N rsestar Parkway North High School

Volume 50, Issue 3, December 12, 201212860 Fee Fee Rd. St. Louis, MO 63146

Winter sPorts heat up as weather cools down Pages 14 & 15

Chivalry Week Pg. 13

New Clubs Pg. 10

National News December 12, 2012Parkway North High School2

Americans Help Victims of Storm Sandy

On Oct. 29 and 30, Hurricane Sandy swept through the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States and killed over 209 peo-ple in the world. Classified as

a category two storm in general, Hurricane Sandy was classified as a category one storm off the coast of Northeastern United States, like Hurricane Katrina was back in 2005.

“When I heard the storm was moving toward New York, I was extremely concerned because I knew New York was the center of our media,” said junior Amy Overby, “with-out New York in the media equation, I was worried because I didn’t know who would be able to broadcast this storms altitude.”

On Oct. 29 at 12:30 p.m., Sandy made its projected turn to the coast of New Jersey. Sandy ran through 300 miles of water before it hit the United States, which is what built it up into a bigger storm surge that was said to have been even bigger because of the full moon. At 8 p.m., the center of Sandy’s storm hit Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Soon Sandy moved to the U.S., where it first touched Florida, Georgia, North Caro-lina, and South Carolina. Luckily for the four U.S. states, the center of the storm was no-where near these states, so they just received extreme rainfall.

The storm hit New York and destroyed one of its largest subways lines. The streets of New York and New Jersey were flooded. Houses and buildings were destroyed, leav-ing hundreds of families homeless.

“Sandy was very affective at affecting me,” said senior at Atlantic City High School Richard Joyce, “I couldn’t shower for days. My lights were out for almost 2 weeks. I had to throw a lot of prized possessions out due to flooding. It was quite Depressing I’d say a great emotional and physical toll.”

Students at Parkway North, like people all over the country, stepped up to help vic-tims of Hurricane Sandy.

“I have a lot of friends who live in that

area; luckily, they’re all okay,” said Siler “One of my friends had a tree fall on his house.”

People around the United States came together immediately after the storm hit to send relief items directly to the devastated areas.

“I think people had a really good re-sponse,” said senior Miranda Siler, “People were supposed to run in the New York mara-thon that weekend, but instead they flew in to help clean up.”

Not only did the marathon runners help with the cleanup of the storm, The Save the Children Foundation helped with the psy-chology and giving the proper hygiene items to children in need. Save the Children has helped every major city hit by the hurricane, and hopes to do much more.

“I think Save the Children is a really good idea,” said Overby, “I know that if my house was destroyed and I saw what people were going through first hand, I would need help too.”

The American Red Cross has helped re-store many resources that were taken away by the storm. They have brought over 100 trucks full of food and hygiene items to peo-ple affected by the storm.

“The Red Cross always helps disasters,” Overby said, “It’s nice all of the money my family has given them is put to good use and is helping people who need it more than we do.”

With hurricane season coming to a close, and holiday season opening Parkway North’s community hopes they can help people affected by Hurricane Sandy by mak-ing Stockings for Sandy. A student can pay a dollar to decorate a holiday stocking and get a candy cane. Every dollar made by this proj-ect will go to hurricane sandy relief.

“When people in our country are in need, we are willing to help. I feel happy that we live in such a helpful community,” said student government advisor Amy Grich, “Even if a donation seems small, it can really help on a large scale.”

“I feel like if people keep up with what they’re doing, things will get fixed a whole lot better,” said Siler.

What was Sandy and how did it happen? Sandy: Numbers for the United States Besides the United States,

who else was affected by Sandy?

On Oct. 24, the storm continued through the Ca-

ribbean, barley missing Haiti and the Dominican Re-

public, and over 20 inches of rain fall on the major is-

land of Hispaniola, killing over 50 people from severe

flooding and mud slides.

“It’s really sad that our country had faced such

severe devastation,” Overby said, “but people in third

world countries were literally flooded to death because

of improper living structures.”

Sandy continued through Jamaica and Cuba, the

Bahamas, leaving a Caribbean death count of over 70.

“When I heard about the storm I was more wor-

ried about other countries than our own,” said Overby,

“I know we have dealt with Hurricane Katrina, and we

know how to handle things for ourselves. I just knew

other small countries would need our help.”

A tropical depression, or group of thunder-

storms came together under the right atmospheric

conditions for a long enough time in the Caribbean

Sea off of the coast of Nicaragua on Oct. 22. When the

tropical depression strengthened, it became known as

Tropical Storm Sandy and later Hurricane Sandy.

After hitting New Jersey, the storm was no

longer classified as a hurricane, but a nor’easter, or

a macro-scale storm on the East Coast that gets its

name from the unique storm path. The storms un-

usual path made New York and New Jersey get hit the

worst in the United States.

“My school hallways were flooded and the gym

roof was torn off by the high winds! It was very de-

pressing to see such an establishment torn to pieces,”

Joyce said, “We were out of gym for a while and we

have to share the gym with underclassmen. As a se-

nior, I didn’t like this very much.”

Number of people affected:50-60 million

Top miles per hour of wind:90-100 (485 at center)Costs of damage:60 BillionSize of storm:1000 miles acrossNumber of Deaths:131Number of years since a storm simi-

lar to this hit the East Coast:124

source: CNN.com

Hurricane Sandy Timeline:

October 22, 2012:A tropical depression forms in

the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Nicaragua.

October 24, 2012:Sandy is classified as a Category

1 hurricane as it moves northward across the Caribbean and crosses

Jamaica with winds of 80 mph. More than 50 people die in Haiti.

October 26, 2012:Sandy strikes Santiago de Cuba with winds of about 110 mph.

Government officials report that “Everything is destroyed.”

October 27, 2012:Sandy strikes the Bahamas

and kills more than 70 people, reaches the coast of Florida.

October 29, 2012:Sandy makes the expected sharp turn

toward New York and New Jersey, hitting Atlantic City, New Jersey and New York. Sandy is now classified as a nor’easter.

October 30, 2012:Sandy weakens as it moves

over Pennsylvania causing only extreme rainfall.

Mary Kate Mudd

Business Manager

Photo courtesy of US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin.

3first lookDecember 12, 2012Parkway North High School

Norsestar StaffKevin Graeler ...Editor in ChiefEmily McCarter ...Editor in ChiefJocelyn Treadway ...Design EditorMary-Kate Mudd ...Business ManagerBrandon Fredman ...Online EditorIan Brown ...News EditorSteven Chaffin ...Opinions & Entertainment Editor

Molly Thal ...Centerspread EditorAurora Wrancher ...Features EditorRichard Reynolds ...Sports EditorStaff Writers and Photographers ...Katryn Dobkin ...Jamie Powell ...Jonathan Herzog ...Taylor Weiss ...Emily Ladig ...Gianna Sparks

Tracy Silvagnoli...Sponsor

Norsestar Policy Norsestar encourages students, teachers, parents, administrators and other readers to pub-lish their opinion in the form of a letter to the editor. However, due to space limitations,not all letters can be published. Any student or faculty member may submit an article or photo to the Norsestar by placing the item in the mailbox in the library or by giving to a staff member. Leters must be signed; no anonymous articles will appear in the newspaper. Norsestar will accept any letter submitted regardless of whether or not the staff agrees with its opinion, unless the mate-rial presented is libelous, promotes illegal activities, or is deemed in poor taste by the editorial board. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for length or clarification.

Mary-Kate Mudd

Business Manager

Homeless Issue Evident in St. Louis County

Looking back at the election season, homeless assistance was an issue when choosing the Presidential candidate because, according to CNN, out of 10,000 people in the United States, 21 of those people are home-less on a given night. This was an issue since people are still worried about the economy and the job market.

“It is really sad that so many people don’t have a place to live,” said junior Con-nor Miles. “I feel like we can do so much more than we have done as a community.”

According to National Alliance to End Homelessness, although the economy fell in 2009, statistics show the amount of home-less people from 2009 to 2011 decreased. It is important to remember these statistics are drawn by surveys taken by people who are willing to participate, so they are not entirely accurate.

“I feel like these numbers don’t reflect the problem,” said sophomore Daejannee Erby, a member of Homeless Helpers. “When I go to the city, one street has major corpora-tions with business people, and there are so many homeless just one street over.”

According to the Census Bureau, in the 2010 census, 1,305 citizens declared them-selves homeless in the city of Saint Louis. Five-hundred and seventy-five people were residing in emergency homeless shelters in Saint Louis, and 577 people were residing in transitional housing. More and more people are making beds for the homeless, bringing people in the streets into residential houses.

“I feel good that [the Homeless Helpers] are helping homeless people,” Miles said. “I think there is much more we can do. I think we should help the people who need it until they can get back on their feet financially.”

According to a 2002 federal study, ap-proximately 1.7 million young people under 18 years of age call the streets home every year in the United States.

“I can’t imagine growing up on the streets,” Miles said. “I think there’s a definite disadvantage to growing up homeless, but I believe everyone has an opportunity to do

something with their lives. I think if you work hard at school, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.”

However, homelessness does not just affect the elderly or people who live in the city. Across the country, it is mandatory that school districts report the number of homeless students who attend their schools. Schools across the nation have set up their homeless children in other students’ houses or have given them shelter at a hotel or motel. At North, there is the Northern Lights Orga-nization that helps pay student’s electricity bills and helps shelter homeless students.

“At any given time, I would say we have 20-25 students whose families have lost their homes for one reason or another attending our school,” senior Principal Karen Calcaterra said.

The Northern Lights also helps to pay for these students’ transportation to and from school and for their lunches.

“Don’t always assume someone has the

same living situation as you do; you never know,” Calcaterra said. “Be nice because you never know what people are dealing with.”

At Parkway North, the Homeless Help-ers do their part to help the homeless by selling hot chocolate on Thursdays around the holiday season and volunteering at local homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

“Our goal is to sell as much hot choco-late as possible,” Erby said. “This money is going to some of the places we volunteer at.”

The Homeless Helpers group have raised over $100 this school year and expect that number to continually increase.

“We go to The Nurses Crisis Center in Saint Charles and play with the homeless chil-dren,” Erby said. “We come whenever they ask us to come. I feel better when I go home, I feel like I have accomplished something. It’s a really nice feeling when you help someone.”

