2014-15 MOR Issue 4

Mouth of The River

Publication of Oyster River High School

Dear Readers, Congrats class of 2015, we did it! (almost)

This is the last issue of Mouth of the River this year and we have selected fitting articles for this time of year including “Summertime Outdoor Activities” and “Why Everyone Should go to Summer Camp.” Also don’t forget to check out additional articles on our website mornewspaper.com.

The last two years on Mouth of the River have been some of the most important part times of my high school career. I urge anyone interested in journalism, or just being part of a production, to consider it. It is one of the hardest yet most fun high school classes out there.

I am so proud of the work that the staff has done this year; we have made some great changes and improvements includ ing transitioning from a newspaper to a magazine. Although changes were made within the staff we were able to remain a tight knit and productive group. As many of us are graduat ing we wish the best of luck to next years staff. We would all

like to thank Shawn Kelly, our incredibly patient and dedicat ed advisor, for all that he does as a great teacher.

Senior wills have always been a tradition in the last issue of MOR and reading them is always fun, which is their inten tion, but don’t forget about the actual articles!

With the end of the school year just a few weeks away it’s hard not to reminisce on the last 12 years spent in the Oyster River School District. Thank you to all of the teachers, ad ministrators, and peers who have shaped this experience for our class. To the graduating seniors, good luck in your future endeavors and to the underclassman enjoy high school while you can!

Sadie Moore

Editor in Chief

MOR Mission Statement

Mouth of the River seeks to reliably inform the student body, as well as the surrounding community, of interesting and newsworthy content in a mod ern, compelling format. Our goal as a staff is to give a voice to the students of Oyster River, and have it heard by any and all of our readers.

Find us at Twitter: @MORnewspaper Email: mornewspaper@gmail.com Website: mornewspaper.com

Road to Recovery

OnFebruary 21st, 2015, long time Oyster River High School hockey coach Griffin Richard, or coach Griff, was helping to clear a friend’s roof of snow when he slipped and fell, suf fering a traumatic brain injury. Now Richard is home and re covering remarkably.

Richard had fractured his skull, causing his brain to shift tremendously resulting in hemorrhaging, bruising, and swelling of the brain. After be ing air lifted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, he was put into a medically induced coma. After two weeks Richard thankfully woke up. “I remember seeing my wife’s face and my fam ily’s faces, and they were asking me do you know who you are? Do you know where you are? It took me a while, and I didn’t understand everything that transpired between the accident and my full recovery of cognition,” said Richard. “When I started coming to, I basically said, ‘give me some drugs, let’s fix this I wanna go home.’ I felt invin cible, not really realizing at the time the severity of my injury,” he continued.

After bed rest and doctor care, Richard was released from the hospi tal and has been living at his parents’ home. It has taken occupation al, physical, and speech therapy to get his brain back to full function, and he has had a quick and miraculous recovery.

CJ Jerry (’14), former captain on the hockey team, is still great friends with Richard after graduating. Jerry visited Richard in the hospital, and has kept in touch through his recovery. “At first doctors said that the x-rays didn’t look good, but after a week Griff was already ahead of schedule, at starting to show signs of progression. The doctors said he was lucky to be alive and he would make a full recovery,” said Jerry.

During Richard’s absence, assistant coach Aaron LaCosse stood in for him. “It felt really good to have some loyal friends who picked up the slack for me, and to be there for the boys,” said Richard. He missed three of the team’s last games, two of which they won.

“We were all really excited to tell him about our wins when he woke up. We were playing them for him,” said Conor Deptula (15’).

“I felt really proud of them for their ability to continue on with the progress we have been making, to still go out and play as hard as you can and have those victories and play Spaulding as tough as they did was awesome,” said Richard.

“The team’s effort in reaching out and thoughts and prayers to the family and the fundraising aspects to help the family was phenome nal. It shows how special this community is and how we try to help each other out as a family,” said Corey Parker, Athletic Director at the high school.

Assistant captain Connor McDonough’s (’15) family has been in the hockey program for 8 years now, and his mother has been head of the booster program for five years, helping out with all the fundraising for the team. “It was hard for the team to accept the fact that he would

be out. He had been to every practice for all four years I played. His role on the team cannot be replaced, but we knew that he would want us to play as hard as we could so that was a huge source of motivation for us,” said McDonough.

Throughout the weeks following Richards’s injury, the community came together to support the coach. Buffalo Wild Wings, a local chain restaurant, donated a portion of their sales to Richard’s cause, and the UNH hockey team held a senior banquet there. David Smith, who runs the Oyster River Youth Association, helped organize a “Skate for Griff”, held at the Jackson’s Landing ice rink. Members from the com munity, Oyster River students and hockey team members attended the fundraiser. However, most of the donations came from a website that collected money for Richard.

“I think it was amazing how the community responded. It was really nice seeing people give back to someone who has spent many years giving his time to high school kids, not only has a coach but also as a friend,” said Jerry.

“Griff brings skill and knowledge to the game, which is able to im prove a lot of our players tremendously. He has such a loyalty to the school, and to the kids, not just in hockey but really connecting with the kids and getting them ready for life after high school. He created a pretty significant bond with players outside of hockey,” said Parker.

Richard is, like most years, unsure if he is going to continue to coach the boys next sea son. “With my accident, I have had a new re spect for head injuries. If I came back to coach I would have to wear a helmet when I was on the ice. The protective instinct that I have had in the past for the boys would only become greater,” said Richard.

“I just want to thank everybody for their prayers, donations and support that they have given me and my family. I’m excited to get back to my normal routine and see every body and the boys. I have a new found joy for all the people in my life,” concluded Richard.

Haley Parry Buisness Manager

As sheltered and quaint as Durham has been in the past, our little town is not impervious to change. It’s hard to miss the sizable amount of construction going on in the downtown business district of Durham as you drive or walk through the town. There are many new buildings going up, and some of these buildings will be additional apartments available to University of New Hampshire students, while others will be academic buildings for the university. While these developments are most likely exciting for incoming and underclassmen students at UNH, the new modern look, increased business, and constant rebuilding is somewhat disruptive to town residents that have lived in Durham for a long time, who enjoy the small town feel without being in the middle of nowhere. There are a wide variety of opinions concerning all of the new buildings, and some people aren’t even sure exactly what’s going on.

Photo from Wallace Building Products Corporation

The University of New Hampshire took on their largest freshmen class in the fall of 2014, and this created a housing situ ation. “Upperclassmen students were running out of options for places to live,” said Ally Wil de, UNH ‘12. “I really think that building all of these new apart ments will be a helpful addition to the town and the campus,” she continued.

In order to address this need, all of the projects go through the Town Planning Board approval process before the projects actually begin. There are many requirements that a building plan needs to meet, and four projects made it through the process.

“There [are] currently four hous ing developments now under con struction: Orion, on Main Street, 1 Madbury Road, which is opposite the post office, Pauly’s Pockets, and Madbury Commons on Mad bury Road. All of them are a mix of commercial on the first floor and residential above, and this is Durham so I think they’ll be all or nearly all student housing,” said Michael Behrendt, Durham Town Planner.

Not only will the new apartment buildings provide housing for stu dents, but also for other people looking to live in Durham but not necessarily buy a home. “I think the new buildings will benefit the town [because] they may attract more people to live in Durham [or] more students to come to UNH, and it will give people in more op tions and opportunities. I think it’s kind of cool that new shops and restaurants will be coming to Durham. There will be more din ing options and things to do which will be fun, so I don’t really see any problem with these new develop ments,” said Emma Sassaman (‘17).

Cheryl Clark, a town resident and parent of a UNH freshman, is all for the new developments in the town. “It is refreshing to see the modernization in downtown Durham. It is great to see the town and UNH work closely together to build a downtown for not only students, but for residents, too. We have needed more business in the town for years. I hope to see a hotel, restaurant, and shops be the

next project. Durham is becoming a very desired community to live in,” said Clark.

Sassaman is correct in saying that new places to eat and shop will be coming into the town, and Clark’s wishes will definitely be met. On the street levels of some of the new buildings, clothing boutiques and restaurants will be moving in. Durham, and Main Street in par ticular, is a hot spot for business because it’s right in the middle of the college campus. “It’s whatev er the developer is able to secure. We’re hoping it will be a lot of re tail, restaurants, [and] cafes. The developers are in the market now for tenants. Madbury Commons will have Saxby’s Coffee Shop, Kennebunk Savings Bank, and they’re looking for one more tenant which will hopefully be a restau rant,” said Behrendt.

One issue that developers were met with when attempting to so lidify their plans to build the proj ect Orion on Main Street was the Durham Historical Commission (DDC), whose role is to preserve historic buildings, according to Behrendt. “Some of the buildings were somewhat valuable, but they were in bad shape because they were student housing. there was an agreement between the planner and the town that we would like to see the site redeveloped, so the HDC identified the two most im portant buildings. Approval [for the project] called for retaining those two buildings and restoring them,” Behrendt continued.

Clark commented on the idea of certain residents being in favor more than others, saying “some people like the additional business and housing, while others do not. It appears that the younger gen eration welcomes it, and the older generation doesn’t want their old town to change. I believe the new construction will only add value to our own property and once all construction is completed, most residents will have a new apprecia tion for what the town has to offer.”

One of the common complaints heard by many Oyster River Stu dents and families that live near town, including Sassaman, is the noise of the construction. “It can be annoying because we are in

such close proximity to it,” Sassa man said. Once the buildings are finished up, most Oyster River stu dents will most likely have a great appreciation for the new business es.

The largest project under con struction right now is Madbury Commons, which is being built by Wallace Building Products Corpo ration. John Tauriello, need to find exact title, provided insight on the project.

“Madbury Commons is a 525 bed student housing complex and It is the largest project currently under construction in Durham. Wallace has been contracted by ProCon to supply and install the rough fram ing for Madbury Commons. Pro Con is the General Contractor and they are responsible for building Madbury Commons for the Own er. The Owner is Golden Goose Properties.”

Tauriello also commented on the projects as a town resident, saying “I like the Madbury Commons project for three key reasons: One, I believe that the exterior design of the buildings compliments the town and UNH, and two, I think that housing located closer to cam pus is convenient for students and results in fewer potential opportu nities for conflict among residents and students, i.e., such as the con flicts that sometimes arise when homes in residential neighbor hoods such as the Faculty Neigh borhood are rented out to groups of students, and three, housing like this should promote more re tail development opportunities in downtown Durham. However, as are most residents of Durham, any further residential development in town causes me some concern about parking and traffic conges tion.”

It seems as if most people have the same common hopes and con cerns as of right now, and are all eagerly awaiting the completion of the projects. In a perfect world, the new developments will be finished on time, flourish with business and residential life, and add to the town in a strictly positive way. While not all of the buildings appease all of the residents, this will be a fresh and exciting new look for Durham.

Zephyr Jaeger News Editor

Is It Worth The Stress? AP Testing

For the past 29 weeks, students all across the country have prepared for AP exams, which were tak en on May 4th through the 15th. “[They’re] definitely stressful,” said Marina Schwadron (‘15), who took three AP exams these past two weeks. “But it’s a college level course, so I was expecting the work.”

Although stressful, and often times tedious, the AP test can often be advantageous to stu dents who take them. But, they aren’t for every one.

AP’s, known more formally as the Advanced Placement exams, are tests that juniors and se niors may choose to take in the spring. These classes represent a collegiate level amount of work in a given subject, such as history or lan guage. AP exams are designed to test a student’s ability to perform at a college level, and offers course credit if a student receives a certain score on the final exam (typically 3 or higher out of 5).

Along with several AP courses offered here at ORHS, eleventh and twelfth graders can earn college credit through courses connect ed with the running start program, offered by Great Bay Community College. Seniors are also granted the opportunity to take classes at UNH as well, as a part of the CATS program.

Along with in school classes, AP courses can also be taken online. Olivia Clark (‘15) had tak en both AP Psychology and AP Statistics online through the VLACS curriculum. “I liked it a lot; you can space out the lessons, pace yourself, and stay focused.”

“From a [United States History] standpoint,” remarked AP United States History (APUSH) teacher, Derek Cangello, “the class teaches good writing skills that can be used in college.”

Many AP’s here teach you how to take the exam, spending a majority of the school year prepare you for writing a timed essay, or an swering 80 multiple-choice questions in 50 minutes.

“The rigor of the course teaches discipline.” explained Cangello.

Along with the rigor of the course, the classes are often long and arduous. “AP classes are more time consuming than [any other classes],” stated Liam O’Rourke (‘15). “But it is manageable.”

However, some feel that not only are they time consuming- but an inaccurate measure of a students ability.

“I don’t disparage those from taking AP, but as a whole,” said social studies teacher Dave Hawley. “It is not a reflection of an actual col lege class, [especially social studies AP tests]. It focuses on students as test takers.”

“I struggle with the [fact that] it exists, es pecially with our philosophy of heterogene ity [at ORHS],” Hawley continued. “Which the AP test is antithetical to… I understand it exists, but I struggle with it’s impact on the learning of our students, and at the end of the day, it sucks the life out of history.”

Although time consuming, and often a tre mendous amount of work, the AP exam does offer its own benefits.

“Like I say to [every] student- it depends [if you should take the AP]. For some, the AP matters. The class is more standard,” explained guidance counselor Kim Sekera. “[AP courses] allow colleges a more even playing field to compare prospective stu dents on.”

Sekera raises a good point. The AP test is advantageous in the way that it allows stu dents to potentially gain a competitive edge over other students who may be applying to the same school and have not taken an AP.

“I only took the AP so I could get into col lege,” admitted Katherine Howard (‘15). “But it doesn’t make me any smarter. The [AP] classes focuses on learning a lot, versus learning well. There’s so much prep work for such little result.”

“We have so many students who are ap plying to higher-tiered schools; we just want to guide them in a route that will make them successful.” Sekera further explained. “Is it always successful? No. Is a student’s worth defined by this test? Absolutely not. But for some [students], it matters.”

Although there are pros and cons to tak ing the AP test, it is ultimately up to you as a student to decide if that taking an Advanced Placement class and test is right for you.

Caitlin Lasher Archive Manager

It’s Always Been Just Durham, Lee, and Madbury so where does Barrington fit in?

Walking down the hallway, I held my stack of books tightly to my chest, and looked down. Along the lockers, scores of other freshman girls were giggling and shrieking with the others about their summer or the new shoes they bought for school. As I walked by, they all stopped to turn a look at me, the new girl. The first day of school is awkward and uncom fortable for everyone -- especially if you’re a newcomer. But that wasn’t my only issue. My biggest fault? I was from Barrington.

