Drill places second at state under direction of new coach
Speech And debate students excel at region competition
--See story page 7
27 feb 19
--See Story page 10
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volume 12 issue 6
WELL SAID
“The team has matured a lot. They’ve come together as individuals and as a team... They’ve really bought into the fact that their hard work is going to pay off and that they can acheive their goals.”
Editor’s Note: All names of students have been changed in order to protect the identity of the students who shared their stories on the condition of anonymity. by Carli Johansen
It’s safer than cigarettes. That’s the argument that will coax more teens to vape than any other. This argument bypasses the objections that years of anti-smoking videos, the ‘D.A.R.E’ campaign and ‘The Truth’ promotions sparked in our minds as children. We fear cigarettes, any illusion of popularity or health they tried to sell was overshadowed by that fear. Enter electronic cigarettes- the modern cigarette. The ‘mods’ that are used to vape are
-Coach Bryan Strain on how much the wrestling team has progressed this season
UPCOMING EVENTS Wednesday, Feb 27 Winter Sports Awards Ceremony 7:00pm-8:00pm Thursday, Feb 28 Food Drive Movie day 9:34am-11:21am Friday, Mar 1-2 Junior Prom 8:00pm-12:00am Tuesday, Mar 5 Sterling Scholar Awards Ceremony @ Richfield HS 7:00pm-8:00pm Wednesday, Mar 6 Boys Soccer @ Merit Academy 3:30pm-6:30pm
BY THE NUMBERS
16 Number of wrestlers NS took to state
9 Number of cast members in “Noises Off”
20
See Vaping, page 2
Peer pressure brings positive, negative retributions Editor’s Note: One name has their use of another well-known been changed in order to pro- argumentative phrase: “If your friend jumped off a tect the identity of the student cliff, would you jump too?” who shared their story on the Disgusted with such a ridiccondition of anonymity. by Savannah Ames
“Everyone else is doing it!” “All of my friends are going!” “She has one! So why can’t I?!” We’ve all said something along these lines when arguing with a parent or authority figure in an effort to get something we want. Often, our grand attempts at convincing our guardians to give in to our desires results in
ulous rebuttal, we argue that we most certainly would not follow our friend’s drastic actions, and that is likely true. But is this popular counterargument really as ridiculous as we think it is? Peer pressure is an ever-present challenge in teen life, even if it isn’t always as extensive as jumping off a cliff. “I think, just as humans, we’re constantly seeking approv-
Suicide prevention assembly valuable resource for students by Mayzie Talbot
After experiencing suicidal thoughts and attempts at her own life, she changed the focus of her life and chose to educate people about the dangers of suicide instead. Taryn Hiatt, director of Utah and Nevada for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, shared her message of hope and taught important skills at NS. Every year, NS has a suicide prevention assembly for the school and the community. This year Principal Nan Ault was approached by Hiatt to give the presentation. The point of these assemblies is to help students and parents identify when someone is in trouble and then know how to respond. “It’s important that we talk about suicide in a way that promotes help seeking and resources,” Hiatt said. “We want to encourage folks See Prevention, page 3
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al,” junior Mahayla Anderson said, “and so, anything that we can do, like the way we dress and the way we act, is mostly peer pressure.” Peer pressure, or the influence to conform to what others are doing, is common among teens because of their need for approval from others that Anderson mentioned. It is in the early years of our development as humans that we are the most receptive to the influence of our peers. According to research by the US National Library of Health,
susceptibility to peer pressure in adolescence peaks around age 14. Middle adolescence (ages 15-17) is the period in which teens begin to develop independency and learn to stand for their own beliefs and resist peer pressure. A recent NS Times survey found that 55 percent of students have experienced pressure to do something negative that they did not want to do. Rebecca (anonymous source) is one of those students who has been affected by negative peer pressure. Last year, Rebecca develSee Peer Pressure, page 3
Old injunction leads to state changes in schools’ handling of fee waivers by Abigail Clawson
A legislative audit revealed that NS and schools around Utah have unintentionally been working out of line with state rules that stipulate which charges must be covered by the school for students who qualifies for fee waivers. The system NS has used was intended to follow standards set in a 1994 injunction. For decades, fee waivers covered all required fees, but costs deemed as optional were left for the student. Clubs, teams and similar activities were allowed one fundraiser per school year; any fees deemed as optional would require students to fundraise, complete community service or pay out of pocket to assist in covering the cost and establish a sense of ownership. “The optional/required is not something that we did to excuse ourselves from the the law, it was a way for us to fairly manage that situation,” Ault said. “Now, we’ll just go ahead and...if you happen to have a student who’s covered on a fee waiver, then the program will have to cover them.” The changes came as attention was drawn to the various standards of compliance and understanding between districts, resulting in a statewide review of the State Board of Education injunction, Civil No. 920903376. From these observations stemmed the establishment of penalties and clarifications to assist schools and standardize the implementation of the injunction to be put in place by the 2021 school year. See Fees, page 3
2 news Vaping, continued from page 1 rechargeable and produce an aerosol or vapor instead of smoke. These ‘mods’ come in different flavors, and with less toxins than their predecessors. So teens are drawn to their safer image, not realizing the trap they are falling into. Consequently, teens don’t fear e-cigarettes. “[Teens] don’t have enough respect for it,” said Valerie, a past vape user. “They don’t put enough negative feelings behind it.” Mods still contain significant amounts of nicotine, a highly addictive substance. Often up to 20 times more of it than in cigarettes. Initially, the purpose for e-cigarettes and vaping was an honorable one. It was marketed as a method used to quit smoking. It wasn’t good for you, the companies that produced them never tried to argue otherwise, but it was the definite lesser of two evils. The ‘safer’ image vapes portrayed didn’t just pull in smokers, it exposed teens to its world too. Several students at NS have fallen victim to this, including two individuals, Chase and Valerie. They started due to the influence of friends, unaware of the harm the little metal stick held. “Everyone’s saying, ‘Don’t do drugs,’ but no one is saying don’t vape,” Chase said. Chase began vaping at the age of 13. While at school, a friend offered him a puff. Soon after, Chase became a regular
