February 2024

Budget cuts affect Harford, Cecil County

MACKENZIE SCOTT Op/Ed Editor

In recent years, the county in which our school resides, and our neighboring county, have been facing major issues regarding the school budget. Teachers all around have been fighting for justice in their classrooms before the budget impacts more and more extracurriculars.

According to the baltimoresun.com, “With massive reductions to programs across the district on the table, a rally for education funding drew what organizers estimate to be over 2,000 people outside the county administration building in Elkton.” The article continues, stating “Marching band, athletics, fine arts and similar projects that are on the chopping block, those are what help our kids stay on track,” Dale Amos, a math teacher and athletic director at Rising Sun Middle School and assistant band director at Rising Sun High, said during the rally. “The money is there. It is there. There is no denying the money is there to do the right thing.”

and how her job consists of “taking concerns that people have in the buildings to the association, and we try to assist teachers and staff members to be able to help students in the best way that they can.” She explains how they

ture.”

Sparks explains that budget cuts could affect students and staff, discussing how, “we can lose vital people who give face time to students on a daily basis.” This will also affect what

need these programs so students can get an idea of what kind of options are out there, so they can make decisions about their future.” Social Studies teacher Mrs. Melissa Winter explains how class sizes will increase and

Math teacher Mrs. Shelly Sparks discusses how she is a “representative for the Harford County education association”

also “take information to legislators to try to get education at the forefront of their thinking when they're talking about budgeting and making decisions for our fu-

programs and courses offered to students. For students, “we [may not have] those courses available to students to prepare them for their future.” She continues, “we

how compensation for staff may get frozen. Agreeing with Sparks as she states that “Support staff for our students [paraeducators, and inclusion helpers] will be re-

duced.”

In a recent budget meeting on Feb. 12, the Harford County Board of Education had voted 6-3 in favor of superintendent Dr. Sean Bulson’s proposed budget of $47.3 million. According to the baltimoresun.com, this was a “7.7% increase over the current school year mostly by asking the county government for an increase in local funding of $40 million.” Sparks discusses how “we need politicians to understand the needs of students in the county and what the staff needs to be able to be available and present for those students. It should not be a fight everywhere to do what’s right for our students.” She adds, “Everybody should put the student first and give the funding that we need to make the educational environment appropriate for all students.”

“The school board will present this budget to County Executive Bob Cassilly by March 1, and he will respond with proposed funding levels by April 15. The County Council must approve a final budget by June 30” states the baltimore. sun. Winter adds that “Harford County has been forced to cut hundreds of positions and programs over the years. If the budget is not adequately funded, we could see many cuts happening again.”

Lemke nominated for Teacher of the Year award; Faculty, students respond to news of nomination

STELLA MANNS

Sports Editor

Each year at this time the HCPS Teacher of the Year Program gets underway. This year, North Harford’s nomination is English teacher Mrs. Kathleen Lemke. She teachers various English classes, is an advisor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and runs the Care Closet at the Nest.

Principal Mr. Brian Pawlicki was a part of the team that selected Lemke as North Harford’s nomination. According to the principal, anyone can nominate teachers and then when it is time, through the HCPS website; the administration gets a list of which teachers have been nominated. The administration selects a teacher from this pool of nominees. Pawlicki added that when deciding, they look at many

different aspects of a teacher’s effect on the school. These aspects include, “performance in class, student engagement, outside interaction with students, and service to the school.” Not only do they observe those aspects, but the administration also looks at the nominee’s overall “energy” and their “unique and engaging lessons.”

Lemke “has always had a dynamic style of teaching” and “students enjoy” being in her classes, according to Pawlicki. Not only does Lemke make a difference in the classroom, but “she has stepped up with the Care Closet and her service to the school.” He added that the English teacher has well performing “instructional classroom strate-

gies” that make her worthy of being North Harford’s nomination. Pawlicki also pointed out that

spirit by being one of the most dressed up teachers. Many of her students expressed that Lemke deserves to be North Harford’s nomination for HCPS Teacher of the Year.

“Mrs. Lemke is a teacher who truly cares about [students] inside and outside of the classroom, and is always willing to help no matter the situation,”

~ Lola Steele, Junior

during school spirit weeks, “she promotes”

Junior Hannah Arnold added that she likes how Lemke “sets up the class and makes sure all her students are comfortable.” Arnold also said that the English teacher ensures that all her students “understand what they are doing, and she takes time to make sure [they] are doing and what [each student] should be learning.” Junior Peyton Baldwin added that Lemke is a “very relatable” teacher that “relates to [her students] and knows what is going on.” Baldwin also expressed

she is a “very nice person.” Sophomore Elizabeth England claimed the Teacher of the Year nominee is a “very down to Earth” person and extremely helpful in class. She added that the teacher has “encouraged her writing skills.”

England explains that Lemke should win teacher of the year award because she has “a big impact” on the school and was the reason the sophomore “took honors English” this school year.

“Mrs. Lemke is a teacher who truly cares about [students] inside and outside of the classroom, and is always willing to help no matter the situation,” reports junior Lola Steele. Steele currently is enrolled in one of Lemke’s English classes and thinks she should win the award “because she is a very caring teacher and she allows for many students to succeed in English class.”

Ralliers gather around to demand education funding. Cecil County residents see over 2,000 people gather in front of the administration building. PHOTO CREDIT: The Baltimore Sun

Harford County has major littering problems; Stop leaving your garbage in grass and sides of roads

KENDALL WALTER Reporter

How many people think about the effects of their trash and where it is?

Whether it's scattered cigarette butts over pavement, or

gum spat out onto the side of the road, wherever you decide to throw it, do you think of the consequences?

Most animals will eat a lot of anything, including your trash.

Guilford County government states that, ``birds can die from ingesting poisons from moldy food, cigarette butts, and other harmful substances.”

Larger animals such as deer can be “injured from broken glass or plastic, animals found with their heads stuck in discarded buckets, cans, and plastic containers.”

Not only the animals are being affected; plant growth and small critters are also affected by the litter on the side of roads.

I was driving home from a friend's house at night and saw

Ohio pastor charged with...being kind

EDITORIAL

Winter has come back to slap us in the face with multiple feet of wet, heavy snow, and has brought bouts of arctic winds along with it. However, there’s only one thing more frozen than the roads that are being pelted by both rain and snow: The hearts of Ohio lawmakers who have criminally charged a pastor for giving shelter to the unhoused.

In lieu of the “dangerously cold” weather (according to CBS), Ohio pastor Chris Avell decided to open his church, Dad’s Place, to unhoused people so that they would not fall victim to the deadly weather. According to NBC, “Avell was hit with 18 zoning violations by the city, which claimed he had violated a city ordinance that says residents can't stay on the first floor of that property.” The church is located in the business district of Bryan, Ohio, where laws prohibit anyone from eating, sleeping or washing their clothes on property grounds. USA Today reports that Avell is now suing the city on the grounds of religious discrimination.

Of course, there is truth behind his lawsuit. In the Bible, there are multiple instances where people are told to help the poor. For example, in the book of Deuteronomy, it says, ““If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient to his

need, whatever it may be.” Avell was simply following the doctrine of his religion; in the Constitution, it quite literally states that there cannot be any sort of discrimination on the basis of religion.

Besides the fact that Avell was clearly following instructions in the Bible, we must look at this from a non-religious standpoint as well. Avell was just being kind; the weather, which has been reported to be the cause of deaths for at least five people, was not safe for unhoused people to be left alone in.

What kind of a world do we live in where opening up your heart to others is a crime?

It’s worth noting that there aren’t even that many people staying at Dad’s Place; The Guardian explains that, “On average, eight people stay there each night, and a few more do so when [the] weather is bad.”Really? 18 zoning laws for eight people? That’s petty, more than anything.

All in all, the basis for the charges against Avell are completely unreasonable. Besides the fact that the Bible literally tells Christians like Avell to show kindness to the poor and unhoused, it’s really just a matter of human decency. Letting people spend the night in a warm, safe place should not warrant criminal charges, especially when the outside environment has turned deadly.

Is it really so hard to show a bit of kindness towards those who need it? Or have the cold winds of the 2024 winter season turned lawmakers’ hearts into blocks of ice?

News Editors: Kris Gray, Lexi Gott

Opinion/Editorial Editors: Mackenzie Scott, Noel Bailey

Features Editor: Isabel Kropkowski

these reflective objects scattered over the side of the road.

Slowing down, I noticed that these reflections were due to scattered cans of beer.

There was over a case of beer, meaning there were about 24 bottles.

This litter was also combined with Pinot Grigio containers from Sutter Home.

These bottles were often filled with the backwash of spit from chewing tobacco, disgusting to pick up and leak.

In total, I filled up two reusable grocery bags with this trash, and cleaned up everything from this hill.

Where someone decided to litter and throw their trash into the wildlife.

This made me think of all the other trash that you see on the side of the road as you pass by.

From that moment, I started to stop the car and clean up and pick up the trash that most would just drive past. I believe picking up trash you see is something that everyone should do.

Not only does it just make your surroundings clean, but it also benefits wildlife that could be affected by the trash left.

Almost everyone has seen the ocean clean-up efforts, or the signs for littering with fines; there are all efforts in place to stop this.

However, it still seems like a prominent problem.

The fact is that people don't care; so many people don't care

about the effects of their actions on the place they inhabit.

They go about life with the mindset of, “Well, I'm only one person, so how much of an effect can I have?”

But the truth is that if so many others have that same thought, it turns out to have one giant effect.

Kab.org says there are around 50 billion pieces of litter along U.S. roads and waterways.

That's over six times the world's population, and that's just in the United States.

When people don’t care, then the whole world supports them. It isn't just humans who live on this Earth; think about others and how we affect them. We need a change.

Brainwashed from social media; Consumerism mindset ruins our society

NOEL BAILEY Op/Ed Editor

“This viral product,” “You need this product,” “This item will change your life.” This is all you hear when scrolling on TikTok.

TikTok has become an online shopping place; it's no longer just fun, short videos. The problem is not just the TikTok shop; it's also the people who are on the app feeding into the consumerist mentality.

Let's time-travel back to 2014 when Musically came out to app stores.

Musically was a social media app where people made lip syncing videos, funny videos, and dancing videos to any of their favorite songs.

You were able to like, comment, and follow others just like any other social media app. The app got a lot of traction later on, and it soon became one of the most used social media apps.

Then it was bought out by a new brand, TikTok, and that is

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what we know the app as today. Since the new brand took over the app, there have been lots of modifications to the app to keep people engaged and wanting to use the app.

This is currently a period in life where it's normal for everyone to have a phone; it's actually more expected of you to have a phone and social media.

Kids are growing up with expectations from their peers to be “cool” by having a phone and social media at a young, young age.

When adults are letting their children have the apps, all the kids are seeing are videos that cause brain rot.

They see video after video of others on the app trying to sell things to make you think that, “it's the best product on the market,” when it's really overpriced garbage.

But kids and even adults will scroll and scroll for hours seeing people talk about products, clothing, home appliances, etc., showing off everything they got while under the consumerist influence, because that's all that is pushed into everyone's minds.

Social media has just become a place for the government (or whoever is controlling what is pushed into the public eye) to establish an environment of brain rot.

They know exactly what they are doing to everyone's minds; they know they have everyone who has social media under their fingertips under control.

Health and Science Editor: Gabby Moxham

Entertainment Editor: Riley Herold

Sports Editor: Stella Manns

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They want to be able to keep the population wanting more.

They want us to keep buying more and more products that we don’t need to give to the economy - to make the economy look better, and overall make the reputation of our country better.

Rarely, I see important videos or posts about real world problems that are happening in our world that are life or death situations.

Social media just pushes out what they want you to think about.

They don’t want you to know what's happening with Gaza and Israel right now because that doesn’t do anything to help our country.

I don’t care about the newest trending Stanley cup color.

Social media should go back to being a safe space for people to voice their opinions, share their creativity, and learn about the news.

The brainwashing of consumerism is ruining our world as we know it.

Our world has become inhabited by zombies; creatures with no emotions or feelings when we see things.

They just keep clicking buttons, not even feeling fulfilled when the packages of items we ordered arrive at our houses.

We have all been brainwashed by the media and have become their zombies to influence and control.