To help give more money to the people in the Parkway North community who need it, one can donate to the Northern Lights foundation or do something as simple as buy-ing hot chocolate at lunch.

“There are a lot of people who care about the homeless people, but there is also a huge amount of people that need help,” Miles said.

A homeless veteran awaits donations at the corner of Fee Fee Road and Olive Blvd., located less than a mile away from Parkway North High. The veteran, who names the streets of Saint Louis home, has been waiting and receiving donations for more than four months while living in a van located down the street.

Homeless people await the bed they will call home for the night at The New Life Evangelistic enter located on Locust Street in Saint Louis City. On any given night, over 160 homeless Saint Louisans call this shelter home. Many people use this shelter to help get back on their feet.

More than 1,300 Saint Louisans are currently without a sufficient living environment

Photos by Mary-Kate M

udd

4 News December 12, 2012Parkway North High School

On Nov. 6, 2012, Missourians re-elected Senator Claire McCaskill (D) and Governor Jay Nixon (D), while approving Proposition A and E, declining Amendment 3 and Proposi-tion B by a small margin. Missouri also fa-vored presidential runner-up Mitt Romney (R).

“[Missouri] has been a bell-weather state in the past, [meaning that] from 1904 to 2008, Missouri chose the winning presi-dential candidate every time except once,” said history teacher Scott Nilsen, referring to when Missourians favored Illinois Gover-nor Adlai Stevenson over former president Eisenhower in 1956. Since 2008, Missouri residents have not been as consistent includ-ing this year when they did not vote for the winning president.

The outcome of the governor election, between incumbent Jay Nixon and Dave Spence (R), was expected. According to Pub-lic Policy Polling from Jan. 27, 2012 to Nov. 3, 2012, 11 separate polls were conducted, all of which projected a Nixon victory by a margin of, or above, five-percent. Governor Nixon won by a 12-percent margin, with 54.7-per-cent of the vote against Spence’s 42.6-per-cent.

“I see the people of Missouri as hav-ing an interest in keeping things that have brought them no harm the same. The way I see it: ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it’,” said se-nior Ryon Arrington.

In this year’s Senatorial election, in-cumbent Claire McCaskill won the election by a decisive 15.5-percent margin over her opponent Todd Akin, a campaign that, before a comment made by Akin concerning legiti-mate rape on Aug. 19, 2012, was fairly close.

bents. In bipartisan fashion, the state gave its 11 electoral votes to Romney (although St. Louis City and County favored President Obama) and re-elected a democratic senator and governor.

Although many North students could not vote in this election, the election impact-ed everyone in the school. North’s lower-gym was used for voting purposes, with a long line extending into the parking lot for much of the day.

“I didn’t drive on election day, [but] I don’t think it’s fair that other people get to park where students normally park. There should be other parking lots [for voters to park] besides the school lot,” said Cunning-ham. “Students had to scramble to find places to park and it was unfair because they had school to worry about.”

Not only was parking a major issue on Election day, but safety was also an issue.

“The parking situation was annoying, but I also didn’t want to come to school be-cause I felt like it was unsafe with all of the strangers there [who were voting],” said

Steven Chaffin Jr.

Opinions and Entertainment Editor

Elections Illustrate Mixed Political Views Among Voters

According to Public Policy Polling, nine con-secutive polls taken from March 14, 2012 to Aug. 20, 2012 projected an Akin victory by as much as 9-percent, only thereafter consis-tently projecting a McCaskill lead. McCaskill, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2007, will be eligible for re-election in 2018.

“All the state-wide officials who won are incumbents. It might have to do with them being established,” said Nilsen.

“I think that Todd Akin pretty much blew his chances after his comments on rape; if he hadn’t said what he said, we would prob-ably have a different senator,” said senior Brooke Voeller, “I think that Missourians based their votes more on their opinions of the candidates rather than whether the candi-date was a Republican or Democrat.”

Aside from the candidates themselves, there were three propositions and one amendment on Missouri’s ballot. Amend-ment 3 sought to give the governor a great-er appointment power, and was denied by 76-percent of voters. Proposition A required that all municipal police forces be controlled by a local governing body, and was approved with 63.9-percent of the vote.

“I think the governor should not have more power now, but maybe sometime in the future,” said senior Timothy Cunningham.

Proposition E, which was also approved by 61.8-percent of voters, will prohibit the creation of a health insurance exchange un-less created by legislature or initiative. Lastly, Proposition B aimed at raising Missouri’s tax on cigarettes, which remains the lowest in the nation, but was denied by a very narrow mar-gin of 1-percent.

“From the perspective of Proposition B, it looks like Missouri is going downhill as far as the access to dangerous stimulants such as cigarettes go. It’s an awesome idea to have such high tax on cigarettes because the smoke off of [cigarettes] not only takes its toll on the user, but also on the people around them. Missouri isn’t heading in the right direction [in terms of] health concern,” said Arrington.

This year’s election illustrates Mis-souri’s general satisfaction with its’ incum-

Phot

o by

Jam

ie P

owel

l

Voters wait outside of Parkway North on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2012 to let their political voices be heard. Most current students were not able to vote during this election but will be able to vote in 2016.

Voters stand by the tennis courts outside of Parkway North, awaiting to get inside the lower gym to place their vote on Election Day. More than 2.7 million voters cast their vote in polling places like Parkway North on Election Day.

Photo by Jamie Pow

ell

sophomore Lauren Green.Several days before the elections,

North’s administrative team advised that all students find alternative means of trans-portation to school, as the senior parking lot would be used exclusively for voters.

Without the senior lot, it was undoubt-edly a concern that there would not be enough parking spots to accommodate every student who purchased a parking permit. Many stu-dents got rides from their parents, or car-pooled with other students to ensure this was not a problem. Thankfully, the initiative taken by the administrators paid off, and the elections were held with very few inconve-niences for voters and students.

The outcome of the election also will af-fect students’ lives for years to come. For ex-ample, Proposition A will affect the way law enforcement is handled throughout Missouri.

“[Proposition A being passed] is a good thing because they have a better sense of the area. They know exactly what goes on in their area so they will know how to stop the crimes there,” said Cunningham.

Even though most students were unable to vote in this election, many current Parkway North students will be able to vote in the 2016 and will have their voices heard at that time.

“I would be excited about voting be-cause determining who the next person to run our country is kind of exciting,” said Cun-ningham.

While many students are excited about the opportunity to vote, others also have con-cerns and want to be well-informed.

“I will make sure to do a lot of research before [I vote] so I can be educated about the candidates. I feel like a lot of people just vote to vote, while they don’t know a lot about the election or the candidates,” said Green.

5OpinionsDecember 12, 2012Parkway North High School

Right now, students are thinking about two things: finals and Winter Break. After a short winter break, students focus on registering for courses to take next year. Some students enroll in all honors and AP courses, while some don’t even consider taking any upper level courses. While some proponents want to add a third tier of intermediate courses to all core subject areas, adding a third tier system would eliminate the rigor and benefits that are currently seen in the regular classes.

“The difference between a regular class and an honors class is an honors class is designed to meet the needs of students who want to go further and faster,” said science department chair Dr. Karen LaFever. “There is no difference in terms of the subject matter; it is a difference of speed and depth.”

Some students have thrown out the idea that a regular level course can be challenging, but expectations and courses are constantly changing.

“Our department is working hard to make our coursework in regular classes very vigorous for even the top students,” said English teacher Megan McCorkle. “Our department needs to focus a bit more on helping struggling students, while still maintaining a high expectation.”

In math, there used to be three levels of courses. There was the regular track, and a lower track for students needing extra help. On the flip side, there was the honors/AP track for students looking for a challenge. The district is phasing out the lower track since they have eliminated two lower track courses such as Algebra 1B, and Geometry B.

“[The idea to eliminate the lower track] is currently up for debate in the district,” said mathematics department chair Jennifer Mueller. “The problem with the lower track courses is that they are not recognized by the NCAA.”

If intermediate classes were offered in math, it would essentially recreate that three tiered system they are trying to do away with.

“[Creating an intermediate class] would create another triple track system,” said Mueller. “This would re-create a lower track, a medium track, and a higher track which is exactly what we are trying to eliminate.”

The science department is a similar story.

“Students benefit more from not being tracked in to different levels of course,” said LaFever. “Teachers should be differentiating the instruction so all students understand the topic.”

Social studies is slightly different, however. Last year, honors world was replaced in favor of AP World History, and some sophomores are not ready for AP work.

“I don’t think there should be a course between a regular course and an honors course,” said history teacher Joni Patton. “However, there could be a benefit to have an intermediate course in between a regular course and an AP course by bringing honors world history back.”

Intermediate courses may not offer an advantage to the GPA like honors classes do, but they still prepare students for the real world. Regular courses should do this as well.

“Our English curriculum is a vigorous at all levels,” said McCorkle. “Our English faculty works hard to make sure every student gets a meaningful experience.”

There are other ways to help out the

Brandon Fredman

Online Editor

Emily McCarterEditor-in-Chief

No matter how many assemblies Park-way North has, there will always be a problem with bullying. There will always be conflict because no one can get along with everybody. However, there are things that students and administration are doing to diminish the amount of bullying and discrimination at Parkway North.

“I don’t like the trendy word ‘bully-ing,’ but I do think people are discriminated against everyday [at Parkway North],” said health teacher Jodi Chambers.

In the media today, the word “bullying” is used quite frequently to describe a variety of activity against individuals, mostly refer-ring to students in high school or middle school being picked on.

Bullying and discrimination not only need to be stopped at our school, but stu-dents also need to show that it is not tolerat-ed, which can be exemplified through harsh-er punishments to students who are caught harassing or picking on another student.

“I think that people, unfortunately, turn their head [from bullying] more than they should. I also feel that people who engage in discrimination, their punishments should be harsher than they are,” said Chambers.

The administration has implemented many programs to halt bullying at North,

such as the Freshman Project and the Ra-chel’s Challenge assembly, in order to inform students on the harmful effects that bullying can have on a person.