consumer. He didn’t pay any mind to the effect vaping had on him. “I didn’t feel like it was affecting me at all. I was just brainless,” Chase said. Chase continued to vape for years, until a research project in school shed light on the truth behind the social factor e-cigarettes held. “Now I’ve studied and done research, and I realize that I was harming my body,” Chase said. Vaping put stress and obstacles in every factor of his life. It put noticeable strain on his family and social life, and his physical and mental health. And while he has noticed improvements in these areas since quitting, vaping still seeks to wreak havoc on his body and mind . “Lately I’ve been fainting a lot—I get blackouts a lot,” Chase said. “I went to the doctor and he said, ‘You got a little bit of this in you.’” However, while his history with e-cigarettes still affects him, Chase has noticed the positive direction his life has taken since. “Vaping affects your brain—you can’t think right. I was a straight F person, and now since I haven’t done it I’m a straight A person,” Chase said. Valerie started due to a similar situation. Towards the end of last school year, she found herself with a new group of friends. “I had lost a lot of friends last year; I was starting to find
my place,” Valerie said. Valerie had always been curious about vaping, so when her new friend group presented an opportunity to try it, she took it. She was drawn in by the aesthetic of the vapes: the smell, the look and the popularity. “They look so cool; they smell really good, there is cool clouds,” Valerie said. Like Chase, she was unaware of its effect at first. “I didn’t [regret it] for a long time, but it was really hard to stop,” Valerie said. “I just wanted it; I always had it.” Valerie quit vaping last November. Looking back on it, she realized it wasn’t as socially progressive as she originally thought. “It didn’t get me anywhere, but it distanced me from friends I did have previously,” Valerie said. “I wish that I would have not liked it when I tried it.” Derek’s experience with vaping is very different from Chase’s and Valerie’s. His reasons for starting was for vaping’s original purpose of recovering from cigarette addiction Derek first began vaping at the age of 14, he hoped that vaping would help him get over his addiction to cigarettes. “Before I started vaping, I smoked quite a bit. I smoked easily a pack or two a day,” Derek said. “And then I started vaping, it satisfied that craving.” It was effective. E-cigarettes and juuls quickly helped him recover from his addiction,
however, it didn’t just quiet his need for cigarettes, but rather transferred his addiction from cigarettes to the new method. “I don’t think I’d 100 percent quit; I like it too much,” Derek said. Derek has been aware of how his affinity for e-cigarettes and juuls has developed over time. “I originally started with zero nicotine and moved up from there,” Derek said. “I used to try to do tricks on it, and now I just do it for the nicotine.” Despite the negative side effects, he stands by his decision to switch. “I view vaping as a very, very healthy alternative to smoking,” Derek said. As vaping numbers rise, more and more teens are drawn in by the aesthetic and ‘safer’ complex of vaping. But safer, does not equal safe. E-cigarettes, juuls, mods and other forms still contain toxins, cancerous substances and addictive agents. Juuls, a popular type of e-cigarette commonly contain 20 times the amount of nicotine as cigarettes. According to an article written by Dr Michael Joseph Blaha at John Hopkins Medicine, in some ways, e-cigarettes are just as dangerous as traditional cigarettes. “Both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes contain nicotine, which research suggests may be as addictive as heroin and cocaine. What’s worse many e-cigarette users get even more
nicotine than they would from a tobacco product,” said Blaha. There has not been enough time to fully comprehend the long term effects of vaping. The rise in vaping numbers truly suggest that ignorance is bliss. “A lot of people stay away from cigarettes because of what it can do. With vaping, no one thinks that it can do permanent damage,” Valerie said. Vaping takes teens a step closer to cigarettes. It brings the regularly repulsive idea closer to understandable. “A lot of kids would never touch a cigarette, and if they start vaping, [they’re] able to rationalize it,” Valerie said. The bottom line is, e-cigarettes still contain nicotine, and are consequently, still addictive. “It’ll get you addicted right away. You’ll think its super cool,” Chase said. “Once the nicotine gets in you, its affected you already.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: As a general rule, the NS Times does not use anonymous sources except in special cases that include the following considerations: the information comes from a reliable source with direct knowledge of a topic, the source has important information that is essential to the story and that cannot be obtained any other way, and/or the information being shared would be damaging to the source. We are grateful for the students who were willing to share their difficult stories.
Food pantry available to aid struggling students by Salem Kimball
Since the beginning of 2019, NS has been working with the local food pantry to provide needy students with food that they can then take home to their families. Right before NS took off for Christmas break, Principal Nan Ault approached the Sanpete Food Pantry with the idea of providing food to students who may be struggling financially. Unlike many local elementary schools, instead of providing weekend food packets, the high school pantry is more open and allows students to take what they need instead of having a set packet. Ault believes that “the packets weren’t a great choice for high school students,” as it is harder for teachers to identify students because of how many of them there are, so she opted instead for a more straightforward approach that puts trust in students. “We live in a fairly high poverty area, and I think there are a lot of fami-
lies who really struggle,” Ault said. “High school students are very independent and are certainly capable of taking care of themselves, so it is nice to give them an option to support their own family, and feed themselves, and to feed siblings.” She believes that teenagers are capable human beings and that if left to their own devices they will manage to get by, but that it’s nice to have somewhere to go that they have easy access to, the high school is that place. Now, if the high school is providing this food, how do students know to take advantage of it? “We’ve asked the staff to talk to kids, sometimes kids will talk to staff members and they’ll know the kids that are struggling and the families that are struggling so we ask them to do their own kind of identifying,” Ault said. Many students choose to let a trusted teacher know of their needs, but sometimes the students go directly to the administration. “I’ve had a few teachers reach out
photo by Salem Kimball
Located in the faculty room, the food pantry is available to students due to the school’s partnership with the food bank.
to me and tell me that you ought to talk to this particular student about what they need, but most of it happens with our high school students coming to us and saying I need food for the weekend, or I need food for tonight, and they’ll come and privately ask,” Ault said. Though there are only a handful
of students who use the pantry, it still makes a difference. If a larger amount of students are in need, the pantry will expand to accommodate them. As long as the food pantry is around, families can rest easy knowing that they aren’t going to go hungry. As long as the system works, the food pantry will continue to provide what is needed.