It was nothing I could help -- you can’t just change the town you live in like you can change your hair color or personal style to fit in a little better. It wasn’t that simple. But that didn’t matter. Throughout my freshman and sophomore year, I was seen as lesser because I was a Barrington stu dent.

And that’s a problem. Why are kids who grew up ten min utes down the road treated less than those who live in Durham, Lee, and Madbury? And what justifies it?

“I think it’s because we aren’t from the usual towns [Durham, Lee, Mad bury],” said Brendan Curran (‘18), who is from Barrington. “Both groups know nothing about each other… which can cause some clashing of as sumptions.”

Curran’s right, there’s a lot of ru mors and speculation that revolves around Barrington kids.

“I’ve heard things like Barrington kids are [less wealthy], that they do a lot of drugs, that they get in to trou ble,” said Nina Messer (‘16). “We just don’t know them. A lot of the time, they would self-segregate during freshman year. We had our friends, and they had theirs. I think that’s how the rumors got started.”

Sarah Mueller (‘18), also added her input. “When they first came, it was intimidating. Nobody knew them.”

“I think kids are just naturally judge mental,” confessed Arun Falk (‘15). “And when change is introduced and ‘normal’ changes, they don’t know how to handle it. They make assump tions, and judgements.”

They’re just so different.” Pollard ex plained.

But it’s not only kids who are judge mental- it’s parents and teachers, as well. I’ve had my own experiences with teachers and Oyster River par ents who belittle the Barrington stu dents, as well as a teacher who had told my to my face that they wished that Barrington students could not tuition into the Oyster River district.

“People would give me a hard time,” explained Sophia Graff (‘18), who is from Barrington. “We’re seen as dif ferent.”

It’s disheartening and frustrating that just because I didn’t grow up in a school district that I now tuition into, I didn’t really fit in when I first came to Oyster River- and still get the constant stream of “Oh, you’re from Barrington?” It’s not only ridiculous that living only ten minutes down the road (and less than 50 feet from the Lee/Barrington town line) makes me different- and that I have to be reminded of it with the somewhat snarky comments that people still make.

“There’s always going to be people like that,” said Rob Quaglieri, a health teacher at ORHS, who has children growing up in the Barrington school district. “Barrington kids are basi cally outsiders when they first come here. Some things, like sports, may help break the [barrier], but there’s an adjustment period.”

Although Quaglieri raises a good point, I still think that Barrington kids shouldn’t have to feel unwelcome in the school they chose to attend. I’m beyond grateful that I chose ORHS as my home for four years, however I think that things can be improved for future Barrington students.

Caitlin Lasher Archive Manager

Will Pollard (‘15) and Jeremy How land (‘15) also added their opinion. “There are some kids from Barrington you almost forget come from Bar rington- like they’ve been here forev er. But there are some you always re member that they’re Barrington kids.

There needs to be a better integra tion process. The first time I met the Oyster River kids, was on step up day. I truly think that there should be mul tiple days of freshman orientation, in which Barrington and Oyster River kids can get to know each other bet ter, so that when the school year rolls around, the anxiety and fear that Barrington kids might have coming into a new school district can subside. Maybe if Barrington kids and Oyster River students can better get to know each other, then the negative connota tion of being a Barrington kid can be a thing of the past.

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The Problem with Standardized Testing

“The question I have is: do you have to be giv ing an eight and a half to nine hour test to everybody from 3rd grade to 8th grade and 11th grade to get a gauge of how your school system is doing. You can do it in a much more economical, less intrusive way,”Thomas Newkirk, Professor of English at the Universi ty of New Hampshire.

This year, juniors across the country pioneered the new Smarter Balanced test, which evaluates students and the school on Common Core standards. This test is designed “to find out how not just a student is doing, or a school is doing, but how a whole bunch of schools are doing,” explained ORHS Dean of Faculty, Mark Mil liken. And although these tests have been designed to evaluate a student’s knowledge on a particular subject, the test itself is not an accurate form of evaluation.

As a junior in high school, I’ve taken two types of standardized tests during my time at Oyster Riv er. The first was the New England Common Assess ment Program (NECAP), which started in elementary school. Most students started taking NECAPS in the 3rd grade, and took them to the end of 8th grade. The second was the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), which nearly all students must take if they want to go into higher education. This May, juniors also had to take the Smarter Balanced test, as well as science NECAPS, which I chose to opt out of.

Before delving into why standardized tests are in effective, some background knowledge is needed. Starting in 2002, President George W. Bush called for “a new era” in the public education system, by creating a set of standards all students had to perform to, and created No Child Left Behind. To carry out the No Child Left Behind program, every public school in the United States was required to test 3rd to 8th graders (as well as one year in high school) in reading and math. The purpose of this was to hold schools accountable for the success of their students. “The intent of the law was to make it so that all students could have an opportu nity to succeed. Unfortunately, the Bush administra tion implemented it by creating very restrictive testing standards. This created the concept of ‘School in Need of Improvement’ or SINI schools,” explained ORHS Principal, Todd Allen.

Although this is no longer in effect now, there is a similar concept being pushed by the Obama adminis tration called Race to the Top. “This effort has focused much more emphasis on identifying ineffective teach ers and then working to improve them or get rid of them. Cooperating with the Common Core and the

various assessments is being tied to access to federal funds,” explained Allen. Oyster River doesn’t receive a lot of funding from the government: it’s mainly paid for by taxpayers. However, there are many schools who do. Of the schools who do rely on heavily on fed eral funding to operate, this creates undue pressure to succeed, and to teach to the test.

And so, from No Child Left Behind, and Race to the Top, the push for measured progress in schools catalyzed. But in the attempt to create standardized tests to assess how well students are doing, we’ve actually created a test that overrules the skillsets that many students have. On paper, the Common Core, the SAT, the Smart er Balanced, and the NECAP sound like they’ll be fair ly assessing students, but when carried out, these tests tell a very different story.

“[Tests] don’t test perseverance, they don’t test tenacity... they don’t test your ability to work with other people, [and] they don’t test your ability to create something.”

At its best, the standardized test is a flawed eval uation that assesses a student’s ability to remember content that they learned years ago. This isn’t unique to the Smarter Balanced test: it also applies to the NE CAP, SAT and ACT tests. Students learn differently, and demonstrate their knowledge differently. “The tests themselves are very limited,” explained Newkirk. “[Tests] don’t test perseverance, they don’t test tenacity, they don’t test how hard you work on your homework, they don’t test your writing ability, they don’t test your ability to work with other people, [and] they don’t test your ability to create something,” he said. According to the article: “What Does the SAT Really Measure” from PBS, only about 18% of skills needed to succeed in school are measurable through the SAT.

Additionally, tests only account for a small portion of what students have learned. At ORHS, your aver age student will take an English, math, social studies, and science course each year, as well as a language, and choice elective (woodshop, art, cooking, etc). Stan dardized tests usually only account for math and En glish, and only a small portion of a much wider spec trum of those subjects.

There are also a number of practical skills many students have that also aren’t accounted for. “If a kid wants to be a diesel engineer why are we making them do 23 credits of stuff that they’re not going to use?” asked Brian Zottoli, a social studies teacher at ORHS. Zottoli explained how one of his students is a fantastic

car mechanic, which is a valuable skill to have, but when com pared to other professions is viewed as unsuccessful. In short, tests only account for a finite amount of academic success, and when students are put under pressure to perform to academic success, other successes in their life are viewed as inferior.

But it’s not just that students’ skills aren’t being evaluated: the way a student demonstrates their knowledge isn’t even accounted for. Not everyone is a test taker. In fact, hardly anyone is. “I consider myself to be a relatively smart kid, but do not think my [standardized test] scores reflect that,” said Erika Ireland (‘15). “I tend to work slowly and carefully, and sometimes have trouble working under exam stress. Those traits set me up for failure from the start,” she said.

Knowledge is a dialogue to which you will contribute, and not simply a prescription of facts to memorize.”

Throughout grade school, students are graded on their writing ability, their creativity, their critical thinking, their leadership, and discussion skills, and yes, they are tested, but that’s one aspect in a much larger spectrum. “I think educa tion’s purpose is to develop critical thinking and communi cation skills through a broad understanding of the history of thought on the subjects which are already taught in schools,” explained Michael Cardinali, Lecturer in Photography at the University of New Hampshire. “This helps give a sense of agency to the learners, that knowledge is a dialogue to which you will contribute, and not simply a prescription of facts to memorize,” he continued. We can’t be expecting to measure how much students know through a very limited lense. Additionally, in some schools, teacher’s salaries and careers heavily rely on the success of their students’ tests. While it is necessary to ensure teachers are actually teaching their stu dents, it isn’t fair to teachers that the student’s success is be ing unfairly evaluated. Personally, many of my teachers have taught me a number of things that cannot be tested; such as how to communicate, how to discuss, and how to hold myself as a person. And while that isn’t necessarily in the curricu lum, it’s still a valuable skill that isn’t accounted for in a test.

From the flawed data that standardized tests do produce, the way schools are compared to the previous scores is not a way to compare students. When No Child Left Behind was first im plemented, the concept was introduced that if a school doesn’t show a set improvement from their scores the previous year, they are at risk of losing funding. Schools who do not show progress from year to year on the test become a school in need, and risk having funding cut from the state. If a school is failing to teach their students, they should be receiving more funding, not less. In the attempt to close the gap between suc ceeding and failing schools, he actually made it worse. And this failure to improve gets put on teachers, understandably, but unfairly. “If we score in the 95th percentile, how do [we] continue to get better from that?” asked Zottoli.

“I think [the test] perpetuates a lot of our societal issues.”

Additionally, we expect a test to tell us how a student is per forming, but the test doesn’t account for a number of factors in the child’s life that could affect their test taking. “This test is going to crush kids across the country,” said Zottoli. “I think [the test] perpetuates a lot of our societal issues… if you’re in a community where there’s a large dropout rate and poor ed ucation, there’s a high likelihood that you’re going to really struggle through [the test] and be successful,” said Zottoli.

Students are not given equal opportunity, and schools are not equal. There are a number of factors which contribute to a student’s academic success, and if they come from a com munity where those factors are not readily available to them, it’s hard for them to succeed. The test itself is geared to stu dents who want to achieve, so schools where the majority of students who don’t have the means to succeed, are set up for failure. There’s no denying that there are racial and economic inequalities evident in our school systems, but in our attempt to equalize them, they become self perpetuating.

“The concentration needed for any type of testing is so much more intense [than] what you need in a given school day, and I think that makes it very hard to focus on any other academic related classes after.”

Lastly, to implement this test, two hour blocks had to carved out of the school day, for two weeks. “[There is] a late arrival schedule, we are spacing out [testing] on two different weeks,” said Heather Machanoff, Counseling Director at ORHS. But an abridged schedule for the whole school will significantly lower the amount of time a student has in class, which affects how much they can be taught in those two weeks.

These blocks not only disrupt learning time, but the test itself is not conducive to a learning environment. “I need to know what we’re using this for,” said Zottoli. “If someone can’t tell me how is this benefiting student learning, then I have issues with it,” he explained. Testing is an exhausting process, and a stressful one as well. Students are already under high pres sure. “The concentration needed for any type of testing is so much more intense [than] what you need in a given school day, and I think that makes it very hard to focus on any other academic related classes after,” explained Ireland. Two weeks before the Smarter Balanced test was administered, many stu dents took their AP exams. Shortly after the Smarter Balanced test, students will begin work for finals. The last thing a stu dent needs is to spend two hours staring at a computer screen pressing buttons.

Given all its flaws, there are some benefits to standardized testing. “Common Core standards were developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the National Gov ernors Association to address problems that were identified at a local and state level, and as a partial response to No Child Left Behind. The intent is to create commonly agreed upon standards that will prepare all students for college[s] and ca reer[s],” explained Allen. Allen is right: it only makes sense that there are agreed upon standards all students should meet before they move onto further education, or other careers.

In addition to standards for students, there also need to be standards for schools. Schools, in some way, need to be held accountable for their students’ education.

“I think that in some ways… communities want some affir mation that the [money] they’re putting into their schools is [in] some ways objective. [Because of this], there will always be some push for some kind of measure [to test]. The question I have is: do you have to be giving an eight and a half to nine hour test to everybody from 3rd grade to 8th grade and 11th grade to get a gauge of how your school system is doing. You can do it in a much more economical less intrusive way,” said Newkirk.

As of right now, there might not be a solution to standard ized testing in the near future. Unfortunately, the only way to know if something is going to work is if you test it out, and the only way to test out a test would be to administer it on stu dents. “If this test can be refined to teach problems solving and critical thinking and skills like that, I don’t know why that’s bad, because that’s what we should be teaching in school,” said Zottoli. “I think that part of a problem with education is that we are really resistant to change, and there [are] a lot of things at this school that we could change and be better at. All kids are not equal. The concept of grades is very archaic. The concept of 23 credits is very archaic...and so hopefully this test will give us the ability to (theoretically) with a common core of standards...have the potential to change education.”

At the end of the day, it’s not realistic to say we’re going to get rid of testing altogether. Communities, states, and the federal government will always want some form of validation that their schools are performing well. However, if we want this test to do what it is supposed to, that is to gauge what students are learning, we must seriously as sess the effectiveness of these tests. Additionally, we must ensure our forms of evaluation are inclusive of all learning needs and skills, as well as understand that not every student is the same, and not every student can perform accurately when taking a test. Some of the most important lessons learned are not assessed in the scores of a test, but how we act and interact with the world around us.

Abigail Colby Op-Ed Editor

Why Everyone Should go to Camp

For the past six summers I have been going to summer camp. Everyone who I’ve met who has been to a camp has told me they loved it, and that it has made a significant impact on their lives. Not only has my camp given me a great college essay topic, but it has also been something that has shaped me into the person I am today. I believe camp is an experience that would be beneficial to anyone who has the ability and means to go.

Merrowvista is a month long co-ed sleep away camp tucked away in the beautiful mountains of North Tuftonboro, New Hampshire. The older campers are able to go out on different hiking, canoeing and bik ing excursions, while the younger kids stay in little cabins in camp, sailing, rock climbing and other all the other outdoor activities the camp has to offer. Picture the camp from The Parent Trap. Last year I spent my summer hiking the 100 mile wilderness, one of the most difficult stretches of the Appalachian Trail. The year before that I biked around the coast of Nova Scotia. For some, this may sound like a hor rible time: camping in tents for a month, no cell phones, and constant exercise…but honestly, for 30 days, it’s not that bad.

