senior lot. Wotton shared that “there is no such thing as senior lot and junior lot. Seniors can stop being bullies.” However, like Chilcott and Grogan, Wotton agreed that it would be nice to have assigned parking. “We have tried it [before]. I do like it in some ways just because everybody has a space they’re supposed to be in.” She continued to explain “I thought it used to work out pretty good. The problem arises when you have a kid who comes in a parks in a spot that’s not theirs, and the next kid doesn’t have a spot now. It can cause a domino effect really quickly.” Wotton also explained that the unassigned parking is nice because students can come in and park freely, “but the problem starts when people and classes take entire ownership of lots when there are tons of spaces in them. You can’t be that way. There’s no such thing, and it was never meant to be that way.”
My opinion on assigned parking here at Oyster River is that I think it would be a good idea. We already register and pay for our parking stickers, so why not receive a spot then? I think that would take care of the issue of students not paying for stickers and parking at the school anyways. If there are no more spots for un-registered drivers to park, then those who don’t pay can’t park there. This ensures everyone pays for a sticker and everyone gets a spot. As for the issue of students taking other students’ parking spaces, I think that the people taking the spaces need to grow up. We are in high school. Don’t be that kid that ruins the parking situation for everybody. If you register your car and you receive a spot, I don’t think there is any need for you to take someone else’s spot. If you are so worried about not having a parking space, then register your car. There are so many spots here, plenty enough to go around.
Students tend to take staff parking when they cannot find parking of their own.
Packed Junior Lot.
twinkle twinkle little STAR your scores tell us how you are
Weiker Guest Op-Ed
How would you feel about taking the same assessment at least three times a year? That is what the freshman and sophomores of Oyster River High School have to look forward to this year.
The Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (aka STAR assessment) started in the Oyster River School District (ORSD) at the Middle School five years ago. It then moved to the Elementary School two years ago, and as of last year is used in the High School with only the freshman and sophomores. STAR testing happens at least three times a year, and its goal is to determine student skill level in reading and mathematics. It consists of one computerized reading assessment, followed by one math assessment (also taken on the computer). The outcome of this (the level of students) should be able to help suggest ways to help students struggling in classes.
Principal Todd Allen of Oyster River High School (ORHS) had quite a bit to say on the subject of STAR testing. “I believe it provides good [information] and is totally worth doing. The data is really worthwhile; in particular it helps the [students] who are struggling in classes.”
“…it provides good [information] and is totally worth doing. The data is really worthwhile; in particular it helps the [students] who are struggling in classes.”
–
Todd Allen
But Allen isn’t totally all for the STAR assessment in ORHS. He continued on to say “in the high school the test is hard to implement. We either have to give up electives or take a lot of time re-working
“It would be more beneficial to the students if we could help them sooner, not when they only have two years of school left.” – Brian Zottoli
[students] schedules. This is a real pain for the teachers trying to plan their classes.”
Brian Zottoli, history teacher at Oyster River High School agrees with Allen on how STAR testing is helpful, but incon-
venient to high school students schedules. When told about how STAR testing begins in the Elementary school, Zottoli gave a surprised response; “We don’t see those [STAR testing] scores. I believe that if we could get those earlier it would be more helpful.”
Zottoli went on to explain that when students in the high school take the STAR testing three times a year that’s three classes that they will be behind on. Although it doesn’t sound like much, it really does affect the students.
“It would be more beneficial to the students if we could help them sooner, not when they only have two years of school left,” Zottoli said. The consensus with the STAR assessment seems to be the same for many; although the information is helpful, the method of getting it is quite inconvenient for a High School setting. “The odd thing about the
testing is that [for me] it isn’t hard, just time consuming and lets face it, no high school student likes to take tests,” Casey Rhoades, a sophomore at ORHS said.
Kirsten
(One of the many signs made to warn students of the STAR testing going on)
(The starting screen that welcomes every freshman and sophomore that takes the STAR math portion of the assessment.)
Trevor Oakes Guest Op-Ed
A Case For Senioritis
Why Slacking Isn’t a Bad Thing
Walk into any high school and you’ll see the signs: Missing homework, projects and posters that look like they were strewn together the night before (which they probably were), students sauntering slowly through the halls seemingly with nowhere to be. While these may be normal, everyday occurrences, they’re going to continue to increasing right up until graduation. Why? Because these are seniors we’re talking about! With the end of their high school careers just out of grasp, many continue the final push towards academic freedom. Others, however, have had enough. Scraping by in this final year, the one that “doesn’t count”, is good enough. Senioritis, as this “disease” is known, is the crippling decline in motivation towards all things school related, and once it takes hold in the teenage brain it can be nearly impossible to shake loose. I’m here to tell you why it may not be such a the worst thing in the world.
While I may not have a full case of senioritis, most people come down with it towards the beginning of second semester. Chris Gallant, a senior at ORHS, often lacks the motivation to do work of any form. “The hardest part is opening my backpack. If I get to that point I’m usually okay but it has become a rarity for me to make it that far,” says Gallant. But why is this necessarily a bad thing? Gallant and (most) other high seniors have battled grades and classes for three and a half years, and a break is a reasonable request. College is not easy, regardless of what some people may assume, and maybe this extra period of relaxation is warranted. “I’ve learned the habits I need for college. Not wanting to do pointless busy work isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s hard to be invested in something where the point is sometimes to teach you how to do work,” continues Gallant.
I’m afraid that if I let things slide this year, it will hurt my chances of getting into college.”
-Abby Howard
Jan Bartos, also a senior at the high school, is finding himself more and more drawn away from his schoolwork. “I still care about what I do, but [now] I’m finding better things to do, rather than homework or stuff of that nature,” he says. Bartos nailed the main argument for senioritis. The idea is that the final months of high school are sort of a last gasp to do the things seniors know and love and want to do, before moving onto an entirely new stage of their lives. Before they know it, that last shred of their adolescent lives is gone, and they may have felt there was many an opportunity wasted.