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3 news Peer Pressure, continued from page 1
oped some bad habits that she believes were easier to develop because of those she had begun spending time with. Rebecca said that having friends that accept certain behaviors creates an environment in which those behaviors become okay. Behaviors that you might not have considered to be okay before. “People share values,” Rebecca said, “And so if your friends or someone you care about has these values, I feel like, over time, you either compromise or you raise or lower your values.” Rebecca, like many teenagers, found herself adjusting her values to those around her. She and her friends went to social gatherings where alcohol, tobacco, and other harmful substances were present. At first, Rebecca was able to refrain
from joining her friends who were drinking, smoking and vaping, but eventually her curiosity got the best of her. Rebecca didn’t feel that she had been pressured into participating in drinking or smoking because she had allowed herself to be in that situation. And ultimately, we make the final decision on what we do, but those we affiliate ourselves with can influence those choices whether we realize it or not. “We all grow up thinking, ‘Don’t do drugs,’ or whatever, so in my head I was always like, ‘I’ll never smoke a cigarette,” Rebecca said, “but then I started vaping, and because my friends were, it became more okay to maybe try a cigarette.” Rebecca grew apart from people she had once had strong relationships with as she spent
Fees, continued from page 1 “[The state is] playing real hard about this. That’s one of the things they didn’t have before as a result of the injunction— the State Board of Education never followed up, they never checked to see who is doing it,” Superintendent Sam Ray said. “They didn’t have rules and training after the first year or two, and as a result, they have had minimal compliance. But now they’re saying, ‘We’re going to play hardball, and if you aren’t playing by the rules, we’re going to keep all your money.’ So they’re really making it clear.” NSSD has followed a standard believed to be in line with the injunction, but as the state has laid out a higher model of compliance, the district is forced to modify its rules to conform with recent clarifications of the injunction. “[The injunction is] a matter of interpretation, in my estimation. There’s things in the injunction that we thought we were interpreting the correct way, and the legislative auditor came and sat in Nan’s office with me and he basically said, ‘No, you can’t do these things that you’ve been doing—it’s not allowed by that by the injunction,’” Ray said. “Their interpretation may be correct; I’m not arguing that. I’m just saying that we thought we were doing what we were supposed to all those years. And now they’re saying no, this is how it should be done.” The state’s goal in changing this pro-
more time with new friends that she felt didn’t judge her for making decisions that her previous friends might have judged her for. It wasn’t until those friends that she had been close to before confronted her about her decisions that she realized what she had lost. “People that I cared about, who were better people, who were doing better things, talked to me, and then I realized that even though it was easier to be different [with the new people] and I felt like I fit in there, it wasn’t really the people who genuinely cared about me,” Rebecca said. Those peers encouraged her to make better decisions, and she accepted their advice and began making changes to her life. Rebecca recognizes this as a form of positive peer pressure that led her to making
cess is to level the playing field for students of different socioeconomic statuses. Teachers, coaches and advisors have not been allowed to disclose or call out a student who is on fee waivers, but the students’ efforts required to fundraise or complete service were noticeable by their peers. The additional fees not always outlined on a disclosure created situations in which families felt they could not afford certain activities, and where students who could not afford optional cost, such as team warm ups, were forced to deal with the accompanying stigma. Ault has worked with those in charge of such activities to outline in the disclosure fees that could arise, and to create a better situation between what was listed as costs and additional costs that continued to appear. “[Nan’s work with the coaches] was good,” Ray said, “and I think we need to do that; we need to be more transparent so when the parent sees the fee they know what they’re really in for. That’s only fair, and that’s a fair criticism of what we were doing that I think we need to do different.” Inside the school, the stricter rules can alter the many classes that require a fee to cover materials for projects, experiments and activities to increase learning opportunities. In the wood shop, stu-
positive life decisions. Rebecca had experiences with both positive and negative peer pressure. Though 55 percent of students have experienced negative peer pressure, the survey also found that 68 percent of students have also experienced peer pressure to do something positive that they did not want to do. Anderson was pressured by her friend to join the basketball team last year. Anderson had not played basketball before and was worried about joining the team with no experience. It was hard for her at first, but now she sees that it turned out to be a positive experience. “I gained so many new friends and so many positive experiences from [basketball], and I’m glad that I did it,” Anderson said.
dents were able to personally pay and cover the cost of building it or sell it to cover those fees. Now, the state has barred this practice; if students are on a fee waiver and unable to pay, the school and program must come up with the money to cover all those projects. “If we can’t get the money, we won’t have program,” said Kevin Allen, FFA advisories and ag science and welding teacher. “I can’t believe that they would shut our welding and our woods programs down; I mean the money that we’ve invested so far in them and the time, I can’t believe that, you know, they would just say, ‘Okay, we don’t have the money, we’re done,’ but stranger things have happened.” While the state is looking to increase equal opportunities, it places difficulties on poor districts and those with a high percentage of fee waiver students. “What I’ve argued...is the purpose of the injunction is to ensure all students get those activities,” Ray said, “but if you don’t provide some funding for poor rural districts, yeah, then what you’re really doing is eliminating the opportunities.” The life lessons learned through activities are invaluable, and all involved hope to continue to open these doors for students. “We just hope that it’s a positive for our students,” Allen said. “I hope that
It isn’t always easy to try something new, and Anderson admitted that it wasn’t easy for her at first. “It definitely put me out of my comfort zone,” Anderson said, “It just opened me up to new experiences.” Anderson’s involvement in basketball led her to try out for track the following spring which provided her with more positive experiences. “Just looking back, my attitude was better and I was healthier, and because one person said. ‘You have to do basketball with me,’ it just made me a happier person,” Anderson said, “I’m very grateful, even though in the moment I hated it. I hated running, it was awful. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Honestly.”
we can continue to give our students as many opportunities as we can to learn and grow. I mean, I love my sign [in my class]: ‘to teach you, inspire you, to help you grow.’ That’s what we’re here for— if we can help them—but I hope they don’t cripple us.” While these worries are valid, the low number of fee waiver students participating in activities leaves a minimal impact for many programs. “We looked at those numbers, we expected it to be really high; it was going to be a big impact to our programs,” Ault said. “Some programs, yes, there’s a few of them that really, really suffer a little bit because of their budgets are really difficult to manage because of it. But really, overall, we don’t see that.” The focus now is for the school to help these students who don’t participate, and to open doors for the opportunities and life lessons that come with these activities. “We need some assistance, and we need to make sure these kids get a chance to participate,” Ault said, “but I don’t think we see that. I think we’re going to turn our attention there and say, ‘How can we really help families so they can come and enjoy in participating?’ Maybe they don’t feel like they can still afford it; I think that’s unfortunate, we might have some kids who would really benefit.”
Prevention, continued from page 1 that if they’ve thought about it or they’re struggling with those thoughts that there’s help available.” Hiatt, and others, believes that it is important for students to know that they aren’t alone. “We make sure that students know that we have resources. They can talk to people or there’s the SafeUT app or the counselors,” said assistant principal Jeff Ericksen. Each year, the assembly sparks a response from struggling students. “Whenever we do this with kids and with parents, we always have responses. We had a response that afternoon on the day of the training,” Ault said. The assembly this year was especially needed after several recent NS graduate suicides. Hiatt believes when a tragedy happens in a community, it’s important to recognize what happened and acknowledge peoples’ feelings. It’s a natural instinct for people to have thoughts regarding what they could have done and how it could have possibly been their fault. “There’s an element sometimes of guilt that doesn’t need to exist, but it’s just part of our human nature,” Hiatt said. Hiatt has seen the talk surrounding suicide change drastically the last few years. She said it used to be seen
as a sin or a shameful and cowardly act. Now people are starting to understand that it’s an actual health issue and needs to be treated as such. When someone is struggling, Hiatt said the best thing you can do for them is get to a mental health professional to get an assessment done. They can provide support and offer clarity during rough times. “Getting the support and help that you need to get you through an emotional crisis is key,” Hiatt said. “You can always go to the emergency room to get an assessment or calling the national suicide prevention line and talking to a counselor for free.” Hiatt said talking about suicide and getting the facts is especially important for teenagers because a lot of times they feel embarrassed or ashamed of the way they are feeling so they won’t talk to anyone about it. “They don’t understand that what it is is a real legitimate illness inside of their mind, and sometimes maybe their parents dismiss it,” Hiatt said. “They don’t feel supported or maybe they’re unsure of what help looks like. It’s just like when we go to the doctor for a broken leg. We don’t walk on a broken leg just cause we’re afraid of what the cast might feel like.” Peers can be the biggest allies for someone struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide. They see
photo by Mayzie Talbot
Essential training is offered to the community during suicide prevention assemblies.