My camp teaches kids balanced living while we are there, and focuses on taking advantage of the outdoors. Steffi Brock-Wilson, a student at North western University, and my leader for my hiking trip, has been at Merrowvista for 12 years. “Many of my personal values and ways of living have come out of camp. It was such an amazing experi ence to have people from all over the country come together with all their different backgrounds and values, so that I could create my own,” explained Brock-Wilson.

I have made lifelong friendships with the girls I’ve been doing this with. My good friend Chandler Anerella, from New York City, agreed, saying, “It’s crazy because 12 completely different girls come together every year for a month, and we can pick up right where we left off. We all get along so well, and a lot of them have impacted who I am along the way.”

I believe camp is the best place to be indepen dent and get away from my hectic life for a whole month. “It gives you a sense of independence that isn’t found at school or at home, and you really do

get to determine how you spend four weeks,” said Brock-Wilson. Independence like that for me was mind-blowing as a kid. Camp was the first time I felt power over my own life. I feel like that is something that every kid should feel at a younger age.

Patrick Mulhern (‘15) has been going to Camp Belknap in Ossipee, NH for seven years now. Mulhern had a very similar camp experience. “It has really helped me, most importantly to learn to meet new people, and be comfortable with that process. Being off on my own at a re ally young age has been beneficial for preparing for college,” said Mulhern. Looking back at my camp experience makes me excited for the fu ture. I think one of the most important things that camp has given me is the independence for college. The idea of being away from home for a long time isn’t scary. Being thrown into a completely new environment won’t be as hard because I have already experienced it.

In today’s age not everyone is able to prioritize fun; I wish that everyone could go to camp so they could do this. Where else can you go mud sliding, rinse off in a lake, and then get back on your bike and dry off from the wind? Or wake up on the side of a mountain, go rock climbing, and at the end of it all have a panoramic view of the world around you?

Ben Applebaum-Bauch is the Coordinator of

School & Summer Programs at Camp Merrowvista, and one of the many staff that have made my experience at camp so amazing. “The ‘magic’ of camp only exists because the people in it work hard to make it a welcoming, positive place and peo ple who feel that they have been positively affected by camp have a duty to pass along the impact of that experience to others,” said Applebaum-Bauch. Mulhern had the opportunity to become a counselor at Belknap last summer. “I had a great time with the younger kids and bringing fourth the experience that I had to them. It’s really the leaders at camp that make it so special, and I loved being able to bring my own spirit to that,” said Mulhern.

During the school year I am lazy. I wake up as late as possible, and procrastinate everything I can. It’s draining with the endless work load, and drama of family and friends. Camp gives me a place where all of that goes away for a month and there is endless amounts of energy and the time to do whatever I want. No chores or pressures or expectations. Each day is filled with making more memories.

I only have good memories from my time at camp, and I do really think that camp is for everyone, and everyone can benefit from it. “I would encourage kids to step back from all the stereotypes of camp and think about how you want to be spending your summer. If that is meeting new people, and doing something new then those are all things that can happen through a camp experience,” finished Brock-Wilson.

Parry Business Manager Co-sports Editor

Haley

“W

riting helps you sort through thoughts. It acts as a therapy session for some people,” says Elliott Moore, a librarian at Oys ter River High School.

Almost as soon as we enter the public school system we are told what writing means. The al phabet sneaks its way into our childhood games, conversations, and soup. Sentence structure and proper grammar are deemed critical for our sur vival and success as individuals. By high school, many students feel that five paragraph essays and lab reports are more than enough writing in their lives, and few pursue writing outside of classes for enjoyment.

Creative writing has been increasingly down played by teachers and students alike in favor of more analytical writing styles. This makes sense when considering the fact that the majority of writing expected of young adults in college as well as for countless careers is logical. However, creative writing deserves more than just a small spot in the yearly curriculum. Writing poetry, prose, memoirs, personal essays, and fiction in all its forms is not only thought-provoking, but purposeful and therapeutic.

Madi Pelletier- Murrill Features Editor

“Instructions

“When I have a worry or a problem, it’s like a ball of tangled string in my head and I can’t make heads or tails of it. Writing forces me to untangle the string in order to make a coherent sentence about what it is that’s bothering me. After that, the problem just seems so much clearer and usually a lot smaller and a lot less dire than I thought it was.” These are the words of Annika Barth (‘15), who is a passionate writer and an editor of the Oyster River Literary Magazine.

Emily Haight (‘16) adds that “[writing] really lets you express yourself. Through creative writing you can visit other places, as well as explore scenarios and ideas even if you weren’t really there.”

Barth agrees and feels that creative writing should be ripe with emotion, and she is very conscious of this in her own work. “I can definitely tell the difference between work that I’ve done when I don’t feel a connection to what or whom I’m writing about, and work that I’ve done when I really love my characters and believe what I’m saying.”

Furthermore, Barth senses that creative writing has larger meaning and connection for others who may read it. She explains how “[writing] touches on some truth about what it means to be human. It pulls out the experiences and qualities in life that we can all relate to. It is a tangible form of empathy.”

Furthermore, Barth feels that writing allows us to connect with others without ever talking to them.

Linda Rief, an author and English teacher at Oyster River Middle School, admires the communica tion aspect of creative writing. “I think writing is extremely important because it allows us to com municate with others, even at great distances,” claims Rief.

Kathy Pearce, another Oyster River librarian, agrees. She feels that “really good fiction tells more truths about our lives than non-fiction does. Pearce also feels that writing lets people “try on a differ ent life. You can almost live an alter ego.”

Rief concurs with this point and adds that “[writing] also gives us a voice - a place to think through our ideas, our beliefs, our opinions, and our imaginations.”

Oyster River alum Eliza Balch feels that creative writing is limitless and should really be a daily routine to reach its full purpose. “Writing when you’re really upset or confused is important, but so is writing when life is going along just swimmingly - because writing will often bring out things you didn’t know were there, or were unidentified.”

Balch also sees that her experiences and writing have become interconnected over time, which she really admires. “If I provide myself the time and space to process things and reflect upon my life, I find that it gets reflected through writing whether I intend to or not,” says Balch. “I write every day,

“Creative writing, to me, is a bit of a misnomer - all writing, done properly, could be called creative writing.”

-Anne Bardaglio

and obviously some days are better than others. I try to let my writing stand for itself and not criticize it.” She adds that; “I hardly ever go back and revise things because they speak for themselves and are reflective of exactly what I was thinking and feeling in the moment.”

Anne Bardaglio, a humanities teacher who has worked at various private schools and establish ments, thinks that writing is all about processing and expressing. “Writing is thinking on the page, so if you have something compelling to say, then you’ve got the most important piece down,” states Bardaglio.

“Clear thinking doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve got it totally figured out, either. Some of the most interesting writing I’ve ever read has come from someone sitting down to grapple with a ques tion that was really pressing to them that they hadn’t yet figured out. I think what matters most is that the writer has a sustained curiosity that they are committed to exploring.”

Bardaglio sympathizes with the restrictions public school English teachers face such as core curricu lum and state requirements. She admits that she thinks there is much work to be done before creative writing is taught the way it needs to be.

“If people don’t care about what they are writing about, the writing will suffer. I think the single most important thing about teaching writing is that teachers need to allow their students as much leeway as possible to pick their topics. You can teach the mechanics of writing through any genre, and students will be much more engaged with those mechanics if they are working to refine a message that matters to them,” says Bardaglio.

As a public school English teacher, Rief’s opinion is quite relevant as well. “I believe all teachers need to be what they teach - scientists, mathematicians, historians, writers, and readers. Kids who are athletes have more trust and respect for their coaches when they know they played the sport. Kids who are musicians want to learn from teachers who play those instruments,” explains Rief. “I want to be treated by doctors who have actually performed the surgery I need - many times. I want them to be practitioners of their craft - and to like what they do.”

Ultimately creative writing is an essential life skill, and one that is often neglected and/or taken less seriously. It is important for people of all ages to recognize the importance of good writing and why it’s such an amazing practice.

“The thing I love the most about writing, and the ultimate reason why I think it’s so important, is because it is so essential to so many different kinds of life paths,” says Bardaglio. “Creative writing, to me, is a bit of a misnomer - all writing, done properly, could be called creative writing.”

BIAS RACIAL

We no longer have to worry about police attacking blacks with firehoses or German shepherds. The days of Selma and the Birmingham Campaign have passed and institutionalized racism is now no longer legal. This certainly is progress, but there is no doubt that racism is still present, and the only way to stop its disastrous effects is to stop it at its core.

We hear so often that a black man has been gunned down, strangled or harassed by law enforcement and often the resulting legal action is just as upsetting as the initial act.

We know that blacks make up only 13% of the U.S. population and 14% of the monthly drug users, but are 37% of the people arrested for drug-related offenses in America. (Dosomething.org)

According to Dosomething.org, in New York City, 80% of the stops police made were blacks and Lati nos, and 85% of those people were frisked. These statistics all involve police, but they hint at a larger issue. The officers committing these acts are human. They are just as influenced by social norms and expectations as the rest of us. It is because of these influences that we know America is still quite racist. Racism is undeniably present in the society that we live in, and in order to change it, we must identify the areas that we can improve and act upon them. Lamenting about racism certainly will not solve anything, but in this case it is important to try to understand our behaviors. Why is our society exhib iting tendencies that are painfully reminiscent of Jim Crow era America? When we have made so much progress in so many places, why are we still affected by the color of ones skin?

“We, as human beings, do define situations in a certain way that might not be objectively defined in that way. And everything else that flows from that is rooted in that belief,” says criminologist Ted Kirkpatrick.

Chances are, the lessons that you learned as a child from your family have stuck with you to this day. I was taught from a young age how to treat those around me, how to in teract with people and how to interpret my surrounding world. And whether I like it or not, my parents morals still affect me. So why would it be any different for the things they taught me to dislike?

“If you grow up in a culture from early childhood where certain groups of people are demonized in some way and you are told that those people are evil then at some points its highly likely, given how powerful that is, that you will adopt that same view of the world.” Kirkpatrick continues.

But how realistic is this? Could the messages of hate preached by Klan members to their young children be what is causing people like Eric Garner to be killed many years later? It certainly seems extreme, but it may be a viable option.

Martin Rumscheidt was born in 1935, in Nazi Germany. He was raised a Nazi by his parents and was taught under the Hit ler Regime that all other races were inferior. Although 70 years has gone by since the end of World War II, Rumscheidt is still grappling with racist thoughts. “Several days ago, I was listening to an absolutely beautiful piece of music on the radio. It was amazing, but at the end of it, the man said who it was performed by, and I instantly recognized his name as Jewish. The first thing I thought was ‘Wow. That was a great piece of music for a Jew,’” Rumscheidt recounts. “I have been trained to think in a certain way.”

“We’re all human, we’re all important, but we all have the ability to try to do the right thing and be better people.” -Abby Limric

Rumscheidt has had many years to reflect on the indoctrination of Nazi ideals. Although he still expe riences the surfacing of racism, like the instance while listening to the radio, he has addressed and re-as sessed many of the concepts taught to him as a child. This is a step in the right direction, but what about the police officer making a split second decision with a gun in their hand? Have they had the chance to think about what race means to them and how they can prevent rash decision making? “[Racism] takes violent and nonviolent forms.” continues Rumscheidt “But the non-violent forms [of racism] can so easily manifest into violence,” This is one of the most important issues with subconscious racism. Because just like Rumscheidt stated, you cannot know how underlying racial bias will surface. For most of us, these thoughts will affect our actions in relatively harmless ways. For example, if I am walking down a street, and seeing a black man triggers a racist assumption, I have the ability and most importantly the time, to step back and assess where this thought came from, and reavaluate my thought process. However, some are not able to do this. When people, such as the police, are put in situations where quick and instinctive thinking is required, their actions are likely going to be founded on their gut instinct. And if this person has any sort of sub conscious racist thoughts, they likely will surface then.

One of the most common places that we see racism reveal itself is indeed regarding police. Like was seen in Baltimore this past month, as well as with Eric Garner and Mi chael Brown this summer, police officers commonly give blacks unfair treatment be cause of their skin colour. As unfortunate as these headline events were, it has put police forces around the country, as well as their training methods, under great scrutiny.

“We talk about [racial bias] all the time. And I think that is the best thing that you can do.” Durham’s Chief of Police, David Kurz states. Kurz explains that the issue of subconscious racism is not an idea that should be taken lightly by police. While holding a paper detailing training exercises on this very subject, it is em phasized by him that in order to not make national news, it is essential to address any underlying racial bias from the beginning. As we have seen in recent months, when this is not dealt with, it lead to serious injustices. “We have the right, under certain circumstances of law, to take a human’s life,” Kurz finishes, “And that comes with alot of responsibility.”

One of the contributing factors to ones subconscious racism is the environment in which we live. Accord ing to the 2013 census, Durham is 87% white and only 1% black. This is incredibly different from the national averages, which sit at 74% white and 12.5% black. On a very basic level, this difference poses a problem. “Racial bias has a lot to do with what you grow up around and what you therefore grow comfortable with,” says Abby Limric (‘15) “It’s hard not to have any bias when you grow up in a place like Madbury where there is little to no diversity.” Limric is right. Not being exposed to people of other ethnicities will likely lead to racist thoughts later on.

“Because of [the media’s] stereotyping of people of colour, it’s hard for people who have no experience outside of their own culture to imagine people of colour as anything other than unflattering caricatures,” says Nathalie Cumming (‘18), “It creates these subtle connotations between races and their stereotypes and I think that’s likely the primary cause of subconscious racism.” Like Limric, Cumming lives in a small, pre dominantly white New Hampshire town and recognizes the potential for racism to surface. “Many people are actually not engaging with diverse others in a meaningful, tangible way until they arrive at college. People can make it through their lives without engaging with a diverse other in an equitable way,” states Shane Lloyd, a member of Class Action and faculty at Brown University. As a nation, we have come to agree that racism, as an institution, is wrong. Segregation is unconstitutional and under fed eral law, all people are weighted equally. This is progress, but as Lloyd states, “People often times claim to interpersonal malice like the burning of crosses and lynchings as examples of racism. Instead, we need to think of patterns of behavior and differential treatment as well as more subtle interpersonal displays of racism.”

To fully conquer racism, we need to address it where it is now the most harmful. In our thoughts. Having a racist thought or making an assumption based on racial stereotypes is not inherently negative. Having racist thoughts does not make you a bad person, (it is likely just a product of your environment) but what you do with these thoughts can. Whether it is what drives you to pull your headlock around their airway, or to simply reconsider your racist assumptions makes all the difference. “If you voice racist sentiments or act upon them, then you just might be a racist,” says Limric. “However, if you acknowledge your thoughts a racially biases and work toward correcting your behavior, then that’s a totally different story. We’re all human, we’re all important, but we all have the ability to try and do the right thing and be better people.”