The whole process begins (well, ac-
celerates) when students begin spending all their time applying to college, and are left with a “void” where the desire to do well in high school once existed. ‘I think it’s because everyone is so focused on the future and their future plans, it’s hard being stuck in school,” says Veronica Ackerman, a senior at ORHS. She agrees that while it’s fun to dream of a future, it’s not the best thing in the world to do. Ackerman has found a way of rising herself of senioritis, however. “Graduation,” she says. That’s not to say students should just outright stop doing schoolwork. Something like that is likely to get a senior rejected from most colleges across the country, the worst imaginable fate for some. “I’m afraid that if I let things slide during this year, it will hurt my chances of getting into college, so I guess I’m motivated by the thought that if I keep working hard then I will be happy about it next fall,” says Abby Howard, a senior (almost) unblemished by senioritis. Howard has a point, and it’s probably the best argument against senioritis. Colleges are looking even closer at fluctuating grades for seniors, claiming that they want students who are driven at all points of their lives. The reality is, this is an unachievable dream for colleges, because it’s impossible for anyone to stay motivated all the time. We shouldn’t encourage or greatly discourage senioritis; rather, accept it for what it is and try to help students find that spark their last few months of high school. “I don’t think senioritis can be avoided because I think it shows that people are ready to be out of high school and move on with their lives which is a good thing,” says Howard.
school seniors all across the country are struggling to stay motivated as graduation draws closer.
when it really starts to show up. They may not feel elective classes are necessary to graduate. For some it’s reality, they’ll move on to college where there’s not a pressure to perform every single day, that’s a nice transition they should be doing. They should be able to have that autonomy or feeling of ‘hey I’m not going to do this now’. But there are consequences to that, and that’s a maturing thing. I don’t necessarily see it as a bad thing because it’s time for them to start disconnecting from high school and moving on,” she says. There are a lot of things happening at this point for seniors. They’re getting ready to leave, they’re talking about colleges, they’re dreaming about their last summer vacation, so there’s a huge amount of pressure in their minds.
Van Dyke thinks one way we can ease that transition is to try to focus on constructive ways to motivate students to not only do work, but be excited about learning, while at the same time tempering expectations. “Typically, especially if they’ve already been accepted into college, they’re going to start losing interest in high school. It would be counter-productive to try and make someone do something that they’re naturally moving away from rather than trying to think of a way to help them with that transition.”
So how do we combat this way of thought? How do we stop the graduatesto-be from committing these crimes against the education system? How do we suppress those urges to let any and every homework assignment from collecting dust? Karen Van Dyke, a social studies teacher at the high school, believes there is no “cure” for senioritis, because it’s not a matter of if, but when. “Once second semester hits, that’s
“I go through phases of being done and not done with high school, and when I do feel unmotivated, I remind myself we’re barely halfway through with the year,” says Bartos. He’s right to think of it that way. Seniors have to be wary of slipping grades in order to keep their acceptance letters. It shouldn’t be too much to ask for seniors to pass their classes. But it also shouldn’t be too much to ask of teachers to accept the inevitable and be a little more flexible. A few of the staff members might benefit from thinking back to a time when they were excited to move on with their lives.
High
Cece Cunningham Op-Ed Editor
Looking for a fun but relaxing way to spend your Valentine’s Day? All you need is hot chocolate, popcorn, warm fuzzy blankets, a couch and a TV to enjoy a romantic but calming day snuggled up with your significant other (or cat). If watching a love movie is exactly what your girlfriend wants to do, but it seems kind of “lame” to you, I seriously suggest reevaluating your life. Here are the top 10 movies to keep your romantic day going for hours.
2) Friends With Benefits (Rated R)
1) Love and Other Drugs (Rated R)
-Love and Other Drugs, released in 2010, starred well-known actress Anne Hathaway and the extremely irresistibly handsome Jake Gyllenhaal. This movie is not only about a young couple falling madly in love with each other, but the serious struggle that comes when Anne Hathaway’s character is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. This movie will not only make you laugh, but it will simply reduce you to tears. Also, not to mention you get to stare at the beautiful Jake Gyllenhaal for an entire 112 minutes.
-Friends With Benefits, released in July of 2011, stars the amazing and beautiful Mila Kunis and the stunningly handsome Justin Timberlake. The movie follows the love story of their two characters as they try to”spice up” their friendship. Along with the “spicing up” comes many complications that they originally tried to ignore. This movie is relatable for many people and the suspense of how the relationship will end up keeps you on the edge of your seat for an entire 109 minutes.
4) Something Borrowed (PG-13)
3)Silver Linings Playbook (Rated R)Silver Linings Playbook was released in late December of 2012. This movie is starring the incredibly good looking Bradley Cooper and his love interest, the amazing and beautiful Jennifer Lawrence. However, this not your typical love movie. Both characters in this movie have experienced extreme loss in their life and throughout the movie have to learn how to fall in love again. Also, like Love and Other Drugs you get to watch two beautiful people on your TV for a whole 112 minutes. Fair warning, you probably will cry if you watch this.
-Something Borrowed was released in May of 2011 and starred Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson and Colin Egglesfield. There is quite a bit of comedy in this movie but the over-whelming emotions you will feel from this love triangle will really take you over for the entire 112 minutes. Ginnifer Goodwin’s character, who is best friends with Kate Hudson’s character, falls madly in love with Colin Egglesfield’s character in college. Unfortunately, neither Goodwin nor Egglefield’s characters have enough courage to admit how they feel. Due to those circumstances, the ultra trashy and outgoing character that Kate Hudson plays swoops in and captures the heart of Egglefield’s character. They end up getting engaged and the rest of the movie is the story of how Goodwin’s character deals with their new found love and the love she still has. If you have ever been in love and not had the courage to say so, this movie will really hit home.
Issue Three February 11, 2014
5) Crazy Stupid Love (PG-13)
-Crazy Stupid Love was released in July of 2011 and starred many famous actresses and actors. It follows the story of Steve Carell’s character and his wife played by Julianne Moore, their daughter played by Emma Stone and her love interest played by the gorgeous well-chiseled Ryan Gosling. With other characters mixed in, the story becomes very complicated. Toward the end of the movie all of the characters come together in one scene to clear up the entire story. I love this movie because it covers so many different aspects of various types of relationships. It may bring you to tears, but I think it will mostly make you laugh. The most depressing aspect of this movie that impacted me for an entire 188 minutes was the fact that I am not dating Ryan Gosling and will in fact never meet a guy that good looking.