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

NFL cares more about views than actual football

EDITORIAL

Football season has officially passed, but what's not in the past is Super Bowl LVIII. On Feb. 11, the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers faced each other in Super Bowl LVIII, with Usher and many other special guests holding the halftime show.

In the end, the Kansas City Chiefs took home the victory of another Super Bowl win.

Originally, it was predicted that the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers were supposed to face each other in Super Bowl LVIII because the NFL Super Bowl logo contained purple and red. Which was a coincidence right?

However, in the past, the NFL Super Bowl logo predicted the teams going into the Super bowl.

In 2022, Super Bowl LVI logo included red, orange and yellow. The Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams ended up facing each other in the Super Bowl, like the colors predicted.

In the logo, the orange represents the Cincinnati Bengals and the yellow represents the Los Angeles Rams.

In 2023, Super Bowl LVII logo included green, red, and purple. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs ended up fac-

ing each other, just like the colors predicted again. The Eagles were represented with the green, while the Chiefs were represented by the red.

Again that's surely a coincidence, right?

Well, it wasn’t until people started to catch onto the logo conspiracy that the NFL de - cid -

“The NFL couldn’t stick to their original plan with the Baltimore Ravens vs. the San Francisco 49ers.”

ed to change it so they weren’t deemed as scripted. However, the NFL didn’t escape that conspiracy, but only made it worse, instead.

The other reason the NFL strayed away from the logo was because of the audience. In order to get more people to watch their games, the NFL needed entertainment and drama.

This year, that entertainment and drama was provided by Taylor Swift dating Travis Kelce, a tight end on the Kansas City Chiefs. This love story brought in so many fans, especially Swifties.

The NFL wanted that drama. They wanted the Chiefs to win, so they rigged it so they could get there. This is unacceptable. What about the game?

What about the people's love for football? That is all taken away by the scripted games. Whatever happened to the fun of the game?

Football fans love the game so much. that they even plan their day, weekend and even week around the game. The games give a chance for families to spend time with each other even if the whole family doesn’t actually watch the game. But the scripted games take that away.

With the views being higher than ever, the NFL couldn’t stick to their original plan with the Baltimore Ravens vs. the San Francisco 49ers.

The NFL had to change it up in order to get the views they wanted for the Super Bowl, but also get the conspiracy away from the logo predicting the super bowl.

This whole conspiracy opens a whole nother view on athletics. Are games really rigged, or is it just a game?

That question will never be answered, but true fans know.

The NFL is just hurting themselves and pushing true fans away.

Juvenile illiteracy rates rise; Early access to tech is to blame

MASON CLARK Reporter

Generation Alpha is the most concerning group of children yet. With a lack of literary skills and basic computer skills at the early age of 11, it launches concern for the future

For years and years, Generation Zoomers (or Gen Z) has been touted as the “i” generation, addicted to our phones and technology unlike previous generations.

Be that as it may, the majority of us did not own a phone until middle school, providing us ample time to learn the way we’re meant to.

We developed basic reading skills as well computer safety and etiquette, something that the current elementary curriculum lacks.

The current state of elementary aged children is alarming, while its multiple problems have just stacked and worsened the issue. The main problem is the parents, who are buying them

phones at such a young age.

While these kids have had iPads since infancy, the justification, I imagine, is learning apps. However, they will have all of human knowledge in our documented history at their fingertips; that won't hold the attention of someone so small, so some way or another they gain access to Tiktok, Snapchat, or Instagram, and it alters their brains.

When they use these apps rather than the internet or some form of learning app, it leads to kids that are glued to technology, but do not know the difference between a reliable source and an unreliable source. They don't know proper computer safety. “Stranger danger” means nothing when there's a screen between the two; this can lead to grooming without proper guidance by parents or a curriculum.

With the rise of short-length video apps like Tiktok or Instagram reels, their attention spans are harmed, which means they are less likely to respond to conventional teaching practices as they hardly absorb knowledge.

Third and fifth grade teachers have to teach basic reading skills to their students during and after school; their very small free periods and lunch breaks leave little time for themselves, which is necessary.

The teachers are not failing the students - they can't help whether the child has too much access to technology or not. Par-

Faith, friends, fellowship; Helps restore faith in community

BROOKELYN PRIEBE Reporter

If you ask people what happens on Sunday, some people may say it's the beginning of a new week. Some might say it's when old people go to church, and, yeah; both are true, but it's not only old people who go to church.

Personally, I love my church, and I find it so reassuring to know that when something happens, I have these people who surround me with love, faith, and kindness to be there for me.

Church is not only just to hear the word of God (if you are a Christian), but it is also to learn to love others no matter what. It teaches you to treat people kindly and respect each other even if their beliefs go against yours.

It reminds me that even though we are all sinners, I am given a chance everyday to do better because I am forgiven. Church isn't a building; it is a community that

helps others here, there, and everywhere and that is something you come to find when you go to church.

You learn that this community isn't just there for you when bad things happen, but they are there for you to celebrate the good and to just walk through your everyday life with you in support.

I am no better than anyone else in the community. We are all equal. We are all sinners who want to do better. I feel that is a beautiful thing to be a part of; to be a part of helping one another, in trying to spread faith to give others a chance to find something they can always come back to and lean in to.

I understand some people have had religion pushed on them, and that has only pushed them away from religion, and it may be a joke to some people; I am not here to force anything on you. This is not the only community that you can find comfort in. There are so many other places that you can find the love, kindness, and support that I find in church.

It is important to feel and know that you have people who will take that walk with you through hard times and also walk with you through the beautiful times.

I hope everyone can find a community that they feel loved in and if you ever have a hard time finding one, give church a chance.

Schools are building workaholics

VIEWPOINT

ents want their children to have access to a phone at all times regardless of grade in case there's an emergency.

What did parents do before their eight year olds had their own phones? Call the school.

HCPS is considering a change to the phone policy that has been in place since 2013. If approved, it would ban the use of phones in the classroom completely, which would benefit all levels of schooling.

It is also important to mention the bullying, harassment, and intimidation that the phones cause with social media comes cyberbullying there is a consistent trend between the two per jamanetwork.com.

This is a detriment to our children, who get diagnosed with anxiety and depression at a young age; it is truly alarming.

The lack of computer and internet safety rears its head when you browse these short length video sites you see children from the ages of seven to 14, who spout obscenities and slurs they do not fully grasp. They don't realize that once it's on the internet, one way or another, it's on there forever and can ruin their chances at a decent future.

We need to step up, and I trust HCPS will make the right decision.

Parents need to look through their young childrens’ devices or take them, and teach them how to live normally again.

In the U.S., people are working non-stop. A person who compulsively works hard and long hours fits perfectly into the personalities of many people. It is also the definition of a workaholic.

“Nearly half of employed Americans (48 percent) consider themselves modern day ‘workaholics’ according to new research,” reported Nypost.com

These people don’t just grow up and become overworking adults; instead, they are pushed by schools, parents, and their communities around them to overwork themselves.

Oftentimes, a workaholic is someone who doesn’t take a break from their work and doesn’t know how to separate work life from personal/home life. “Most researchers define a workaholic as a person who works excessively and compulsively and is unable to detach from work,” wrote Forbes.com This sounds pretty familiar, because as students, they aren’t taught how to separate school work from home life.

Instead, high schoolers go to school for seven straight hours per day, just like an average work day.

But then after that long day of school students must go home and do hours of homework.

As student’s school work and personal life blend together or grades will slip because they don’t get to finish their homework. After years of doing this, adults can’t break the habit of

blending work and personal life together. This results in a negative effect on personal lives, physical, and mental health.

A workaholic works so much that their work takes up time for doing things that keep them healthy such as sleep, eating, and downtime.

That same thing often happens in students as well.

Students can end up staying up super late doing homework, taking away from time they should be sleeping. “Around 20 percent of students pull all-nighters at least once a month, and about 35 percent stay up past three in the morning once or more weekly,” reported med.upenn.edu. In the end, this isn’t beneficial because lack of sleep harms their ability to learn.

To a workaholic, the main priority is work. This results in lack of effort in personal relationships, which causes them harm. It also causes harm to the physical self. When people prioritize work over health, it results in many illnesses and not being healthy. It also harms mental health, resulting in burnout and mental health illness.

In the end, a big reason overworking is becoming an issue is due to it starting in school. School systems show students that constantly working and not making time for themselves, their families, and their health is okay. Schools need to take a step back and look at if giving homework every night is truly going to help students in the long run.

Gender roles reflected in children's toys

VIEWPOINT

Young girls grow up surrounded by play kitchens, baby dolls, and play-makeup accessories. Young boys grow up surrounded by cars, fake guns, and soldier figurines - For the most part, that is.

Although most children don’t realize it, they’re just simply playing with their toys - gender roles are being rooted into them before they can even understand it.

According to NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) “girls’ toys were associated with physical attractiveness, nurturing, and domestic skill, whereas boys’ toys were rated as violent, competitive, exciting, and somewhat dangerous.” This is so similar to gender roles’ expectations. The girls are expected to tend to the house, stay in the kitchen, care for the children, and so on. The boys are supposed to go off to work, serve in the army, support the family; you know, all of those the 1900’s beliefs.

It is important to let children experience different types of children’s toys, outside of just steering them to the girls section if they’re a girl, and a boys section if they're a boy.

There’s a lot of assumptions linked to allowing a child to play with a toy that isn’t traditionally for their gender. For example, some people may think that letting a boy tend to a baby doll is going to make him “too nurturing” or “too soft.” But, wouldn’t you want your child to be caring and in tune with their emotions?

Psychology professor Judith Elaine Blakemore stated in an in-

terview with NAEYC that if parents “want to develop children's physical, cognitive, academic, musical, and artistic skills,” there are “toys that are not strongly gender-typed are more likely to do [that].”

It’s not that girls aren’t allowed to play with traditional girls toys, and vice versa for boys; it’s more or so that limiting children to those boxes introduces an everlasting role for them.

Gender stereotyping is a dangerous game to play. Not even just the toy part, but the whole concept in general causes harm. According to Brimingham City School of Education and Social Work “gender stereotypes can affect every part of life, contributing towards poor mental health in young people, higher male suicide rates, low self-esteem in girls and issues with body image (1 in 5 14 year olds self-harm), furthermore allowing a culture of toxic masculinity and violence against women to go unchecked.”

Children should be learning from the very start that they can be anything. They can be sensitive, they can be a makeup artist even if they’re a boy, or be in the military even if they’re a girl. So, letting them experience different children’s toys when they’re young can and will expand their opportunities, and prevent them from feeling limited.

It’s the 21st century; most people have come to terms that gender roles can and will be broken. But it’s important to keep letting children think, and play, outside of the box.

Paparazzi’s invasive techniques;

Celebrities, influencers face uncomfortable interactions

EDITORIAL

Being followed to your home, asked inappropriate questions by strangers, and having crowds wait outside whatever building you’re in when you’re in public; to an everyday person, this would be cause for much concern and be absolutely terrifying. But celebrities are used to these kinds of interactions, with a camera or a phone shoved in their face.

The idea of paparazzi, on the surface, seems harmless - it’s just someone who happens to stumble across people of importance and snap pictures of them out and about. But that’s not the whole truth. Marriam-Webster defines them as “a freelance photographer who aggressively pursues celebrities to take candid photographs.”

Usatoday.com reports, “In August, [actress] Jennifer Garner and [singer] Halle Berry showed up in Sacramento and tearfully described how paparazzi had stalked, shouted at, provoked and chased their children

in public to get pictures.” The article continued, “[Lawmakers] don't have a strong argument other than the fact that their celebrity constituents want this," says Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel of the National Press Photographers Association. "[Celebrities] want their cake and eat it, too.”

The concern of celebrities’ children also comes into play when their parents are high-profile people. Usatoday.com states, "Parents sign a permission slip for their child to be photographed at their school. I don't see this as any different," [Actress Kristen] Bell says. She continues with "[Papa] razzi never used to hunt kids, but with all the magazines and blogs looking for picture content now, things have gotten out of hand because there is a lot of money to be made ... at the expense of little kids who didn't sign up for this," Bell says.

Paparazzi don’t just stop at harassing new parents for exclusive pictures of their babies; some will take the opportunity to harass celebs at their homes.