“It’s hard to get through to the kids. I know a lot of my friends who will just dismiss [the assemblies and programs],” said fresh-man Joey Goldman.

However, students need to be constant-ly reminded of North’s No Bullying policy to it to make a difference in their actions.

“I feel like the staff [at North] needs to constantly have more discussions [with the

students], and be more proactive in making sure our students are safe,” said Chambers. “If discrimination does happen, discipline needs to be stronger.”

The Freshman Project is a program in which upperclassmen go into freshman labs and talk with them about bullying and dis-criminating at North. The students stress how North is a safe environment and that bullying is something that affects more peo-ple than they realize.

“I think we should have speakers and programs more often. Academic Lab is a per-

Parkway North Raises Academic Standards

North’s Students, Administration Combat Bullyingfect chunk of time where we can offer mean-ingful discussions,” said Chambers.

Not only is the administration stepping upon the anti-bullying campaign, but stu-dents are using their voice as well to speak up and even make organizations revolved around anti-bullying.

“My friend Megan Mudd and I have started an anti-bullying organization called Zero Conflict. It is already working well at the middle school so hopefully we can produce that same result at North,” said Goldman.

Zero Conflict is a club that was started at Northeast Middle School. Goldman and Mudd made the club so students could get together to discuss how to stop bullying and also what to do in a bullying situation. Any-one is welcome to join the club, and they have to sign a contract to not bully and report any bullying they see.

“The problem is that the administration sometimes doesn’t see it and people don’t re-port the bullying so then nothing gets done to stop it. The administration [at North] does an okay job [to stop bullying] but not enough,” said Goldman.

Even if the administration does all they can to stop bullying, it is up to the students to actually stop discrimination and report any incidents they see.

“I don’t think bullying can be complete-ly stopped, but I do think it’s important to not judge others and accept people’s differ-ences,” said freshman Eddie Rodriquez.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

YesNo

Have you ever bullied someone?

Have you ever been the victim of bullying?

Have you ever been effected by both?

borderline students.“For students entering honors English

1, there is a summer school course that helps students prepare for vigor in Honors English 1,” said McCorkle. “This course is designed for students who elected to take this course, but they want to improve their skills to prepare for this course.”

Right now, that course is only for students entering honors English 1. If similar summer school courses were set up to prepare students for all honors courses, borderline students could build up their skills so they could do well in honors courses.

Also, not having an intermediate course would allow classes to stay diverse with all types of learners.

“I think students benefit from being in heterogeneous [or diverse] classes,” said McCorkle. “They can learn from a variety of different students. They get to see a section of this school that looks a lot more like the real world. Most of us will work in jobs with various types of people with differing abilities.”

When a three tiered system is in place, students on the lower track are at a disadvantage. By moving the lower track up the regular track, all students can get more out of a course. There are intervention classes set up to help out students who are struggling, so they can do well in classes that may be difficult for them.

“There are current interventions [for students who are struggling in a math classes]. Our I-squared program offers small class sizes and focus on meeting the needs of students in the math class they are in,” said Mueller. “This course is an elective, and it is not a replacement to a mainstream math class.”

Offering extra prep classes can provide

many benefits. They can make more students ready for regular classes, and it will give more students a head start into the curriculum.

Parkway North offers over hundreds of courses to choose from. All courses are designed to meet different needs of all students.

“Our curriculum will change over time to meet the needs of students to keep them engaged,” said McCorkle. “I want to get better at what I do, so I can better meet the needs of students.”

History teacher Scott Nilsen’s seventh block A.P. World History class discusses different religions around the world. Students not in an advanced class do not talk about this subject in as much depth, but will still learn about differ-ent religions around the world.

Photo by Brandon Fred

man

December 12, 2012Parkway North High School6 Entertainment

Local Movie Theatres Offer Variety of ExperiencesGianna SparksStaff Writer

St. Louis houses a variety of different movie theatres. From mega-screens to the-atres with couches instead of seats, to new dine-in theatres where moviegoers can en-joy a full meal while watching a movie, the following are a few of the most popular the-atres among North students.

AMC 16 Dine-In Theatre

AMC 16 was recently renovated to be-come one of St. Louis’s first dine-in theatres. Originally a traditional movie theatre, AMC 16 re-opened on Nov. 5 to become a dine-in theatre.

“[Working at a dine-in theatre] is more work because there is a schedule, and you have to time everything perfectly,” said senior McKenna Tucker. AMC dine-in theatres take the “cuisine and cocktail” options of a traditional restau-rant and combine them with the entertain-ment and excitement of seeing a movie. At the new theatres, moviegoers are able to en-joy a full meal, complete with desserts and drinks, all brought to their seats.

“I think the concept [of dine-in the-atres] is nice [because] instead of going out to dinner then watching a movie, you can do both at the same time and place,” said sophomore Kemi Ola.

The new dine-in theatres offer two dif-ferent experiences. Fork and Screen is the more relaxed experience, with children un-der the age of 18 needing to be accompanied by an adult, whereas Cinema Suites is the premium option for adults 21 and older, of-fering recliners and an extensive menu.

“The whole concept is neat,” said Tucker. “Food in a theatre is an [excellent] idea.”

Omnimax

The Omnimax theatre located in the St. Louis Science Center uses a high quality film and screen to create a unique experi-ence.

“The technology that goes into [the Omnimax] and what’s behind it make this theatre impressive,” said sophomore Imran Chaudhry.

The Omnimax uses 70MM camera, a wide, high resolution film gauge, with a higher resolution than traditional film. The pictures shown are usually filmed with a special IMAX camera that uses a film frame ten times larger than a traditional camera.

“The atmosphere [of the theatre] makes it stand out,” said history teacher Josh Pennington.

Because of its affiliation with the Sci-ence Center, most of the films shown at the theatre are 40 minute documentary style movies. Despite this, the Omnimax occasionally shows different types of mov-ies such as Santa vs. The Snowman which opened on Nov 23.

“The [Omnimax] has a steep stadium seating arrangement that makes looking up at the 360 degree screen comfortable,” said Pennington.

A four-story domed screen greets at-tendees as the walk into the Omnimax. The large screen combined with a higher qual-ity of film and camera makes this theatre a unique place.

“I like how you feel like you’re in the movie,” said sophomore Henry Levin. “It’s everywhere.”

Moolah

Originally a temple, the Moolah the-atre, located on Lindell Blvd, was renovated starting in 2003 and ending in 2004 to cre-ate an innovative entertainment destina-tion.

“It’s very comfortable and it’s like watching a movie at home,” said sophomore Goon Sup Cha.

The theatre offers personal touches to try to enhance the ambience of the theatre. Along with stadium seating, the Moolah also offers a variety of leather couches and loveseats as seating options. The Moolah theatre also has a large 25’x40’ screen, so moviegoers can still enjoy the big screen af-fect while sitting in a comfortable environ-ment, a crucial part of the movie-watching experience for many.

“It’s a very cool building. Although they have updated it, [the Moolah] still has a nice history,” said junior Milo Brucker.

Formally the home of The Shri-ners Life, the Moolah theatre was renovated af-ter sitting idly after the group left it in 1980. Afterwards, the

property was bought with plans to make it into office space, however the plan did not go through and the building continued to deteriorate until it was finally purchased in 2002 with plans to create a one-of-a-kind movie theatre. The multi-million dol-lar project focused on rehabilitating the old building with vibrant colors to restore it to its former glory.

“It just has a nice ambience”, said Brucker.

Above the theatre, the Moolah has sev-eral one, two and three bedroom loft apart-ments all within walking distant of The Central West End. Not only is the Moolah a theatre, it also has a bowling alley called The Moolah lanes, complete with a bar, grill, and even a modern style jukebox, all of this combined helps to make the Moolah a truly unique place.

AMC 16 Dine-In- Olive Blvd.- Cinema Suites - $25 all inclusive; Fork & Screen - $12 for an evening ticket plus food costs.- Full service wait staff.

OMNIMAX- City of St. Louis- $9 for a ticket- Special high-res-olution, 360 degree screen.

Moolah - City of St. Louis - $7 tickets for students; $5 on Wed. - Couches

Photo by Jo Treadw

ay

Photo by Gianna Sparks

Photo by Gianna Sparks

Among the many different attractions lo-cated at the Science Center, The Omnimax stands out because of its large screen and high quality film.

After being under construction for several months, AMC 16 was transferred from a regular movie theatre to a newer Dine-in theatre, featuring the new “Fork and Screen” and “Cinema Suites” that offer a more up-scale movie-watching environment for an increased price.

The Moolah Temple was renovated in 2003 to create a new, building with a one-of-a-kind look and feel.

7December 12, 2012Parkway North High School Entertainment

Theatre Department Showcases Improv TalentMolly Thal

Centerspread Editor

On Friday, Nov. 17, Parkway North’s Improv team, Insert Laughter (Here), performed two shows that showcased the members’ quick thinking, confidence, and comedy. The show’s theme was “Comedy Campaign” based on American politics.

“We decided to do Comedy Campaign because this was the only time we could do it with election season,” said junior Toryn Walton, who is a member of Insert Laughter (Here).

While this theme provided an opportunity for funny jokes and games, politics can be a very controversial subject. Because many people feel strongly about politics, it is easy to offend a member of the audience.

Instead of making fun of specific ideas, people, or parties pertaining to politics, “we’re playing with the concept of politics,” said sophomore Mico Xa. “We were initially concerned about political affiliations, but we’re working towards not offending anyone.”

While the general theme is about politics, the games and content were more of a regular comedy show. The only parts of the show that totally focused on politics were the intros and the exits. Other than that, the games they play were totally based on suggestions from the audience.

“I went [to the show] last year, and I had a great time,” said English teacher Mark Bannecker, who was a member of the audience at the 3:00 p.m. show.

The only scripted part of the evenings were the entrances of the hosts and performers. The hosts of the 3:00 p.m. were

sophomore David Thal and junior Erin Gaubatz. The hosts of the 7:00 p.m. show were senior Danielle Feinstein and junior Danny Cohen. Their catchphrase of the night was, “Danny and Dannie: A Family Company.”

“It was an honor to host, especially considering I’m a sophomore,” said Thal. “It was stressful, but I was prepared. In rehearsal, [Erin and I] practiced explaining and leading the games.”