Dundorf Creative Director

“I have been trained to think in a certain way.”

- Martin Rumscheidt

Conrad

“I think a lot of students supported the upgrade and were shocked when it didn’t pass. When I found out I thought it was a joke. I hadn’t thought about having another year with the facilities we have now,” said three season athlete, Dominique Twombley (‘16).

Gloom fell over the athletes of Oyster River High School on March 10th after the field upgrade proposal was denied. The proposal was for a 2.5 million dollar turf field with a surround ing track to be built along with new baseball and softball fields by late fall of 2015. With $300,000 previously raised, a 1.7 million dollar bond for taxpayers would fundraise the upgrade, which may seem like an astonishingly high price to be left to the taxpayers, but according to the Athletic Field Upgrade Committee this would only add an additional average of $47 per year per family, or $3.95 a month. Students, parents, coaches and school administrators pushed for community members to “vote yes on article three,” but unfortunately the 60% vote that was needed was missed bya mere 5%, or 135 voters.

Oyster River is one of four schools in New Hampshire that does not have a turf field and track, which is rather strange seeing that this year Oyster River was ranked highly for public schools in New Hampshire. “Our school is rated third in the state for public schools, we should have the facilities to back that up,” said soccer player and track runner Owen Kurtiak (‘17). In a statement for Article Three, ORHS Principal Todd Allen wrote: “As a school community we often tout our successes on national rankings [...] Rightfully so, we cite statistics like our 100% graduation rate and 85% college placement rate as points of great community pride.” Being a top school in the state it seems rather insane that we still don’t have safe, cost saving, and reliable athletic space for our ever growing athletics here. “This school has a high quality athletic program and we deserve to be rewarded for that,” said soccer player Griffin Luczek (‘16).

If you were to ask any athlete at Oyster River what the field conditions are like here at ORHS, the general consensus would be that they are horrible. Track hurdlers have to practice hurdling down the hallway. Baseball players having to stare into the sun for the majority of the game. Distance runners training on ice and snowy sidewalks all winter long and lacrosse players are unable to pick up ground balls because of uneven terrain.

“I just think it reflects poorly on our school. We have one of the best soccer teams in the state and one of the best cross country teams in the state every year. We have very good athlet ics and to have such bad fields and no track is just embarrassing,” said top runner Patrick O’Brien (‘17).

However to some community members athletics are not on their radar as far as im portance, they are a huge importance to the environment of Oyster River. Each year more than 500 of our students are expected to work hard in the classroom, outside of of the classroom, stay healthy and work hard in all practice and games. Allen continued in the statement for Article Three by saying “One statistic that is not mentioned enough in these rankings is the 73% partici pation rate we have in interscholastic sports at ORHS. We have over 500 students participating in interscholastic athletics this year at ORHS. High participation in school activities is a key factor in maintaining a high level of student engagement that helps us create the environment at ORHS that

produces the exceptional academic results. Without a turf field to allow for continuous use we will not be able to meet our current and future student athletes’ needs.”

While some may think a facility should not determine the outcome of success a team has, frankly it very much does. The athletics at Oyster River deserve a place to play and practice that increases their success, instead of stalling it. Especially when ath letics are such a huge part of the environment that has been creat ed here at Oyster River.

Cathy O’Brien, a strong parent advocate for the upgrade, explained why this upgrade is so necessary by saying, “I am a sup porter because I think kids should have usable and safe athletic fields at their high school. Oyster River has some of the worst ath letic facilities around and I think we should do better for the kids of this community.”

As an athlete myself I can not express enough the lower hand Oyster River athletics are receiving without sufficient fields. It is really difficult to adjust from playing on our field to playing on a large, fast paced turf field that many of our opponents have. Playing on turf completely changes the game.

Grace Heine (‘16), who is a three season athlete of soccer and track and field, explained the difficulty of the current facilities by saying, “It is frustrating trying to practice in the dark or on a soggy field. For track it is nearly impossible to improve by hur dling in the gym or long jumping in the hallways.”

“The school’s current fields are covered in dirt, holes and other items that don’t belong, making a game of soccer hard to play. The field would also allow for the HS teams to excel in the sports played on the field,” said athlete Hunter Rief (‘16). For the girls soccer team I can say we have a very hard time adjusting. The pace of the ball, touch on the ball and speed of the game, is com pletely different than what playing on our home field is like. Its frustrating when your team has to spend the first half of the game adjusting to the turf and then spend the second half in overdrive trying to catch up. It messes with consistency which is vital for a team to be and stay successful.

Oyster River is a school that is incredibly proud of its ath letics and athletes, which is why it’s so frusterating that we are not recieving what we deserve. “At Oyster River we have nationally ranked track runners that will never run a single race in front of their school at their home track. We have sprinters that only have hallways to train on. The soccer and lacrosse fields are very ex pensive to maintain almost $24,000 a year. We often have to rent from UNH which costs thousands of dollars a year. All this could be resolved by updating and improving our fields for a very small individual cost,” said O’Brien.

Oyster River Athletic Director Corey Parker commented on the vote by saying, “Unfortunately March 10th was a sad day but just as soon as March 11th there were many community mem bers reaching out expressing their frustration and concern for the upgrade not being passed. Some other tax implications of town issues that were also on the ballot very much hurt us.”

So what does this mean for the future of Oyster River ath letics? Supporters of the upgrade are look ing to have it be passed next year. Many parents, students, and athletic director Corey Parker are not allowing the failure for it to pass this year knock them down. There are currently two committies formed for just the facility upgrade. Evan Gordon (‘16) and Sophie Webb (‘15) are on both. The committies are working on tuning up the current upgrade proposal and spreading awareness and knowledge of the proposal.

(All facts taken from the Support the ORHS fields and facilities upgrade web site orbobcats.com)

Isabelle Todd Social Media Manager

PC Julia Pruszak

PC Erin McDonough

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SPORTS&CLUBS

Now Watch Me Whip

Mitchell Harling (‘16) at Oyster River High School, is, like many of his peers, find ing himself the consumer of a new, local trend that is revo lutionizing both the ideals be hind efficient transportation, and leisurely activity. Harling, though, is not the only onescootering (for lack of a better term) is making its way into mainstream popularity, and no longer is it solely for your younger siblings- but for all that demand a new, stylish, and abstract sport. And this isn’t referring to mopeds- we’re talking old school, razor, kick scooters.

“Fishing the razor scooters out from the garage make you feel like a kid again,” explained Zach Kaplan (referred to here as “DJ Kappy”), another junior, who commonly rides with Har ling. Unlike his crew, he has devoted hours of practice to perfecting his skills on his ra zor- moves such as the “bunny hop”, the “360”, and (“My per sonal favorite,” Zach added), “the tail whip”- just to name a few. And with practice, comes perfect. “I’ve noticed that spe cial moves like the tail whip have actually tended to attract a large number of women,” announced Kappy, and then Harling chimed in, “There is a hidden sex appeal in the scootering world that only scooter fanatics and scooterists experience. It’s very ‘behind the scenes’- some may even call it ‘underground’.”

Even if you’re not interested in emerging as the next Tony Hawk, the simple thrill of rec reational scootering is often just enough for those seeking entertainment. “There is noth ing like the feeling of just go ing out and trying something new,” said Liam Conrad, an other junior. Even if you fail, you are one step closer to suc cess than you were before you tried.” And Jason Lupinski, a student at Martha’s Vineyard High School, “The wind push ing back my hair, my wheels tearing up the street- I never feel as free.”

For scooterists, however, there is somewhat of a state ment involved in hopping on

a two-wheeler, which, for Reed Gibson (’17), is the precise rea son to do so. “I think it has recently become more popu lar within the high school age group because of how easy and fun it really is. Mid- way through middle school, people think that it becomes “uncool” and they try to fit in with every body else. Once people get into high school they realize that they can do anything they want and it doesn’t matter if you get judged,” he said, and then add ed, “They are just jealous of your sick scootering skills.”

All aside, scootering is an ef ficient and healthy mode of transportation, an equal rival to a bike, plus class. “I think scootering is definitely on the rise, particularly in a town like Durham where everything downtown is pretty accessible by walking,” said James Glass, (’15). “The vintage feel of it is bringing more people in. A lot of people I know used to ride them as kids, and it gives them a certain nostalgia that some thing like a longboard might not bring.”

As a mode of transportation it’s certainly more efficient than walking, and I think carries a certain appeal you just can’t get on longboards.”

And for high schoolers like Gibson, who are too young, and haven’t yet gotten their license, it can be very conve nient. “[Scootering] does not require Drivers Ed or a license of any type, so it is perfect for everybody. Let’s say that you parents catch you [misbehav ing]. They might take your phone and your car keys, but the good news is that they didn’t think about taking your scooter from you! Now you can scooter all your cares away whenever you want and your parents won’t ever care!”

Although there are many reasons to pick up the sport, and so many varying opin ions about it, there is one thing that all scooterists can agree on. “Scootering is fun for all ages,” said Glass, and Gibson, “There is absolutely no age limit when it comes to scootering. I will scooter until I die.”

Op-Ed

(Above) Zach Kaplan-”DJ Kappy”- practices his tailwhips

“I scooter for the women, plain and simple.”

Forrest Spinney

Competitive E-Gaming

Imagine paying your $50,000 college tuition off with competitive video gaming. This is an avid gamers dream, am I right? Well, Robert Morris University in Chicago has made this dream a reality.

The University now gives out scholarships to gamers who are good at competitively playing a game called “League of Legends”, a fast-pace competitive online game consist ing of two teams with their own unique design and play style battling head to head on a multitude of different battlefields and game modes. Labeling them as internet athletes or “e-athletes”, Robert Morris University has put aside nearly half a million dollars for students that fall under this category. But is considering competitive gaming a sport a good idea?

Trevor Garman, an English teacher and gamer at Oyster Riv er High School, was surprised when he was shown the article on the new scholarship. “I’m not really in shock that [gaming scholarships] have become a ‘thing’ so to speak. Gaming is growing in popularity. But scholarships for it? I’m not too sure about that,” Garman said. “It’s neat, but I see it as pandering to kids, and I believe that [students] are smarter than that.”

Garman brings up a point that sparks a lot of controversy related to competitive gam ing scholarships. Are these gamers really “athletes”? Or are colleges just trying to appeal to the generation and make more money? Garman sided with the latter, and so did avid gamer Gregory Trueblood (15’). Trueblood, a student at Oyster River High School thinks that “it is a neat idea, I would love to get a scholarship for game tournaments. However, this does seem like a money making sort of thing,” Trueblood went on to say that most competitive gamers are in to play, so they attend these colleges with only that in mind, not academics or how they feel there. Garmin agreed, saying that this could become a

problem for students.

Kurt Melcher is on the other end of this controversial spectrum. Melcher, the asso ciate athletic director at Robert Morris University created the scholarship for gaming students. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Melcher explained that “it is a team sport. There’s strategy involved. Obviously it is not cardiovascular in any way, but it is mental. There are elements that go into it like any other sport.”

Although Melcher is correct about the mental aspect of competitive gaming, some thing that makes athletes well, athletes, is that cardiovascular aspect. This is the most controversial aspect of the situation because of the health concerns that come with gam ing. “Staring at a screen although it is exercising your brain is terrible for your eyes. And with the amount of time sitting that comes with gaming, you risk the development of blood clots in your legs and carpal tunnel in the wrists,”

Celeste Best, science teacher at Oys ter River High School said when she overheard the talk about competitive gaming. “People are really dedicated to competi tive gaming. So much that they won’t move from that one spot for hours which can lead to some serious negative health effects.”

However, if a competitive gamer can properly balance their activity online and in reality competitive gaming could possibly be a scholarship worthy thing. If players are made aware of their other priorities when attending college, and a little bit active in-be tween gaming sessions, competitive gaming could quite possibly take of as its own thing instead of a sport.

This scholarship offers 30 annually renewed amounts of mon ey starting at least $19,000; this is half the cost of attending Robert Morris.

Kirsten Weiker Layout Editor

“It’s neat, but I see it as pandering to kids, and I believe that [students] are smarter than that.”

- Trevor Garman

Senior Wills and Destinations

Annika Barth American University Major: Literature

Alex Cavallaro Wheelock College Major: Psychology

Kayla: My humor Sam: My math homework and my love Lucy: The love of my life Juila L: My mega hot Soundcloud jams Molly: Maddie T and a dog that is actually yours Cheyenne: A credit card for a lifetime supply of aromas joe’s rushes

Alex Mouikis

University of New Hampshire Major: Business Administration

Haley Goetz

Ithaca College Major: Film

Jareer Lababidi: Invisible Cash Money Sophia Haley: ORTV and all the dance moves Mrs. Young: Supreme Awesomeness Martin Brewer: The Spirit of Kate Bush

Lydia Ahlstrom: A crown Michelle Dionne: Alli Shaardul Jeff Whitney: McDonald’s Jeffrey Raymond: Dawn and Callia (have fun)

Liam Cahill

University of New Hampshire Major: Ocean Engineering Emma- polar pops, and great jam seshes during car rides Dillon m- duct-tape for your mouth Andy- the fort , and neewanahoyminiminoy Jake- the fort and the torch Matt- the keys to the surrey kingdom Kevin k and Zach lanoue - two pairs of normal length shorts Ben m- anything you want in exchange for one of your dope savers finds Nate Moore- the ability to piss justin off, I’ll teach you Colin runk- my big toe Owen k- lots of toilet paper and hand wipes

Josh Golden University of New Hampshire

Isabelle Banker University of New Hampshire Major: Medical Microbiology

Keerthi Onkaram- Brendon Urie Colleen and Alana Todd- The dog from the Spain trip.

Cam Barth Elon University, North Carolina

Alanna Bagdon

Owen McCabe

Taking a gap year and volunteering in Madagascar

Aaron Albert

Brennen oxford: one gol watch 2 gol chayns 6 gol rangs Aidan Yoder: ...K Matt silverman: A great announcer voice Tyler Venable: all my shoes

Matt bishop: some sweet gains Jeff Whittney: wheels

Hofstra University Major: Drama

Skylar Bagdon: a legacy you will never live up to.

Sarah Corrow: a legacy you will absolutely live up to, and surpass, mini me.

Adam Hookway: nobody’s legacy. Do your own thing, and kill it.

Brendan Curran: a permanent pass to the acting class.