7) Dear John (PG-13)
6) The Last Song (PG)
-The Last Song was released in March of 2010 and starred the infamous Miley Cyrus and her now ex-fiance Liam Hemsworth. It follows the story of a troubled teen (Miley Cyrus) and the summer is being forced to spend with her dying father. Cyrus’ character ends up falling in love with Hemsworth’s character, in real life and in the movie. She must deal with how this summer will change her life and how the death of her father will greatly impact herself and her little brother. This movie will most definitely bring you to tears. You will most likely literally bawl your eyes out. Although, like most of these love movies there is always a silver-lining. In this case the silver-lining is obviously the incredible good looks that Liam Hemsworth brings to the table for an entirety of 107 minutes.
-Dear John was released not too much earlier than The Last Song in February of 2010. This moving stars Channing Tatum, who is in the army, and his love interest played by Amanda Seyfried. The movie tells the story of the struggle of keeping a relationship while one person is away at war. Both characters struggle with life decisions and situations that will impact them continuously through the movie. I can’t say too much about this without giving away a lot of the movie. Although, like most of these movies, I can promise that you will shed at least one tear from one of your eyes at some point during these 108 minutes.
9) 50 First Dates (PG-13)
8) The Notebook (PG-13)
-50 First Dates was released in February of 2004 and starred the hysterical Adam Sandler and his love interest Drew Barrymore. Sandler’s character is extremely afraid of commitment until he meets the one girl he thinks is perfect for him, Barrymore’s character. But, there is a twist to their love story. Barrymore’s character has short-term memory loss. Due to the short-term memory loss every day she forgets who Sandler is. Meaning, every day he has to make her fall back in love with him in order to spend the rest of their lives together. The short-term memory loss issue is never resolved but the ending of the movie, which I will not give away, is very cute. Unfortunately, there is no extremely attractive male to stare at for these 99 minutes, but Adam Sandler is hilarious.
-The Notebook was released in June of 2004 and quickly became the most well-known love movie around. It seems today that almost every single girl has seen this movie and was driven to tears at some point during the 123 minutes. Just like the number five movie on this list, it stars Ryan Gosling. The movie is set back in the 1950’s following the story of Gosling’s poor character who falls in love with Rachel McAdam’s very wealthy character. They end up going years without speaking, but when they finally meet again after years they are completely driven insane by the amount of love that is still there. It is clear to them, and anyone watching the movie, that they are meant to be. It has sort of a Rome and Juliette feeling, because McAdam’s family does not want her dating Gosling. Which, I could never quite understand because is a straight up dime. I can’t say that this movie will make you cry, but I can say that if you don’t tear up at some point you probably don’t have heart, but that’s just my opinion.
10) Love Actually (R)
-Love Actually was released in November of 2003 and followed eight different love stories for an entirety of 135 minutes. These eight couples include the famous Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon. I have never actually seen the movie myself but it was suggested I add it to the list by multiple writers on the MOR staff. So, I suggest that you watch it and come up with your own opinion seeing as mine is most likely irrelevant.
Durham Date Ideas
Where Will You Take Your Special Someone?
It’s the time of year again when love is in the air, and you’re thinking about that special someone. In one way or another, your tweets are about them,and your mind is constantly focused on them. If Internet Explorer has the courage to ask to be your default browser, you have the courage to ask them out on a date. But asking them out is the easy part -Where do you take them for Valentine’s Day? The booming metropolis of Durham is developing and bringing in new and exciting places to take your date.
Gabi Meyerson Features Writer
Sammy’s Market Date:
Sammy’s Market parking lot is the perfect place to take the one that you love. Formerly known as Tedeschi, and most well known as Store 24, has something for everyone. The ambiance that the phallic graffitied drawings bring to this common meeting place will warm your hearts in the chilly February air. As you sit in your parent’s 2003 Ford Explorer with your date, take time to note the payphone that hasn’t worked for a solid 3 years, god forbid you need to use it. The details that the current and past owners have put into this establishment will blow you away. “Joey Rulez” is written poorly in sharpie on the foundation, giving this place a “down to earth” and “homey” feel. But don’t let Joey deter you from having a nice time with your date, all walks of life are welcome at Sammy’s Market. Nestled right in the center of campus, this is the perfect place to start, or end the day with your significant other.
Circle K Picnic:
It’s the end of the night and you have one thing on your mind, the picnic tables next to Circle K. Overlooking the scenic RT 108 drive through gasoline alley, the smell of exhaust and the sights of a closed down Cumberland Farms gas station across the street will let your date know you care. “Circle K picnics are really nice because you get to see hungover college students buying Dunkin’ Donuts.” said sophomore Abby Colby. “It really adds a feeling of ‘my date cares’.”
This place is mostly unknown to people visiting from out of town, but to the locals, its always full and always busy. On the way out, be sure to check out the RedBox for the latest TV movies on DVD and treat your date to a bag of Andy Capp’s hot fries and a Coke Slushie, and they will never leave your side. “I think the pile of gray snow and cigarette butts add a certain appeal to this popular date site,” explains dating expert and senior at Oyster River, Hayley Poff. “Even though snow is seasonal, it adds a little something, as if it was always meant to be there.”
DHOP alley:
The smell of pizza air is the reason the DHOP pizza alley is one of the most sought after places to eat on Valentine’s day. A big enough space to fit only one person walking by, this is the perfect spot to show your date how you really feel about them. A date once spent in the alley eating pizza is a great way kick-off a long-term relationship. “Pizza air is life, without it, I don’t know where I would be or what I would do.” explained junior Alana Saravong. “Whenever I walk through the alley, I think of past dates, good or bad!” Book your reservations in advance, the tables here are sure to fill up fast!
This Valentine’s Day, make sure to take your date somewhere that shows them you care. The storefronts and alleyways of downtown Durham change yearly, and that means something new and exciting for next year!
(Above) The gloomy payphone that sits outside waiting to be used.
(Right) The infamous Sammy’s Market sign.
The Durham House of Pizza alley is the perfect way to start or end your date.