things that teachers can’t always and they can have a lasting impact. “If you are recognizing somebody that’s struggling take the opportunity to reach out,” Hiatt said. “You don’t have to be the one to fix it, you don’t have to be the one to know what to do, just reach out and say, ‘Hey, I see you, are you ok?’” Suicide is a serious problem, and even though the stigma around it is changing, it’s still important to be aware. “We’re all responsible to take care of each other. We have to watch out for each other and we have to know those warning signs, and then we have to know what to do about it,” Ault said.
4 news
Different approach to food drive aims to draw participation by Kaleb Cox
With their annual food drive approaching, the leadership at NS looked to find new ways to incentivize high school students to participate. They came up with a way of turning cans of food into almost a sort of currency to use for certain rewards, rather than the class competition system they’d been using in prior years. With five cans, on Feb. 28, students will be able to get out of advisory and second period to come watch a showing of the movie “Napoleon Dynamite” in which senior Trayson Thompson has green screened himself into the background of various scenes throughout the film. “I think it’s pretty cool that they’re letting me do this,” Thompson said. “It’s cool that I get to help out with the [food drive] for the good of mankind.” While at the movie, students can bring two additional cans to get popcorn, and any remaining cans they bring can be used immediately following the movie to bid in an auction for a faculty parking spot that can be used for the remainder of the year.
On top of this, until March 4, students can bring up to 20 cans to get up to one hour off of any credit recovery time they might have, and 10 additional cans can give them a front-of-the-lunch-line pass to be used the following week. “The elementary schools usually bring in the bulk of the food,” said student government advisor Rickie Stewart. “We hope that with these changes the high school will be much more involved.” Though these rewards are a great way to get students involved, those in charge hope that students remember the reason for hosting this drive. “The goal is always to help out families in our community that need it,” Stewart said. “Those donations never go anywhere else, they stay here in the community.” The ideas for these incentives began forming as far back as last November, when as a Sub For Santa fundraiser pledge, Thompson got approval from the high school to have a version of 2004 film “SpiderMan 2”—in which he put green screened footage of himself in the background of various scenes—shown
Students compete for first time at state DECA competition
photo provided by Mayzie Talbot
Members of NS business program spent two days competing in various presentation events as part of the DECA program.
to the winning class of the food drive competition. Due to the length of the film, Thompson agreed to do the same thing to the shorter “Napoleon Dynamite” and have that shown instead. “I know I’m excited about [the movie],” said NS Junior Class Vice President Michael Pearce. “I think I can speak for everyone and say that everyone wants to see Trayson’s movie.” This isn’t the first time the high school has tried to make changes to get the high school more involved in the food drive, but after the buzz they’ve heard, the leadership at NS finally believes they’ve found a system that works. “We’ve had years where the high school has done well, but we’ve never had any ideas stick,” Stewart said. “I think this actually might be the first one that finally sticks in terms of participation, and we couldn’t do it without the support of the administration allowing us to have a movie day and doing things to get kids out of class.”
Juniors gain valuable insights from college day presentations
photo by Mayzie Talbot
Juniors were offered a valuable opportunity through college day. Colleges from around the state came to present to students and answer questions.
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27 feb 19
Science teacher drawn by excitement, challenge of subjects BY
H ENRY DE GROFF
Originally, Kolby Henrie had no intentions of becoming a teacher, but he found out that career paths often change. “I was going to be a dentist,” Henrie said. “I moved to Kentucky to apply to dental school, so I went and watched some dentists, and decided it was the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen, and I didn’t want to do it for the rest of my life.” Henrie grew up in Richfield, Utah. As a kid, he had no intentions of becoming a science teacher. He enjoyed living in a small Utah town growing up. He played lots of sports, and he recalls being a bit of a troublemaker with his friends. “We wreaked a lot of havoc, did some things that might incriminate me,” Henrie said. “Our favorite pastime was to throw stuff at cars as they drove by— eggs, snowballs—and also, we used to go up in the hills and roll big rocks down to take out trees, and just blow stuff up, all sorts of
fun stuff. That’s why I’m a chemistry teacher, because I love to blow stuff up.” Henrie taught at a boys’ home for seven years before moving to NS where he is currently on his fourth year of teaching. This year Henrie has taught all eight class periods, with three classes of chemistry and three of earth systems, along with a biology class and a physiology class. When asked what his favorite class was, Henrie instantly said chemistry. “[My favorite class is chemistry] mostly because it’s challenging, and there is so much you can learn about it,” he said. “It teaches you about what goes on, like everything that happens in the world because of chemistry; chemical reactions that go on to cause you to digest your food, reactions that cause snow to fall—I love chemistry. Not to mention I get all the best kids in my chemistry classes.” Henrie is interested in chemistry, and wants to teach students about it.
“With chemistry, I always read up on stuff that’s way beyond what I teach in class,” Henrie said. Chemistry isn’t an easy course, but it has some very fun and interesting aspects. He is always thinking up labs, as well as figuring out how to make them better. “He has a pretty good teaching style; he will repeat the subject and make sure everyone understands it,” junior Stockton Bailey said. “Once he told us that if he became a millionaire, he would still be a chemistry teacher.” Henrie finds the experiments to be a fun way to share his knowledge and excite students. “We make sugar rockets, where you combine potassium nitrate and sugar and light it on fire, and it launches rockets,” he said. “There is lots of fun labs. Sometimes we don’t have time to do as many as I would like, just because there is so much stuff to learn.” Henrie enjoys reading about science, and learning real information more than
photo by Henry De Groff
Students enjoy the excitement Kolby Henrie expresses in his teaching.
reading novels. “When I was a kid I didn’t read anything,” Henrie said, “even those books your teacher assigns you. Now I enjoy reading textbooks more than novels.” Henrie is known by many people as “Digger,” and few students call him Mr. Henrie. “My parents didn’t name me for a couple days because there was some debate about what to name me,” Henrie said, “so my older brother was watching a TV show where there was
a dog named Digger, so he just started calling me that.” Henrie has many other interests and hobbies outside of science as well. “While it depends on the time of year,” he said, “I like backpacking, snowboarding, golfing, shooting guns and hanging with my kids.” In the summer, Henrie likes to travel to Alaska where his brother lives. “I go to Alaska every other year,” Henrie said. “I go to salmon fish, and I’ve put in for some hunts
that I’ve never drawn out for yet, moose and grizzly bears. I would like to put a giant rug on my wall somewhere.” Henrie has shown some of his classes a video of him swimming and having fun in the cold Alaskan waters. “We cruised in a boat right up to where the glacier ends,” he said, “and so I just threw a life jacket on and bailed in right underneath the glacier, the water is like a half a degree above freezing.”