In an infamous video of rapper

Kanye West, it shows the rapper in his garage, when the paparazzi is shown early in the morning trying to ask West questions until he closes the garage door on the paparazzi.

This is not the only time West has had unfortunate encounters with the paparazzi. According to latimes.com, he “grabbed a phone from a paparazzi photographer and threw it into oncoming traffic while she recorded him, according to claims in a lawsuit filed in Ventura County.”

The photographer is “suing West on allegations of assault, battery, negligence and a violation of her civil rights.”

Another incident, according to rollingstone.com, where West “settled a civil lawsuit stemming from a July 2013 incident where the rapper assaulted a photographer outside Los Angeles’ LAX airport.”

While some people may not go about addressing this issue in the most calm manner, these celebrities are tired and done with being stalked and harassed by people on the street.

Hawks Soar enables academic success, social interaction

KRIS GRAY News Editor

For many students, Hawks Soar is a time of productivity. It allows kids to conveniently organize their education and take care of responsibilities. To take that away is to put even more pressure on the people that are expected to excel. Removing this time is the same as telling teachers they will no longer be given a planning period.

For students, these four 30-minute periods allow for test make-ups, one-on-one time with teachers, clubs, studying, collaboration, etc. For the kids who prioritize

their education and overall school engagement, this is very beneficial. On the other hand, there are some students who are distractions to themselves and others. It is clear that there will always be someone who ruins it for the collective. But, the key word is always. There will always be someone who doesn’t silence their cellphone in the movie theater. There will always be shoplifters. That doesn’t mean the store has to shut down. It just means that the staff must do more to ensure that their policies are being followed. Hawks Soar is no different. Managing the bathrooms has been a struggle for this school. While a restroom is simply made for using the bathroom, some people think it is for recreation. Yet, the administration didn’t shut down every bathroom. Why? Because it is a necessity for most kids. It’s the same with Hawks Soar. It doesn’t have to black and white. But, for the county, it's just easier to handle by letting it go. It should be known that politics don’t apply when it comes to a

child’s education. This generation and their quality of education have a direct impact on the future of Harford County and beyond. Everyone curses this generation, but no one does the right thing to help them.

We hope that those in charge will not eliminate this opportunity without thinking of the students who work jobs to support their family.

We hope they will consider the child whose family life is not conducive to fulfilling their school responsibilities, so Hawks Soar is their ONLY opportunity to focus on school work.. We hope they keep in mind that some people are not able to stay after school for clubs. So, instead of allowing everyone to have the option to attend, those students just can’t be involved.

There is no benefit to ending Hawks Soar. The results may look good on paper in numbers, but these kids are not just grades and hours. Let’s stop treating them like they are.

Internet theorists run wild; Online conspiracy getting out of hand

VIEWPOINT

Letting users on TikTok, Reddit, or Instagram go crazy with theories seems harmless, but in reality, it may be much more than harmful or deeper than some may think.

In this age of social media, rumors can run wild. Rumors can eventually turn into full-blown conspiracy theories; threads of online information can be posted pointing to a certain idea. This is common among the internet these days, where people will add on to and continue the so-called “lore” of these ideas.

Internet celebrity Trisha Paytas has had two conspiracies regarding her family in the

past two years. In 2022, Paytas was pregnant with her first baby, a girl. Around the time of her due date was when Queen Elizabeth II, the previous English monarch, had passed away at 96 years old. This is when users online started the rumors that Paytas was going to give birth to the reincarnation of Queen Elizabeth. According to nbcnews.com, “Paytas gave birth to her first child, Malibu Barbie Paytas-Hacmon, on Sept. 14, 2022, less than a week after Queen Elizabeth II died. This led to an influx of memes about the queen being reincarnated as Paytas’ eldest daughter.” The article continues, “after it was announced that Charles

had been diagnosed with cancer, Paytas quickly started trending on X. Users made more jokes about the king dying and being reborn as Paytas’ second child,” as she is currently pregnant with her second baby. “I get the meme of it all," [says Paytas.] "I was able to lean into the Queen Elizabeth one a little bit, but it also terrifies me that people believe in it enough."

But it doesn’t just stop at random theories about people you see online; there are some theories out there that could be much more harmful. According to blogs.luc.edu, “a journalist reported that a Reddit user first introduced the concept that

Mattress Firm, the largest mattress retailer in the world, is actually a front for money laundering.” This intrigued people all over the world, causing people on the internet to examine the reality of the stores.

These theories started mainly because of the amount of stores and their proximity to each other. Blogs.luc.edu stated that “Mattress Firm has an estimated 3,272 stores across the nation and, according to data start-up Thinkum, almost half of those stores are within a one-mile radius of each other.” The article continued saying, “Reddit users were baffled at the need for that many stores since people don’t buy mattress-

es that often – a product that is typically bought every [seven to ten] years. At the height of the viral conspiracy theory, then-CEO Ken Murphy denied money laundering claims calling it “absolutely false.” He explained to Business Insider that “Our convenient locations in highly-trafficked areas keep us top of mind when it’s time to buy a mattress.”

While some theories are simple jokes or rumors, some can be taken way too far. Be careful what you share on the internet, and remember that sometimes there are real people involved before you become an internet sleuth.

FFA competes for future opportunities: Forms winning

KATIE VANARSDALE Reporter

It’s that time of year: the blue and gold teams are gearing up for another series of competitions. FFA offers an opportunity for its members to participate in different competitions regarding different aspects of agriculture. There are two different types of competitions, with different events within each type.

CDE stands for Career Development Event. These events focus on developing skills for different careers within agriculture. Meanwhile, LDE stands for Leadership Development Event. These events focus on developing public speaking skills. “Students grow skills in areas that they are inter-

ested in, get to form friendships with other team members, [and] get to meet people from around the state at competitions,” says Mrs. Hannah Jarrell, agriculture and horticulture teacher. “[Students] have the opportunity to complete sponsored travel around the country.” “So far, CDE teams practicing include Vet Science, Food Science, Floriculture, Nursery and Landscape, Meat Evaluation, Farm Business Management, Milk Quality Products, and Ag Mechanics,” says Jarrell. The Meat Evaluation team is made up of junior Nevada Abels, sophomore Grayson Whaley, freshman Sophie Read, and sophomore Nina Fields. The Milk Quality team is freshman Madi-

son Thomas, senior Cole Hellwig, and freshman Emily Troyer. Currently this team still has one spot open.

The Farm Business team consists of sophomores William Rowan, Samuel Kleback, Lucy Heisey, and senior James Ortt.

The Ag Mechanics team is made up of sophomore Douglas Anderson, junior Christian Cockerham, sophomore Ryley Schildtknecht, and sophomore Devin Deinlein.

“LDE participants are practicing Extemporaneous, Prepared, and Creed Speaking.” says Jarrell.

The Creed speaking team consists of freshmen Sophie Read and Aunaleigha Walker. The Extemporaneous Speaking team is made up of junior Clayon Mc-

Brand new arrival of piglets, lambs; Multiple animals added to barn

KENDALL WALTER Reporter

Birthing babies in the barn is not a new experience at North Harford. Students of ag teacher Mrs. Aimee Densmore was on call and readily available for helping with the birth process and care after. This year, the births were tricky with students not present at school due to inclement weather on the day Ms. Cherry went into labor. Also, there were complications with Sophie the sheep who gave birth and died in the process.

Sophie gave birth to three lambs: two boys and one girl. However, she did not make it through the birthing process. Sophomore, Sophie Reinert, explained, “Sophie had to have an emergency C-section prematurely.”

Junior Clayton McGraw added Sophie the sheep had “pregnancy toxemia during her pregnancy. So, the sheep was unable to get up because her body was focused on keeping her babies alive instead of herself.”

lambs in Densmore’s room. Densmore shares that for the lambs, “We used a synthetic colostrum for the first 24 hours, and now we use Save A Lamb.”

Students were able to be there on Jan. 18 when a pig, Ms. Lucy, gave birth. However, on Jan. 21, Ms. Cherry, one of the resident pigs, gave birth on a day where school was canceled. Ms. Lucy is a Hampshire pig, which is characterized by a black body, and a white band around the middle. These pigs have a lifespan of

castrate, give iron shots, vaccinate, tag the pigs’ ears, and clip their teeth. Students get handson learning here by actually doing these procedures. After birth is the best time to perform these operations because the nerves of the piglets are not fully formed yet, so it causes little harm to do so.

Castrating the male piglets is important to reduce aggressive behavior and to insure the best quality meat if future owners decided to use them for meat.

Students are able to be on birthing teams, who are here after school helping to deliver the piglets. About eight years ago, there was another sheep that had pregnancy toxemia. However, they were able to treat her, and she delivered healthy lambs on her own.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sophie Reinert

The lambs were unable to get their mother’s milk, which is the most important first milk because it contains colostrum, which is very rich in nutrients and has antibodies to protect the baby from infections. Since the lambs were not able to get this, they have a weaker immune system on top of being born prematurely. The students now bottle feed the baby

around 12 years, and can weigh up to 650 pounds.

Lucy gave birth to six boys and one girl. Reinert says the type of pigs she gave birth to are called, “Blue butt pigs, which farm fairs love and have a bit of favoritism for.”

When the piglets are born, students will have the ability to

Graw, senior Kalyna Lloyd, senior Cole Hellwig, junior Ryan Layman, senior Calvin Rose, and sophomore Grayson Whaley. Prepared Speaking includes sophomores Samantha Hawk, Keegan Huss, Sophia Reinart, and Katherine Vanarsdale, as well as juniors Waverly Iriarte and Allyson Knott. LDE and the Ag mechanics teams are the first to compete. These teams “participate in a regional event March 16 in Westminster. If they place in the top four at regionals they will continue to the State Convention in June at Wisp in Garrett County.” says Jarrell. All of the other teams will “compete at State Spring Judging in April.” The last level of the competition

Town changes

Groundhog Day to easy coin toss

BROOKELYN PRIEBE Reporter

On Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the groundhog emerged from hibernation and didn’t see his shadow, according to weather.com, which means warm weather is just around the corner.

is Nationals, “If teams place first in the state they will continue on to the National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana in October.” says Jarrell. A lot of work goes into preparing each team for their competitions. “Students are essentially taking on another class worth of work as they participate in weekly practices and cover extensive at-home practices/homework,” says Jarrell. When the teams arrive at the competition, they will be tested in “Practicums based on skills, written test, and team activity,” says Jarrell. The best thing that can be done in order to do well in the competition is too, “Practice, practice, practice! You got this!” says Jarrell.

predicting the weather. “Once they came to America, German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs.”

The animal rights group PETA is fighting to get Punxsutawney Phil replaced by a golden coin, according to triblive.com. PETA quotes “groundhogs can’t make heads or tails of the weather forecast, and shouldn’t be jostled around by large members of a different species and thrust in front of noisy crowds for a photo op.”

Tooth chipping is also important, because after birth piglets’ teeth are razor sharp and can do major harm to the mother, other piglets, or students that are handling the piglets.

Finally, later in the school year, these piglets will be shown at the farm fair by students to be bought by the new owner who decided what to do with their pigs which were born and raised here at NHHS.

Densmore shares that “students put in an application to show the pigs,” following with describing the process students go through to train the pigs. “The students will begin working with their pigs during their barn duty times, and then when summer comes, they must be here three times a week to work with their pigs. They clean the pens, feed the pigs, bathe them, and learn how to make the pig respond to the show stick so they can show them.”

According to delawwareonline.com, if the groundhog sees its shadow, it will get scared and go back into hibernation for another six weeks. If it doesn’t see its shadow, that means spring will be coming soon.

According to a poll recently done on Instagram, most students would prefer to keep Punxsatawney Phil over a golden coin. Senior Reese Carroll asks, “why would they change a tradition?”

He then continues to say, “if there is nothing wrong, why would they try to change it? It’s

Although the students have faith in this groundhog, he has only a 39 percent accuracy rate, according to foxweather.com.

Groundhog Day roots from the ancient Christian tradition of “Candlemas,” “when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed for winter,” according to history.com.

History.com continues to state that the candles would represent how long and cold the winter might be, and that Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal as a means of

not like people are hurting this animal or doing anything wrong to it. All that is happening is people watching it come out of its home and seeing if he sees his shadow or not.”