The intro for the 7:00 pm show was a skit by senior Shane Devine and senior Noah Laster. It was set up like a political debate where one of the candidates was late, so Laster put up his shoe to take the candidate’s place. The entrance of the 3:00 p.m. show was a skit by the hosts.

“Erin set it up like, ‘We’re going to salute the Red, White and Blue,’ and I come

out with the French Flag,” said Thal. In past years, there has only been one

show in the evening. This year, there were two: one right after school, and the other in the evening.

“[We did two shows] so we can bring in more revenue, and we have more people on the team, so we want to give everyone an opportunity to perform,” said Walton.

One of the games the team did in the shows was called Town Hall, and junior Sam Williams and Cohen participated in this game in the 3:00 pm show. The game is played with two people who stand on stage a debate a fake subject that is suggested by the audience, like many other games. The subject in this show was tacos.

“Both the contestants did a good job of portraying the extremes of both political parties,” said Bannecker.

Many of the members of the Insert Laughter (Here) are active members in the Theatre Department at Parkway North outside of Improv. For example, Thal played Ken de la Maize in the fall play the week before the Improv show. While the two groups scheduled rehearsal around each other due to many members being a part of both productions, it can be difficult to balance play and Improv rehearsals.

“I had to miss Improv rehearsals because the play takes precedence,” said Thal.

Because so many members of Improv also participate in different aspects of theatre, they use the skills learned in Improv in acting and vice versa. One thing Xa learned from Improv was confidence.

“[Improv showed me how] to be spontaneous and comfortable with myself. It really helped with my confidence,” said Xa.

The Improv team meets weekly to build on Improv theory and skills that help them in other aspects of theater.

“[I think the most important skill is] when you’re doing a skit, you need to have a goal. If you don’t have a goal, the scene won’t progress and you just become talking heads,” said Walton. In Improv, “talking heads” describes what happens when a scene isn’t progressing. There isn’t any action, so it can be boring for the audience.

Many audience members recognize the hard work the team puts into perfecting their skills.

“I love Improv comedy because it demands a person to have quick wit and be topical and playful at the same time,” said Bannecker.

The members of Insert Laughter (Here) put all these skills to use.

“The show was good,” said Thal. “A better show than we’ve had in a while.”

Jo Treadway

Design Editor

Improv members senior Stephan Griffin, junior Nicole Hunt, freshman Maya Elfanbaum, junior Jamie Roper, senior Shane Devine, and junior Danny Cohen enter the stage for their show on Nov. 17. As members were standing at attention, Cohen fell then crawled onto stage.

Photo by Molly Thal

From science to music and magic, the Fox Theater has had another successful season this year, selling out at nearly every event hosted so far. This season, the Fox has brought back recurring favorites such as Wicked and the Blue Man Group while also introducing live shows new to St. Louis such as the Mythbusters: Behind the Myths.

On Nov. 11, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage from the show Mythbusters came to St. Louis for a one-day only show at the Fox Theater and revealed the science behind their myths, conducting on-stage experiments and sharing their knowledge of science as well as behind-the-scene stories of their show.

“The show was very educational and very entertaining,” said science teacher Dr. Bill Bowman, who attended the show. “I was very impressed at how they were able to take science and turn it into entertainment.”

The show consisted of audience participation, as audience members were called to the stage for different demonstrations or experiments and the science behind each experiment was explained in full.

“It was like a magic show, but they explained the magic,” Bowman said, “I think that’s what makes the show even more

magical.”The Mythbusters brought

entertainment to education, but the Blue Man Group gives entertainment and music a completely different perspective. The Blue Man Group has returned to the Fox this year, and performed from Nov. 20 to Dec. 2.

The Blue Man Group, who is based out in Chicago, Illinois, is known for their theatrical concerts which incorporate music, comedy, and technology in a variety of creative ways. They use strange, and often times messy, tools and objects to make the unique music and visuals that have made the group popular.

“I loved [the Blue Man Group],” said sophomore Lindsey Potts, “They were hilarious and made really good and interesting music.”

“Their approach towards music is very unique. They can take a PVC pipe and turn it into a musical instrument, and they turn music into fun. Anyone can play an instrument, but it takes a special group of people to make unique music with audience participation,” said Bowman

As the Blue Man Group finishes up their tour in St. Louis, the famous Broadway Musical, Wicked will return to the Fox Dec. 12 and shows will run through Jan. 6. The musical, based off of the book which parodied The Wizard of Oz chronicles which tells the

story of two girls, Elphaba and Galinda, who unexpectedly become best of friends as they are growing up to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

“Wicked was the first musical I was really into, and it became something I associate a lot with some of my friends and family. It’s just an all around entertaining show,” said Potts.

Wicked first premiered on Broadway in 2003 and has since been a big hit to audiences across the United States. With

catchy songs, thrilling vocals, and advanced special effects, the musical brings the land of Oz to life, creating a unique experience for audience members of all ages.

When Wicked’s last show in early January concludes, Stomp will take the stage, taking an entirely new spin on percussion music.

“[Stomp] is a good show. The music is cool, and it’s fun to watch,” said senior Brian Thal.

Stomp is a percussion group that utilizes the body and ordinary objects such as brooms, lids, trash bins, and even bananas to create their music. The group originated in the United Kingdom in 1991 when founders Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas previewed the show at the Bloomsbury Theater in London.

Stomp’s use of household objects for their shows is what makes the group unique. In ways, it is also similar to the Blue Man Group, and fans of either group would also enjoy the other’s take on music and entertainment.

“My favorite part of the show is when they throw brooms to the ground to create their music,” said Thal.

Stomp will premiere at the Fox on Jan. 11 and runs through Jan. 13. Tickets for both Stomp and Wicked can be purchased online at the Fox Theater’s website or MetroTix.

Fox Theatre Schedules Exciting 2013 Season

The Fox Theatre is host to hundreds of popu-lar show tours including Blue Man Group, Wicked, and Stomp.

Photo by Jo Treadw

ay

CenterspreadNorsestar8 Parkway North High School

December 12, 2012December 12, 2012Parkway North High School 9

SUN FRITHURSWEDTUESMON SAT

DECEMBER 20121

5

3130

23 24

25 26 27

28 29

22212018 1917

16

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

6 7 8432

“When my brother got a lot of can-dy for Hanukkah and it was funny because he doesn’t eat candy.”Freshman Blake Coulter

“I like standing outside while it’s snowing.”Sophomore Erik Muschinske

“I like Christmas day and getting presents.”Junior Kelly Chen

“I like having my entire family over for Christmas.”Senior Caylen Vinson

“I like Christmas morning and seeing how excited all my children are to see what Santa brought them.”History teacher James Hubbard

Everyone has a different way to ring in the New Year, and whether it is going to New York to watch the ball drop in Times Square or just spending time with family, New Years Eve is one of the most celebrated holidays of the year.

“My birthday is on New Years Eve, so I usually go out to breakfast with my family and then, this year I will go out to dinner with my girlfriend that night,” said sophomore Brian Coulter. “Because my birthday is New Years Eve, and my grandpa’s birthday is New Year’s day,

every year we have a huge family party on New Years day to celebrate our birthdays.”

M o s t s t u d e n t s d o n ’ t g o o u t o f t o w n f o r N e w Y e a r ’ s b u t s p e n d t i m e i n t o w n w i t h f r i e n d s a n d f a m i l y . H o w e v e r , s o m e s t u d e n t s a r e l u c k y e n o u g h t o t r a v e l t h e w o r l d t o r i n g i n t h e N e w Y e a r i n a d i f f e r e n t c o u n t r y .

“ I n 2 0 0 6 , m y f a m i l y a n d I t r a v e l e d t o P a r i s , F r a n c e a n d s p e n t N e w Y e a r s E v e a t t h e E i f f e l T o w e r . I t w a s s o i n c r e d i b l e s e e i n g i t a l l l i t u p ; i t w a s b e a u t i f u l , ” s a i d s e n i o r H o l l y H i n r i c h s . “ M o s t y e a r s , I j u s t s p e n d t h e h o l i d a y a t m y a u n t ’ s h o u s e w i t h m y e n t i r e f a m i l y a n d w e s t a y u p t o w a t c h t h e b a l l d r o p . ”

T h e T i m e s S q u a r e B a l l D r o p i n N Y C i s a m o n g o n e o f t h e m o s t v i s i t e d p l a c e s o n N e w Y e a r ’ s E v e . T h e f i r s t t i m e t h e b a l l w a s d r o p p e d w a s o n D e c . 3 1 , 1 9 0 7 a n d t h e e v e n t h a s t a k e n p l a c e e v e r y y e a r s i n c e t h e n . T h e b a l l ’ s d e s i g n h a s b e e n c h a n g e d m a n y t i m e s o v e r t h e y e a r s a s t e c h n o l o g y h a s a d v a n c e d . T h e o r i g i n a l d e s i g n c o n s i s t e d o f 1 0 0 i n c a n d e s c e n t l i g h t b u l b s , i r o n , a n d w o o d .

Dick Clark hosted the Ball Drop from 1975-2004. But from 2006-2012, he had limited on-air time due to his condition dysarthria, which is a condition that lingers after having a stroke. Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest will now be hosted by Ryan Seacrest after the death of Dick Clark on April 18, 2012.

“Most likely I won’t end up watching the Ball Drop this year no matter who hosts it,” said English teacher Jeff Church. “I’d really like to see someone like Howard Stern or Ellen DeGeneres host the event. I don’t really think Ryan Seacrest will draw any new viewers.”

Every year, a different celebrity guest joins the host to make the Ball Drop that much more special. The special guests have ranged from Muhammad Ali, to Bill and Hilary Clinton, to Lady Gaga. This year, Taylor Swift is the main celebrity guest will be attending the Times Square

Ball Drop.