Jarrod Bernier: something, because I told you I would.

Meredith Freeman-Caple: an empty void.

The drama department: my love, my thanks, and, most of all, good luck next year. You’ll need it

Azabeth Lapham

Jared Bernier: my spot at the piano and the responsibility of irritating Mr. LaForce Emma Sourdif: *maniacal pterodactyl screeches*

Charlotte Moore

Georgetown University Major: international relations

Coleman: Jerry Garcia (if he makes it to your 16th birthday) Eleanor, Hannah, Jessie, Lexi: morning car rides & pancakes Lily, Lydia, Audrey, Molly: OG morning car rides & more pancakes Alex Szymanski: not a mustache

Sam "Slippy" Lippman: please don't slip on anything next year Girls swim team: fourpeat ? And the slapping hands tradition Tessa: Straight A+ transcript so you can come to Georgetown with me next year

All of the swim team: Patience to deal with Dad aka Bill

Alex Hiltunen

Leaving for boot camp in Parris Island, SC, to become a US Marine, leaving about 10 days after graduation.

Advice I would give to the underclassmen is to know yourself and seek self-improvement.

Justin Moore Traveling, going to Israel

Will Stone

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Major: Information Technology and Web Science

Neville Caulfeild: The cross country team Jack Donaldson: My hair gel Patrick O’Brien: My grade in pre-calc Even Poworoznek: A hot pocket Ben Chamberlain: A severe case of senioritis Shane Chinburg: A hot pink lengha

Ellie Lewis

University of New Hampshire Major: Psychology

Grace Tauriello Springfield college Major: Occupational Therapy

Claire Genes: My jersey and love Hiney, Sara Messler, Dom Twom, Isabelle: the Bobkittens Derz, Jake, and Nicko: My eternal love

Annie Batchelder

University of New Hampshire Major: Social Work

Gabe Pierce US Navy

The swim team: I leave my patriarchal throne. The rest of the school: sour jokes, hurt feelings, and a grand old time.

Bryanna Pelley

Great Bay Community College

Major: Veterinary technician

Sadie Moore

UMass Lowell Major: Journalism

Sam Walker and Isabelle Fradilada: the volleyball team

Sarah Cusak: the libero jersey and all my love Conrad, Isabelle, and Jake: Mouth of the River

Forrest Spinney: life advice Andy Mcquade: F Free

Jeremy Howland University of Vermont Majoring in Biology

Jenna Howland: the car Cam Casella: the boombox

Leah Mueller

Quinnipiac University Major: Business Management

Emerson McManus and Abbie Rogers: The Fusion Dance Academy Legacy

Sarah Mueller: Harriet the Chariot if mom and dad say it's okay Isabelle Fradilada: endless amounts of Starbucks, LaFesta, and girl talk

Jarrod Bernier: a soul Sarah Corrow: Vanilla pudding Alex Ireland: a healthy knee and some technical terms Mrs. Caple: the best of luck without me next year

Heidi Chutter

University of Maine Farmington Major: Secondary Education and Math

Olivia Svanholm

Gap year in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam Jenni Healy- The Golden Snitch

Liam O’rourke

Saint Anslem College Major: Political Science

Haley Parry

University of Vermont Major: Anthropology

Jake, Nicko, and Drew: All my dance moves, continue to stir the pot Isabelle and Sarah: All rights to tell Sam what to do and some juice boxes The rest of the volleyball team: All rights to tell Sam what to do

Jordan Petrovitsis University of New England Major: Pre-Med

Diva: Captain of the hockey team

Ashley Tewksbury

Coastal Carolina University Major: Professional golf management

The Oyster River Golf Team: No more girls

Ashley Mitchell Gap Year

Fran Jeffrey

University of New Hampshire

Major: Preschool through third grade education

Andrew McQuade: Dracula, lots of turtles, all the pow days in the world, blueberries, and my love Katie Schmitt: My spanish game skills and my t-riding knowledge

Sarah Corrow: 2 bucks for Rush emergencies and molasses

Lily Mangan: My voice for more duets together Emerson McManus, Maisie Cook, and Abbie Rogers: all my dance skills for the musicals

Alex Ireland: Ballet classes and XL leotards Evan Gordon and Neville Caulfield: Beach trips and science smarts Jarrod Bernier: A soul Mrs. Caple: Sardines, jump ropes, bags of love, pliés, and my sense of humor to keep you sane during tech weeks

Katherine Howard Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Molly Downey: All of my love and a puppy

Sarah Corrow: My lacrosse stick, you'll need it for next year

Harrison Rief: An 'A' in biology Girl's Lacrosse Team: my Life Alert button

Sarah Mueller: Core privileges and elderly wisdom

Chris "swaggy p" Clement University of New Hampshire

Brennen Oxford: all rights of Domingo Ayala impersonations

Ben Clement: Bri Ribinski

Colin Runk, Kevin Kerrigan and Devin sawtelle: Lorne's earlobes

Darnell Saravong: my wok Aidan yoder: allagash Ben isaak, Christian Burt and Hunter Rief: Mr. Kearney

Griffin luczek: Karas earlobes Peter Coppola: Genos Ryan Coxen and Connor Grady: My swag Matt Bishop: My swaggy p jersey and a half empty Gatorade Zak Lanoue: scissors, a razor and some longer shorts

The baseball team: Coach Walfields bp pitching and fungo talents

Nick Kahn

University of New Hampshire Major: Computer Science

James Kahn: a wooden boat Austin Grass: Ketchup Andrew St.ours: some basketball shorts

Nyles Lawson Endicott College Major:

finance

Colin Runk: My Clash Forrest Spinney: a way out

Emily Croot Union College

Colleen Todd: A colander Alaina Todd: An alien Kinley Guerino: announcing tennis lineups and the best time of your life at ASP Payal Nanda: the best time of your life at ASP Block Day Book Clubbers: Finding themes and advanced reader’s copies! Abigail Croot: 98.7 WOKQ and Teen Beach Movie

New Hampshire

Erika Ireland Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Alex Ireland: the Ireland legacy, my car (without rims), our 7:20 school departure time, Dunkin Donuts trips, adventures DTP, the best little brother award, my elmo hat Mr and Mrs Milliken: all my love and admiration Payal Nanda, Colleen Todd and Kristin Short: Relay for Life, the Prom Fashion show, Susan Wilkinson Mrs. Wilkinson: A less stressful experience with Relay for Life, gratitude for all your hard work and support To whomever wants it: Mr. Lord and the French club

Journalism

Zephyr Jaeger Suffolk University Major:

Westley Landry-Murphy: lots of coffee and rush, eating takeout on the floor of my room, trips to Boston, and my whole entire heart Claire Genes: my love and wisdom

Isabelle Todd: THE largest bottle of Xanax available for purchase and Mouth of the River Jake Garner: the news department, spicy tacomano toppings, my love, and our place in the core Andy McQuade: a rush, A free, and our place in the core

Sean Lutz Umass Amherst

Jack Donaldson: A jug of milk, How to Gain Weight for Dummys Ethan Kessler: My ego Cam Casella: The community flats

Reed Gibson: Rights to Jack Donaldson

Neville Caufield: A beat up yet surprisingly tasteful cutoff

James Glass

Reed College Major: Psychology

I leave my fire twitter game and the responsibilities of taking care of Papa Glass to my sister. Make the Raptor family name proud. And send lots of snapchats to me in college

Connor McDonough Merrimack College

Tyler Harvey my peck flexing Biggie powers- Soapytouches Erin/Susie McD- The McDonough Legacy Liam McNamara- plus a mil and my driving skills

Shelby Shepherd Beane

Great Bay Community College with transfer hopefully to Keene or UNH

Major: Digital media arts

Molly Downey: golden retriever, Maud Jewlia Durant: BUFFALO WINGS

Sam Tenny: The Buteaus

Lucy Eismen: a phone you won't lose Ashley Levis: Junior boys Liv Ardito: my best of luck for your senior year, and all of my love

Sarah Mayer

Case Western Reserve University, OH Major: Engineer

Sam Huston University of

Thomas Cusack

Plymouth University Major: Buisness

Hunter Rief: E&F free together Sarah Cusack: My staff parking spot Darnell Saravong: My Swag

Caitlin Coxen University of New Hampshire Major: Business

Peter Dubois Keene State

ORTV to Jareer Lababidi and Sophia Haley Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” to Brendan Whalen The river to Matt Silverman Canadian mischief to Nate Moore

Deanna Druskat University of Pittsburgh

Bella Saputo: My incredible dance moves, K-scoop, and all my love Courtney Elmslie: Everything I own because that’s how much I love you

Madi Pelletier and Conrad Dundorf: Declan Morrison Dominique Twombly and Grace Heine: Nick, the track team, and full rights to leading warm-ups (good luck), Thomas Cote: Bella Saputo

Abby Donovan

Loyola University Maryland Major: communication

Lauren Abbott: my mother Arun Falk Green Mountain College, Vermont

Andy Mcquade and Jake Garner: The Fort...Keep the party going

Haley Dunning

Lily Mangden:Ninjalove+

Nate Sullivan: all the lighting equipment I never had to Nick Murphy: A star Tim Morris: Plot 3 (kidding)

Rachel Diharce University of New Hampshire Major: Psychology

Sara Diharce: listening to led Zeppelin and Grateful Dead as loud as you please

Megan Wu: a golden shovel to dig as many holes as her heart desires

Libby Nichols: an injury free XC season and a handbook on stretching Jessie Banafato: i grant you the protection from seeme’s visit Arabella Reece: Eddie Redmayne Steph Schiavo: golden rope so we can continue to run races together

Mike Doyon

Zak: The Flow crew Liam McNamara: 1,000,000 points Diva (Porter): a gallon of gel

Katie Emmett

Keene State College Major: Studio Art

Ben McDonald: My gryffindor sweatshirt Natalie Czepiel: my dvd of treasure planet

Josh Fenerty University of New Hampshire

Keenan Grove Dickinson College Double major of French and Archeology

Fiona Grove: My French legacy Porter McManus: You know what I’m leaving you Hunter Rief: The deer and turkeys, they’re all yours now that I’m not in Durham anymore.

Dominique Twombly and Phil Ameduri: The track team

Jackson Hale

Arizona State University Major: Finance

Ben Chamberlain: The “smart” title Sean Fitzhenry: Whitest kid on the Titans Eric Shi: Expo skills

Natalia Gorsline Grand Canyon University

Amy Halstead Dickinson College

Payal Nanda: a single sock (be a free elf!)

Jessie Stelter: My teenage angst Samantha Walker: An extra seat on the school bus for your mas sive ego (and your massive heart)

Emily Halstead

Smith College

Major: Neuroscience and Behavior Minor: Biostatistic

Zach Henault

Lakes Region Community College

Jeff Powers: McDonald’s runs after hockey

Bobby Hill Great Bay Community College

Marissa Flynn University of Vermont

Coach Golding: Marky Mark and the funky bunch

Jareer: a super cool backpack

Erin: A squirrel friend and some pretzels Connor: several pokes to the face

All of my sophomores (you know who you are): my unconditional love forever and ever

Collin Gaebe Gap year, fun time

Caitlin Lasher Hobart and William Smith Colleges, NY

Major: Double Major, Political Science and International Relations

Kristin Short: My closet, all the leggings your white girl heart could want.

ORGXC: My love, admiration, swimming holes, oreos, and enough patience to deal with Fergie.

The Theatre Dept: My affection, enough caffeine to kill a small cat.

Adam Hookway: The Fray’s complete discography, every girl in the theatre dept.

Sarah Corrow and Brendan Curran: Auntie Caitlin’s wine closet.

Forrest Spinney: The bike shop, the ability to be a better dad.

Belinda McCormick

Amy McCormick: dear sister *cannon shot, mmm whatcha say plays* I give you my master knowledge of memes and my sense of humor because you need those skills to make it through the rest of high school. Leedleleedleleedle peace out Nathan Limric: plot twist: you're the sweetiest candy eatiest Jacob Baldy: My superior skills in super smash bros, so you can beat the game again without me

Noah Donaldson: you now have my newest saying "maybes" because wow I didn't even realize I made that a thing and if you get tired of it sorry

Marina Schwadron Oberlin College, Oberlin OH Major: History

Lily Mangan: My Undying Love

Nick Murphy: You'll do spells, you'll get a wand, you'll get an owl, and you're gonna be PLEASED about it

Liam Mills: A Proper Canadian Accent and Spechul lissthick Nina Messer: Mashed Potatoes and Hugs

Sarah Corrow: What do you leave to the girl who has the every thing

Sarah Mueller: Therapy

Brendan Curran: Stylish facial hair

Nathan Limric: Brendan

Kristen Sack Hobart and William smith colleges Major: Biochemistry and Public Policy

Jack McDonald and Ben Buteau: Brandon and the front seat of his car

Brandon Buteau: Rice Krispie treats, Chloe, party city, my lunch account, and my love

Abby Colby Gap year, University of New Hampshire

Isabelle and Maegan: Being late to the Big Bean, BNG “studying” Sus Club: Good luck with everything Conrad and Madi: A red cap and a speedo

Alana Saravong

Great Bay Community College

Major: Theatre

Hailey S: sharkeish. Darney S: dom twom, dinner at my house & locker 272.

Ben M: disregard females, acquire currency, my love and Dean Thomas

Sarah C: MWU, water guns, an endless supply of hugs and kisses from moi

Nat C: avatars, rolling down the windows, my burps bc you’re the only one that appreciates them and ily

Connor G: an endless supply of meepad!

Jack Donaldson: haaaaaa... Jack I leave my Mario kart abilities be cause they will definitely help you in school. Also a lifetime supply of chicken nuggets but you have to share with Clare Library: my cozy home away from home where lots and little work got done, also for the new fish, Dewey, to be in good health for years to come Cafeteria: please keep serving those cheese sticks because they are amazing.

Alyssa Merrill Gap year, then studying Early Childhood Development

Liv: my sound cloud playlists, all my love, my mom and Gibby Tyler: 3 Ryan way, my common sense, and Marvin Julia Lewis: the man on his pet horse and my picnic basket Gabrielle Trombley: all the strength in the world Luce Goose: math class Molly Downey: Brianna Rybinski's dog, Anthony Buckovitch: my anger issues Brianna Rybinski: I'm sorry about your dog

Peter Coppola: Our interesting adventures with Timmy

Abby Limric

Boston

University

Major: Biology and Biological Anthropology

To Nathan Limric: The car (please take care of it while I'm gone) To the Girl's Tennis Team: A great season next year Payal Nanda, Kinley Guerino, and Steph Schiavo: An amazing summer at ASP! Elizabeth Bulkley and Arabella Reece: Infinite amounts of Netflix after APs are over

Emily McCarten Gap year in London

Theatre department and the Art department: luck and happy wishes.