Senior Claudia Pfaff says that changing Groundhog Day to a coin toss takes away the fun and purpose of the day. She says, “Groundhog Day brings enjoyment to people because it is a live animal, not just a boring coin. Nothing is being done to Punxsutawney Phil, so there is no reason for a tradition to be changed.”

Famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil confirms spring will be here soon. According to local folklore, Punxsutawney Phil had been making predictions since 1886. PHOTO CREDIT: usatoday.com

FBLA competes in recent regional competition, Multiple students earn top three recognition

MEKENZIE MCCANN SCC Editor

During the week of Jan. 2225, 15 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) students competed in the FBLA Regional Competition.

Four students placed in the top three of their division.

Senior Braxton Victor placed first in the Accounting division, sophomore Peyton Dawson and senior Caitlyn Travagline placed first in the Business Management division, and senior Paige Rhoten placed third in the Organizational Leadership division.

North Harford had 12 competitors in total.

Business teacher Mr. Eugene Liebel states that “the competition was scheduled for Jan. 20 at South River High School, but due to weather, they moved it online, so students took a 100 question test from our classes during the week of Jan. 22 to Jan. 25.”

Liebel comments that “students who place in the top five qualify for the State Championship competition in Ocean City, Maryland, at the end of March, so in addition to the students in

the top three, we had several other qualifiers.”

“Unfortunately, States are held in the middle of the week over a four day span and require overnight stay, so none of our qualifiers could go given the amount of time they would have to allocate to this and what they would miss here as a result.” This included things like spring sports, employment, school work, among other things, said Liebel.

He continues, “I am hoping FBLA makes States less of a time commitment and more flexible for the qualifiers in the future,”

topic of choice it narrows down the curriculum to study from previous things we have learned in class.”

Travagline states that “there was not much preparation. You take your general business knowl -

“I decided to join FBLA because it was a good opportunity to put down for colleges, but also because it exposed me to a different side of buisness.”

Rhoten comments that she “decided to compete in the competition, not only because it is a requirement to be a part of FBLA, but also to put my knowledge to the test and to see how well I can do in my category of choice.”

Rhoten continues, “there is no study guide provided for the FBLA competition, but you choose which field you want to compete in and depending on the

~Paige Rhoten, senior

edge and apply it to the competition. It is not something that you study for, you either know it or you do not.

Dawson says that she “prepared for the competition by paying attention in business class and just looking over the basics about business management. I

NH Talent show draws crowd; Yearbook hosts annual performance

NOEL BAILEY OP/ED Editor

The 2024 Student Teacher Talent Show was held on February 2. The yearbook staff has put together the show every year since 2017.

Mrs. Carla Harward is the yearbook teacher who started the show with her yearbook staff in 2017 when they wanted to add a talent show for teachers when they realized our school didn’t have one. The show evolved to the Student and Teacher Talent show giving everyone a chance to perform. This event has also been a big fundraiser for the yearbook staff to help them.

The show had a “bittersweet,” moment for Harward because she will be retiring before the next show next year so this is the last one she will be a part of.

“I’m happy it was a great staff effort and everybody bought into it and everybody did a great job with it,” said Harward and she is “very happy,” with how the talent show ended up this year.

The yearbook staff got to work on the talent show for this year on the first day of school, “we started planning way far in advance this year and we had more rehearsals which was helpful,” because the show ran so smoothly this year according to Harward.

The show this year had 22 acts plus a bonus one that was a surprise for Harward. Seniors, Lilly Moody, Mackenzie Dunaway, Sarah Reifsnyder, and Emily Johnson created a secret act that Harward did not know

about while planning the show that was dedicated to her. “I was blown away,” said Harward, she had no idea about the extra act.

“I was very very touched and very grateful,” she added.

There was a big range of different kinds of acts from singing, rapping, dancing, and acting. Lots of different acts played musical instruments and also sang while doing so. There was also dancing in some acts like the journalism staff dancing to “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction.

There were several teacher/faculty members that were picked by the yearbook staff to be the judges for the talent show and they picked Micheal Carcio to win for the best student act. He rapped his own self produced song on stage. Carcio said he felt “happy,”

to be up on the stage performing and it “felt good,” to win. He also added he might “possibly,” do the show again next year.

Harward wasn’t just behind the scenes in planning the talent show she took stage in a couple different acts this year.

“I was in the Barbie act with the yearbook staff, the Grannies Gone Wild with Mrs. Chandler, I was in the Mario Kart beginning, and then I was in the pound routine with Mrs. Birchfield, Mrs. Mock, Mrs. Chandler, and Mrs. Jestle.”

Harward said she loved being a part of all of those acts but shouted out the “yearbook staff and Mrs. Chandler.” Harward said she'll miss doing her acts with Mrs. Jennifer Chandler because “we did one every year to-

decided to compete because I thought it would be fun to see how much I actually know about business, specifically business management.”

Travagline continues to say that she “decided to compete for the potential of placing in Regionals or States. My favorite part of the competition was working with my class partner, Peyton Dawson.”

Dawson states that her “favorite part of the competition was competing in it with my friend, Caitlyn Travagline.”

Victor commented that he prepared for the test “very minimally by just looking over some old accounting notes from my accounting class last year.” He continues to state that he “decided to join FBLA to do another extracurricular that was related to the classes I was taking at the time. I got into business-related activities because I believe they are extremely useful, regardless of career.”

Liebel comments that FBLA is open “up to any tenth, [eleventh], or twelfth grade students

in business who want to compete and do some other extra curricular business events (like guest speakers).”

Liebel continues, “once we get volunteers, we work with them to pick events that they would be most successful in based off of the course work they have already completed.”

Travagline states that she “decided to join FBLA because I intended to be a business major in college.”

Dawson says that her “favorite part of being in FBLA is getting to learn more about business, as it is something that I think I will want to study in college.”

Rhoten states that she “decided to join FBLA because it was a good opportunity to put down for colleges, but also because it exposed me to a different side of business.

She continues, “in class, we learn how to manage a business, marketing, and event accounting, depending on what class you take. But, FBLA showed me the competition side of business, and what it is like to compete in business scenarios.”

Students mentor mini-journalists

LILY CORCORAN Copy Editor

At The Nest, English and journalism teacher Mrs. Jennifer Chandler teaches students about the basics of interactive media.

However, on Feb. 1, 2024, four members of the journalism staff traveled to the middle school to educate students on how to write like a real journalist.

Sixth grade English teacher Mrs. Rebecca Rommelman’s classes are currently learning about and researching teen activists.

Rommelman states, “I did an end of year survey with my students last year. In one of my questions about writing, several students said that they really felt bad that they weren’t doing anything to help the world be a better place after working through this unit!”

She continues, “That wasn’t the intent at all, and I had no idea they felt that way! I do think it is an important topic to study to help all of us get a little out of our comfort zone and to practice some empathy for others.”

Subsequently, the teacher sent an email to Chandler, requesting the assistance of journalism students to help accomplish their tasks.

“I was trying to think of things we could do to make this unit ‘come alive’ for them, and that’s when I thought of Mrs. Chandler! It was one of those 3 A.M. ideas that I think all teachers have and can relate

to,” she says.

So, Chandler sent seniors Noel Bailey and Gabby Moxham, as well as juniors Lexi Gott and Lily Corcoran, to mentor the sixth graders.

Rommelman mentions that her students wanted to know “exactly who was coming” to the middle school, but since she did not know herself, she “just kept explaining that it was ‘real, live, journalism students’ so they had better be on their best behavior!”

For the presentation for the students, the high school journalism students created a PowerPoint presentation from scratch.

The presentation was split into two parts: How to ask good questions, and how to use those questions to write an article.

There were multiple games and activities within the presentation so that the sixth graders could engage and interact with the new material they learned.

These games included sorting good questions from bad questions in an interview (including one regarding football player Travis Kelce), as well as coming up with questions to ask a teen activist within a five-minute limit.

Rommelman then goes onto add that she would, “love for [the students] to come again.”

She continues, “The lesson was so well put together, the right amount of listening time balanced with getting up and moving time. It was perfect!”

Virtual snow days approved 2023-2024 school year; County continues with inclement weather changes

ISABEL KROPKOWSKI Features Editor

On Jan. 2, 2024, HCPS decided to have a “traditional” inclement weather day. This was later changed on Jan. 26, 2024 to have the virtual instruction plan approved.

HCPS asked members of the community to complete a survey of their preferences on inclement weather days this school year. The survey results showed that of the 2,353 staff and community members that voted, 1,753 of them voted to conduct virtual instruction days, specifically asynchronous.

Only 600 voted for all schools to be closed. The same survey was sent out to parents and guardians, 4,149 of which voted. 2,242 voted to have asynchronous days. From both the staff and parents' side, the results showed that the majority of members in the county favored learning from home on inclement weather days. At the start of an inclement

weather day, all of the students are marked as “present” for that day as long as the work assigned for that day has been completed within the ten-day window.

One of the main reasons for the delay in this decision according to HCPS was that there is inconsistent and unreliable internet access for students and teachers.

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) approved HCPS’s virtual day instruction plan on Jan. 26, meaning that the county has three asynchronous virtual instruction days if inclement weather occurs.

Three weeks after the virtual instruction plan was approved, the county then had its first official asynchronous snow day on Tuesday, Feb. 13. On virtual instruction days, students must log into Canvas to complete assignments their teachers have given them for the day.

Students have ten days from the day the assignment is re-

leased to complete it. There is a button on Canvas for each subject students can click on in order to find their assigned work for that day. Based on the survey HCPS conducted, it was found that the majority of teachers and staff preferred asynchronous learning during inclement weather days rather than having a “traditional” snow day.

According to the survey by HCPS, teachers are in favor of this method because it allows “students to complete work at their own pace and schedule,” and allows staff members to stay safe at home in case of dangerous weather.

Science teacher Mrs. Patricia Massetti is also in favor of virtual snow days because “it gives us the opportunity to do a little bit of school work but not have the day count against us”. Massetti also states that “teachers should keep their work provided within the thirty minute window, making it equal for students.”

Senior students commit to different schools

BELLA ARIST Business manager

Depending on whether students applied for early action or regular decisions, some may be in the process of committing to a school. After hearing back from all the colleges, the class of 2024 will move on to the next step.

Senior Mia Coleman is committed to West Virginia University and will be majoring in Forensic Science and Examination. Coleman said, “I only applied to WVU, and I heard back after a week from submitting the application that I was accepted.”

According to the senior, “the application was really easy. I just went online and filled out everything I needed to, which was all self-explanatory.” She wasn’t stressed during this process because she was “very confident” she was going to get accepted.

Her parents helped her throughout the different steps and were “very helpful.” Coleman applied for a regular decision but submitted her application back in September. She wants to go for the Forensic Science program because “it is one of the best in the country.”

Senior Anna O’Leary is going to attend Brown University. She knew it was the one when she went to her official visit with the rugby team. O’Leary explained, “I loved the coach, and the team is so cool.”

The student explains, “it was definitely a scary process since I was applying early; there were very tight deadlines. It was very stressful getting the application in and everything I needed for it. I had an essay ready and my teachers were super helpful with recommendations.”

O’Leary explained how she only applied to one college and was committed to the rugby program. She shared, “my parents and siblings guided me through this whole process since they have already gone through this, which was very helpful.”

Senior Ella Sotaski will be attending East Carolina University and going to be a part of the Early Childhood Education program. She claimed, “At first, everything was very overwhelming, but I started early and with help from my counselor the process became easier and clearer.”

The senior is going to ECU because of the “beautiful campus” and “has a lot of opportunities for their students.” She explained, “when I met with the head of the elementary education department, I knew I couldn’t get to experience a phenomenal program like they had for my major at any other school.”

Annual pageant for dudes returns

EMILY JOHNSON IDR Editor

Are you free March 1? The journalism staff surely hopes so! The annual Mr. North Harford pageant will be returning to the stage, with both old and new faces.

The show will be held on Friday, March 1. Doors open at 6:30 P.M, and the show will begin at 7. Tickets can be purchased for $5 on GoFan. At last year’s event, there were only 50 tickets remaining the night of the show, so be sure to purchase yours in advance.

This event not only serves as a fun evening for students, staff, and families, but also as a fundraiser. The funds from this event contribute to expenses for the journalism staff, such as newspaper costs and other things throughout the year, like Kindness Week.