“ I w a s l u c k y e n o u g h t o s p e n d N e w Y e a r ’ s E v e i n N Y C t o w a t c h t h e b a l l d r o p i n 2 0 0 8 , ” s a i d j u n i o r C l a r e M c A u l e y . “ I w e n t w i t h m y w h o l e f a m i l y , a n d i t w a s i n c r e d i b l e . I w o u l d l o v e t o b e a b l e t o g o a g a i n . ”

S o m e f a m i l i e s h a v e t r a d i t i o n s t h a t t h e y k e e p u p w i t h e v e r y y e a r t o m a k e t h e i r N e w Y e a r ’ s E v e s p e c i a l . K e e p i n g u p w i t h t h e s e t r a d i t i o n s i s w h a t m a k e s t h e h o l i d a y s p e c i a l t o t h e m .

“ E v e r y y e a r m y f a m i l y a n d I g o b o w l i n g o n N e w Y e a r ’ s E v e , ” s a i d j u n i o r M a t t N e y . “ I t ’ s n o t a c t u a l l y t h a t e x c i t i n g , b u t i t ’ s a t r a d i t i o n t h a t w e k e e p u p w i t h e v e r y y e a r . ”

N o m a t t e r w h e r e y o u g o o r w h a t y o u d o , a s l o n g a s y o u ’ r e w i t h f r i e n d s a n d f a m i l y o n N e w Y e a r ’ s E v e , t h e n i t c a n b e a v e r y

s p e c i a l h o l i d a y t o c e l e b r a t e .

Students, St ff Ring in the new year with

Friends and Family Christmas is the holiday that most

people think of when they think of December, but Christmas is not the only winter holiday. Some people celebrate Kwanzaa, some people celebrate Hanukkah, and others celebrate no holiday at all. Although Christmas may be the most widely celebrated winter holiday, it’s certainly not the only one.

“Kwanzaa is a holiday that is meant to bring people back to a sense of community,” said district counselor Moyenda Anwisye.

Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration honoring the African heritage. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first specifically African-American holiday. Kwanzaa celebrates what its’ founder called the seven principles of Kwanzaa. The seven principles are Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith).

“When our people come together, we come together to reflect on what that principle means to the community and family,” said Anwisye.

Families that celebrate Kwanzaa decorate their households with art, colorful African cloth, and fresh fruits that represent African idealism. Traditional African cloth is typically brightly colored with pictures of all of the principles that are celebrated during Kwanzaa.

“Karenga created it to give Africans an opportunity to celebrate traditions of our culture,” said Anwisye.

Another winter holiday that people celebrate each December is Hanukkah. Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, begins on Dec. 8 and ends on Sunday Dec. 16.

“We wait until sundown and we light candles each day,” said junior Madeline Thomas.

Hanukkah is observed for eight days and eight nights. It’s typical that families give each other a gift on each of the days.

“We light candles every night and we give presents. As a general rule, every night everyone gets one present,” said junior Rachel Monsey.

The eight day celebration celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem where, according to legend, Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean revolt.

Latkes are traditionally eaten by Jewish people during the Hanukkah celebration. Latkes are fried pancakes made out of potatoes, flour, egg, and often seasoned with grated onion and garlic. The oil for cooking latkes is a symbol of the oil from the story of Hanukkah that kept the Second Temple of Ancient Israel lit with a long lasting flame that is celebrated as a miracle. There was only enough untainted oil left to light the Second Temple for one day. This miracle inspired the Jews to begin lighting the menorah for the eight days and eight nights.

“On the first and last night, we make latkes, which are potato pancakes,” said Monsey.

Because of the Hanukkah miracle being related to oil, people who celebrate Hanukkah typically eat food fried or cook in oil, such as latkes and jelly donuts. The jelly donuts, called sufganiyot in Hebrew, are more traditional outside of America in places such as Israel and Europe.

The typical menorah consists of eight branches with an additional raised branch. The raised light is called a shamash. The shamash is put either above or below the rest. Based on tradition, it’s purpose is to light the other candles on the menorah.

“Each child in my family has a different menorah,” said Monsey.

There are some people who don’t celebrate any holidays because their religion doesn’t allow them to do so. Jehovah’s Witnesses are don’t believe in celebrating any holidays.

“Christmas is just an ordinary day [for Jehovah’s Witnesses], just like all the other holidays,” said senior Mirramoni Buford.

Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate any holidays because they were not celebrated in the Bible and were not made important. For Jehovah’s Witnesses, holidays are just another day, no matter how widely celebrated it is in other religions.

“I’m fine with people going overboard during the holidays. Sometimes it’s weird for me to see people get worked up over stuff like this because I’m not used to it myself, but I find it cute and amusing,” said Buford.

Although some people of different religions, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, don’t celebrate any holidays, other people, like those who celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah, see winter as a time of celebration, community, service, and joy.

Holiday Presents Create Memorable Experiences

Aurora Wrancher

Features Editor

With the December holidays of Hanuk-kah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa just around the corner, this is the time of year when most share joy, cheer and laughter with friends and family. During this month, many think about gifts to bring to their loved ones, but finding out what the best gift to give them is most of the time the hardest part.

Christmas is celebrated for one day. But before Dec. 25, families set up their Christmas trees ahead of time so that they can set their presents under the tree.

“I love watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate. I also love putting or-naments on the Christmas tree with my family. We each have our own,” said senior Isabella Hanewinkel.

The Jewish holiday Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is celebrated for eight nights and eight days.

“Sometimes, I receive clothes, gift cards, electronics and other things, but every night we receive a gift. It’s either one big gift and then 7 other small ones, or just eight small gifts,” said junior Haley Neeter.

The African Holiday, Kwanzaa, is cele-brated for a week and starts on Dec. 26 through the Jan. 1. The gifts for Kwanzaa are unique from Christmas and Hanukkah because they are smaller and more personal.

“My dad celebrates Kwanzaa, and when I’m with him, I celebrate it too. We wear a lot of African tribal clothing which is optional; you don’t have to wear it. But instead of big gifts, we get little tokens that mean something to us,” said junior Chandler Johnson.

When finding or creating a gift for a friend or family member, always make sure that it is something from the heart so that they will re-member it for the rest of their life.

“When I’m getting someone a gift, I like to find something that they might need or even something that matches their personality. But I also look for something that’s from the heart that doesn’t cost that much because I don’t want it to be super expensive,” said junior Ra-ven Jackson.

When one is looking for the best holiday gift to give, it is important to explore all options and think outside the box. Thinking outside the box might be a little hard, but the best thing to do is to think of a favorite memory that you’ve

Jamie Powell

Staff Writer

What is your favorite holiday memory?

PNH Community Celebrates Variety of Winter Holidays

Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting the me-norah, a traditional candle holder. There are nine places to put the candles: eight for each night, and one for the Shamash, which is the candle that lights the others every night.

had with that person and find a gift that sym-bolizes that memory or moment.

“When I was four years old, I got a blue power-ranger action figure, and it was really cool. My brother got a red one but it wasn’t that cool,” said junior Conner Patterson.

When on a budget, the best gift is usually something homemade, like a card and baked cookies. Another easy gift for the holiday sea-son is a gift card. A gift card lets the receiver choose what they want. West County Shop-ping Center also offers gift cards to their mall so it can be used at any store. This is good if you don’t know exactly what to get for them be-cause the mall offers a wide variety of stores for everyone.

“Last year, I made a homemade card and baked a cake from scratch. My mom loved it,” said junior Carissa Williams.

With the December holidays around the corner, always remember to think outside the box and look for something personal to find the best holiday gift.

Some of the most popular gifts of this year that are wanted are items such as clothes, electronics, and jewelry.

“This year, I want a laptop, an iPad, an xbox, and a watch. That’s always nice,” said ju-nior Tatyana Gates.

The iPhone 4s and 5 are some of the most popular electronics of the year, with the Galaxy 3 being the runner up. The iPhone 5 has been the most popular request this year, due to the features that the electronic has. It has a front camera, over 15 gigabytes of memory. The elec-tronics seems to be the most desirable gift.

The Galaxy 3 and iPhone 4s and 5 are very popular gifts this year. Although they are very expen-sive, the phones have convenient applications such as email, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Photo by Molly Thal

Taylor Weiss

Staff Writer

Taylor WeissStaff Writer

Photo by Molly Thal

Photo courtesy of the Powell fam

ily

Julisa Powell (Parkway North graduate)opens Christmas presents in 1997 when she was three. Even though the latest technology gadgets are hot gifts each year, people always remember the gifts that are most personal for them.

10 Features December 12, 2012Parkway North High School

Each week, numerous clubs meet to pursue specific interests shared by a group of students. New additions have been made to the list of clubs offered this school year, in-cluding the Rubik’s Club, Henna Club, and It Gets Loud.

“The benefit of having so many clubs is that there is something for everyone,” said senior Joseph Hiebert. “No matter what your interests are, there is a club that covers it.”

English teacher David Beck has recent-ly played a role in bringing two new clubs to the students at North by asking students in his classes to start something new.

“Students are directed to invest in something that interested them, and that is what created these clubs,” Beck explained.

Each Monday in Beck’s classroom, stu-dents gather with one goal in mind: discover-ing various methods and strategies to solve a Rubik’s Cube.

“We have had people show up that are of all different skill levels,” Beck said.

The Rubik’s Cube, a three-dimensional puzzle that originated in 1974 after being thought up by a Hungarian scholar, reached its greatest popularity during the 1980’s. De-spite this, the sight of seeing a person work-ing tirelessly to solve one is still common today.

“The club was from senior Deep Pa-tel,” explained Beck. “He wanted to share his knowledge of Rubik’s Cubes.”

The group meets for an hour each week, sharing fellowship while working towards their individual goals.

“The meetings are an hour of students challenging each other in speed tests and [Patel] teaching strategies to the beginners,” said Beck.

Also sponsored by Beck, It Gets Loud is a new group at North this year with the pur-pose of setting up a forum and community in which students can discuss music of all kinds.

“We have had anywhere from eight to twelve people bring in their own music to share, and it’s been a laid back way to appre-

ciate music,” Beck described.Meetings this group holds generally

consist of watching music videos on the Smartboard in Beck’s classroom and then contributing to discussions afterwards.

“The music club came from students who enjoy music and wanted to share what they listen to,” Beck said.

The group is led by seniors Caitlin Schmidt and Colleen Bellows.

“It basically is an hour of listening to music and sharing song lyrics, favorite mu-sicians, and people who motivate us,” said Beck.