In a psychedelic arena on the far outskirts of space, a war is raging. Four space narwhals clash together in order to form the greatest battle of all time. Only one starwhal can emerge to be the victor in this extremely addictive multiplayer game. The floppy three key controls make for unexpected and hilarious results ev-
The Whal Free whalin
ery time. The game also highlights certain aspects of the game such as direct hits and near misses in slow motion to enhance the quality of the game. StarWhal has been rated the number one local multiplayer couch gaming experience featuring marine mammals in outer space. by gamezebo.
This game of floppy mayhem blew up all around the school, to the point of utter carnage upon school work and productivity. In the game, you are a space narwhal of elegant colors. The object of the game is to pierce the opponent’s heart with your only weapon, your horn. This comical game is considered to be very difficult to control and even harder to become skillful at. My favorite part about Starwhal is the ridiculousness of it . Said Sandro Calzone a skillful veteran of the amazing game and claims to have spent over 20+ hours playing Starwhal.
This game started very small in Mrs. Bests A period anatomy class. Senior Nick
Bernier is credited with both discovering the game and getting it blocked. “I was introduced to this game through Youtube on the popular channel Roosterteeth as a special. This game quickly spread to other classes like Mrs. Carr’s C period class, where it was played by almost 9 kids in the class. “I saw this game for the first time, being played in Philosophy.” said Senior Logan Aldrich. “My first reaction to seeing this game was that is was probably the most genius idea I had ever seen in my life.” After that it started spreading to several other classes and clearly became too much for the teachers to handle, needless to say this game was quickly banned from the school’s internet. Kids were outraged and didn’t know quite what to do with their lives, some of them even resorted to doing their actual school work during class.
“This game was a lot different than other games kids had played before, just because of the popularity of it” quotes Mrs. Pearce the alleged banner of Starwhal. Inside sources say that this game came to an end when Senior Nick Bernier and Junior Jake Aldrich were being a little too rowdy while playing this game in the library. “Mrs.Pearce came over to us and asked what game we were playing, and then she blocked it” quoted a disappointed Bernier. “It’s depressing to think that we live in a society that does not
let us express ourselves through colorful horned aquatic mammal…..RIP StarWhal” quotes junior Jake Aldrich.
“It was just getting too out of hand”. According to Pearce, people play several online games on the computer with their free time or when their work was done, but she had never seen anything like Starwhal. “It just escalated so quickly, to the point where there was tons of kids huddled around a small computer screen yelling and cheering”. Mrs. Pearce does not usually block too many applications and for every 1 application she requests to block, she requests to have 5 un-block. Mrs. Pearce requested this online game to be blocked in order to restore order and sanity back into the chaotic/unproductive school that Starwhal once brought. Although in reality she has implied on several occasions that she only blocked out of jealousy from the lack of skill she has for these types of online games.
Other Schools that could not handle the power Starwhal:
Profile School
Bow High School
Pembroke Academy
Farmington High School
Hills-Borrow High School
Milford High School
Landon Burt Op-Ed
Seniors Sandro and Ario showing their dedication to Starwhal
Tuliano Op-Ed Writer
Xbox One vs. PS4
Which one is better?
You just slayed a dragon, gained superpowers and saved the world all in one night. Being a part of a virtual world can sometimes be more exciting than participating in the real one. Video games have come a long way since Pong was released in 1972. They have a spot in almost every modern day home and have become an important part of our lives. Some play video games as a hobby, while others play video games religiously; taking breaks only at the loading screens. Either way, it is hard to deny how important video games have become in modern day America.
For the last seven years the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii have dominated the industry. The Nintendo Wii has proved to be the most popular, selling over 100 million units since its release in 2006. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PS3 sold roughly the same amount of units since their launches in 2005 and 2006, respectively. While the Xbox 360 sold 78.2 million units and the PS3 sold 77 million units so far, these numbers continue to grow as the years go on. However, sequels to the systems came out during November of 2013 and are proving to maintain the legacy their predecessors held.
Dead Rising 3, a zombie survival game, was another exclusive game for the Xbox One. The gameplay involved crafting your own weapons and customizing vehicles to kill massive amount of zombies. Dead Rising 3 got relatively positive reviews praising its innovation of letting the user create and modify their own weapons and vehicles, but was criticized for its dated graphics and other performance issues. Dead Rising 3 got a Metacritic score of 78 out of 100.
Xbox One: $499.00
PS4: $399.99
Microsoft’s new Xbox One and Sony’s PS4 kept the rivalry they created during the last generation of video game systems. The PS4 has sold 2.1 million units and the Xbox One sold 2 million units since their launch so far. The two systems have around the same amount of power and differ very slightly from each other. The main thing that separates these two systems are the games each of them have.
Last gen:
Xbox 360: $299.99
PS3: $299.99
Wii: $99.99
When the Xbox One was launched, there were several exclusive titles for the system that people picked up. Ryse: Son of War is an action game that was released at the same time the Xbox One was released. The game was praised for its undeniably beautiful graphics but was criticized for its repetitive gameplay which consisted of fight, kill, run, repeat. Ryse was considered by many critics to be more of a tech demo of what the Xbox One’s new processer can do rather than be a real video game. Ryse got a Metacritic score (a website that takes reviews from many different sources and averages them out) of 61 out of 100; a generous score to an awful game.
Killer Instinct, a fighting game exclusive to the Xbox One, was widely accepted as one of the best launch titles for the new system. Based on the 1994 video game with the same name, Killer Instinct accurately captures the 90’s video game vibe while embracing the modern video game technology. The game was not released under traditional means, however. Killer Instinct was released for free for anybody with an Xbox One and an internet connection. Players could choose to buy additional characters, as the game only came with one, or pay a one time fee to unlock everything in the game. Despite the non-traditional release, the video game proved to be popular among Xbox One owners. Metacritic gives the game a 73 out of 100, which is 5 points lower than Dead Rising 3 but 12 points higher than Ryse.
While the units are selling very well, the PS4 does not have as many decent games exclusive to the system during its launch.
Knack, a kid friendly platforming game was not perceived well by critics. The game itself formed a kid friendly atmosphere and tried out some cool ideas, but ultimately failed. The main hook for the game was the character could grow in size every time the player collected an item called “relics”. Relics are released every time the player defeats an enemy, and the player loses relics every time it is hit, making the character smaller. It’s a cute idea, but that one feature alone is not enough to get you to keep coming back
for more. Knack got a Metacritic score 55, notably lower than all of the Xbox One exclusives.