This year, there will be 11 contestants, including a freshman, two juniors, and many seniors. Returning boys include seniors Alex Wakefield, Mason Clark, and Preston Miller.

New faces include freshman Lucas Hale, juniors Drew Tagliaferri and Caleb Kerr, along with seniors Luke Brown, Harold Davis, Ivan Juarez, Casey Smith, and Lance Sunderhaus.

Miller, last year’s winner, explained that his favorite part of being in the show was “all the backstage commotion. It’s so hectic and such a good time.” His advice to other performers is “to just have fun with what you’re doing, or you won’t enjoy it. Just soak it all in.”

Smith assisted in a crowd-favorite act last year with former exchange student Baptiste Chone. While he wasn’t an official contestant, he “had a lot of fun and want[s] to be able to compete with [his] own act.” His goal for his act this year is to make the audience laugh.

Tagliaferri also commented, stating that he’s “looking forward to having some fun and making [himself] look stupid on stage.” The junior decided to do the show because “[English and journalism teacher] Mrs. Chandler recruited [him], and [he] has some friends in journalism and yearbook” that encouraged him to sign up.

Senior Autumn Patchell explained that she’s going to the show because it’s her last year at NH, and she’s “honestly just excited to see all the different acts, [because] you never know what to expect.” Patchell’s favorite act last year was “the ballerina beach ball act, [because] it was super funny.” Another senior, Mia Coleman, has never attended the show before, but expressed that she has “heard about all of the crazy stuff that happened last year, so [she] definitely wanted to see it for [herself].”

The boys will compete to take home the iconic sash and crown. 9 judges, along with the audience, will choose the winner.

2024-2025 scheduling plans begin; Creating great next year

LEXI GOTT News Editor

With the fall semester ending, scheduling for the 2024-2025 school year has begun.

Guidance has made their way through each history classroom and shared what students needed to know about their plans for next year.

They also assisted students in properly choosing classes they need to graduate.

Next year, most electives are continuing the same as they did this year and years prior, such as the social studies, and business, electives, according to guidance counselor Mr. Bob

Winter. Harford County Public Schools is making a significant change in the progression of the history curriculum.

U.S. History will be taken by every grade next year, excluding seniors. Winter explains that this is because “eighth grade students] take U.S. History up to a certain point in eighth grade, and then they [can] pick up on it again in ninth grade.“

This will make the transition more “fluid,” from middle school to high school history. However, this change is affecting every social studies

class next year, except for electives.

Winter explains that “the kids who are in eleventh grade are done social studies for next year. The kids who are now in tenth grade, they’ll need to take U.S. History to finish up their social studies credits. The kids that are currently in ninth grade, they’re going to be taking U.S. History.”

For upcoming seniors, they have the oppurtunity to take HCC courses to collect both high school credits and college credits, whilst still being enrolled in high school. This idea is called dual enrollment.

To do so, however, there are requirements to acquire the free enrollment.

“One of the big ones is the attendance,” says Winter. “The goal is 90% attendance.”

He shares that junior students need to watch their attendance. If they fall out of that attendance rate, they won’t be qualified.

Another requirement is a student’s overall GPA.

The guidance department is currently “in limbo right now, as to what that GPA is going to be. Last year it was a 2.0. This year, we’re anticipating that it’s going to be raised.” says

Winter.

Additionally, the guidance counselor advises that, “if you want to make changes [the guidance department] would prefer them before the end of this school year.”

Freshman Vincent Fares says, “I was really stressed about scheduling because there are a lot of classes to chose from. My counselor helped me through the whole prcess, I am ready and excited for next year.

Junior Aubrey Lawson says, “it wasn’t stressful because I kind of already knew what classes I was going to take, so I just had to check the boxes...”

Legally Blonde continues rehearsal; Actors practice for upcoming show

BELLA ARIST Business Manager

As the weeks go by, students a part of this year’s musical continue their rehearsal. Blocking, dancing, singing, and other skills being practiced for opening night on April 12.

Junior Kira Victoria-Holt is the lead role starring as Elle Woods and she is “very happy” with her role. Holt claims, “practices have been going very well and it is already coming together which is a great way to start.”

This actress has been in Footloose, King Tut, All Together Now, Guy and Dolls, Aladdin, and now Legally Blonde. Holt says, “I have been doing musical theater for about six years now and have loved it so far.”

Holt explains, “my favorite part of being in this musical so far would have to be learning the music, as well as my lines. The one thing that I have been strug-

gling with is waiting for the show to happen.”

She has made “a good chunk of new friends,” and most of them are either “underclassmen, or people trying theater for the first time.”

Senior Alex Wakefield is one of the lead male roles as Emmet. As for practices, Wakefield shares, “a lot of work gets done, which is good; they aren’t too frequent.”

The senior has met a ton of people he “hasn’t met before” through this musical. He has enjoyed “making new friends” and is having trouble with “the memorization” part of acting.

Wakefield says, “I have been doing musical theater since I was about 12. I have been in a few musicals since then.”

Senior Mariah Imes plays the role of Margot, who is the lead’s best friend. The actress says, “we have gotten so much done during practices and I have made a cou-

Mean Girls 2024 adaptation released

RILEY HEROLD Entertainment Editor

On Jan. 12, 2024, a new adaptation of the Mean Girls movie was released, this time being a musical directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez, Jr.

Mean Girls stars Angourie Rice as main character Cady Heron, Reneé Rapp as queen bee Regina George, Bebe Wood as Gretchen, Avantika as Karen, Christopher

but, it wasn’t totally bad either.”

Gorschboth continued, “I feel like it was missing some of the scenes I really enjoyed, which threw me off a little, but I did enjoy the new musical aspect of it.”

The new movie follows the plot of the original film and centers around Cady Heron, a naive teenager who spent her childhood in Africa with her parents. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she moves to the United States and enrolls in a public high school. Unfamiliar with American high school social norms and cliques, Cady meets Janis and Damian, who guide her through the various factions within the school, helping her find her place.

Briney as Aaron Samuels, Auli’i Cravalho as Janis, and Jaquel Spivey as Damian.

Mean Girls was originally adapted from Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, and became a Broadway musical in 2018 featuring music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin.

Junior Reagan Gorschboth went to see the movie as soon as it was released. Gorschboth stated, “I enjoyed the movie, but it wasn’t as good as the original;

ple new friends which is always good.”

Imes claims, “the thing I love most about being a part of this show is getting on stage with some of my favorite people. I am not looking forward to tech week as much, because of how much stress and time comes from that.”

The senior has been doing musical theater for about four years and continues to do it because it brings her “joy and light.”

Co-director and choir teacher Ms. Katelyn Hemling says, “I performed in musicals all through High School and then pursued Opera in college. So I did a lot of staged work in grad school. I got to work on all sides of production from backstage to light booth to costumes and more.”

Hemling explains, “I would say the hardest part is planning. There are a lot of moving pieces, and a lot to get done in a relatively short amount of time. The

weather has been an added challenge this year as well…definitely keeping us on our toes. The easiest part is having fun doing it. We have an awesome cast and an incredible team of teachers working so hard. They make it fun.”

The director explains the students that are a part of the show “clearly love the show” and want to be a part of this production. Hemling and everyone a part of the show dedicates a lot of their time to this musical.

Hemling says, “I absolutely love watching our students fall in love with music. Music and musicals offer a unique opportunity for students to expand their horizons and come out of their shells. Watching all of the hard work come together in the end is the most incredible feeling, and nothing brings me more joy than watching our students succeed and feel pride in their work.”

Choreographer and science

teacher Mrs. Christine Jestel shares, “In college, I minored in dance and began choreographing musicals while still in high School. Ironically, my first musical as a choreographer and teacher in a school was Bye Bye Birdie in Alexandria, Virginia, and when I came back to teaching, it was my first musical here at North Harford.”

She continued “I have had the pleasure of working on Man of La Mancha, Brigadoon, Oliver, Guys and Dolls, the King and I, and The Music Man as a choreographer and assistant director over the years.”

Jestel explains that throughout the show, students are able to learn the value of “practicing to achieve excellence” as to learn the show. She shares, “I spend much of my weekends and evenings planning choreography, blocking, and props... but I choose to spend my time like this.”

Usher headlines Super Bowl 58 performance

The Plastics, the school’s most popular and feared clique, led by Regina George along with her loyal followers Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith, reigns supreme over the social hierarchy. Initially repelled by their superficiality, Cady is eventually persuaded by her new friends, Janis and Damian, to infiltrate the Plastics and bring them down from the inside.

Gorschboth stated, “My favorite song would have to be “World Burn.” I don’t know what about it made me love it, but it just really stuck with me.”

Other songs included in this new adaptation include, “Meet the Plastics,” “Stupid with Love,” “Apex Predator,” “Revenge Party,” “Someone Gets Hurt,” and so many more. This new musical is now being featured on PrimeVideo.

LILA PARRY Reporter

The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers fought to win Super Bowl LVIII, with the Chiefs coming out with the win. The game drew in over 123 million viewers, according to Variety.com, but that wasn’t the only thing that brought the attention of people across the country.

The Super Bowl halftime show draws many people in. In a poll done of North Harford students, 56% said that they prefer watching the halftime show over the game. A poll taken before the game showed that 66% of North Harford students were excited for the halftime show.

This year, R&B star Usher headlined the show with multiple other talented artists joining him to perform. “Special guest artists included Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Jermaine Dupri. Lil Jon, and Ludacris,” reported EntertainmentWeekly.com.

Usher’s setlist included “Caught Up,” “U Don’t Have to Call,” “Superstar,” “Love in This Club,” “Ain’t Got You,” “My Boo,” “Confessions Part II,” “Nice & Slow,” “Burn,” “Bad Girl,” “U Got It Bad,” “OMG,” “Turn Down for What,” and lastly the major hit “Yeah!,” according to today.com

This is the R&B star’s second Super Bowl appearance. His first appearance was in 2011, when he sang his song “OMG” as a guest singer for the Black Eyed Peas. Many may think that Super Bowl halftime show performers get paid a lot; but, in reality, they don’t get a single dime for their performance. They do have a good reason to still do the show. “Through the halftime performances, the artists are given an unmatched opportunity to promote their newest albums or singles, driving traffic to their upcoming tours or latest projects,” reported NBC Chicago

Although many people enjoyed

Usher’s performance, some students did not. “It was unique, but not to my taste,” stated sophomore Nina Field. Field wasn’t the only student who wasn’t a fan of the show. “Usher’s performance was disappointing,” said fellow sophomore Lucy Heisey. Although Heisey wasn’t a huge fan of the performance, she still enjoyed some parts. “The part with the girl with the guitar,” was Heisey’s favorite part.

Even though not all students loved the show, Usher still brought a unique show. Usher started off his performance with circus acts surrounding him. “The opening song, ‘Caught Up,’ found him echoing the flashy vibes of Vegas,” wrote NPR. In his performance, the singer also showcased his talented skating skills by skating across the stage while singing. Many people enjoyed the roller skates, such as sophomore Luca Fazio, who simply added, “I liked the roller skates.”

2023 Grammys opens music world; Many artists walk home with awards

NOEL BAILEY Op/Ed Editor

A night filled with lights, cameras, music, and awards, the Grammys were held on Feb. 4, with many artists taking home new statues to put on their bookshelves.

Billie Eilish, Burna Boy, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, Joni Mitchell, Luke Combs, Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, Travis Scott, U2, and Billy Joel were all featured during the evening. Joel performed his brand new song “Turn the Lights Back on”, the first song he released in the last 17 years; this was his first time performing the new song live.

Eilish won Song of the Year for “What Was I Made For?” which was featured in the Barbie movie, and performed it live at the event. She was also nominated for Record of the Year, but “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus won the award. This was the first Grammy that Cyrus has ever won, and she got to perform the award winning song. Cyrus also took home another award for Best Pop Solo Performance.

Junior Katie Jones’ favorite performance of the night was “Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs,” but she also really enjoyed “Olivia Rodrigo there.”

The Best New Artist category had eight different nominees, but Victoria Monet took home the

award. Taylor Swift took home two Grammys for her album, Midnights. She was awarded Best Pop Vocal Album.