A third new club this year at North is Henna Club.

“We try to introduce Henna to the PNH Community. It is a traditional, non-perma-nent tattoo,” said Tom Waggle, sponsor of the club.

The Henna Club meets on Tuesdays in Waggle’s room.

“When we meet, a few people show up to get tattoos. The people who know how to do it teach others as well,” said Waggle.

Senior Shali Patel started this club as a project for Beck’s English class but wanted to continue it.

“It’s great to see people sharing their culture with others,” said Waggle.

The experience of being in clubs like these provides students with a variety of ways to stay connected.

“Being able to be a part of a group of kids with a passion for something unique and forming deeper relationships outside of the classroom [is my favorite part],” said Beck.

On Dec. 13, the Parkway North music program, comprised of the choir, orchestra, and band, will be performing in the Masterworks concert. Masterworks provides a beneficial experience for the students involved, exposing them to symphony level performance expectations. “The benefits of Masterworks is that it raises performance skills and provides students with symphony level opportunity,” said orchestra teacher Kenneth Rapini. This gives the students an opportunity that they seldom get. The music included in the program is not easy to read or play, and they have little time to learn it. Most of the music is going to have to be sight read. The students involved have been working hard to prepare for this event. The music they are reading, Elijah from the Mendelssohn Suite, is treacherous to read and perform, but the time and effort the students have put into it is proving to be favorable for the outcome. “I think we still have a long ways to go, but we’re working every day to improve and, hopefully, be ready for the concert,” said senior Erica Roux, a choir member. Taking it one day at a time, the students prepare for Masterworks. Working on the

fine details of each part, each music group has proven their dedication with the amount of effort they are giving to be able to perform the piece to the best of their ability.

Despite the challenge of reading the music and the small amount of time to learn the music, Masterworks provides a rare opportunity for the music program to join together. This gives the students a chance to experience a style of playing that usually is only seen in a professional or collegiate symphony. “It’s a challenge to learn all the music in such a short period of time, but it offers an opportunity to play with the orchestra,” said senior Jake Sandweiss, choir member. Many students are grateful for the opportunity to play together. This is the only time this year they will be able to come together to perform in this way, and the students are looking forward to this beneficial opportunity. “I think we are really lucky to sing in a piece such as Elijah because it gives us great experience,” said Roux. The students are optimistic that they can overcome the obstacles Elijah gives them and will be able to put on a wonderful performance the night of the concert. The group is confident in themselves and their abilities as musician and it shows. “The orchestra and choir at Parkway North are both superb, and they have the ability to produce incredible music,” said

Sandweiss. The music program is using Masterworks not only to bring together each music group but also give the students an opportunity to read new music that will help increase their potential level of performance. “Our goal is to introduce students to

higher level music using strings, winds, and choir,” said Rapini. The group has done more than enough to reach their goal. Performing this music on the evening of the Masterworks concert is going to reflect their persistence, talent, and dedication.

New Clubs Provide More Extracurricular Options to Interest Students at North High

,

Photo by Richard Reynold

s

Music Department Prepares For Annual Concert

Kevin Graeler

Co-Editor in Chief

Richard Reynolds

Sports Editor

Senior Deep Patel practices solving the Rubik’s cube at the club’s meeting on Dec. 5, 2012. The club meets every Wednesday after school in Mr. Beck’s classroom.

Photo by Ian Brown

Students have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming Masterworks concert that will take place on Dec. 13, 2012 at Parkway North.

11December 12, 2012Parkway North High School

Parkway Safe and Drug Free Council At-tends Annual Retreat in Washington, D.C.

As the first semester of the 2012-2013 school year comes to a close, students at Parkway North must now start to prepare for finals. Each student has his or her own way of studying for these important tests.

“For most classes, I do a general review of all the work we have done and then go more in depth on things I do not understand,” said senior Thomas Beilsmith

A student’s study methods and habits change based on the class they are studying for.

“Depending on the class, how I study changes. For instance, for a foreign language class, flashcards seem to help the most, and for science reviewing with my teacher is the best,” said junior Nick Burke.

Consulting the teacher of each class, for some students, is the best way to prepare for a final exam.

“I go to teachers if I need an explanation [of something I don’t understand]. They always seem to have a way of helping me understand,” said Beilsmith.

Never having high school finals before, the freshmen at Parkway North have begun to come up with plans to study.

“I’m going to go over all my notes from the semester. I am not looking forward to

studying, but it will be worth it if I do well,” said freshman Matt Schnell.

Students are learning from their mistakes from finals in previous years.

“For last year’s finals, I did not study, and as a result I did not do as well as I should

have. For this year, I plan to study as much as possible to ensure that I get the best grade possible,” said sophomore Marissa Hacker.

While studying is a necessity, finding the method of studying that works for each individual is key.

From Nov. 9-12, 2012, the Parkway Safe and Drug Free Council consisting of two students from each grade level per school, took its annual retreat to Washington, D.C. This year, the retreat took place during Vet-erans Day, a holiday not taken lightly in D.C.

“The Drug Free Council is a group of students from every Parkway high school who want to promote drug awareness,” said senior Paige Marshall.

The Drug Free Council leads a club called Captains Council, which is a group of drug-free leaders from the sports teams at North that get together to promote not us-ing drugs in high school. One thing they do is plan special events at North.

“The Drug Free Council created com-munity events such as Play for Pink and the Freshmen Project. Last year, they spent a month picking up trash in the hallways. This year, their focus is drug awareness,” said Ac-tivities and Athletics Director Kris Kellams.

The people in the Drug Free Council are considered leaders at this school. Leadership is a huge reason they go to D.C.

“We go to Washington D.C. to experi-ence [leadership] at the highest level,” said Kellams.

This year, the group did several activi-ties there to experience that leadership.

“We went to the Arlington Cemetery over Veterans Day and saw the memorials. We went to the Drug Enforcement Agency museum and heard a speaker [there],” said Kellams.

No two trips to Washington D.C. have provided the exact same experiences for the Drug Free Council.

“In past years, we’ve gone to the Drug Enforcement Agency. We have also seen the White House, Central Intelligence Agency, and the capitol,” said Kellams. “In the past, we have heard the President and the Vice President speak.”

Another key element of this trip was to bond with other members of the Drug Free Council.

“We go on this trip to bond with one

“I re-read all the chapters we went through and review the notes I took,” said sophomore Ian Hollander.

Although it has a low success rate, the cramming method is a popular technique used to quickly prepare for a final.

“I sit down in a solitary place and clear my mind of everything but that class and fill my mind with every bit of knowledge I can scrounge,” said senior Patrick Commerford.

Like students, teachers have already started to prepare for finals. Planning review days are one of the most important ways for teachers to help students learn what they will be tested on during the final and also giving a brief overview of the material taught throughout the semester helps.

“I always set aside a couple of days before the test to help students review,” said history teacher Joni Patton.

Creative lessons on the review days are common in many classes because they are fun ways for students to learn.

“[I like to give] review games and group work because that is what seems to always help,” said Patton

Instead of a written test, some teachers will give a major project that acts as the final for the class.

“[Projects] give students more variety to show what they learned throughout the semester,” said Patton.

FeaturesStudents Find Creative Ways to Study for Finals

Photo by Ian Brown

Junior Phillip Oravec studies for Honors Colonial America with history teacher Joni Patton during Academic Lab on Dec. 6, 2012.

Brandon Fredman

Online Editor

Ian Brown

News Editor

another,” said sophomore Roosevelt Abram. “We get to know one another better so we can do more for the Parkway community.”

This year was special since the trip took place over Veterans Day.

“This year, we attended the Arlington Cemetery and saw the 21 guns solute, and the changing of the guards,” said Kellams.

Being in Washington D.C. for Veterans Day is one thing, but being at the Arlington National Cemetery provides an experience that is even more unique.

“We talked to a Marine and veterans at

Arlington on Veterans day,” said Kellams.Besides going on this annual trip, the

number one priority of the Drug Free Council is to encourage good decision making.

“The Drug Free Council is given the charge of leading the Captains Council and creating their focus and agenda. In turn, the team leaders are given the charge of leading their sports teams in making the right choic-es,” said Kellams. “The whole point of the Drug Free Council is too help influence good decision making.”

Photos by Mary-Kate M

udd

During the trip to Washington D.C., the Drug Free Council visited several memorials, including the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

Washington D.C. has several monuments and memorials to honors the nations past. The Washington Monument honors our first President.

12 COMMUNITY December 12, 2012Parkway North High School

Adopt-a-Family Program Assists Local Families

Emily Ladig

Staff Writer

Steven Chaffin

Entertainment and Opinions Editor

[than us], and the other had no experience in the business. They would mostly just have a presence, and my husband and I were re-sponsible for most of the [daily] operations,” said Elliot

Elliot also ran a catering business called D.I.N.E, an acronym for Dinner Is Now Easy, aimed at providing high quality, convenient meals for those who didn’t have the time to prepare home-cooked meals, but didn’t want to revert to unhealthy fast-food options.

“D.I.N.E. was ahead of its time, and run entirely by me” said Elliot. “The idea was that people could pick up their kid, pick up the dinner, and go home. Everything would be ready. [I think it didn’t last very long be-cause] the food might have been too exotic. It did the best at private schools.”

While not all of Elliot’s ideas and res-taurants achieved success, she has more concrete experience as an entrepreneur than most, and understands the persistence that is necessary to be a successful entrepreneur.

“My advice: Try. Try. Try. Try. Again. Eighty-percent of new businesses fail their first time,” said Elliot. “Don’t give up.”

Many students consider becoming an entrepreneur as opposed to taking on a more common career path. The idea of being one’s own boss is often appealing, and the possi-bilities for success tempting.

Students currently hoping to get advice for such aspirations need only to look to their teachers’ successful examples to get a greater understanding of how to succeed.

Photo by Steven Chaffin

This fall and winter, departments and groups at Parkway North are raising money and collecting gifts to help anonymous fami-lies in need in the North area during the holi-day season through a program called Adopt-a-Family.

“Adopt-a-Family reaches out to the neediest families who make lists of what they really need. Some lists are necessities like sheets, pillows, blankets, and clothes, and the little kids always ask for toys,” explained Lin-da Gatti, facilitator of the program at North.