Tim: the wolf and whatever random scraps of pottery I leave behind.

Capes: love, because I'm cheesy, and a flower pot. Sarah Mueller: the booth.

Brendan Curran: the stage and cast mom.

Haley Keegan

Jarod (jazz) Bernier: to you I leave the Jazz chorus, mr. Laforce, and kelly. Take good care of them friend.

Evan Salvati Gap year in Europe

Caroline Wilson: Magic the fish, all the blankets, my sweatshirt, my future tea cup pig, and all the gummy worms your heart desires.

Hannah Wilson: Sam Newton, Porpoises, Ben and Jerry's. Colin Runk: The tennis team Sam Newton: Nothing

Jeffery Raymond: I bestow to you mr.zottoli and connections fun. Get your work done ya nugget. OH! And you get all of the pandas.

Michelle Dionne: you my dear get my sanity (or lack thereof) have fun!

Jeff Whitney: you get mr. Troy

Mr. Troy: I leave you luck. You're gonna need it to win the nascar championship

Neil Thomas University of Edinburg Major: Medicine

Benjamin Freid

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Abby Colby & Conrad Dundorf: Alex Collin Tucker & Nate Moore: Charlie & the soccer team Anson Thilbault & Liam Conrad: Morning workouts Matt Silverman: Finishing skills Griffin Luczek: Cats

Ella Cedarholm

University of New Hampshire Major: Undeclared in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

Emma Larson: Dover’s subpar diving board

Jewelia Durant: The wrath of Lynn Neville Caulfield: My forgetfulnes

Darien Castro

New Hampshire

Cristiano Bianchi University of

Lucy Eiseman - 2 Large Buffalo Chicken pizza from La Festa

Devin Sawtelle: A hammer Jewelia Durant: All that chemistry Caroline Wilson: GBR’s Best Coxswain award

University of Rhode Island Major: Film and Communications

Nick Bergeron Boston College Major:

Economics

Andy and Jake: the fort Nate Moore: mont tremblant Kevin Kerrigan: the future of the lacrosse team

Casey Aubin

Peter Antognetti

University of New Hampshire Undeclared

Colin Runk- Meetings with Lorne Kevin Kerrigan- Yoke squad Devin Sawtelle- mellow yellows

Madeleine Abbott University of Connecticut Major: Physiology and Neurobiology

Zak Lanoue: Knucks Porter McManus: Lisa’s bed Sydnee Aubin: BLOTs and Rocky

Elizabeth Cilia

Union College

Major: Environmental Science

Alice: Susie’s DJ in samsung Alex L: Sweet Ed concerts William: All my chores, and walking da baby Justin C: Super glue and Szymanski

Taryn April University of North Carolina Undeclared Beka Barski University of Minnesota

Lauren Abbott: My closet

Taryn Leach- All of my private lessons

Alex Szymanski- Taryn Leach and my blessing Connor Barski- The wrath of the #1 worst teacher

Samantha Stewart Wellesley College

Ludo’s Farewell

Dear Oyster River Community, August 17th was about 10 months ago but I still remember all the details. It was a hot day when I landed at the Manchester airport and I officially started my adventure in the Durham, NH community. Don't ask me what was my first impression because it could be offensive. Yes, I have to admit that I was afraid of being in the American version of the tundra.

Just a week after my arrival school started. It wasn't just school, but the American high school.

My first day was like my first day in the elementary school, many faces and complete freedom to be whoever I wanted. No social restrictions, nobody expecting anything from me, I had my life really in my hands, I had the absolute power on my future. No worries guys, I've never lied to anyone, eventually I decided just to be myself, not what my parents expected, just myself.

A few weeks passed and I was already interviewed by the school magazine "Mouth of the River", what an honor! I was happy that somebody took the initiative to introduce me to the school, back then I wasn't even able to say a sentence without major grammar mistakes. Well, I've learned many things in this school year so, I'm not asking anyone to say my goodbyes but I'm writing them by myself.

My exchange student experience has been like a mountain trail, hard all the way up with occasional viewpoints where I was able to relax, look at the beautiful view, and reorganize to start hiking again.

Throughout this year-ish I was able to accomplish many goals, some of them that I hadn't even set prior to my departure: I've learned how to be on a sports team, to play hard giving 100% regardless if I was on or, as it happened, mostly off of the field; I thank all the coaches and mates I had in all the three seasons of sports. I was able to experience my artistic skills throughout the school musical which at first I auditioned for just for fun even if I soon realized how much it actually mattered to my life. Last but not least I want to bow to all the amazing friends that have walked with me along my trail. Some have just stepped in my way few times just to mess around while a few others have actually marched side by side with me up on the moun tain that I had in front. Thank you very much I'll never forget you and you'll always been welcome in my home in my country: Italy. In conclusion I really need to thank publicly the host families I stayed with: to the Landry-Murphy family, you accepted to host me back in October without even knowing who I was and you let me into your house and your lives without asking me anything back, nothing will ever be enough to represent the joy I experienced and the new brother I got.

My "senior will" is wishing to ORHS to have more and more exchange students in the next years and to welcome them like you did for me, or even better.

What a great hike this was, thank you for walking it with me, peace. ~Ludo

Anna Posset Gap Year

Jessie Stelter, Alaina Todd, and Colleen Todd: The Field Hockey Team

“I don’t think there is one word that can describe how these past six months have been for me. It’s been such a life changing experience, I’ve learned a lot about myself, my friends, and the world we live in.” said former ORHS junior, Nick Avery-Leaf.

This past fall, Avery-Leaf was suspended from Oyster River High School due to drug related issues that occurred on spirit day. Spirit day is an annual high school event where students partake in field events and class pep-rallies. Many students, along with Avery-leaf, were found under the influence of marijuana and/or alcohol, which lead to administration taking serious action. Todd Allen, the high school principal, and the rest of administration, had to deal with the significant issue of students bringing illegal products into school, where they were sharing and consuming them. Strong actions took place to make students aware that this was not okay. The illegal products, which were marijuana-laced food, were traced back to Avery-Leaf, which lead to his year-long suspension.

Avery-Leaf was out of school for a month until he was relocated to Exeter High School for the rest of his junior year. During the majority of that month, Avery-Leaf spent most of his time alone. “Being out of school for a month gave me a lot of time to think and reflect. I did a lot of meditating and long walks with my dogs, Buddy and Lily, which helped me cope a lot. In the beginning, there were some bad times. It felt like the world had turned against me, but I knew my dogs were- by my side.” explained Avery-Leaf.

Roughly a month passed before Avery-leaf knew what the legal ramifications would be for his actions. It was still under police investigation and his punishments were yet to be determined. “Right when he got suspended, he was really isolated from all of his friends and social life. I didn’t see him for a full month after he [left], and [his friends] weren’t sure what was going to happen to him which was a terrifying

“People may jump to conclusions about me and I accept that. I unfortunately made some very irrational decisions...”

-Nick Avery-Leaf

Photo Credit: Ian Avery-Leaf

thought,” said Olivia Svanholm (‘15), a friend of Avery-Leaf. “There were times when we would all meet up and just sit in silence, [unable] to fathom what happened. We were just thinking about all the possibilities that could happen to [Nick]. We were really worried,” she said.

After that month, Avery-Leaf began attending Exeter High School, where he will finish out his junior year. “Going to a high school that’s twice the size of Oyster River was definitely a dramatic transition. I went from being able to see my friends’ every day to not knowing anyone. It was really hard to adapt, the school year was already in full swing by the time I enrolled. By far this was the worst of the consequences that I had to face,” explained Avery-Leaf.

Apart from being suspended from Oyster River, Avery-Leaf has been put on probation. He has also had to attend drug counseling, community service, and deal with the fact that this will go on his permanent record. “No matter how careful you are, you’ll eventually get caught, probably in a way that you would least expect. It’s not a matter of how, it’s a matter of when. People talk, and the word gets around. Nobody’s above the law, and there are consequences when you break it. I learned the hard way,” said Avery-Leaf.

After the events that happened on spirit day, many rumors spread about Avery-Leaf which, according to him, were completely inaccurate. “I’ve heard rumors that have just made me laugh,” said Avery-Leaf. “None of them were correct. People were saying that I had ridiculous amounts of drugs under my possession, making it seem like I was some drug lord. No one really knew the real story,” explained Avery-Leaf.

Despite the rumors and negative reputation he has gained from the Oyster River community, Av ery-Leaf has completed requirements that were worked-out between him and the school as well as the court which means he is eligible to return to Oyster River next fall. Avery-Leaf’s biggest concern is how his presence will be received when he is back in school. “I’m excited to go to school with friends and people I know. I’m just bummed that everyone is going to look at me differently, but those who know me know I’m not a bad kid. I hope people are sympathetic about what I’ve gone through,” expressed Avery-Leaf.

“I hope when Nick returns, the school treats him like always, like a member of the OR community like he has always been. He’s no stranger,” said Sarah Avery-Leaf, Nick’s mother. “Nick has learned to make deci sions much more carefully and to understand how serious and long lasting consequences for poor decisions can be,” added Sarah

Patrick Mulhern (‘15), and close friend of Avery-Leaf, hopes that the school welcomes back Avery-Leaf with open arms. “I hope the school makes him feel welcomed. I don’t want him to feel lonely or feel that every one thinks he’s a bad kid, because he isn’t. We all have our moments where we fall off the horse, some worse than others, it’s just whether you get back up and keep on riding,” said Mulhern.

For people who may have bad first impressions of Nick, Svanholm wants people to know that: “Nicko’s a good kid. He’s good hearted and is very caring. This [mistake] doesn’t define him.”

“Nick’s carefree existence vanished in an instant. He has become a stressed and ostracized person throughout the course of the year. The circumstances required us to work together more, especially around the care of the dogs and cars with his 30 minute commute [to Exeter] each morning. Nick is an incredibly caring and thoughtful person without a mean or destructive bone in his body! I hope that next fall he can relax and enjoy his senior year like everyone else,” said Sarah.

Allen noted that whether it’s Avery-Leaf or anyone else, students and teachers shouldn’t treat him dif ferently for his actions. Allen believes that everyone deserves a second chance, and that a school’s job is to help kids learn. He also hopes that the students who were involved did some soul searching and can reflect upon their mistakes to make better choices for their own well being.

“People may jump to conclusions about me, and I accept that. I unfortunately made some very irratio nal decisions, and I’m learning from them. I’m sorry to what I’ve put my family through. I feel like there’s been times when it has been harder on my parents than myself, and the last thing I ever wanted to do is let my family down. I am sorry to Mr. Allen and administration who had to deal with my poor decisions. Mr. Allen could’ve dealt with this situation in many different ways, and could’ve made it a lot worse for not only me, but for ev eryone else. He was just doing his job by looking after the safety of his students. Looking back, I don’t think he could’ve handled it any better.” said Avery-Leaf.

Jake Garner Circulation Manager

“Nicko’s a good kid. He’s good hearted and is very caring. This [mistake] doesn’t define him.” -Olivia Svanholm

“I

think often times we are taught that in order for a book to be important, it has to have big, import ant themes… but I think sometimes we forget to ap preciate books that are simply beautiful,” - Annika Barth (‘15).

We’ve always been taught to read with an agenda. Throughout high school, students are as signed to read countless books which we’re told to dissect and critique so we can eventually write a ge neric analytical essay. It isn’t very often that a teach er assigns us to read something just to absorb the author’s words and appreciate a story for its creativ ity and entertainment. In my previous article “The Promise of Literature,” I discussed how reading can help us interpret history, learn about the human con dition, and think critically about issues.

However, reading also serves the purpose of story telling, and sometimes the best way to enjoy a book is to enjoy it for the sake of the story, not for an essay. The following is a list of four books to read and ap preciate for their creativity, characters, and plot.

The World According to Garp

John Irving

Beyond an Essay

Five books to read before leaving high school.

The World According to Garp is an odd compilation of random, often morbid events laced together by John Irving’s clever writing and unique characters. Starting with the the uncon ventional conception of Garp, the son of a wound ed World War II bomb er tailgunner and Jenny Fields, a nurse, Garp gets more and more bizarre by the minute. The book fol lows Garp as he grows up, from attending an all boys private school to becoming a writer; a plot that would originally seem mundane were it not for the char acters, and tragic (yet somehow comical) events which seem to follow Garp no matter where he goes. “[Irving’s] writing is sur prising. It was just one of those books where you just don’t know what’s going to happen [next],” said So phie Webb (‘15).

Garp’s mother is an avid women’s rights advocate, and Garp’s closest friend, Roberta Muldoon, is a transgender woman. One of the most preva lent themes of Garp is that Irving was addressing transgender rights well before it was addressed by the mainstream me dia. Although transgender rights aren’t the main focus of the novel, the empathy shown by Garp and his mother to Roberta was rare at the time. “I think the strength of his characters is what makes the book so profound… if you think about it, the characters are the ones we cry for and laugh with, and feel for in general,” explained Webb.

The location of Garp runs parallel to one we’re very familiar with: Irving grew up in New Hampshire and went to UNH. The private school Garp attends is a fictional version of Phil lips Exeter Academy. Irving draws from his experiences at Exeter and ties them into his novel, from his days on the wres tling team, and those he chose to socialize with. Above these ties however, are Irving’s personal fears, and how he puts it into his writing. Garp grapples with death and how it affects all of us, reminding us that in the end, we are all “terminal cases.”

Cold Mountain Charles Frazier

The novel opens with Inman, a wounded Confederate sol dier recovering in a hospital, bound to his bed by a severe wound in the neck which he received at the Battle of Petersburg. Filled with rich prose, Frazier’s most renowned novel follows Inman as he simply leaves the hospital, abandons the last legs of the Confed erate army, and treks across the country back to his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Frazier takes the reader on Inman’s jour ney through the south eastern wilderness, where he encounters bands of gypsies, flooded river crossings, and other challenges, as he makes his way home to Ada: the woman he had loved before he left for the war. Frazier chronicles not only Inman, but also Ada as she struggles to maintain a homestead and farm after the death of her father, with the assistance of a young woman, Ruby. The sto ry jumps from past to Inman’s journey, telling the characters’ past lives they lead before the war, and each other. “One of the most profound aspects of Cold Mountain, aside from the description, was the relationship between Ada and Inman,” explained Barth. “It was very human, very real, and genuine.”