Killzone: Shadow Fall shared the same fate as Ryse did for the Xbox One. Killzone is a first person shooter and was created to show off what the PS4 could do. The game looks beautiful, but you can’t help but get the feeling of Déjà vu when you are playing it. Killzone: Shadow Fall is clearly taking inspiration from its competitors like Call of Duty and Battlefield, and is not moving in the step to the right direction. While the game is still good, fun to play, and looks fantastic, you may as well buy the new Call of Duty game (which you can get for both systems) as you are essentially getting the same or even better experience. Killzone got a Metacritic score of 74, which is a better score than Killer Instinct and Ryse, but still not as good of a score as Dead Rising 3. Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag, Need for Speed: Rivals and Battlefield 4 are all games released for both the Xbox One and PS4, and they are all games that scored just as well or better than the exclusive titles released for the systems. With these great games released for both of the systems, how do you choose which one to get?
The Xbox One requires its camera, Kinect, to always be on, even when the system itself is off. Not only is it creepy (NSA anyone?), it literally has to be on all of the time or else the system won’t be able to function. Because of the camera being required, the retail price of the Xbox One is notably $100 more than the retail price, coming in at a hot 500 bucks.
Above all, either system you get will probably last you at least another six years, but I personally would wait until the price will go down. The PS3 retailed at $600 when it was first released, but went down $100 less than a year after it was released. If you can, wait a little bit until better games and a better price is available.
James
The PS4 (left) and Xbox One (right)
James Tuliano Op-Ed Writer
Self-proclaimed genius Kanye West has come a long way since the start of his career. His debut album, “College Dropout”, was a massive success since its release in 2004. West made his name known in the industry by innovating brave new ideas that was nearly unheard of in the genre of Hip-Hop. Mr. West primarily sampled soul and jazzy styles of music to make more of melody sounding tunes than a hardcore rap album.
“Late Registration”, West’s Sophomore album, was also praised for his now classic way of making melodies. West wanted to sound different, and listeners and critics alike both agree that he succeeded. Kanye started to change his style up on his next album, “Graduation”, and started to use other styles of music like electronic. A prime example would be his smash hit, Stronger, off the album. The song is now considered a classic and is extremely well known.
During this time period, Kanye began to become notorious for the way he acted in interviews and delivered speeches. West first showed this side of him during a live fundraiser on TV for Hurricane Katrina relief, when he started going off of the pre-written script and started ranting to the camera. By the end of the rant, West says straight to the camera “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” and then the camera cuts off.
Kanye West
“I am a God”
sad, but he’s using his sadness in a much more entertaining way than how he coped with it on 808s.
West then ventured back out from straight Hip-hop and created one of his most controversial albums, Yeezus. A play on the name Jesus and has a single called “I Am a God”, Yeezus was seen as shocking from listeners and critics alike. The album received mixed reviews, but it does not mean it wasn’t good.
“George Bush doesn’t care about black people”Kanye West
West has had several rants after this, but his style of music remained the same until 2008. His mother, who he has dedicated an entire song to before her death on “Late Registration”, passed away due to complications during a surgery. The sad Kanye West decided to move away from Hip-Hop and created his own genre of music for his new album “808s and Heartbreak”.
808s and Heartbreak is an album that is primarily Kanye singing over Auto-Tune; an effect used in music to make your voice basically sound better. It automatically corrects the pitch in vocals leaving little room for error unless you are purposely not singing on key. West uses Auto-Tune for basically the entire album, which shocked his listeners.
After 808s, West returns back to straight Hip-Hop and does a wonderful job at it. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne are often considered two of the best hip-hop albums of all time. Kanye’s still
Like coffee, Yeezus has an acquired taste. Even some die-hard Kanye West fans didn’t enjoy it, but others did. Kanye morphed his signature soul sampling of College Dropout, AutoTune usage of 808s and Heartbreak and the electronic music style of Graduation into one single album. The result was, well, a bit of a mess.
When it all comes down to it, College Dropout would have to be the best album released by Kanye West. It is such an innovative album and instantly became a classic among the Hip-hop industry. West wanted his first album to come out with a bang, and I think he succeeded with that. Produced by legendary rapper Jay-Z, there was no way this album was going to fail.
Kanye has a very nice and varied discography, but what makes him stand out?
Perhaps the most interesting thing about West is not his music, but the way he acts. As mentioned before, West said on live TV “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”, but there has been other moments in the stars life where he crossed the line a little too far.
I think we all know what happened at the
VMAs 2009 with the incident involving Taylor Swift. Responses from Pink, Kelly Clarkson and even President Obama were all generated after West stole the microphone from Swift. Wests self esteem went down after the incident, but it went right back up a couple years later. When West was interviewed for Interview Magazine, he was quoted on saying he needed “God, sex, and alcohol” to get over the tough time he was going through.
No matter what you think of him, he has an undeniable major presence in the music industry and he is not going away any time soon, so we better get used to him.
West will be releasing a new album in 2014, and told Rolling Stone magazine that the album will only have eight tracks on it. The album has not yet been named.
Yeezus album cover
Kanye West himself
Sadie Moore Guest Op-Ed Writer
VLACS or Relax?
Are Online Classes For You?
“I choose when I want to take notes, do work, and take tests,” says junior Emma Daly about her US History online course.
Guidance is fully on board to help students out in making the change toward an online class. It is a chance to gain some extra time in your school day. For those of us who like to get all our work done so that we don’t have to worry about it, online classes are a great alternative. There are about 50 students enrolled in an online course from Oyster River. Theoretically you could take the entire class at once. Students everywhere are taking online classes and i want to share my opinion on who should take them and why.
“There are a variety of reasons students would take on online course, sometimes it’s a scheduling issue, sometimes there’s an area of interest that a student might have but we don’t offer. The main reason is to meet student’s needs,” explains guidance counselor Heather Machanoff. There is a wide array of online courses that aren’t offered here.