Students utilize different approaches to overcome, live with fears BY
H ARRISON COOK
Everybody fears something. Whether it’s spiders, the dark, small spaces, taking tests or, for many boys, pretty girls, everyone has something they fear. Here at NS, the most common fear is the fear of heights; according to an NS Times survey, forty percent of students share this fear. The fear of heights is closely followed by the fear of spiders, with 36 percent of respondents sharing this fear. Everyone has had to find a way deal with or overcome fears since the beginning of time, but we have all found different methods. There are several ways to cure or reduce your phobia’s strength; one of these strategies is called exposure therapy. This is a scientific method of reducing your phobia’s grip on you, where you are
gradually exposed to your fear until you become less afraid. Senior Benjamin Barlow had a different approach that seemed to work nearly as well for him. He thought: why go through exposure therapy to cure your fear of heights when you can just throw yourself off a slide? Barlow had always been afraid of heights, and still is afraid of, as he put it, “extreme heights,” but he managed to cure his fear of heights by jumping off of a slide. “I climbed on top of it [the slide], and jumped off several times, and learned I didn’t die,” he said. To put it simply, he decided to face his fear in the most extreme way he could, which worked wonderfully in his case. Unfortunately, not all of us are brave enough to throw ourselves off of the metaphorical slide and face our fears. Junior
Danielle Houghton has a phobia known as trypophobia, which is the fear of small and irregular holes. She said that she hadn’t been afraid of this until she saw a photograph of a lotus seed pod and the strange holes on the head of the flower. This fear was added to when she learned about botflies, a parasite that lays eggs inside of the host. It can leave small collections of holes on the victim’s skin. “I was doing something, and I got a weird impression in my skin, and it freaked me out,” Houghton said. Houghton has tried to find a way to cure herself, but she said that it only works half of the time, like when she showed someone a picture of the lotus seed pod. In general, she just tries to avoid anything that might trigger her fear. “That image didn’t bother me as much right now,” Houghton said, “but
that’s probably just because I had a bad dream last night and all of my wigs have already been wigged out”. Freshman Ella Cook shares this approach. She said she was scared of dogs, spiders, snakes and the dark. She, like Barlow, said that she didn’t know where any of her fears came from, but she had a few ideas as to where they may have come from. “The dark,” Cook said, “because I’ve watched too many scary movies.” She also said that dogs scared her, and that affected her in everyday life, because “there are dogs everywhere.” She suspects this fear came from either or both, a huge dog jumping on her, or from a playful but traumatic experience with a relative. “My uncle would dangle me above my grandma’s dog and say, ‘Eat her Nemo,’” Cook said.
Senior takes first at region poetry contest
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On Wednesday, Feb. 20, senior Lucy Quinn stole the night and took first place at region Poetry Out Loud, and will continue on to represent NS at the state level on March 15. Prior to region, Quinn took first at the NS Poetry Out Loud competition, with sophomore Liz Madsen as runner-up.
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sports 27 feb 19
Drill coach, team reach high degree of success BY
E MILY K ERKSIEK
She pirouettes around the stage gracefully, each move carefully practiced and calculated. The hot stage lights glisten on her back. She is lost in her own world. The audience is drawn in, and they hold their breaths in anticipation. The dancer’s little sister is in the crowd, and she watches each move, wanting to be like her sister one day. Now the little sister, Kiersten Wheeler, has grown and has recently become the drill coach at NS. As a first year coach she won coach of the year. “I began dancing when I was three years old,” Wheeler said. “I had an older sister who danced, so I saw how much fun she had in her involvement in dance and I wanted to follow in her footsteps. I love the accomplished feeling that you get when you dance. It’s funny because even at a young age you get that feeling of being proud when you walk off the floor.” For the last five years, Wheeler has been coaching at Just Dance, a local dance studio, and she decided to take the
leap of becoming the drill coach. “I just felt like drill was the next step,” Wheeler said. “Studio is our theater program, and so I thought, ‘I want to work with these girls even after they’re done with studio.’ Theater programs are so important. The way that we taught them and the way that we’ve coached them in studio carries over to the high school level. They are used to us, and they are used to working hard. They know the way that we teach and the way that we coach, so it’s the smoothest transition for them.” Drill Mistress Brylee Swapp began dancing with “Just Dance” in seventh grade. She was able to make connections with both of the coaches at NS at a young age. “I think they gave me a really good start to dance and gave me the basics I needed to perform and become a dancer,” Swapp said. “Kiersten laid a foundation for me for dance. Having the background with her ,it was a smooth transition into drill; we had a connection.” As a drill team, they have created goals to focus on this year. The
photo by Kaleb Cox
The drill team performed for the final time at a drill review after receiving second at state. Their coach, Kiersten Wheeler, was recognized with the coach of the year award for her work with the team and the success they have seen under her care.
main focus has been managing time. This year they have been able to have shorter practices but get more done in practice. “We always set goals at the beginning of the year and then we always have check-in points. We always say, ‘What do you want? What are you here for? Why do you come to practice?’ Our motto has been practice with a purpose. If you are going to come to practice and be on this team, then you have to work hard, and you have to make it worth your time,” Wheeler said.
This year NS fought a hard battle and rose to take second in region and second in state, narrowly losing to a six-time state champion South Sevier. “South Sevier is a really good team, and it was awesome to beat them in some dances,” Swapp said. “To go from the bottom and beat them and even be a threat to them felt really good. Being a team that has been a joke the last years and now a threat to the state champs that was really awesome. I remember last year being so sad after we didn’t
make it to the second day of state. I was crying to my mom, and I was like, ‘I wish I was on a winning team.’ This year it has felt so good to win.” Because of Wheeler’s hard work and dedication in reconstructing the NS drill team, she won coach of the year. “I was surprised because I’m just a first-year coach, but I was more happy because it was for NS,” Wheeler said. “I don’t think it was for me, but more for the girls. Here we have this awesome team that everyone has taken atten-
tion to. They have just rose and come out of the dust. Now with this coach of the year, it gets their name out there. It puts a good taste in people’s mouths for the NS drill team.” The girls on the team were so excited for Wheeler when she won coach of the year. “It was so awesome when Kiersten won," said vice president Isabella Johnson. "It was like, ‘Oh my gosh she deserves it.’ She brought us seriously from the bottom to the top in one year. She’s awesome; she deserved it for sure.”