A novel modeled after Homer’s Odyssey, Cold Mountain tells not only a tale of historical accu racy, but also a compelling story that artfully weaves together the lives of two peo ple, separated by the grue some events that come of war. Frazier subtly slips oth er characters’ stories in along the way, creating a literary work of the utmost original ity and creativity. “I loved [Cold Mountain] because of the descriptions,” said Barth. “Its description was so clear and rich and vivid and col orful, it was one of the few books that truly painted a picture in my mind rather than bogging down the page with excess language. Effec tive description is hard to get right sometimes, and Frazier nailed it in Cold Mountain,” she continued.

The Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri

The Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of nine short stories set predominantly in New England in the homes and intimate lives of Indian families. Lahiri’s stories cover a va riety of topics, but all center around first generation immi grants trying to retain their culture, while living in the midst of a culture very different to them. “What I loved most about the book was that it introduced me to cultures that I hadn’t read about or experienced before,” said Beka Barski (‘15). Going beyond their cultural context, Lahiri’s stories are uniquely descriptive. “[Lahiri’s] writing[is] so personal in a universal way, I was so moved by feeling [im migrants’] experiences through her writing,” explained Kathleen Young, a teacher at ORHS. It’s through the characters’ subtle ges tures and interaction that you gain an un derstanding of the in timate details of their lives. The smallest de tails mean the most in a very simple way, some thing that is hard to at tain as a writer. “Her writing is effortless, [it’s] like listening to a best friend relay a sto ry, which made it very easy to read. She also incorporates every pos sible detail into each story within the book,” said Barski.

The Dharma Bums

Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac, the king of the 50’s and the father of the Beat Generation, released his fourth novel, The Dharma Bums in 1958. The story follows around untamed “dharma bums” Japhy Ryder and Ray Smith as they navigate the country exploring sex, drugs, and... Buddhism.

The novel has no clear plot driving their motives, other than to seek spiri tual enlightenment. The two ditch their college de grees and forget about the dream of a big house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. The Dharma Bums epitomizes Kerouac’s style, as his writing and characters contradicted the conforming mental ity of the 50’s. The story jumps around because the character’s jump around, every action is sponta neous, nothing is thought out fully, and that’s the whole point. The book is extremely refreshing in that sense, you see the prospect of an “untamed” America through the eyes of the twenty-something original hip sters: everything is a prospective adventure, an unexplored city, or an endless highway.

The English Patient

Michael Ondaatje Set at the end of the Italian campaign in World War II, The English Patient tells the story of Hana, an Ameri can nurse who stays in a partially destroyed villa with a faceless patient, badly burned from a plane crash. The novel opens with Hana (and the reader) uncertain as to who the patient is. His face had been burned beyond recognition, the only hint to his identity comes from his English accent (hence the title). The book itself starts off quite broken, just as the English patient’s story is. “The way it was written was very fragmented, almost like a dream. At first it threw me off but I came to love it because it was so much like a dream. It read like poetry,” said Barth.

As Barth mentioned, the book is difficult to follow at first. Ondaatje flows from past to present with ease, often before the reader notices it is happening. However once you’re able to understand Ondaatje’s language, The English Patient becomes not only a story, but a rich poem that says so much about each character through every action.

In addition to Hana and the English patient, a young sap per, Kip, from India, tents on the villa grounds, and begins to get to know Hana’s story. “I can safely say Kip is my favorite literary character. He just seems to possess so much virtue and integrity. He’s human. He’s likeable,” said Barth. “I was excited to pick up that book every day so I could see Hana and Kip together. I think the best relationships are the ones where a strong bond is present without any demonstrations of affec tion,” she explained.

It is through these books’ characters and plots, that we gain new insights to different ways of life, and - although fictional - realistic relation ships. Whether it’s understanding an immi grant’s experience in America, or the life of a nurse in World War II, reading a book makes us think about life in ways we may not have thought of. Remember that reading is for more than an essay: it enriches our lives in multiple ways, and it’s a lot nicer to get through a book knowing there’s not a paper to write after it.

Abigail Colby Op-Ed Editor

Parting Words

MOR’s mental health column

Have you ever said something like, “I’m so OCD, I just cleaned my room,” or, “I had, like, an anxiety attack when I couldn’t find my phone”? Most of us at one point or another have described normal feelings or tendencies as being in some way more serious than they actually are. What few think about is what significance these terms actually have, and how such language might offend people who actually struggle with these problems.

OCD is not something that occurs when you feel a spurt of moti vation and organize things. And being anxious, a feeling that most people have occasionally, is not the same as an anxiety disorder it self. Such illnesses are constant and interfere with an individual’s daily life.

The discussion around mental health is an ever-improving one. Recognition is finally being given to the legitimacy of issues such as anxiety disorders, depression, and certain eating disorders. How ever there is still a level of misunderstanding between the serious ness of mental issues versus more biological ones.

The stigma is especially present when referring to less common disorders that the population at large does not understand. These less discussed and more stigmatized mental disorders include but are not limited to: obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), dissocia tion, and reactive attachment disorder (RAD).

One of the big issues that face people with these disorders is the general misconception of how significant they really are. As one source puts it, “[for me, OCD is] when you are constantly plagued with existential crisis and a feeling that none of the work you ever complete is good enough to satisfy your extreme anxiety and per sonal challenges.” The source continues to explain how frustrating it is “when you have to complete tasks that have no meaning such as acting on the invasive thoughts that interrupt your daily life, and

yet people still have the audacity to belittle the disorder and use it as an excuse to be anal.”

Another disorder that is largely unfamiliar to people is trichotil lomania - or trich for short. Trich is a branch of anxiety disorder. It can be closely associated with OCD and in some cases self-harm. It entails the subconscious or self-aware act of pulling out one’s hair. One source describes it as “an urge to itch yourself. But after [pull ing out your hair] there’s a flood of guilt.”

Similarly to OCD, trich intensifies in times of high stress or anx iety when an individual may feel the need to control the situation or to calm themself mentally through a physical act. “I think for me a lot of times a trigger for it is stress, like homework.” The source continues to admit “[my] fear is that if people found out I would be judged for something I can’t control.” Many people who don’t struggle with this disorder may see it as gross or purposeful, but for the individuals who have trich and many other disorders, it is anything but.

An anonymous source shared their experiences with dissociation, another uncommon disorder, which is when the mind allegedly shuts down to accommodate for trauma or extreme stress. “I forgot what year it was. [Sometimes] I go for two hours in a different place of mind and then like “wake up” and have no idea what I just did for two hours.” Often occurring simultaneously with other mental disorders, dissociation is very frightening for the person who suf fers from it and can be dangerous if it goes untreated.

Susie Curtis, a therapist who specializes in treating patients with mental disorders, explains another lesser known disorder that is typically the result of prolonged childhood abuse or neglect. Re active attachment disorder (RAD) occurs when “having been un able to form a secure healthy attachment to a caregiver during such important developmental years, children have a very difficult time forming secure attachments to caregivers during their later child hood years, and then [with] friends and partners during their teen and adult years.”

“The most intense case of RAD that I have worked with involved two brothers that were left for days at a time alone in a remote home, as their parents were often away tending to a drug addiction,” says Curtis. “The boys were 3 and 5, walked on all fours, had a language that they spoke to each other, [were] barely able to speak English, and did not know how to use utensils.”

Curtis agrees that while this may be an extreme example, people who struggle with mental disorders tend to have a multitude of is sues that they need help dealing with and can’t necessarily work through on their own.

Jason Baker, a counselor at Oyster River High School, attests to this point and adds that there is so much help out there for those who struggle. He does admit however that both students and their parents are sometimes hesitant to open up about their struggles for the fear of being discriminated against. “There are some people who for one reason or another don’t want to talk to [the counselors] about it. “They feel that somehow they- or their child- will be treat ed differently.”

However, Baker explains how this couldn’t be further from the truth. “We offer short-term focused mental health services,” says Baker, “[and we often] refer out and connect people with thera pists.” The fear of discrimination and misunderstanding proves that there is still so much work to be done in the discussion around mental health.

The conversation around mental health needs to be full of accep tance and understanding, not fear and shame. To create a safe envi ronment to fully discuss and treat mental disorders and illnesses, everyone needs to be educated about the struggles of those with such issues.

It has been an honor to be a part of that education pro cess, and my hope is that any one who has read my Mental Health Column over the year has gained new insight from it. Everyone has struggles throughout their lifetime, and how we regard and discuss those struggles as a society partially dictates how genuine our public health is. As a nation we need to expand our lens of what it means to be “healthy”, so that everyone can have the chance to be.

Madi Pelletier-Murrill Features Editor

Often wearing a three piece suit, red canvas hightops and sporting a pom padour, Tom Jeffrey is very recognizable. Although he is known for his unique fashion, Jeffrey is also known for the mu sic that he plays and his ability to weave genres together. He’s already a part of many musical projects and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.

“I have never not been around music.” says Jeffrey “There have always been instruments in my house.” Jeffrey has been playing music since 2nd grade and with every new year, it has become a larger aspect of his life. “At first it was all Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix. All guitarists go through [these phases].” He continues, explaining that his musical life began in early mid dle school. “That is when it changed from everything being about being the best guitar player to enjoying the overall sound of the piece of music. That is when my own personal style of music began to be defined.” This personal style is what Jeffrey’s music is known for.

One of Jeffrey’s projects is the jazzy and upbeat quartet, Cold Side of the Pillow. The band utilizes many instrumental riffs and emits an unbeliev able feeling of synergy. The band has played at local coffee houses and even opened for the touring jazz band, Harsh Armadillo. “What I really liked about Cold Side of the Pillow was that they had so much jazzy ener gy,” states Patrick Mulhern (‘15), an attendee of a Cold Side of the Pillow concert.

Cold Side of the Pillow has been a new project of Jeffrey’s and he has incorporated many styles into the band. One of the members, Matt Walsh, feels that Jeffrey’s diverse musical history has enabled him to bring a lot to the table. “Tom is really interested in very early rock and roll music and other styles from the 60’s like surf-rock and motown.” Walsh says, “I on the other hand listen to a lot of more modern rock styles, so it’s definitely ben eficial to have influences from either side of that spectrum, if you will. Put ting [these different styles] together often leads to really cool song ideas.”

Another collaborator of Jeffrey’s, Bella Dempsey, states that “he just knows so much about music. He knows the theory and how things come together and that’s really important when learning or writing a song.”

If you ask anybody that has worked with him, they will tell you that the desire to collectively prosper and work with other people is one of Jef frey’s best musical traits. During all of his performances he is seen work ing hand in hand with his bandmates in order to ensure the success of the group and generally enjoys working with others. “Getting a bunch of peo ple together in the same room playing just adds a whole new tightness and a sphere of awesomeness that you can’t get anywhere else,” says Jeffrey. This collaboration is important to Jeffrey because he feels that as a group they “are able to do things and think of things that I would not be able to do alone. I have nothing wrong with writing things and recording things but I can’t get exactly what I want with just me. So I love getting the sound that I do while working with people.”

Although much of his work takes place in his bands (such as Cold Side of the Pillow, and the rock group, ADD), Jeffrey also participates in the studio orchestra. “Tom brings a superior attitude and leadership by example to the ensemble.” states Marc Laforce, the teacher of the class.

Jeffrey has found a good amount of success, but still encounters pitfalls and snags. “Until this year, I neglected to learn to read music. The music on the page just felt very distant from the music that I was playing.” he admits, “ But once I got past that barrier, I realized that being able to read music has opened up an infinite number of doors for me to play with other people.”

Jeffrey hopes to continue playing music throughout his life, but does not have a determined path to do so. “Right now I have a few requirements for where I want to be when I’m an adult. I want to be able to bike to work and I want to be able to play music. As of right now, being able to play music with somebody else is really what I want.”

Conrad Dundorf Creative Director

Irrational

Fears

We Have

Everyone has fears; it is one of the most common and natural emotions. The amygdala is a part of our brain that allows us to respond to threats within a few thousandths of a second. Many of our irrational fears are due to clas sical conditioning; we associate the thing we are afraid of with a bad or scary experience. Some fears we also learn from observation; we repeatedly see others being afraid of something, so then we are too. Here’s some examples of fears of students at Oyster River.

Fear, even when it’s irrational, is something we can’t help that affects our whole body. Our hair stands on end, the bronchioles of the lungs dilate causing us to take in more oxygen, our digestive system slows down so our saliva decreases, the liver breaks down glycogen so we have instant energy to keep up with a higher metabolic rate, the skin vessels constrict causing chills and sweat, our blood pressure and heart rate spike, infusing the brain and muscles with ready fuel, the pupils dilate to be ready to relay signs of danger to parts of our brain, along with many other immediate reactions our body has to prepare to deal with this thing that causes such a fearful response.

Moore Editor In Chief

Sadie

Jeremy Howland (‘15) had a fear that’s an example of conditioning. He saw the 1997 film Anaconda starring JLo and Ice Cube, then for most of his childhood he was sure there were snakes in his upstairs bathroom that would “come out of the toilet” and attack him, he explained.

Kaylie Jones (‘17), in a similar situation, said “ever since I was little I have had a fear of baby wipes, because I saw on a movie a guy drugging another person by putting the cloth over his face so I assumed it was a baby wipe and I've refused to touch one since.” The movie she is referencing is Rio, which came out when she was 11. Her response to seeing a baby wipe is to “quiver or get the chills, and say ‘omg get that thing away from me’ and/or run from it,” she explained.

Savannah Lapham (‘15) believes spiders will crawl into her hair at night and bite her head. This fear came from when she was around seven or eight and she crushed a spider and the egg sack broke open and thousands of baby spiders rushed out.

For Connor Grady (‘17), hearing about shark attacks on the coast of California and watching Jaws started his fear of sharks. “When I was younger and went to the beach I would have others go in before me to check if there were any sharks in the water,” he said. He is also not a fan of clowns after one at the Haunted Overload was whispering his name while he was there. He explained that he still tries to keep his distance from clowns.

Gabriella Trombley (‘16) wouldn’t leave her house if there was even a slight chance of a thunderstorm when she was little. This was for as long as she could remember until she was about nine or ten. She says it was because of “the loud noise and not being able to control what was going on.”

Summer Time Outdoor Activites

“We use [hiking] as a team bonding sort of thing, it’s time to us that we get to learn more about each other on and off the field,” Oyster River High School Boys Lacrosse player Arun Falk said. Hiking, as well as many other out door activities are great ways to spend free time, whether it be team bonding like Falk and his team mates, or just time to clear your head.