Although many students choose to go to other schools to explore alternative fields, this takes a lot of time out of students school day here at Oyster River due to transportation time. “If you’re not doing well in a class and there is a big work load you might choose to drop it and take it online because there’s not all the unnecessary busy work,” says junior Jordan Petrovitsis who is taking Spanish online.Online courses are flexible; students can take them at their own pace and when they have time. In the beginning they choose your pace: accelerated, traditional, or extended. I made the decision to take art online to allow me a needed free period. “I wanted to get ahead in math,” says junior Owen McCabe who took Algebra 2 over the summer. This gave him a jump start so he could take more math classes here at the high school.
“Criminal Justice” and “Real World Parenting.” They also allow students to take higher level courses. A middle school student could take a high school course without leaving their campus. ORHS has been involved with VLACS for ““At least six years, maybe one year beyond that,” says Machanoff.
“If the student is not self-motivated, they’re not going to be successful on VLACS” -Heather Machanoff.
65% of the people taking VLACS courses are public school students. An online course is also an option to “catch up” over summer or breaks because you can register year round. Another option is eStart; they are partnered with VLACS and the NH Community College System which are online courses that count as dual credit for high school and college. Much like Project Running Start, they cost $150 and are transferable to any post-secondary (after high school, i.e. College) institution. VLACS is funded through the New Hampshire’s Education Trust Fund so it is free to do as long as you are a NH resident. Students can communicate with other students online.
They can upload and share material, have chats, and go over assignments. All of these things run parallel with the future and present technological era.
“VLACS Homepage”
I am not much into art, my creative side is limited, but I do like photography. I decided to take Digital Photography 1 online to fulfill my mandatory art credit. Oyster River offers online classes through a program called VLACS (Virtual Learning Academy Charter School). VLACS has over 100 courses; courses range from mandatory core classes to things like
“It’s hard if you have a question to ask your teacher so you have to use your resources like the internet. In a regular class your teacher can put a lot more attention to strengthening your weaknesses but online you can’t talk to your teacher as much,” explains Petrovitsis. There are many things you will lose from the classic classroom setting. School is about social interaction as much as it is about learning. You make friends in class; you can collaborate with them to help you with your class work. You also have a
teacher there with you for 50 minutes every day willing to clarify and answer questions. They can draw things on the board, give you handouts and adjust the lesson based on the students learning needs immediately. With most teachers you have papers, homework and other assignments due that affect your grade. “There are some students who find it really easy because it really matches with their learning style, they’re independent, they’re self-motivated, they like to do things on their own time, but that’s usually not the case,” Machanoff says. Although in an online course, there are submission dates and check-ins, nobody is on your back telling you to get your work done; it is your responsibility to do it. Once a month you will chat with your teacher over the phone or in a video chat but it isn’t the same as the connection you gain with a teacher that you see every day. “There’s no teacher seeing you every day saying ‘where’s your homework’ they could email you but it’s not the same,” explains Machanoff. Many of the teachers for VLACS have a daytime job as a school teacher. This means that their entire day isn’t devoted to your class and it can be hard to schedule a time to check in and see how you’re coming along. My biggest struggle is the distraction of being online. While I’m trying to read about photography I find myself catching up on Desperate Housewives and shopping the latest sales. School has a very efficient vibe where you can go to the library and buckle down and teachers watch you in class. When I am in my room alone it gets more difficult to make the right decision and give my class my full attention and it’s easier to put the work off. It really taught me a lesson in procrastination but I love that when I get in the zone I can keep going because I have my assignments for the whole course.
Student work’s on online class
There is a pace chart with the amount of work that’s suggested per week or two. Most of the time, nobody will call you out for being a week or two behind but it adds up and you can create a huge mess for yourself.
Online classes have a reputation to being easy and aren’t always taken seriously. If you want it to count as a credit, it will be on your transcript so treat it like a real class; take notes and study. There are worksheets with reflection questions, quizzes, and material to submit. “Students often don’t realize the commitment that you have to put in to the class. It’s the same as taking a class here and I think students sometimes have the perception that it’s easier, less work, etcetera and I think most of the students come back and say it’s more,” says Machanoff. I agree with this completely in that I find myself stressing about getting the work done for my online class more so than my regular classes. There are lots of quizzes and tests and I have to find the time to do it, because it’s not scheduled in. At the end of the course you still have to take the final for that class thats provided at the school. So if you take Algebra online you still have to take the final that every other Algebra student here takes. McCabe had to put about two hours a
week into his class this summer but says it’s “quicker than taking the course through the school.”
“We have had a lot of students be successful. We have had a lot of students be very unsuccessful. It really is about the fit with that particular kid,” Machanoff says. An online class is a great chance to test your responsibility. Are you ready to go off on your own to college without parents and teachers on your back? You may surprise yourself and you will never know if you don’t explore new things.
The Ski Scene at ORHS
The Ski Life of Patrick Mulhern and Friends
The winter months bring out a strange type of athlete. Though it may not strike you as the traditional definition of the word athlete, skiers are among some of the purest enthusiasts to practice their sport. Being a skier myself, I would only say there are a handful of avid skier at Oyster River High School. Given its lack in popularity, the dedicated few are often not recognized for their passion. Among this handful of students at ORHS, Junior Patrick Mulhern stands out for his dedication and talent on the hill. After spending so much time skiing and being surrounded by skiing, it’s almost strange to think of it as a regular sport. The cliché phrase “it’s not a sport it’s a lifestyle” seems to seamlessly line up with the skier mentality. For Mulhern and his friends, skiing is just that; a non-stop cycle of skiing, and craving skiing. Skiing is a different animal, its’ dangerous, expensive, time consuming, and slightly crazy reputation makes me wonder how the ski culture has grown
Sam Colby Guest Sports Writer
younger brother Dillon Mulhern says Patrick’s first ski day was of course, on the bunny slope. “My dad fell in love with the sport as a kid, so he taught my mom how to ski, and eventually all of us,” explains Dillon in reference to his two brothers. “I think Patrick first began skiing in the park around the time he met other ski friends in 7th grade,” says Dillon. “Like all skiers,
plains: “I just want to be better all the time. Of course it’s like this with other sports, but with skiing you can actually see how much you’ve progressed.” New Hampshire is not a bad place to learn the sport, although our area’s lack of snow in comparison to some parts of the country means many east coast skiers must adapt accordingly. “There’s not a lot of snow so we ski park
into such a unique and relatable group of like-minded people. Like all members of the seemingly young-dominated ski community, Mulhern’s progressive attitude is one that constantly seeks respect from fellow skiers and friends.