When she was giving her speech, she announced her newest album that will be coming out April 19, called The Tortured Poets Department. Swift also took home the Album of the Year award for Midnights. This was her fourth award, and now holds the title with the most awards in this category.

Jones said she feels like artist Lana Del Rey was “robbed,” during the night of the Grammys, because she was nominated for 11 different categories but walked away with no awards. Rey has been in the music industry since 2007 and still hasn’t won a Grammy, “even though she keeps getting nominations,” said Jones.

The award for the Best Country Album of the year was given to Laney Wilson for Bell Bottom Country. The Best R&B Album was awarded to SZA for Snooze. This was her third Grammy; Jones’ favorite award that was given was the “Best R&B Album for SZA,” she said.

Jones also said she feels like the Grammys should make the competition so “if you win Album of the Year, which is the biggest award, you shouldn’t be able to run for smaller awards with smaller competition.”

The Tortured Poets Department set for release April 19

LEXI GOTT News Editor

On February 4, Taylor Swift attended the annual Grammys as she had six nominees for her pop-album Midnights. Once the pop-star won her 13th grammy, she announced “My brand-new album comes out April 19. It’s called ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ I’m going to go and post the cover right now backstage.”

This will be Swift’s 11th album (excluding Taylor’s Version albums) of her career, and her 9th album (including Taylor’s Version albums) that she’s put out in the last four years.

The album will have seventeen total tracks, including a special bonus track. There are two features on the record, being “Fortnight” (featuring Post Malone) and Florida!!! (featuring Florence + The Machine).

how the set-list will look with an additional album,” said junior Bianca Baker. “I think maybe, she’ll keep the set-list just how it is, and then sing her new songs from

The star is still running The Eras Tour and will continue touring until December of this year. Fans are questioning how the rest of the tour will look, considering she is releasing a brand new album, meaning a brand new erain April. “I honestly have no idea

Billy Joel to release new song,“Turn The Lights Back On”;

Noah Kahan re-releasing album, Stick Season (Forever)

BROOKELYN PRIEBE Reporter

“Having sold more than 150 million records, Billy Joel ranks as one of most popular recording artists and respected entertainers in the world,” says billyjoel.

transcended that time.’”

“Turn the Lights Back On” is Joel’s newest release after 17 years of not releasing anything, according to variety.com. In an interview with the Audacy Check-In podcast, he said he stopped releasing music for a while because, “I have this high bar that I set for myself. If I don’t reach that bar, I beat myself up and I punch myself and I hate myself. So I stopped doing [music] because I got tired of feeling like that.” He added that the song writing process was “lonely.”

History teacher Mr. Chuck Selfe comments, “I haven’t listened to it; he’s somebody in my brain that I have put into the ‘has-been’ category, which is totally unfair. I get that even though he’s old, he’s still being creative.”

album Stick Season (Forever). The album consists of one new song called “Forever”, songs he has already released, and songs on which he has collaborated with other artists.

The collaborated songs are “Call Your Mom” with Lizzy McAlpine, “She Calls Me Back “with Kacey Musgraves, “Northern Attitude” with Hozier, “Everywhere, Everything” with Gracie Abrams, “Homesick” with Sem Fender, “You’re Gonna Go Far” with Brandi Carlile, and “Paul Revere” with Gregory Alan Isakov.

Kahan stated in an interview that, “Forever is a long time. This album cycle has felt like forever, and I’ve loved every second of it. I have loved living in this world.”

the album as surprise songs.”

On The Eras Tour, Swift plays two acoustic songs every show that aren’t traditionally on the set-list. The star and her fans have named this part of her show as “surprise songs.”

“I think the songs on the album will have a mix of a folklore

and Midnights vibe.” Baker starts, “I’m most excited for track five, So Long, London.” Track fives are infamous upon the singer- songwriter, as they are usually “the songs that were really honest, emotional, vulnerable, and personal as track five,” according to Swift in an interview.

“I have a feeling this album is going to be very, very sad. This is her first album after her breakup with Joe Alwyn, so I’m expecting there to be some songs about that. But, I’m also feeling like there’s gonna be upbeat songs too. There will be diversity, I think.”

“When she announced the album, I was watching the Grammys on my T.V. I thought she was going to announce reputation (Taylor’s Version) because she had been teasing it like crazy. She changed her profile picture to black and white on Instagram, so I figured it was for reputation,” stated junior, Natalie Thomas. “She had us all fooled, [the announcement] was pretty shocking.”

Dating done differently

MASON CLARK Reporter

The concept of dating shows have been going on for over fifty years, each with their own niche. Some may find one more interesting than others.

But, with the meteoric rise of Love On the Spectrum and its counterpart, Down For Love, it shines a light on a little-known side of dating. With some dating shows, such as The Bachelor, or 90 Day Fiancé, the authenticity of the love is up for debate with all of the cameras and scripts; but when it comes to the reality of Love On the Spectrum or Down For Love, there is no debate. The shows have without a doubt helped them navigate the process of finding real romantic connections.

ing I’m inspirational. I’m trying to spread positive, hopeful messages,” he says.

The creator of the show, Cian O’Cleary, states that the purpose of the show is to, “Shine light on the diversity of the [autism] spectrum.” He says the show is a “great opportunity to keep telling stories of people on the spectrum and highlighting that sometimes people do need support when it comes to dating and relationships.”

com. “Throughout the years, Joel’s songs have acted as personal and cultural touchstones for millions of people, mirroring his own goal of writing songs that ‘meant something during the time in which [he] lived … and

He continues that he feels that most older artists that release a song/album years later seem to go “unnoticed” because people “lock in on what they did 20 to 30 years ago.”

Another more contemporary artist getting attention for re-releasing music is folk-pop artist Noah Kahan, who re-released the

He continues, “I have never felt more comfortable in my own skin, more proud of what I was representing in my songwriting, and more vindicated by the response to a record that was really an extension of my soul.”

Senior Tony Fugitti says that he was excited about Kahan releasing the album because he feels like Kahan is going to go much further with his career since his “songwriting is already so great.”

He believes the album was “great” and the new song is “one of his best songs.”

When James Jones, star of Love On the Spectrum, was interviewed about how his experience on the show helped him, he stated, “Of course, I’m mentally kicking myself much now, but I just didn’t have the skills. It’d be great if I could go back with the level of experience and self-confidence I have now, but I’m not sure how likely that is to happen,”

According to Love On the Spectrum U.S.. Jones goes on to talk about his positive social media experience after the airing of Season one. “Many people on Instagram have contacted me say-

Down For Love is the same base concept of Love On the Spectrum, but focuses on individuals with Down Syndrome. Special educator Ms. Kolbi Stahl says, “I think it’s important to follow people and let them tell their own stories and live these lives. Actually being the ones to be the ones telling their own stories, I think that’s a really cool important thing.”

She continues, “I think it is a first step; like, you know they’re still neurotypical people who are producing the show and things like, that but to have it centered around actual autistic people who are a wide range of people on the spectrum, who all have different interests and abilities and talents and everything.”

She continued. “I think it’s a great representation of humanity and about the autism spectrum and a bunch of different types of people.”

Joel released his song on Feb. 1, 2024. Kahan released his album on Feb. 9, 2024.

PHOTO CREDIT: billyjoel.com, Genius

Hawks show off Valentine’s Day flair

Convicted of murder; Local man tells his story

KATIE VANARSDALE Reporter

Guilty, and spending 32 years behind bars. Maryland resident John Huffington was convicted of a double homicide that happened in May of 1981. The death of Diane Becker, 21, and Joseph Hudson Jr, 30, was linked to Huffington. “This was a drug deal gone wrong,” says English teacher Mrs. Carla Harward, who knew Huffington as a kid.

Huffington, who at just 18 years old, was handed the death penalty on charges of “first-degree murder, burglary, robbery, and illegal use of weapon,” says The National Registry of Exonerations.

“His sentence was later commuted to life in prison after the state of Maryland changed the rulings on death penalty cases,” says Harward.

“Our families grew up in the same neighborhood in Churchville, went to the same church, went to the same high school (Bel Air High School), and vacationed together with our families,” says Harward.

During high school, Huffington, “became friends with a group that were making very poor decisions and were involved in drugs. [He] got himself involved in drug dealing and dropped out of school,” says Harward. “[Huffington] was not the best student, and he was a bit of a troublemaker in school. He didn’t hang around the best people in school as well.”

When Harward found out about the murders, she, “was literally shocked as was my entire family, as I couldn’t believe [he]would murder someone, let alone two people. The way the media was portraying him was not at all the person that I knew.”

In 1985, complaints had come forth about the tampering of evidence in a multitude of court cases. This led to questions about the evidence that was presented during Huffington’s trial. In October 2021, District Attorney Joseph Cassilly, brother to Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly, was one of prosecutors in Huffington’s trial who was under suspicion. In 2021, Cassilly was, “disbarred for the illegal tampering of evidence that would have cleared [Huffington] of the murders,” says Harward.

On Jan. 13, 2023, after 32 years behind bars, Governor Larry Hogan granted Huffington a full pardon, after his third and final trial finally proved his innocence. On July 5, 2023, the Maryland Board of Public Works granted Huffington 2.9 million dollars of compensation money for his wrongful conviction.

Upon his release, Huffington decided to write a book about his imprisonment which he named Innocent: An Obscene Miscarriage of Justice. “Upon his release, he was living in Baltimore, and he had told me that he was writing a book about his experience in prison and what really happened the night of the murders and that all along he was framed and was innocent of the murders,” Harward says.

Huffington was desperate to be proven innocent, and his story didn’t end once he was free. His book is available on Amazon.

PHOTO CREDIT: Amazon

Throughout his imprisonment, Huffington claimed that he was innocent. In November of 1982, Huffington was re-tried but was again convicted of “two counts of felony murder, as well as robbery, burglary, and weapons charges. He was again sentenced to death,” says The National Registry of Exonerations.

Huffington’s story didn’t end at his release from prison and his new book. Instead, Huffington, “has been an advocate for wrongful convictions and helping out the Baltimore community,” says Harward.

“He is on many high-level organizations as well as having the most positive, non-resentful attitude towards what happened to him.”

Haward said, “this is a testament to his overall amazing character, and he has been a pivotal member of his community since his release from prison. This is an incredible story of one man’s fight to clear his name for something he did not do.”

MatPat retires, leaves channels for family reasons; Internet sees increase of childhood Youtubers retiring

KENDALL WALTER

Reporter

Game Theory, Film Theory, Food Theory, and Style Theory - a quartet of channels created by Matthew “MatPat” Patrick - has totaled over 40 million subscribers total, according to YouTube. This brings attention to the fact that a lot of Youtubers from childhood are announcing their retirement.

Game Theory - most popular for their Five Nights at Freddy’s theories - analyzes various video games with almost 19 million subscribers. Film Theory, alongside 12.8 million subscribers, talks about secrets of fan-favorite movies, TV series, and more; they also discuss truth behind the mechanics of what we love to watch.

Food Theory brings theories on food myths, brands, and mascots with 5.21 million subscribers. Finally, Style Theory and their 2.48 million subscribers ask the questions of if a heel could harm someone, or how do the Hulk’s pants

even stay on?

Overall four of these Channels one thing is current: MatPat. MatPat first started Youtube in 2010 with audition tapes for musicals. Junior Riley Massoni says that she has been watching MatPat for “Around five or so years - off and on - but mainly through high school years.” She adds, “I will miss him a lot in the content. However, I am excited to see the new host of the channel, and [Patrick] will still be showing up from time to time. I’m excited to see where they take it in the future of the company.”

Lots of Youtubers are stepping back from the spotlight, including Tom Scott, Stampy, MeatCanyon,CaptainSparkles, Seth Everman, and Hannah Witton.

This started away when popular YouTuber Jenna Marbles stepped down. YouTubers are growing older and decreasing uploads, this trend becoming more prominent. This begins

the talk about YouTube regulations and rules and how they are changing.

YouTube created shorts, small videos so the platform can compete with TikTok. In a video from MatPat himself under the channel Game Theory titled, “Why everyone HATES YouTube Shorts,” he talks about how these shorts have been pushed hard and are now shown on the homescreen on YouTube, taking up half of the screen. This means creators with long videos dont get shared as much and lose popularity.