For instance, imagine school is out. You have all day to yourself, the weather is nice out, and you’re probably in side. At the mall, sleeping in, or going to see a movie. All things that, yes, you can do with the free time that comes with summer vacation. But why not spice things up? Here’s a list of summer adventures that take place outdoors so you can get your tan on somewhere other than the beach!

With all of these adventurous ideas, don’t feel like you have to go far for a good time outdoors. A good time can always be found right in your back yard. “I spend a lot of time fishing or hunting, it’s just as relaxing as the team hikes that we take. It’s nice alone time or a good bonding time with friends that don’t have to go far for,” Mike Doyon (15’) said.

Camels Hump: Say hello to Vermont’s third highest mountain. Spend the day hik ing the 2.4 mile trail to the peak, and on the way stop to view it’s ten acres of alpine vegetation such as Bigelow’s sedge, and alpine Bilber ry. Camels Hump also has a significant number of Red Spruce trees, which are on the decline.

Located: Green Mountains, Vermont Mount Washington: Mount Washington is a very wellknown hiking spot. While making the climb, make sure to stop and take in the spec tacular views, cascades, and mountain ponds. On a clear day the 6,288 foot summit gives a view like no other - it stretches over the Atlantic, from Vermont to New York’s Adirondack Mountains, and across Canada.

Located: White Mountains, New Hampshire

Boston Harbor Islands: From the name, it is assumed that you can guess where these is lands are! Many people go to kayak in the protected shal low waters of Beantown. As a bonus, the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area also allows camping. So spend your day on the water and dock on the islands for a camping experience!

Located: Boston Mass.

Saco River: Sand beaches line the Saco, and are great places to stop for a break or lunch. Camping on the sandy shores is also an option if you’d like to hang on the beach for the night!

Located: Northern New Hampshire and Southwestern Maine

Wildcat: Wildcat Mountain is known for its snowy slopes in the winter, but they’re also open in the summer as well! One thing that is big for sum mertime fun at Wildcat is the “ZipRider”. It’s a four per son zip-line that combines a rush of flight along with phe nomenal scenery. This line descends 2,100 feet over the trails and treetops, as well as the Peabody River.

Located: Jackson, New Hamp shire

Alpine Adventures: Known for opening the first longest, highest, and fastest biplane canopy tour in New England, Alpine Adventures is the goto for everything zip-line. With three different tours, The Tree Top Tour, The Sky Rider, and the Super Sky Rid er, there’s something for ev eryone. Alpine Adventures also includes various bridges and climbs to get from zipline to zip-line, giving it an adventurous side instead of sitting the entire ride.

Located: Lincoln, New Hamp shire

The Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves: The Lost Riv er Gorge and Boulder Caves are known for their giant granite walls, a river that “plays hide and seek”, water falls, and rigged caves. They also give the opportunity to go exploring in the dark re cesses of the caves on an eve ning lantern tour.

Located: White Mountains in Woodstock New Hampshire

Morris Cave: It’s the sec ond largest cave in New En gland. It is known to be for the more experienced cavers, with three “filters” or trails all known for their tight squeeze paths. AN area known as ‘The Long Squeeze’ at the bottom of a U-shaped passage is so small that most people have to take off their helmets and enter the pinch upside-down on their backs!

Located: Danby, Vermont

Kirsten Weiker Layout Editor

Student’s GPA Plummets

Probably going nowhere in life

Oyster River sits as one of New Hampshire’s top ranking high schools. Because of this, the students that attend are held to a very high standard. This pays off when graduates enter directly into college and pursue their careers. But what happens when a student fails to succeed?

This is the very question that Gary Samuelson, a junior, is being faced with. Last Tuesday in F Peri od, Samuelson received his graded quiz back from his chemistry teacher. To his horror, the quiz had a “B-” in the upper left hand corner.

“It was just like any other Tuesday. I was get ting mentally prepared to attend an entire evening of club meetings and sports practices when I was completely blindsided.” Samuelson tells me. The quiz, an eight question assessment on stoichiome try, will be factored into his final grade, which will then be factored into his “grade point average”. “Right when I saw it… All I could think was, ‘Oh no, what about my GPA?! And what will everybody else think!?’”

Being in the same town as the University of New Hampshire, the community expects a lot from Oyster River High School. This is justified, as the staff members are engaging, the class sizes are small, and students have every tool they need in order to succeed.

“Sam always seemed like the kind of person who would go into the math or science fields because he is good at it” says Ben Chamberlain, also a junior at Oyster River as well as Samuelson’s best friend “Or I guess… he used to be good at it.”

Samuelson’s world has been flipped completely upside down with this new grade. As a member of the Oyster River community, it had been expected that he would succeed in school and then attend a respectable university afterwards. But whether or not he will still be able to take this path is the question. As Chamberlain put it, “colleges are not looking for students who get a B-. If he can’t fix this grade then he might not even make it into highest honors. And everybody knows that whether or not you make it into highest honors affects the rest of your life. With this grade he might not even be accepted into college”.

Mark Lawrence, Samuelson’s chemistry teacher, states that “The quiz really was not that hard, and it’s concepts will never be used again, but it will certainly pull down his GPA.” Lawrence has been teaching at Oyster River for 15 years, and feels that a student’s GPA is the most important aspect of their high school careers. “I see Samuelson leaving school with friends and I hear him talking about spending his Saturday evenings with his family. I really think that if he wants to take college seriously and go anywhere in life, he should get his priorities straight.” When asked, Lawrence stated that Samuelson’s inability to get a good grade on the quiz is an utter embarrassment for him and a failure.

This failure does not stop at Samuelson’s Academic life though, already the news is running through Oyster River like wildfire. A previous friend of Samuelson’s, Shane Chinburg (‘16) stated that “Ever since he essentially destroyed his life with that grade, I’m not sure I can even say his name. It makes me sick just thinking about it, I never thought he’d be a point of shame in my life.”

This sentiment is one that is shared amongst Oyster River students. However, not all see his B- as a negative thing. Dillon Mul hern (‘17), a perspective MIT student explained that “[Samuelson’s] grade is going to take him out of the race. I dont have to worry about competing with him for a college education anymore. He is done.”

News of Samuelson’s academic nightmare is not exclusive to school hours. Students’ social media feeds are flooded with word of the student’s despair and lack of options for the future. An anonymous student was quoted on Twitter as saying that Samuelson’s new grade is “a catastrophic blow to his GPA that he will probably never recover from”. It is fair to assume that Samuelson will be seeing social consequences on top of his academic repercussions, because as Chamberlain emphasized, “[even though] I think we will remain friends, some of his other friends might not feel the same way”.

As much of a surprise as receiving the B- was, Samuelson saw it coming. “I remember I only studied for the quiz for a few hours the night before. And going into it, I could feel that it was going to end badly. After the quiz I was a mess. I knew that I was going to get a bad grade when Mr. Lawrence handed it back, so I was barely able to sleep for the next week.”

Currently, Samuelson is trying to piece his life back together and gather the dignity that he had be fore last Tuesday. He hopes to “maybe get an education from Youtube or something” and hopefully get a job later in life if he can sort out the B-.

Conrad Dundorf Creative Director

Evolution of Artistry:

John Mayer

February of 2015, pop-culture staple John Mayer announced via Twitter that he would be returning to work on music for official release at some point during the year, or early next year. Following Paradise Valley, this will be his 7th studio album overall, and his 3rd since 2012. Although always accompanied by his incredibly handsome image, boyish charm, and Fender guitar, the now 37 year old heartthrob has encountered quite a bit of transformation during his career- both musically and char ismatically. That’s why, in light of his new album, we’re taking a look back at the most memorable and vital of Mayer’s evolutionary phases, 1999 to the present.

Inlate

The Heartthrob:

The Inside Wants Out EP was a direct product of John’s signing with Columbia Records in 1999, and featured an entirely acoustic track list, giving a soft edge to the eight tracks, and the overall composition. “His early stuff was my favorite,” said Mattias Keyser, a student at St. Thomas Aquinas, who’s been to multiple of the artist’s live performances. “It was a perfect combination of deeply emotional vocals and soft acoustic melodies, and it’s really grown on me. I’d be surprised at myself if Victoria (the fifth track on the album) came on and I didn’t enjoy it.” And thus Room For Squares emerged, the label’s response to the EP. With a cleaner, radio-friendly sound that borrowed from Mayer’s former album, it was a step in the right direction from the rough draft that Inside Wants Out turned out to be. “[Inside Wants Out] was a very good album because it has some of just him and a guitar and then more instruments and upbeat songs,” said Owen Kurtiak (’17). Despite the two being his introduction into the industry, however, the time up until 2004 (Heavier Things) gave way to Mayer’s highest rate of commercial success.

Integration into other Genres: From almost five years after Room for Squares, Mayer was solely focused on his progression into a variety of other genres, primarily blues- but dabbling in others, such as rock, pop, and even hip-hop, when he featured on Kanye West’s Bittersweet Poetry in 2005. In 2006 Mayer won his first Grammy for Continuum, which gave peak to his use of fuzzy electric guitar, and clean, breathy vocals. “I know you’re supposed to say that his newest music is his best. Screw that, [Continuum] was his best. He embraced what he learned about contemporary pop, and it worked,” said Drew Macdonald, a junior at Berwick Academy. Nick D’andrea, a sophomore at Dover High School agreed, “I think that [Mayer] conformed to a movement towards a lot of what the music scene looked like in the early 2000’s. Not to say that it came out badly, or it wasn’t original- it’s honestly the best work he’s done”. Tracks like I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You), or the better known hit song Waiting on the World to Change combined Mayer’s intellectuality with emotional slow-moving bass guitar.

Experimental Progressive: Although critics acclaimed that Battle Studies, Mayer’s 5th album, was indefinitely the stand-out, significant lesser to his others, it exemplified his search for a single style that makes his voice present in the majority of his music. The album was, for his listeners, almost too sad- a reflection on his personal struggles, and pain from becoming an adult. “He was trying to portray his depression that must have hit him hard from all the fame in the early 2000s,” explained Matt Silverman (’16), a Mayer fan. “Everything was drawn out, hard to listen to, easy to cry to. Break-up music. If you will.” Although this phase may have been a bad time in his life, his venting though tracks like Who Says shone light on his rebellious attitude towards becoming older in an environment expecting him to mature.

Embrace as Self-Inspirational Artist:

It became evident to his listeners that Mayer had been working overtime to add his personal flavor when, with only a year separating the two, Born and Raised and Paradise Valley were released (2012-2013). Both toyed with more western-style music, introduced instruments like harmonicas and organs, and boasted impressive musi cians to accompany him on a handful of tracks. Who You Love, on Born and Raised, added Katy Perry (who he had been dating at the time) as one of his few but smart collaborations during his career. More than anything, though, the two did an excellent job at exaggerating his transformation as an artist. “I think he has definitely changed from Inside Wants Out to Paradise Valley. I think his little bit of change was beneficial because he had to evolve the style of music that’s always changing. His voice is unique but his songs all kind of sounds similar but are also different at the same time,” said Kurtiak.

Forrest Spinney Website Manager

SOCIAL EMPIRE

There are roughly 8 billion people living on earth. Of this number roughly 4 billion are active on the internet and roughly 3 billion have social media accounts. All of us so different from one another, living in so many different areas, speaking so many different languages, but thanks to social media we are able to use the same platforms of communication and sharing.

Pam Carr, technology teacher at Oyster River, defines social media as “the process of interacting with others through elec tronic devices/media. Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, Instagram, Tumblr, Discus sion Boards, Comment board on websites, rating purchases, online learning envi ronments are all examples of social media that people use frequently today.”

However, many people no longer see so cial media as a branch of communication, saving memories, or sharing stories. They see it as a time consuming, materialistic outlet, with more negative than positive. But do the drawbacks outweigh the bene fits?

“I think social media has become so pop ular because everybody needs to feel rec ognized, and because they want people to be able to get a sense of who they are. I think it’s important because it’s an outlet for a lot of people and a way of self-ex pression,” says Rocky Skubisz, a sopho more at Portsmouth Christian Academy who holds 850 instagram followers on her photography account.

Artist Neville Caulifield (‘16), who cur rently holds 27,000 followers on his insta gram account, explains why social media is a positive thing to have in society today by saying: “People of any age can get their work or words out there for potentially anyone to see. It makes communication so much easier.”

Never has it ever been easier to commu nicate, share, and connect in our world. This is exactly why social media is so much more than just the day to day habit. Social media has allowed people to show their individuality fully. “Social media

allows you to cultivate a personal brand like never before and it has tremendous value for people who want want to use it to showcase their skills and connect with people who care about the stories they tell,” says Jack Callahan, Marketing Director for Passion Passport, a company whose foundation is built off social me dia.

Social media is much cooler the long facebook status written by some distant Aunt, or the 236 second snapchat video of somebody petting their cat, or the fifth “#TBT” photo you’ve seen on instagram. And that is forgotten because so much of what we filter through during the day are things like these.

“People treat social media like it’s this potentially risky thing, and yes it can be misplaced but it really is psychologically healthy and in a meaningful way I think it can really prove our DNA’s want to con nect. It gives us comfort to be able to con nect with others,” says Nick Pfosi, a Tufts University student who is a works with both USA TODAY and the Tufts Daily

People are able to get hired, gain fund raising, gain knowledge, gain popularity all through social media.

For example, Humans of New York is a very popular social media account that has over eight million followers on social media today. Brandon Stanton was just a photographer in 2010 with an idea for a project, to photograph New York’s in habitants. Now his work has turned into a bestselling book and his Facebook ac count has over 12 million likes.

Social media has its downsides and has surely tested much of society. But the big ger picture is that we have this amazing tool in our lives. Anyone from anywhere can share with anyone who holds the same media account, and that is such an amazing thing.

Looking beyond the negative associ ation many don’t realize that there has always been a way to communicate and connect, but that in this generation it has just become so much more advanced and

extensive. “Before social media we had letters and phone calls, we have always had ways of communication beyond just face to face speaking. Social media is now just another tool that we use to stay con nected,” says Pfosi.

In a world with so many people, social media is an amazing place to be able to share what makes you different and who you really are: whether it’s a post to in stagram of what you’re wearing, your lunch for the day, a hike you took over the weekend, or an article you shared on your Facebook wall. All of that is not only sharing to people who you are, but also cultivates what you do. Social media is an amazing way of sharing and connecting as well as reflection - however vain it may seem. Your social media feed represents who you are or what you like or do. It’s true you control of these accounts and you have control to post, share, and cre ate whatever you please, which is a pretty cool thing. Social media is a tool that pro vides users with many ways to show who they are.

Isabelle Todd Media Manager