This program helps families who are struggling to get by and especially families who are having a hard time getting through the always-expensive holiday season. Differ-ent departments and groups at North have the opportunity to help the families who are less fortunate.

“I think it’s a great thing to help people in the community,” said FACS teacher Mar-cia Barasch.

Although many departments at North are interested in the program, sometimes it is hard to organize the program. For this reason, Gatti takes control of the program and assigns families to specific departments, making Adopt-a-Family less stressful and more successful.

“We ask all of the departments and groups to take a family. For example, the Key Club, the Steppers, the Counselors, and the FACS department and many more are all asked. An anonymous wish list is given to the

groups that wish to have a family, and they have around one month to raise money and buy the gifts,” said Gatti.

This year, the CTE, Business, Tech Ed, and the FACS department are just one of groups that have teamed up and agreed to raise money for a family.

“In my classes, we pass around a bucket at the beginning of class. Even if it’s just a penny, we take whatever someone is willing to give,” said FACS teacher Becky Bright. “In one class, someone just gave me their spare change, and in another someone else gave me a ten dollar bill. A lot of people want to give even if it’s a smaller or larger amount.”

Any and all donations are accepted throughout the fall and into the beginning of the winter months so that groups have ample time to collect money and prepare gifts for the families they are assigned.

“We [stop collecting] around Thanks-giving so that somebody [could] go and buy the stuff. We usually wait as long as possible so we can raise a lot of money,” said Barasch.

Primarily, donations come from stu-dents and faculty members who wish to do-nate to families this winter.

“I donated money because even if it’s not that much, it will still help a family in the long run,” said senior Nicole Muschinske.

Along with Muschinske, senior Chris Lowrey donated money that will go to the family assigned to the CTE, Business, Tech Ed, and FACS departments.

“Donating money to help a family has brought our lab together because every day in lab we pass around a bucket for people to put money in, and it has become a daily

thing,” said Lowrey. Adopt-a-Family was started many

years ago by Barb Citerman, who was a social worker in the district at the time, and noticed that some families in the North area were in need of some extra help around the holidays.

According to Gatti, “Barb Citerman was the one who started it and broadened the program to all of the elementary schools in the North area, Northeast Middle School, and Parkway North High School.”

Most of the families who are being helped who are members of the North dis-trict and may be students at any grade level.

“You do get families of kids who go to our school or maybe even their siblings,” said Gatti.

As a result of the success of the pro-gram, Adopt-a-Family has now become a yearly tradition to help families during the winter months at North.

“I’ve been here at North for twelve years, and they have been doing it here for as long as I can remember,” said Barasch.

The program has been well received by the students and teachers at North who are willing to donate their own time and money to benefit the community.

“Last year, we helped 27 families, and they got the things they really needed,” Gatti explained.

This year, the FACS department has already raised over $100.00 to give to their family. This money will be used to buy the items that the family has requested. Other departments, like the English department, has already purchased some gifts and plans on purchasing more.

“All of the presents are wrapped by Dec. 15,” said Gatti.

This ensures that the presents are re-ceived by the families in time for their holi-day celebrations.

Parkway North hopes to have the same success in aiding those who need it most, and to continue this school wide tradition of help-ing those who are less fortunate through the Adopt-a-Family program.

Photo by Emily Lad

ig

other players. The first person to reach $5,000,000 wins.

“[I was] on a road trip and was thinking of games to play in the car. I thought about plays on words, and thought it was interest-ing [to try to combine odd things]. I kept it in my mind, [and later] made rules and pa-rameters for a potential game,” said Moeller. “I made prototypes, played with friends and family, and when my mom liked it, I knew I was onto something.

“Pitch it!” has sold approximately 500 units so far, has been recognized and has won a number of different awards. It was present-ed at NY Toy Fair, and Missouri DECA State Conference in 2012, and was awarded ‘2012 Game of the Year’ in the Party Game category by Creative Child Magazine.

“[There will be] an iPhone app coming out in early 2013. You can invite your friends to a game, take pictures of your drawings and slogans, send them to your friends, and vote [from your iPhone],” said Moeller.

Elliot is also an entrepreneur at North. She has helped manage four restaurants, three of which she was co-founder, and has led her own catering service.

“My husband owned The Rib Crib, and we came up with the other three restaurants: Herky’s Deli, Concord Grill, and The Hotdog Zone, together.

Each of the restaurants achieved some degree of success.

“[My husband and I] had The Rib Crib the longest, and had thirteen employees. I

would review other people’s work, order food for the restaurant, and was there every day, be it to just pop in or to stay for long periods of time. Customers liked to see the owner there and establish that relationship,” said Elliot.

Elliot and her husband later started the Concord Grill, a burger joint located in South St. Louis. Both the Rib Crib and Concord Grill were eventually sold. The Concord Grill is still in business at Concord Village Ave. in Affton.

“[At Concord Grill], we had two part-ners. One, who had been in the restaurant business before had a different philosophy

Senior Brian Lambert donates money to the Adopt-a-Family program. The family is kept anonymous, but the participants are given a list of the items that the family needs.

Becoming an entrepreneur is difficult. Not only does an aspiring entrepreneur need an idea, but he or she needs capital to turn the idea into a tangible good or service, the ability and capital to persuade people of his idea’s worth, and must be willing to take a great deal of risks. Two of North’s teachers have been, or currently are, successful en-trepreneurs: history teacher Scott Moeller created the board game “Pitch it!”, and math teacher Lynn Elliot has owned four restau-rants and a catering service.

“I think if [teachers] want to [run a business], and they can still successfully teach at the same time, they should go ahead and do that,” said senior May Eliezer.

Moeller’s “Pitch It!” was started about five years ago, and was named “Pitch It to the Boss!” until January of this year. The objec-tive of the game is to sell as many products to as many different people as possible.

The game comes with two decks: One deck for “Who” the player is selling to, and another for “What” the player is selling. One player draws the a card from each deck, and the combination is intended to be unconven-tional, such as selling potting soil to police officers.

The player tasked with selling it must provide a slogan and drawing of the prod-uct, and the worth is determined by the

Entrepreneurs Innovate at Parkway North

Seniors Jackie Heymann and Shrey Patel play Moeller’s game “Pitch It!” during lunch.

North continues annual tradition of helping the less fortunate during the holiday season

13COMMUNITYDecember 12, 2012Parkway North High School

Seniors Bring Back Social Customs of Medieval Times Through Chivalry Week

Jonathan Herzog

Staff Writer

Photos by Jonathan Herzog

If you see students ranting about King Arthur or fainting into people’s arms between classes, don’t be alarmed; it’s all part of the fun of the Chivalry Week.

Every November, students enrolled in Masterpieces English participate in a series of activities inspired by The Canterbury Tales and other literary pieces they are reading which are meant as a throwback to the medieval ways of conduct and honor.

“Chivalry Week now, as we call it, was the brainchild of Tom Wehling,” said Masterpieces teacher and chivalry coordinator Allison Cundiff. “[Wehling] is a retired North High teacher and he’s now teaching MICDS. He used to teach a course at North called ‘Shakespeare’...and [chivalry week] was his creation.”

Since then, seniors working their way through the ranks of medieval society have been a staple at Parkway North. It works like this: students choose one of several medieval lifestyles, such as maiden, clown, and novice to play the role of. By doing activities like the ones that those people would do, students ascend through the social ranks to higher jobs with greater tasks. Eventually, they can reach the heights of empress, poet, and pope.

“There are two required levels [of Chivalry Week],” Cundiff said. “Beyond that, there is an opportunity for extra credit. It allows them to get to know the social conventions of the medieval era. We like to throw the word ‘princess’ around, but we don’t really understand [how] exhausting it must have been for women in that context.”

While there are some students who only do the necessary amount, the Masterpieces

students who go above and beyond are the ones who really commit to their roles and the ones who get the most out of it. Senior Derek Allen is one of those students going above

and beyond the minimum. “I took…the religious part of Chivalry

[Week]. I started off as ‘novice’ and I’m going to climb to possible ‘bishop’ if I get that far. For ‘novice’, I had to ask a teacher that I don’t have this semester a couple questions, like ‘can someone be faithful [or believe] in God and yet act inconsistently with that belief’,” Allen explained.

Senior Sammie Bush is also committing to his chivalry role. He began as a ‘sailor’ and is hoping to work his way up to ‘sorcerer supreme’.

“I’ve had fun arguing with my physics teacher, Mrs. Yemm – I did a lot of activities with her. One of the crazy ones was going to a random table at lunch and talking to some random freshmen. They were freaked out at first, but they got to know me pretty well,” Bush described.

One of the levels necessary for Bush to complete is ‘clerk’, where he has to convince a science teacher he has turned a common object into gold. If he fails, he is forced to eat the instructions.

“Today, I’m going to my physics teacher, I’m going to wrap a post-it note around a penny, [and] call it gold. [Once it fails,] I’m going to eat the instructions [on a brownie], and it’s going to be delicious,” said Bush.

In the modern world, these activities may seem ridiculous, but in medieval times people took them seriously. Originally, people did these things for a living, but now students do them for fun and to show their knowledge of medieval times.

“The thing about Chivalry Week is that it’s designed to delight other people and

learn about a context, so I’d say the reward is getting to understand how life in Europe was in the fourteenth century, and to get to know people in the building,” Cundiff said.

Times have changed since medieval Europe, and all in all it’s probably good that Chivalry Week is only during November. But in those few short weeks, students get a chance to understand and appreciate the culture and history of the past, as well as to have fun.

Senior Claire Rimerman presents a flower to senior Jason Lohe in Cundiff’s Masterpieces class. She chose to give Lohe the flower because he exemplified many endearing qualities which she professed.

Senior Genevieve Hampton rewards senior Nick Piazza with a flower for showing chival-rous qualities. Hampton explained to Piazza why he earned her favor.

Seniors Jason Bladow and Sammie Bush have a wizard duel outside of the Art Department on Friday, Nov. 30, the last day of Chivalry month. This performance gave them extra credit in their Masterpieces class. Bladow won the duel by hitting Bush with a crumpled ball of paper, symbolizing a spell. Bush held this duel to gain the title of Sorcerer Supreme.