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sports
8
Sixteen wrestlers qualify for state despite team adversity C HARLEE C HRISTENSEN BY
The NS wrestling season has come to an end with the team taking 16 wrestlers to state, with Dalton Anderson taking second and Luis Rodriguez taking fifth. The state tournament is double elimination, and although 16 students made it to the tournament, only four advanced to the second day. “We had two division champions this year,” said head coach Bryan Strain. “We had four in the top four, and 16 qualify for state. The team this year came a long way—they made some turns, did the right things when they needed to, came together and it paid off.” The team has worked hard to succeed this season, even though it was a tough one. “It’s been a very
good and bad season at the same time,” Strain said. “We’ve had to deal with a lot of loss and overcome some pretty steep obstacles.” Losing some wrestlers to injury and poor choices, as well as the loss of a close friend and previous wrestler during the season, required the team to put in the work to be successful. “We had our ups and our downs, and we overcame a lot of adversity to be at state,” junior Adrian Lemus said. In addition to these obstacles, those who took eighth at region had a disadvantage because they had to wrestle the number one seed from the other division in the first round. “The goal for me as a coach this year has just to see kids reach their potential, and we’re seeing it,” Strain said. “There are some individuals who didn’t think
they were going to be in the running for anything and they are, and that’s what you want to see as a coach.” Anderson and Rodriguez both placed first at region, putting them in a good seed at state. “I wish I had a better mental game,” Anderson said. “I thought I wasn’t going to be that great. This is only my second year wrestling, so I didn’t think I was going to do good, but I’ve clearly proven myself wrong.” While only two placed at state, the coaches and team are very proud of their hard work. “The team has matured a lot,” Strain said. “They’ve come together as individuals and as a team. They’ve put in a lot of hard work. They’ve really bought into the fact that their hard work is going to pay off and that they can achieve their goals.”
Just making it to state wasn’t enough. The wrestlers practiced hard, even having a couple two-a-days practices the week before. “I had to put in a lot of extra work with my friends and my brothers on top of practice to make it to state,” Rodri-
guez said. They continued to use their defeats as fuel for them to get better. “They’ve continued to get better every week and have worked on the things they needed to become better,” Strain said. “We’ve won matches that we lost earlier in
the season.” They are sad the season is coming to an end, but it was a successful and fun season for the team. “This is the best season I’ve ever had,” Rodriguez said.
photo provided by Marcy Curtis
Senior Dalton Anderson excelled during his second year wrestling, placing second at the state tournament and first at region.
Work ethic, drive carried junior to eighth place at state often looked to as a leader because of the effort he puts into every practice. “He always pushes himself really hard and sets the example for us," junior Anaka Black said. Along with being a good teammate, Lewis is also an excellent swimmer. Starting at the age of three he was put in swimming lessons, but he didn’t really get into competing until he reached high school. “When I was younger my mom got me into swim lessons,” Lewis said. “I hated it though, so I stopped swimming up until sophomore photo provided by Brigham Lewis year.” Brigham Lewis saw great success on the state and region levels, using his love for the sport and work Once Lewis started comethic to improve his technique and times. peting in swim, he fell in love with it and has continued to by Kaylee Anderson mate needs one. “One time I broke my improve ever since. “The end of last year my They call him dad. swim cap and he went over Among some of his swim and just pulled out another breaststroke time was 1:25. teammates, junior Brigham one,” junior Alex Mower said. Coming back this year, and Lewis has acquired the nickLewis takes every oppor- even losing my goggles at my name because of the advice he tunity he can to give advice first meet, I got a 1:21. I have gives as well as being prepared to other struggling team- improved more than I thought for anything. At each meet he mates, and he can often be I could ever achieve in high often carries extra caps, food seen cheering them on while school, and I am only a junior and swimsuits in case a team- they are competing. He is also so I am excited about that,”
Lewis said. Head Swim Coach David LaTomme also noticed great improvement in him over the course of the season. “Brigham has improved leaps and bounds,” LaTomme said. “First day of practice I could tell that there was potential in all of the swimmers, but Brigham stood out particularly just because of the work ethic he put in the practices. The suggestions I would make to him on improving stroke technique or faster turns and dives, he would always try to implement. That drive made him stand out among his peers.” His drive and work ethic have helped to push him through many the low and hard parts of the season. “The hardest thing for me was back in December, I got to a point where I couldn’t improve,” Lewis said. “On my 100 breaststroke my best event, I was at a minute fifteen the whole time for like the span of two and a half months, and I wasn’t improving and I wasn’t get worse so I was just kind of stagnant. Going into
the middle of January just before region, I dropped to a minute fourteen and I was just so happy. After I got past that block I was able to drop so much time.” All of the moments together over the course of the season helped prepare Lewis both mentally and physically for competing in state. “My state experience was actually really cool. We dropped three seconds in the medley relay, and three seconds in the 200-freestyle relay,” Lewis said. “Each of us dropped almost a whole second, which is a ton in swim because it is just down and back. For the breaststroke I was happy with what I did, I dropped time and I did my best, but some people dropped a ton of time that I wasn’t expecting, so I didn’t get the placement that I thought I was going to. I ended up getting eighth so that was a bit surprising but I couldn’t have been happier with my time of 1:07.”
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sports
9
Snowboarding club opens doors for old, new riders
BY
M ARLEE CROZIER
An anxious snowboarder steps into his boarding boots, straps on the bindings and begins the steep descent down the hill. Slowly at first, then going faster and faster as the cold air stings his face. His heart starts pumping as he goes off the jump, and issuspended in the air for a few seconds before the board lands on the powdery snow. The bottom
of the hill gradually getting closer. He slides to a stop and with a smile makes his way up the hill to do it all again. “Snowriders is a club where we go out and have fun and go snowboarding,” said senior snowriders president, Brock Justesen. “Snowriders is just a way to get away, I mean snowboarding is my life, and is something I am just very passionate about.” If it wasn’t because
of devoted advisors, like Nan Ault, and founding advisor and former NS teacher Suzan Rasmussen, the club many enjoy today wouldn’t be possible. According to a founding member, Victor Lott (‘97), the snowriders club came about “because of Mrs. Rasmussen. She offered to run it so all us hellions had something to do. I really looked up to her because of that.”