Middle-level YouTubers must fit with YouTube’s regulations in order to make money and get views due to the algorithm used. YouTube has an active watch experience where viewers can pick and choose what they watch, using creators they like or topics they want. On the other hand, using shorts or TikTok is a passive experience; where the platform hand selects videos for the viewer.

Student choreographers bringing dance to The Nest

RILEY HEROLD Entertainment Editor

NH welcomed two choreographers to the nest this year. Juniors

Abby Szramka and Olive Callon choreographed things in both the talent show that was held on Feb. 2, and Mr. NH, which was held on March 1. The juniors choreographed the yearbook staff’s Barbie-themed dance, as well as the opening number to Mr. NH.

Szramka has been dancing for 13 years at Supernova Dance Company, originally known as Diamond Dance. Szramka stated, “It felt nice to be noticed and asked to choreograph, but a little scary as well because I haven’t done something like this before for the school.”

Szramka has choreographed in the past for her dance studio. She stated, “I did a couple [of] student choreographies, one with my friend named P.J., and a couple small combos in class.”

Szamka continued, “Choreographing those pieces in the past definitely made the process much easier.”

never choreographed anything like this before; but, I was excited for the opportunity”

Callon has also choreographed in the past for her dance studio.

ing for the guys was a lot more fun because we could come up with funny steps that the audience would laugh at instead of worrying about getting a certain score.”

As for choreographing Mr. NH, Szramka stated, “We watched lots of videos from past years to get ideas for what we wanted to do, but we tried to keep the same vibe as well and make it easy enough for the boys to learn.”

The process for choreographing was actually easier than they thought, as stated by Callon and Szramka.

Callon stated, “Working with each other was very easy, because we’re used to choreographing together at dance, but also because we share ideas.”

Callon continued, “Plus, I had experience teaching people who aren’t used to dancing as much as I am, because I teach little kids at my studio.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Riley Herold

Callon has been dancing for 14 years at Supernova Dance Company as well.

Callon stated,”It’s exciting being able to be a part of a school event that everyone loves, but I was a little nervous because I’ve

She stated, “I’ve choreographed small pieces in the past, but it’s nothing like choreographing something for a pageant, because you don’t have to worry about technique.”

She continued, “Choreograph-

Szramka stated, “My dance experience has taught me how to be patient and also how to relate things to try and explain things in ways others can understand. Working with younger kids at my studio definitely helped teach me those things.”

Callon and Szramka stated that they enjoyed having this great experience and can’t wait for many more opportunities like this.

Juniors Abby Szramka and Olive Callon have been dancing with each other for most of their lives. They still continue to dance together at Supernova Dance Company.

Wacky Laws and Facts

SAE project monitoring streams; How clear cutting affects stream health

KENDALL WALTER Reporter

SAE, or supervised agricultural experience, is required for the magnet programs students. Being in the magnet program, it is required to do some sort of internship or volunteering, for agricultural experience. Natural resources teacher Mrs. Laura O’Leary helped assign a particular SAE to two sophomores, Emma Konopacki and Max Diegel. This supervised agricultural experience is one regarding the health of a stream off of the HaHa River in Abingdon, right off of Abingdon Road.

Diegel says that this stream was offered to them because, “It was a stream that was being studied already, the stream health dictating exactly what is being studied at the current moment.” For this SAE, the students have to research a question and do research on it.

For this particular stream, there was a clearcut just next to it that was done by companies Logistics Center LLC and Harford Investors LLC. Clear cutting refers to when most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down, removing all or mostly all of an ecosystem for development purposes.

In Maryland, “The cutting or

removal of natural vegetation in the Buffer is not allowed unless a property owner obtains approval of a Buffer Management Plan from the local government,” according to Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources. Making this clear cut illegal has also sparked a court case against the companies and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation or CBF.

Konopacki and Diegel are “studying the effect of the clear cut on the stream heath and the effect from the area that is closest to and above it,” according to Konopacki.

Diegel shares the data they are monitoring, which includes turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and phosphate, and nitrate. From above the cut to next to the cut, there was an increase in Nitrate of over 14 Mg/L, constant increasing in turbidity, and an increase in phosphate.

Increase in phosphorus concentration can increase levels of algae, including cyanobacteria. High levels of Nitrate causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen, and is mainly caused from fertilizer runoff and wastewater. The damage the cut has done to the land and the water has shown its effects on the ecosystem.

Students manage everyday life, looking to future

KRIS GRAY News Editor

Senior year is not only the end of compulsory education, but it’s the beginning of careers. There are many important decisions that one must make once they reach the age of adulthood. One way to reference this is senior year stress.

The last year of high school is a game of balance. Many students must engage in the college application process while completing schoolwork, maintaining a job, playing sports, and most importantly, figuring out who they are and what they want to be.

Senior Katrina Winkler states that “still deciding to take AP and Honors classes during [her] senior year has given [her] a large amount of schoolwork/homework” to complete. Winkler explains that this is “the opposite of how she [thought] senior year work would be.” The college application process “on top of everything has been extremely stressful,” says the senior.

nior year can be one of the most stressful times in a student’s life, especially for those applying to college. In addition to juggling school work, family responsibilities, social relationships, jobs, and extracurricular activities, many high school seniors are

that plays a part in this process. Oxford Languages defines senioritis as a “supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance.” To combat this, many colleges require that incoming freshmen must hold a certain grade point average to attend their university. Winkler asserts that she “[continues] to try [her] best by getting [her] work done no matter what.”

The effects of the clearcut on the stream are visible. The work the sophomores are doing is being washed straight into the water, leaving sand and sediment in and around the water.

PHOTO CREDITS: Emma Konopacki

also navigating an unfamiliar and highly competitive college admissions landscape, figuring out how to finance their education, and making big decisions about their future.”

According to College Data, “se-

Plastic surgery increases death toll; Dangers of procedures outside U.S.

ISABEL KROPKOWSKI

On top of that, there is a very popular phrase called senioritis

The senior believes that it helps to “plan out your weeks and prioritize due dates.”

While some people believe that junior year is the hardest, Winkler states that “junior year was very hard and stressful, but senior year has felt the same.” The student has “so much work [and] hard deadlines to make, while working and dealing with life outside of school.” She feels like she “never [has] a break.”

Viral brand brings controversy

LILY CORCORAN Copy Editor

Features Editor you pay for.” Hadeed also states that “just because something is cheaper, doesn’t mean it is better for you.”

Fatalities have spiked in the past five years from cosmetic surgery. The deaths were mainly due to fat or venous thromboembolism, a blood clot that forms in the veins, according to Fox News.

Most of the risk factors include obesity, diabetes, tobacco use, and multiple surgeries performed

2019 and 2020, liposuction which removes excess fat from specific parts of the body (according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons), was performed on all of those patients.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) conducted a report about the dangers regarding destination procedures. It was found that “all surgeries carry a risk, but there are excessive deaths outlined in the report, most of which were presumably avoidable,” according to Hadeed.

Faces are set up and prepared for by sketching out lines. Doctors sketch lines on their target area to map out areas affected during surgery.

PHOTO CREDIT: Smith Cosmetic Surgery

at once. The average age of the patients was 40 at the time of their death, continues the source.

According to Fox News, of the deaths that occurred between

Josef Hadeed, chair of the Patient Safety Committee for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) states that “too often, patients will travel to other countries as the procedures are cheaper there.”

According to Fox News, doctors warn many of the dangers of cheaper international surgeries because “sometimes you get what

The CDC has reported that 29 U.S. citizens have died after having cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic between 2009 and 2018.

Hadeed adds that all surgeries carry some kind of risk however, “the Brazilian Butt Lift has been associated with the highest risk of death in plastic surgery, which is corroborated by the report.”

Jonathan Kaplan, a board-certified plastic surgeon who practices at Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery, adds that there are “risks of going to a foreign country that has no quality assurance or safety protocols as required by law in the U.S.”

Hadeed has suggested to Fox News that before plastic surgery, it is critical to find a surgeon who is board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Also, that it is “better” to look at plastic surgeons within the U.S.

By now, many people must have seen various skincare routines on the internet involving big-name brands. One of these brands is Drunk Elephant, which can be found in stores such as Ulta or Sephora. Young kids have been seen using this brand; however, are the products worth buying with their high price and are they what they seem?

Drunk Elephant is a brand that is, “committed to using only ingredients that either directly benefit the health of the skin or support the integrity of our formulations,” according to their website. Some of their most popular products include their retinol cream, bronzing drops, a glycolic night serum, and a jelly cleanser. The brand’s target demographic includes people over 18, but according to Glamour, many tweens are “obsessed” with the brand. It should be noted that the creator of Drunk Elephant herself, Tiffany Masterson, does not recommend many of its viral products (which contain retinoids and other acidic elements) to consumers under 13.

So, what’s the issue that people are seeing? Well, let’s start with the retinol, which can sell for as much as $74. Retinol, according to clevelandclinic.org, is a form of vitamin A that is commonly used in lotions, serums, and skin creams, and “it has antiaging effects and can help clear acne.”

Dermatologist Dr. Brooke Jeffy notes that retinol should only

be used by teens when it is prescribed by a doctor. When used on young skin, retinol can “destroy your skin barrier.” She has “seen the harsh effects firsthand – a tween suffering from severe dermatitis and skin thickening.”

That’s not the only product that’s had negative effects on young skin. Licensed esthetician Victoria Rose notes an incident where a nine-year-old patient had to be taken to Urgent Care because of a large bubble on her face caused by the Glycolic Night Serum, which sells for $134. Rose explains that “using products made for older people will cause young skin cells to speed up, resulting in super dry skin and sensitivity to the sun.” It can also cause premature aging.

Junior Corrin Turner states, “[tweens] shouldn’t be using it. They’re young and their skin is young and [un]damaged; they [might have not] even had their first pimple yet.” She continues that because these kids are “so young [and] using expensive products like Drunk Elephant, they are too immature to understand their true value. They just don’t know the meaning of a dollar.”

Turner adds, “I understand that we also went through a phase of wanting to be older than what we were, but they’re going to regret it when they’re older. You’re in elementary school and middle school - you’re a child. Maybe when you’re 14 you can start to experiment with skincare, but water and lotion is all they need.”

Swimming completes post-season meets;

Many athletes travel to regionals, states

MEKENZIE MCCANN SSC Editor

Swimming regionals took place on Jan. 19; many students competed, and many students placed at the competition. Both the girls and boys team got sixth place overall.

Senior Michael O’Leary states that he has been swimming for around 12 years. At Regionals, he competed in the 2 IM and placed first, 100m breast and placed first, the 400m freestyle relay and placed first, and the 200 freestyle relay and placed fourth. He qualified for States in the 200 IM, 100m breast, and 400m freestyle relay; there is a chance he will also qualify for the 200 freestyle relay as well.

Wrestlers:

STELLA MANNS Sports Editor

Sophomore Kendall Chandler comments that she “started doing summer swim when I was about eight and have been doing it ever since! High school is definitely very different, but what I learned from summer swim gave me a strong base to build from.”

Chandler states that at Regionals, she swam “in the medley relay, the 100 fly and placed fifth and 100 breast and placed sixth.” O’Leary said that “to qualify for States, you have to be in the top three in the region of the next best 12 in the state.”

The following athletes will be swimming at States Jan. 24: senior Michael O’Leary, junior Michael DeJesus, senior Kyle DiFilippo, and junior James Cassidy

Looking for wins, Pinning opponents

always a good experience,” Cespedes added.

will be competing for the boys. The girls competing will be sophomores Kendall Chandler, Emma Dorsey, Logan Sealy, Ava Sealy, Sophia Bonincontri, and freshman Abigail Hadding.

“The preparation for regionals is very different than our normal practices. Throughout most of the season, the team has variations of the same set, and we are in lanes based on speed; but, to prepare for regionals, our coaches separate us into lanes based on stroke and each lane gets a different sets that allows us to focus on certain aspects of our specific strokes,” states Chandler.

O’Leary states that he enjoyed “being with the team during Regionals,” and he is looking for-

ward to “hanging out with the team at States” this year.

“Last year, I swam the 100 fly at most of our meets and went into regionals with a very specific goal, but I did not achieve it. I was extremely disappointed, and this season I only swam the 100 fly once before regionals, and it did not go very well then either,” says Chandler.