Mulhern first began skiing at the age of four. Like his older and younger brother, he learned at Wildcat Mountain, New Hampshire. His
Patrick’s ski attitude is care free, it’s style with ease,” says Dillon.
Now, at the most knowledgeable and talented point in his ski career, Patrick Mulhern finds himself constantly craving skiing. “Skiing is what motivates me throughout the winter. I go to school all week and just look forward to the weekends when I can ski,” says Mulhern. With skiing comes a mindset, or as Mulhern ex-
all the time, pow days are always preferred of course,” explains Mulhern. He adds “If it’s a pow day, we’re definitely not going inside, if it’s a park day it’s probably pretty mellow.” Mulhern’s ski craving is shared by everyone who identifies themselves as a skier. However with no tangible reward from skiing, I ponder what causes skiers to persist to no end for progression.
After an early alarm, Mulhern steps outside in the fresh snow, to pack the car for the day.
Mulhern butters his tips in a manuever known as a butter 360.With small early season jumps, butters are a common trick taking place on the ground.
“All I want is a personal satisfaction from being a good skier. Knowing you’re having fun with friends and knowing you’re getting better at skiing is a very satisfying thought,” explains Mulhern.
Mulhern’s weekend ski ventures are accompanied by myself, as well as three ORHS sophomores; Nick Avery-Leaf, Andy Mc-
value of skiing, to “have fun and do whatever you want”. McQuade believes one can “progress individually while being with other people”. Garner speaks to Mulhern’s drive for progression, stating: “It takes balls to do what he does, I don’t know what’s going through his head.” Avery-Leaf chimes in; “he’s talented”.
Quade, and Jake Garner. The group makes the journey up north every weekend in pursuit of their shared passion. McQuade began skiing with Mulhern in middle school. At the time, McQuade was part of Wildcat Mountain’s ski team. Since then, he has quit ski racing, and reconnected with the main
This particular ski crew is one of many to pass through ORHS. Avery-Leaf spent many past years skiing at Loon Mountain, NH, with his older brother Ian Avery-Leaf. With a few more years of skiing under his belt, Ian recollects what the ski scene was like when he entered ORHS. “When I first
roamed the halls, fall of 2009 as a freshman, all that existed besides my friends were a few upperclassmen. Brandon Lonstein, Max Harris, Ty Guerino, and a few others had left the school, so not many skiers remained,” explains Ian. “A lot of people said they skied, but I don’t consider kids who go up a weekend a season to be skiers,” Ian adds. “Skiing’s a lifestyle and our winters revolved around skiing,” he says. Ian’s senior year was his first time skiing with Mulhern. “I was impressed with how aggressive his style was for a sophomore,” says Ian. Ian says: “Every lap he [Patrick] was trying something new and improving his skiing and that’s the best way to get better. I wouldn’t be surprised if some brands start to notice him if he goes out west for college.” Ian has continued to follow his ski passion across the country, and now goes to college in Montana, home of Big Sky Resort.
The story of many avid skiers is somehow consistently the same. Across the ski community there seems to be a goal of simply being content with what you do all the time. No one is trying to get famous, get rich, or receive any tangible award for their talent. The reason skiing is so unique is because there is nothing to chase other than simple enjoyment, and respect based on talent seems to be the ultimate success. Mulhern’s skiing speaks for itself and exemplifies this yearn for simply enjoyment, because after all, it’s only skiing.
Many images were cut to reduce the story’s length. To see the full collection of pictures, head to mornewspaper.com
Mulhern hops on an early season rail setup. Mountains will often set up rails before jumps, due to the ammount of snow required to build jumps early on.
Mulhern grabs the righside edge of his right ski, known as a safety grab. Occasionally skiing without poles (as shown above) makes grabbing a bit easier, but can also throw a skier off balance. Mulhern’s left arm juts out to balance his body, due to the lack of poles.
Go Pro, Go Snow Winter Fun in a Nutshell
For many winter is a season of chapped lips, frostbite, and the anxious anticipation of snow. For everyone else winter is a time of magic, hot chocolate, and fun. Living in the frigid north our people are relegated to flurries and below-freezing temperatures for almost half the year. How we handle this season is what defines us as New Hampshirites. Be it the classic ski hill or a bold car sledding adventure kids in the community are embracing winter and making the best of the white clay set before them. Here are just a few of the ways students in the Oyster River community make the most of winter.
Fort Building:
For middle schoolers Emerson and Coleman Moore winter is all about forts. Not the stone and mortar kind but rather the pure structural majesty of a snow fortress. Emerson, currently in 5th grade, recounts a particular snow day in which he and Cole-
club on the weekends. Segal’s favorite part of going down the slope is “feeling your boots flex. Or when you really load up your skis and it propels you forward.” With a both a ski club, and ski team at Oyster River the skiing lifestyle is rather popular and consequently makes skiing one of the most popular and fast ways to get down an inclined plane.
man built a fort at the end of their driveway. The fort was constructed upon a compacted mound of snow created by the Moore’s plow guy. “We came up with the best of the best times 4, snow fort on the earth!” exclaimed Emerson. The fort, an engineer’s magnum opus, met an unfortunate end at the hands of the “evil plow guy.” And yet as seen in Hindu mythology the great creator Brahma is one with Shiva Rudra the destroyer. When it comes to forts the “plow guy” is both the giver of life, and the destroyer.
Skiing:
Sophomore Joop Segal has been skiing since age 2, racing since age 8, and freestyle skiing since age 12. Segal is currently on the Oyster River Ski Team and skies for Franconia ski
Car Sledding:
Senior Adam Smath started “vehicle sledding about two years ago.” Smath, along with a group of friends, has been experimenting with dangerous adrenaline fueled activities for years now. Smath’s favorite way to get down an inclined plane in winter is via a Honda 250 four stroke** dirtbike. “It is dangerous but, it’s definitely worth the risk””
Snowmobiling:
Freshman Alec Rogers has been snowmobiling since he was four years old. Rogers and family skimobile in southern Maine with access to a lake and a multitude of backwoods trails. Rogers sums up some of his emotions while snowmobiling, “riding through the trails in the woods is really fun and strangely peaceful. You can put in headphones and listen to music while you cruise around the trees and you’re left alone with your thoughts.” Snowmobiling can also be a great outlet for an adrenaline junkie, as Rogers adds, “when you go out on to the lake and hit the gas it’s pretty thrilling.”