In the early stages of the club, snowboarding wasn’t considered to be a true sport. Due to this and many other factors, the school was hesitant to take on the club. Rasmussen had many students that she knew were very passionate about snowboarding, and, being very passionate herself, pushed to be the advisor. “You are never too old to play in the snow,” said Rasmussen in the 1998 NS yearbook. 25 years later, and snowriders is still going strong. Part of being able to get the club going is having a good resort that is willing to go the extra mile and help support schools and their snow lovers. “Brighton’s really good to give us a good deal,” Ault said. “They have a great snowboarding hill, and they have all of the snowboarding parks, tables and rails. Snowboarders love Brighton.” Not only are they
known to give snowriders a great deal, but they are also known by many riders as a snowboarder's dream. Ever since the year of ‘98, with an exception of few years scattered here and there, NS snowriders have made Brighton an annual trip. “Brighton has always been a good one,” Justesen said. “I like their trick park, that’s always pretty fun.” Fairview Canyon is a common snowboarding and skiing spot for local Sanpete County residents to go and ride, and, of course, for younger snow lovers to learn. “My dad said, ‘Oh, here’s a snowboard for Christmas,’” freshman Iven Cox said, “and then took me out and attempted to teach me how to do it.” Others learned at resorts on the spur of the moment and have perfected their skills on the club trips since then. “I went to Sundance, rented a snowboard and figured it out,” freshman
Levi Palmer said. Ault mentions that she has gone up on trips and taught amateur riders a few times over the years. Even after you learn how to snowboard, there will always be those times that you slip up and laugh about later. “A couple times I’ve almost broken my neck trying the same stunts my brother tries,” Justesen said. Others have had dangerous, yet hilarious experiences while learning to ride. “I hit a tree,” Cox said. “It’s a lot of fun, but don’t hit a tree because it hurts.” Overall snowriders is an amazing club for anyone that has a love for riding on that fresh powder. “It’s a great time to be free, a great time to be with your friends, a great time to just let everything go and not worry about anything than just loving the snow,” Ault said.
10
arts 27 feb 19
New ‘Lego Movie’ adds interesting installment to franchise
BY
K AJE NIELSEN
leave the theatre disappointed. Graphics and jokes targeted at elementary-aged children are in abundance, but essential elements such as a good story, surprising plot-twists and good morals learned from the hero’s adventures are often lacking. “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” helped restore some of the faith I had in the animated movie industry, but still missed some of what I was hoping for. The movie starts out picking up where the prequel left off; Emmet (Chris Pratt), Wyldstyle/ Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett) and the other master builders are swarmed by pink and flashy Lego alien enemies that were constructed by the young human Bianca (Brooklynn Prince). We begin with a rather dull battle scene and then transition quickly into a destroyed version of the Lego world we know and love, with colors consisting of mostly brown and beige. The people of Bricksburg then hide out in a big bomb shelter from the aliens until the major protagonist, Emmet, accidentally lets one in that kidToo many animated movnaps the leading characters. ies this year have caused me to
The main cast (besides Emmet) is then taken to a far off planet where they indulge in a luxurious lifestyle, in which anything they wish for is given to them. The leader of the planet, Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi (Tiffany Haddish), decides she wants to marry Batman, while Wyldstyle, Emmet’s girlfriend, fears that it’s all just a big plot to trigger the legendary disaster, “Ourmomagedon,” and the wedding ceremony is just a cover-up. Emmet then converts his house into a spaceship and embarks on a galactic voyage to attempt to save Wyldstyle and all of his other friends. Along the way, he meets an ambitious character named Rex (Chris Pratt) who helps Emmet make many decisions on his journey, and tries to make him be as tough as he wanted to be in order to impress Wyldstyle. Throughout the expedition, there are several betrayals, plot twists, surprises, and jokes that appeal to people of all ages. In the end, the audience discovers that the entire show was leading up to teaching the power of friendship and love between siblings.
While this movie was pretty decent overall, there were a few things about it that I wasn’t very pleased with. For example, many of the jokes seemed unnecessary, and in some cases, even annoying. While it did have its fair share of funny jokes, there were a few that I probably would have cut. Another thing that I didn’t like was the fact that the world was no longer purely Legos like in the first movie. The graphics weren’t as visually pleasing, and in many scenes, it even seemed as though the animators were merely in a rush. This, however, was a minor complaint that many viewers wouldn’t make. The last complaint that I had was how long this movie was, or at least felt. Although the film was only 90 minutes long, it felt like it lasted forever, and had a tendency to drag on certain scenes a lot more than was needed. In the end, this was a fantastic movie, for younger audiences and patient older audiences. If the action scenes weren’t so long, and the dialogue didn’t try to shove so much at you at once, it would have been a far better movie.
Class environment major part of speech and debate success BY
A DAM C OX
In modern society people are often discouraged from discussing and debating controversial topics, but an NS class that delves into these tough topics has been thriving. The speech and debate team had a successful experience at their most recent competition. Senior Salem Kimball took first place impromptu. Senior Donnivan Kubota took second place original oratory. Katelyn Hill and Serena Smith took second place public forum debate. Rory Anderson took third place Lincoln Douglass debate. Brynne Lamb and Nicholas Honey got Academic All Region. The speech and debate team also took home top prizes in a few areas at another recent region competition. Senior Salem Kimball took first place impromptu, second place humorous interpretation; senior Brynne Lamb took first place in humorous interpretation; Serena Smith and Katelyn Hill took fourth place in public forum debate; and Matthew Hindes took fifth place in Congress. Speech and debate includes many events that students can participate in, including debating other students alone or with a partner, memorizing a piece or receiving a topic
and creating a short speech within a small amount of time. “I did a humorous interpretation piece, which is one man memorizing all parts, doing my own blocking for it and doing different accents for the different parts,” Lamb said. Many of the humorous interp pieces involve wacky scenarios with many unique and varied characters that are all performed by one person. “The piece I performed was called ‘Hot Dog Time Machine.’ It’s about a guy having an argument with his dad, so he goes down to the freezer and tells his dad he will eat a hotdog without cutting it into tiny pieces,” Kimball said.” He then goes back in time and meets his elementary school friend, his middle school friend, and his future wife. They are all really wacky and zany characters.” While a few students had to put in preparation hours memorizing a piece, others might have to make something up on the spot. “Impromptu speaking is an improv event, you get seven minutes total. Two minutes are typically used as prep time to write down your thoughts. After that you use the remaining time to perform a speech which is made up on the spot,” Kimball said. “I find it
photo provided by Alex Barlow
Though small in numbers, the speech and debate program recently saw large successes in the region competition. The group prepares in class and works together to bring everyone to a higher level and be prepared for competitions.