She continues, “I really wanted a chance to redeem myself, so before regionals I asked Mrs. Canale [the team’s swim coach] to put me in it just to see what I could do. I went out and gave it everything I had, and finally met my goal of swimming under 1:20, and that was really exciting.”

“After a season full of so many

meets and so much hard work, it was really awesome to see it all come together,” Chandler finishes. “Getting to celebrate after with my teammates was so fun, and I know that it was so special for me, but I also know how hard everyone on the team has worked to be where we are. Getting to watch and cheer on my teammates as they swam incredible races also made the meet really exciting.”

Chandler states that after an injury to her foot during the cross country season, where she was in a boot and not allowed to do anything with her foot, that she “struggled” with coming back from not using her foot, to using it everyday while swimming.

With the regular season ending on Jan. 31, the wrestling team has been avidly preparing for the postseason, which is when many athletes begin to excel and advance deep into the tournaments.

On Friday, Feb. 16 and Saturday, Feb. 17, the team took part in the UCBAC Championships, according to countysports.zone. Regionals will be taking place the last weekend of February, says junior Bryn Cespedes. She added that the state wrestling competition will take place on March 4-6, at a “show place area in Middletown.”

“Wrestling boys is definitely tough, because they are stronger than [her], but [she has] improved a lot since the start of the season.”

-Bryn Cespedes junior

Reflecting on the season, junior Ian Lewis feels that he “did good in meets this year” finishing with a “20-10” record. Lewis stated he thinks he will qualify for the regional tournament. The junior set an expectation for himself to place “at least third at counties.” If Lewis is to make it to the regional and state competitions, it will be his first time. From the whole season, his favorite meet “was Havre de Grace.”

Cespedes expressed that she has “done well this season” as “wrestling boys is definitely tough, because they are stronger than [her], but [she has] improved a lot since the start of the season.” The junior added that during her past two years of post-season wrestling, she has “done well.” She already knows who she is set to compete against which is helpful as well. “States is going to be a challenge, but it is

She has hopes to make it back to the state finals this year. Reflecting on the season, Cespedes’ favorite meet was “senior night against Edgewood” because the “teams energy was at an all time high” and everyone was “having lots of fun.” At the beginning of the season, Cespedes set a goal for herself to make the varsity team; she accomplished this goal “and wrestled the whole season on varsity.” During her freshman year, Cepedes got second in the region and second at states. Last year, during her sophomore season, she took first in the region and third at states.

Senior Mason Raab feels that he has “done pretty good over the season,” while he is “not sure how [he] will do at regionals and states yet.” Raab has traveled to regionals in the past, but has not been to the State competition yet. He shared a favorite meet with Cespedes, being the Edgewood senior night meet.

In the UCBAC Championships the wrestlers performed well. Lewis placed 5th and scored 13.0 points. Junior Tommy Blankenship took 2nd, scoring 21.0 points. Fellow junior, Caleb Kerr placed 6th, adding 12.0 points.

Junior Holden Young took 2nd as well, scoring 22.0 points, while Raab placed 4th scoring 20.0 points. Three hawks took first in their respective weight classes. Senior Clay Lawrence took first scoring 26.0 points, as did junior Jordan Lawson and Cespedes.

Students comment on big game in Vegas

BROOKELYN PRIEBE Reporter

The Super Bowl was held Sunday, Feb. 11 at “Allegiant Stadium - the home of the Las Vegas Raiders,” according to cbssports.com. The game was between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Seniors Blake Howell, Mason Raab, and Ethan Sealy all agreed that they wanted the 49ers to win over the Chiefs. They said that if they could choose who would be in the Super Bowl, they would have had the Baltimore Ravens and the Detroit Lions instead, because “I’m a fan of the Ravens, [and] the Lions never win,” says Howell.

Sealy continues “the Ravens deserve to be there, and the Lions just should have been there.”

Raab adds, “the Chiefs don’t deserve it because they have won too [many times].”

Howell says, “the Chiefs deserve it, but then again, we just don’t want to see them win because they [have] won so much lately.” He continues, “they do it better than everyone else... but we just don’t want to see the same team win over and over and over again.”

“It’s Tom Brady all over again,” Sealy comments.

The boys agreed that the 49ers could have done some things differently to help increase their chances of winning. Raab says that the 49ers “didn’t give the ball to (running back) Christian McCaffrey enough”

He continues, “plays weren’t called correctly and there were way too many fumbles.”

According to people.com, “the Kansas City Chiefs reigned supreme, beating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22.”

People.com continues, “The game, which concluded at 25 to 22, began with a scoreless first quarter and eventually saw both teams exchanging field goals back and forth. Wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr. scored the winning touchdown, thrown by Patrick Mahomes.”

In an interview that 49ers player, McCaffery did with ABC10 post game, he says “everyones still a little numb and angry and just kind of going through all the emotions.” He continues, “I just [have to] wake up tomorrow and try again.”

49ers player Nick Bosa said in the same interview, “I was speechless. I couldn’t really look anybody in the eye, especially my teammates. I could have done more, everyone could have done more, and there’s really not much to say at this point.”

Indoor track set three new school records; Team prepares for state competition

LILA PARRY Reporter

After regional competition, 14 indoor track and field athletes qualified to compete at the States . There were also two new school records set for indoor track at the regional meet.

For the boys team, senior Harold Davis qualified for the 55 meter dash and is also heading to track and field Nationals. Davis ran the 55 in 6.69 seconds, a new school record.

Along with Davis, the boys 4x800 relay team consisting of senior Blake Carberry, junior Cael Sims, junior Justin Collins, and senior Austin Parry also made it to States.

Six girls qualified for the State competition for running. In the 1600 meter, sophomore Kendall Chandler represented the Hawks, along with 3200 meter runner freshman Madilyn Coyle. The girls 4x800 relay team, comprised of senior Valentina Angulo, freshman Mallory McCartney, junior Eden Hussung, and Chandler, also competed.

Along with the runners, three girls qualified for States in field events. For the shot-put, the team had one athlete, senior Anna O’Leary, and two pole vaulters, senior Korynn Sims and junior Grace Bauer.

At states Davis placed 13th in the 55 meter dash. Boys 4x800 placed 13th place at states. Girls 4x800 relay placed fourth place at states. Chandler placed 14th place in the 1600 meter. Along with her Coyle placed 12th in the 3200 meter.

For the field events O’Leary placed ninth in the shot put. Along with her, Sims placed ninth with a jump of 9’3’’, and Bauer placed 13th with a jump of 8’3’’.

For Chandler, making it to states was surprising. “It was a complete shock, cause I wasn’t in the top three and I didn’t earn the qualifying time, so I was just in the next best 16,” said the soph-

omore. To qualify, athletes had to either meet a certain time, get in top three, or place in the top 16 of the state. Chandler ran the onemile ina

5: 43 seconds to place 16th.

Coyle was the only freshman competing in an individual event at states. “I was really surprised because regionals were not good for me, so when I found out I was going to states, I was shocked and super excited about it,” the freshman explains. Even though Coyle is a freshman, this isn’t her first time running. “I’ve been running since I was eight years old, so I have a lot of experience with it, but I’ve never done track before so that was definitely a different thing,” said Coyle. At regionals, Coyle finished the two mile in 13:08.

The girls 4x8 relay team also got a new school record of 10:43.88 seconds. “I didn’t really know what the school record was before, nor did I know what our time was going to be, because that was the first time I had ran with that specific group of people for the 4x800,” said Angulo.

“Honestly, I was surprised just because I didn’t really know where we stood compared to the other teams,” explained the senior. The team placed second in the relay at regionals, so they automatically got to go to States.

Adding to the girls team for pole vault, Sims and Bauer qualified for regionals. Sims placed second on the pole vault with a jump of 9’ 6’’. The senior’s goal was to jump ten feet at states. “It would be amazing if I jumped above 10’2”, as that is our current indoor female record,” said Sims.

Along with the girls team, the boys team also got a school record for their 4x800 relay race. “We broke the previous school record of 9:19,” said Carberry, a member of the relay team. Carberry was not surprised that the team beat the school record. “We had already run a 9:21 the month before on a much smaller track,” said the

Season-ending injuries

EMILY JOHNSON IDR Editor

Injuries happen, and while there are ways to prevent them, it doesn’t mean they can always be avoided. NH sophomores Payton Dinbokowitz and Reese Conklin explained how exactly they became injured, and what they’ve taken away from the experience.

Dinbokowitz, a basketball player, injured her knee at a training session. She “thought [she] was fine,” but had her knee buckle under her when she tried to get back up and run. Her official diagnosis was a sprained PCL. Some advice she has is to “control what you can control” and take time off if necessary.

Conklin, an indoor track and field runner, injured his ankle while running “the two-mile race at a meet at CCBC in Essex.” It has been diagnosed as a stress fracture, and he “will not be able to come back and run for the rest of the indoor season.” His advice is to listen to medical professionals, to ensure that your injury doesn’t get worse, and the recovery won’t be extended.

Researchers have reported that while “the injury rate overall has declined since the last such report, in 2006,” these injuries have grown in severity, according to an article in The Washington Post.

Within a study, these researchers found that “The head was the most injured body site (24 percent), followed by ankles, and then knees,” which would closely align with Conklin and Dinbokowitz’s injuries.

The article also stated “Nearly 40 percent of injuries kept student-athletes from participating in their sport for less than a week, but about 20 percent led to teens discontinuing participation in their sport for the season or longer.”

These injuries can be prevented “...through proper conditioning, training, and equipment, and by getting enough sleep and having a healthy diet,” according to orthoinfo.aaos.org.

senior. “The track at regionals is better to run on, so it made sense that we would get the school record,” he continued. Along with beating the school record, the team also qualified for States. “I could kind of see it going either way,” responded Carberry. “We knew that we had to run about a 9;05 going in, so it was about being able to follow through with that,” he continued. The team ran the race in 9:05 and placed third.

At the state competition Davis took 13th in the 55m dash. O’Leary placed 9th in shotput. In pole vault Sims took 9th place with a jump of 9’3’’, while Bauer reached 8’3’’ and placing 13th.

The boys 4x8 relay consisting of Carberry, Collins, Parry and Sims ended in 13th place. Grabbing 4th place in the girls 4x8 relay was Angulo, Chandler, Hussung and McCartney. Chandler also took 14th in the 1600m. Coyle placed 12th in the 3200..

Stepping off court; 2024 basketball, seasons finishing

NOEL BAILEY Op/Ed Editor

The girls and boys basketball athletes are finding their way off of the court for the season.

The girls basketball team just finished their regular season games with a winning record of 13-7. The boys finished their normal season with a record of 2-16.

Senior captain Carolone Nicholson said, “the season is wrapping up really good,” and she is “sad it’s coming to an end but, I think that the season has really paved the way for next year.” The girls walked away this season with hardly any losses, but Nicholson says the team has “worked hard to fix mistakes and have really come

The photo above displays data regarding the number of days high school athletes lost in their sports season, due to injury. This data was taken from the 2005-2006 school year, so it’s close to 20 years old.

PHOTO CREDIT: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

together as a group.”

Nicholson said her favorite game to play was the game against Rising Sun, because she thought “it was a great game to play in, and watching it was a very evenly matched game which is always fun.” The girls ended up losing the close game with a score of 45-57.

Junior Emily Signor will be a returning player next season and says the team is “wrapping up the season on a good note and looking forward to and preparing for what is to come in the playoffs.” She continues that as long as the team works “hard in practice and go into the playoffs hungry for the wins, we can go get it.”

The girls have a good connection with each other and have “developed a lot through the year as a team,” said Signor. Her favorite game she played during the regular season was against North East, because it was her personal “best game,

but everything was flowing very well offensively and it was overall a great win for the team.” Signor is “very excited for what is to come next season.”

The boys basketball team had a tough season, but they remained optimistic. Senior captain Ian Fox thinks the season went well, and the team “didn’t win all the games that we wanted to, but it was undoubtedly such a great experience.”

Fox’s favorite game to play was their most recent one against Rising Sun, because “of how intense it was.” Senior Night is right around the corner for the boys, and Fox is “really excited about senior night because [he] feels[s] like it will be something [he will] always remember.”

Fox would like his team to know “don’t ever let losses get to your head, move forward and win the next game.”