Normal Sledding:
For Oyster River alumna Rebecca Taylor winters mean sledding. And not the mundane kind. Taylor has been sledding her whole life and has honed her skills in the snowy reaches of Pittsburg, NH. Pittsburg shares a border with Canada and is a popular destination for moose photographers. Taylor describes her emotions going down the slope saying “I feel a rush of excitement and freedom. The faster the better with the wind in my hair! It’s simply the best.” Taylor’s favorite destination in Pittsburg to sled is “at my grandmothers house which is right across from a lake. In the past we’ve been able to sled down the hill, across the road, down another hill and onto the frozen lake.” Pretty radical if you ask me!
Matthew Segil Editor in Chief
Emerson and Coleman Moore at work. (Photo Credit: Charlotte Moore)
Joop Segal freestyle skiing.
Sean Coit posing with a car sled. (Photo Credit: Adam Smath)
Just Keeping Swimming
Women’s Swim and Dive: The Upcoming State Championship
Think about the consequence of sixtenths of a second. Ultimately, it is slim to none. Six-tenths of a second is just slower than the time it takes to snap your fingers. Yet, for the Oyster River Women’s Swimming & Diving Team of last year, six-tenths of a second was the difference between the Division II State Championship title and the infamous, dreaded second place.
Alex Morrell Sports Editor
ing at the top yet again. The end of last season was lucky – the team did not lose a single senior. “We gained a few really strong freshmen this season, like Sydnee and Audrey,” says Moore of the new additions to the team for the 2013-14 year. Sydnee Aubin has been swimming for Seacoast Swimming Association since she was seven years old. Her aspirations for the season could be summed up as, “I hope to get closer to the team, but one of my goals is to also place high individually and as a team for the state championship.” Audrey Duvall is dedicated to winning the state championship a second time in a row too. “It’s such a fun team. I feel like we can do it.” Evidently, this year’s team has optimism in their favor, but that may not be enough.
Led by head coach Bill Reeves, the girls started the day by placing well. Approaching the final event, the scores showed Oyster River barely behind Hanover. This meant the outcome of the meet was left in the hands of the 400 meter freestyle relay team: Haley Jones, Charlotte Moore, Meaghan Shannon and Tessa Oakes. “If we won that relay, we would win the meet. If we lost, that was it,” explains Moore. Each girl swam her best seasonal time in that race, winning by those six-tenths of a second, clinching the state title and beating out Hanover by a marginal ten points.
“Last year’s successes built us up as a team.” -Meaghan Shannon
This year, the team is focused on finish-
close, but the difference between winning and losing is just a snap of the fingers – and that means anybody can win.
The Division II State Championships of 2014 are looking to have the same high stakes as last year. The list of major competitors has grown to include St. Thomas and Souhegan as well as Hanover, all with strong teams. Junior Meaghan Shannon exemplifies the team’s consistent enthusiasm, whatever the outcome saying “last year’s successes built us up as a team.
I hope we can continue to grow as a team this season, and in years to come.” The race will be
ORHS Women’s Swimming and Diving coach Bill Reeves.
(Photo Credit: Sam Colby)
Freshman Sydnee Aubin swimming the back stroke. (Photo Credit: Sydnee Aubin)
Sports
Brenna Walczak Sports Writter
Girls Hockey
Drastic Changes for the ORHS Team
“People definitely think the girls hockey team is a huge joke,” says Senior cocaptain of the Oyster River girls hockey team, Sandra Strogen.
“We are a bunch of strugglers,” she admitted, yet the team has made it to the championships every year for the past three years without fail. This leads to the question, why are our students less likely to go to a girl’s hockey game?
“They [the student fans] should have some respect for us, but they don’t.” According to athletic director Corey Parker, last year the average fans base for a home girls’ hockey game was totaled to about 7-10 students. Compared to the Boys’ hockey
few games,” said senior co-captain Maggie McNamara. The team hopes that it will be harder for their opponents to catch up since they will not be used to playing in rinks as
teams average of approximately 30 student fans attending each of their home games.
The inequalities between the Oyster River girls’ and boys’ hockey team was “brought to our attention through a title nine concern [through] the office of civil rights… Primarily [because of] the location of [their] games,” commented Parker. Title IX is a law that was passed in 1972 stating that any federally funded educational program must have gender equality amongst boys’ and girls’ sports teams.
From the comments that he received, he decided to move all of the home girls’ hockey games to the Whittemore Center to correspond with the boys’ team.
Although the change in the arena is hoped to attract more student fans, the team has mixed views on the new home rink. “It’s kind of a win lose situation,” said Strogen. “The ice is a lot bigger at the Whit; it is going to be ‘struggle-some’ to try and skate around the first
large as the one as the Whittemore Center. “Hopefully [we are] going to be use to [the size], but since we’re practicing at Jacksons, it might be difficult.” The Whittemore center rink is the size of an official National Hockey Leauge (NHL) rink, which is two and a half times the size the rink at Jacksons Landing.
The general hope for the girls hockey team is to receive the same amount of fan support as Oyster River High’s boys hockey team. Since the Whittemore Center is a heated environment, it will be more appealing for the student fans to attend. Therefore not only will it help increase attendance and fan support but increase motivation for the team. “Hopefully that will increase our overall attendance and support for the team,” finished Parker.
Check out the Christmas Special of ORTV News to watch a feature on the ORHS Girls Hockey Team
“I don’t really know when the games are,” said junior Caitlin Coxen, “and the fact that they [were playing] at Jacksons Landing and not at the Whittemore Center is a little out of the way.” Coxen is right, one of the main reasons the boys get more fans is that they have always played in the Whittemore Center where there are heated bathrooms, concessions, and an overall comfortable atmosphere for fans and players. Since the girls team was playing at an outdoor rink, it makes it a lot colder for fans who might be interested in going to one of their games.
The girls hockey team at a tournament in Dover.