much more nerve wracking because you go up and you don’t know what you’re going to say.” Often times in these kinds of speeches you are given a topic that you know nothing about and you are not allowed to research about the topic; you must create a speech without any knowledge. “The topic I got was Joe Lewis, so I talked about how names and achievements are lost to the sands of time and how I couldn’t remember who he was
and that eventually we are all going to be forgotten,” Kimball said. “It’s not easy but [impromptu] is the one I have been doing for three years now, so I’ve gotten pretty good at it.” Many different students have recently joined and have become closer to the rest of the group. “My favorite part has been just making friends and becoming closer with everyone in the club,” Lamb said. Though the speech and debate team is quite small
compared to other teams they have still found much success. “Our team right now ranges from eight to 11 people, which is very small,” said speech and debate teacher Alex Barlow. “Speech and debate has a bunch of different events that people can be entered in, so we aren’t able to enter people in every event. It’s allowed us to focus on doing really well on a few different events.” As the team celebrates their success, they are get-
ting ready for their upcoming tournament that will take place on March 8, trying to make changes and improve in their category. “Right now there are usually three or four kids per event so they get in teams and they work with each other. They coach each other, and they give feedback to each other,” Barlow said. “As a class we have tried really hard to create an environment where everybody is helping everyone else while they are preparing.”
arts
11
Third ‘HTTYD’ falls short of previous franchise success BY
LUCY A NDERSON
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” is the third movie in the How to Train Your Dragon Franchise. This movie shows the continued growth of the people of Burke as they must leave their home in order to save their beloved dragons. One of the things I like most about this franchise is the continuation of the story. Each movie has a thrilling plot that answers more “what if ” questions that the previous movie prompts us to ask. The first two movies show the growth in each character as they are faced with changes that at first, don’t seem positive. In the latest movie, Hiccup, as chief of Burke, must face leaving the village that his father loved dearly and go somewhere completely different because they are being threatened by dragon trappers lead by Grimmel, the man responsible for the near extinction of the Night Fury species. At the same time that the vikings are threatened by the trappers, Toothless meets a fe-
male Night Fury that they call a Light Fury due to her white scales. As Toothless becomes close with the Light Fury, Hiccup makes him a tail so that he can fly without Hiccup’s support. When Toothless is given the freedom to fly by himself and be with his “girlfriend,” he takes it and spends all of his time with her., leaving Hiccup to learn how to be a leader without the constant support of his dragon. Although Hiccup has grown a lot through the past movies, he still has his trademark nasally, weak-sounding voice. He also still has strong feelings of inadequacy and a lack of confidence that makes his leadership hard to follow. Without his best friend, Toothless, Hiccup struggles to feel strong enough to lead his people, especially during this movie. He had to begin to learn from the people he loved instead of the dragons he loved. By the end of the movie he shows great leadership and strength to lead his people by himself. For me, I didn’t feel like this movie offered a new plot. The added dragons and
characters were interesting and fun, but the idea of the movie seemed extremely close to that of the second film. The movie also felt like it just brushed the surface of a bigger story. Some characters were given small plots that felt like a lead in to a bigger story that never happened. The trappers as the villains also never really seemed to become a big threat and were handled relatively easily.
Well worth noting was the animation of this movie. Each individual strand of hair could be clearly seen from Hiccups scruffy face to the hair on the vikings’ noses. The use of colors and movement was incredible. Each movement seemed realistic and natural. Overall, the movie was a good end to the franchise and wrapped up a lot of questions that the viewers may have had.
Drama begins preparations to tackle comedic ‘Noises Off ’ by Athena De Groff
During the last week of April, the NS drama program will be performing the play “Noises Off.” Each year the drama department presents two productions, one musical and one non-musical play. The recent musical “Newsies” was very successful with large, delighted audiences filling the auditorium each night. After such a successful performance, the drama felt the need to choose another performance that would likewise bring enjoyment and success. A few plays were considered, but the comedy “Noises Off ” was ultimately chosen. “‘Noises Off ’ is basically a play within a play,” said Drama Instructor Alex Barlow. “In the first act you’re watching their last rehearsal before they open and they’re not ready at all. You get to see the directors stressing out and are introduced to the characters and their weird quirks.” There will be nine members of the NS drama department in the production of “Noises Off.” “It’s a play within a play, so we have to memorize our own parts in the show as well as the parts our characters have in their per-
formance,” said Brynne Lamb English playwright Michael Frayn got the idea for “Noises Off ” after he had the opportunity to watch one of his plays from backstage. He found that the comedy was funnier from behind the scenes than from the audience. The play is split into three acts, the first showing the nine members of the cast haphazardly preparing for their performance which starts in just a few hours. The second act focuses on events happening backstage during the casts’ presentation of their play. In the third act they are performing their play again, but it takes place a while after the production in act two. The idea of a play within a play may sound unusual, but this unusual nature is what helps make it a comedy. Sometimes with comedies, jokes are not understood by everyone in the audience. Since “Noises Off ” includes physical comedy as well as verbal comedy, everyone in the audience will be able to laugh out loud at one point or another. “There might be some jokes that not everybody will get, but everyone can understand physi-
Mon-Sat 7 am-8 pm
photo by Mayzie Talbot
The cast for the spring play, “Noises Off,” began practices last week. The choice of play brings a change from the large cast in the musical “Newsies,” as well as a different style with a play being performed in a play.
cal comedy, even little kids,” Barlow swaid. “It’s not over-the-top, Three-Stooges-style physical comedy, but it’s still really funny.” The performance will be full of many hilarious situations caused by the crazy characters. Throughout the production the audience will witness the play falling apart.
“Everything that could go wrong does go wrong, and it’s hilarious,” Barlow said. Part of the success of “Newsies” was due to the large cast, since many family members and friends of the performers came to watch. With “Noises Off ” being such a small cast, it is hoped that
“Newsies” will bring people back to see yet another great performance. “I think it will be more successful than past plays have been just because ‘Newsies’ was so successful,” said senior Salem Kimball. “So people will hopefully come to get the same experience they got with ‘Newsies.’”
arts
12
The Academy Awards BY
Heard
SALEM K IMBALL
in the
Halls -“Nope, you have to let them be passive agressive until it goes away. “ -“If you want to be a cyberbully then become a teacher!” -“Stop sticking your finger in my chicken’s mouth.” -“Stop stealing my face!” -“I can feel my heart beating in my eyes! Oh wait, it’s just me blinking. “ -“Country music lovers are emotional terrorists.” -”I’m not a bad driver, you are just a bad pedestrian.” -”You’re going to rub the softness off.” -”Yeah, I know, I never eat my snakes.”
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