Sports14 December 12, 2012Parkway North High School

December 12, 2012Parkway North High School Sports 15

Kevin Graeler

Co-Editor in ChiefEmily McCarter

Co-Editor in Chief

With the loss of several seniors and a fresh group of new swimmers, the girl’s swim team looks to have a good season after an un-defeated season and finishing 4th in state last year.

“This year’s talent seems to be good. We have a good group of young swimmers as well as a good base of older swimmers,” said coach and business teacher Bart Prosser.

“We always want to be 500 or better. We want to swim well at conference and have a good showing at State,” said Prosser.

Many swimmers such as Taylor Volker, Dyana Schneider, and Amanda Stadermann graduated from the team last year, opening up a lot of spots for the team to fill.

“We hope to do well this season,” said senior Heather Lundstrom. “We lost a lot of good seniors last year so we might have a rough start [to the season].”

Although many successful seniors were lost, there are some promising new additions to the team.

“The freshman Carly Manczuk should be pretty good. She is a member of Parkway Swim Club, and she ran cross country so she is already in shape,” said Lundstrom.

Lundstrom, who won state in the 100 butterfly last year, will lead the team again this year by acting as unofficial captain and help the new members to the team.

“There are no official captains, but I’ll be glad to take lead of the team and take re-sponsibility for choosing our team suit and spirit wear,” said Lundstrom.

Even with the team’s undefeated season last year, they still have their rivals that al-ways give them meets to look forward to.

“We’ve had a long rivalry with Eureka High School. We have gone back and forth with them for the last 15 years. We always compete at our highest level [against them],” said Prosser.

The other Parkway schools are North’s rival, as in almost any other sport.

“The Parkway schools at the Parkway Quad Competition are also a big rival,” said Prosser. “Most of the [North] girls swim year round with girls from other Parkway schools.”

Although there is much excitement for the swim season to begin, there are also many seniors who are dismayed that this will be their last high school swim season.

“It’s bitter sweet. I love swimming but at the same time, I’m ready for college and I’m happy to have completed my four years of swimming [in high school],” said Roderick.

Lundstrom committed to University of Tennessee’s Division I Swim program on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012.

“After I went on several recruiting trips, I decided on Tennessee because I really liked the team and atmosphere,” said Lundstrom. “The coaching staff was also really supportive and nice.”

Before graduating, the seniors have one last season to teach the younger swimmers to follow their successful example.

“I feel like everyone adds something different to the team, which will give us an advantage over our competition,” said Lund-strom.

“We have a lot of new freshmen who

are ready to add to the team. We lost a lot of seniors last year, but we are ready to bounce back and compete well this year,” said senior Margaret Roderick.

Although the team is starting the sea-

Experienced Leaders on Girls’ Swim Team Look Forward to 2012 Season

North Men’s Basketball Moves Forward De-spite Challenges Faced from Lost Seniors

son with fewer people, the new swimmers look forward to proving that they can have a winning season like last year’s.

“Everyone is getting back in the swing of things,” said Roderick.

Fresh off of the school’s first district championship, the men’s basketball team is beginning the 2012 season with high expectations. The loss of key senior talent and leadership is serving as a catalyst of motivation for all of the current players who are just starting to get accustomed to their new roles.

“Every year, you have a new group of guys coming in,” said head coach Russell Vincent. “[My expectation for the season] is to get better every day. That’s our motto: to get better every day.”

As the outgoing seniors represented much of the leadership last season, many players are stepping up their roles to keep the team a tight-knit group that is focused on common goals.

“I believe that if we all work together, we will go far,” said senior Jason Hursey. “Each year is a new year. Everybody comes and goes. We lost some good talent, but we also gained a lot of good talent with the players this year.”

Among players lost from last season is center Darrell Johnson (6’8”), who is now a member of the Kansas State University basketball team. Losing his talent leaves an evident gap size-wise, but the players and coaches alike are confident that using slightly

adjusted strategies on both sides of the ball will eliminate what otherwise would have been a big hole in the team.

“If we work hard, we can be the equivalent to what we were last year,” Hursey said. “[The coaches] always do a good job. Coaching is one of the most important things, and our coaching staff is great.”

Throughout practices every day and during the games, players learn to work together as a team and also get instruction on how to get the most out of their individual abilities.

“The coaches teach us about being an all-around player and becoming a student of the game,” said senior Chris Lowery.

Starting guard senior Aaron Hines, along with Hursey among others, are key contributors to watch on the Vikings team this season.

“Jason has really worked to improve his game,” Vincent said. “We’ll try to make up for the loss of lots of guys with our guys who are playing hard and competing.”

Even though the demand of the high school basketball season takes away from the players’ time for other activities, the coaches continually stress the importance of putting classes first.

“I think our student athletes are some of the best student athletes around, with student coming first and athlete coming second,” said Vincent.

With the lofty goal of advancing through districts for the second consecutive season,

the players continue to grow as a team every day and gain confidence from supportive students at North.

“We have a great student body who supports our program, but most of all I just like working with our players,” Vincent said. “As a whole, it really has to be a group effort

to get done what we want to get done.”With a record of 3-1, as of Dec. 6, the

boys’ team looks to have a winning record this season and will play at the GAC shoot-out Dec. 13-15 at the Family Arena. Parwkay North will play Winfield at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 15.

Senior Heather Lundstrom swims through the North high pool on Friday, Nov. 30, during the swim team’s Purple and White night.

Team comes off fourth place finish in state last season, ready for challenge of another year

The entire Parkway North swim team lines up on the side of the pool to watch as Freshman Morgan Faust practices her dives that she will compete with in meets throughout the season.

Photo by Emily M

cCarter

Photo by Emily M

cCarter

Head Coach Russel Vincent motivates his team during the fourth quarter against Parkway South in the main gym on Nov. 30, 2012. North pulled out a victory (70-62), despite a late comeback by the Patriots.

Photo by Kevin Graeler

Hockey, Wrestling Teams Gear Up for New Season

Winter sports have kicked off their seasons with several new faces. Although Ice Hockey and Wrestling have had rocky starts to their seasons, both aim to improve and finish strong this year.

Ice Hockey Aims for Improved Record

The Parkway North Ice Hockey Team has had a rough season so far with a 1-9 record, winning against St. Charles West with a final score of 7-2. “We haven’t been doing too well so far, but we expect to improve over the season,” said senior defensive player Michal Kalivoda. Despite their record so far, the team expects to improve and plans on conditioning more so they can stay strong throughout the entirety of their games. “Third period is when we start to slack off and tire out,” said Kalivoda, “so we need to work on building stamina, and we’ll get better as the season progresses. Hopefully, we’ll do conditioning drills every practice towards the end of practice.” One focus of the hockey team this year has been on building strategy for unexpected events that can happen during a game. “We usually work on break-outs to move the puck out of our zone,” Kalivoda said. “We’ll also work on power-play situations, sudden outcomes in a game, and

we’ll practice shooting the puck.” In past seasons, the team has struggled as well, but they have been able to finish strong, and that’s what the Vikings are hoping to do this year as well. The Vikings will face off against Parkway South at Queeny Park on Dec. 13 and against Duchesne at Rec Plex South on Dec. 17.

Wrestling Moves on With New Look

The Wrestling Team has also had a tough start to their season, losing their first two tournaments as well as several graduated seniors. After several consecutive seasons in which players have qualified for state, the peak being in the 2008-2009 season where eight of the players made state, the team is now suffering from the loss of graduated seniors. However, the team has also gained several new faces that will help the team’s success over the next few years. “This season, we are in the building stages,” said senior Justin Brooks. “We lost a lot of our talent when the seniors graduated last year.” Despite their loss, the team hopes to do well this season and plans to build on the potential the incoming players have. “We are a young team this year, and we have a lot of young and inexperienced guys. But, they also have a lot of potential, and we’ll be able to get back on our feet over the next few years,” Brooks said.

Because the wrestling team is so young, their main focus during practice has been their conditioning and fundamentals. “One thing the coaches have been stressing is the basics: basic take-downs and basic set-ups, for example. They want us to have strong fundamentals so our younger guys, especially, will do well against more experience opponents,” Brooks said. The team also plans on using their stamina as an advantage against the bigger and stronger opponents.

“We’ve really been working on conditioning,” Brooks said. “We’re a team that doesn’t get in the weight room often so we have to rely on our stamina and conditioning.” Even though this year will be a building season, the Parkway North Wrestling team has been very successful in the past and is well respected in the St. Louis area. The next tournament, called the Lindbergh Tourney, will be over Winter break on Dec. 27 at Lindbergh High School.

Jo Treadway

Design Editor

Junior Oscar Vera, sophomore Jeremy Lingle, sophomore Chase Asberry, and junior Daniel Green, members of the North Wrestling team, visit in the palaestra before beginning practice.

Photo by Richard Reynold

s

December 12, 2012Parkway North High School 16Backpage

Watching the sunset at Creve Coeur Park is a romantic way to end the day while also seeing the beauty of nature. (FREE)

Best Winter Dates Katryn Dobkin

Staff Writer

Going to a nice restaurant provides couples with time to talk and get to know each other. ($20- $100) “I like to go on dates with my girlfriend to nice restaurants during the winter because it is usually too cold to be outside,” said senior Mackenzie Johnson.

Bonfires with smores are a good way to stay warm during the winter and have a tasty treat. ($0 - $5)

Having game night is an easy way to have fun, relax, and get to know each other. (FREE)

Relax at Starbucks over some hot chocolate which comes in a vary of flavors including white choco-late, peppermint, and caramel. ($8) “[I like going to Starbucks because] the atmosphere is pretty awesome and plus my girlfriend loves it,” said senior Ryon Arrington.

Walking around downtown St. Louis is an easy and fun way to learn the history of the city. In the winter time, couples can bundle up and check out the holiday displays in the Macy’s window and the City Garden. ($0- $30)

Going to the top of Westport Plaza offers a beautiful view and is located close to the school which is convenient for many students. ($0-$30)

Santa’s Magical Kingdom located in Eureka is a good way to get into the holiday spirit. ($19 - $30)