December 18, 2015

Volume 11, Issue 2

cial cheers and coordinated

blackouts: the fan section.

That energy grew when the D5

finals rolled around. Levi

Sheeler, a regular attendee, said

that winning the District 5 match

against Meyersdale at Shanks-

ville was, “...legit, and [he] was

going crazy.” Olivia Zuchelli, a

team member, described win-

ning the D5 finals: “It felt amazing,

winning the twelfth year in a row. It

was a great time.”

Continued p. 11.

The first round of finals against

Bishop Carrol was just as thrilling

with the Lady Cougars continuing

their streak, still not losing a single

set for the entire season (the scores

to that game were: 25-22, 25-21,

and 25-12).

Volleyball By Cooper Tretter

Making a difference: NS blood drive By Izabella Walters

In North Star, the American Red

Cross held a blood drive on No-

vember 17, 2015. Around fifty peo-

ple in our school donated blood.

This helps people in need of a

blood transfusion so they can have

a better chance of getting one

sooner.

Some history about the Red Cross

is that in 1665, the first recorded

successful blood transfusion oc-

cured in England. A physician,

Richard Lower, kept a dog alive by

transfusing blood from other dogs.

In 1818, a British obstetrician,

James Blundell, preformed the first

successful blood transfusion on a

human. In 1907, Reuben Ottenberg

performed the first blood transfu-

sion using blood typing and cross-

matching. Red Cross became the

first national blood program for

civilians by opening its first collec-

tion center in Rochester, NY. Peo-

ple working for Red Cross started

adding “additive solutions” to ex-

tend the shelf life of red blood cells

to forty two days. The American

Red Cross has really come a long

way from where they were when

they first started.

Continued on p. 3.

On Saturday, November 21, it

seemed as if all of Boswell packed

into Richland High School to watch

North Star’s Volleyball girls battle

it off in the PIAA state finals. Nearly

150 students showed up to watch

the Cougar’s monumental second-

go at winning the gold.

The built up excitement to the final

match originated long before North

Star entered PIAA playoffs. It start-

ed when the girls created a strong-

ly-founded following in the regular-

season games, complete with offi-

Volleyball team and fan section Photo courtesy of Kayla Rice.

countries. James also spent eight

years on shore. He really enjoyed

being in the Navy. He was the only

one in his family to join the military.

James liked the Navy because of

the opportunity it gave him to

learn, the ability to interact with

other races and gained a real in-

sight to teamwork. He received the

following awards: the National

Award, Navy Achievement Award,

Expert Rifle and Expert Pistol. He

served in the U.S. Navy for twenty

years in uniform and eighteen

years as a civilian. His favorite

place that he was stationed was in

San Diego, California, where he

helped train sea lions and dolphins

to find underwater mines. His fa-

vorite place that he visited was Fiji.

I got to interview Mr. Thomas St.

Clair, a former North Star Elemen-

tary teacher. He has three daugh-

ters. He is still trying to adjust to

retirement life. Thomas is married

to Debbie St. Clair who is a retired

learning support aide at our high

school. He enlisted when he was

ninteen years

old. Thomas

was in the U.S.

Army and

served with the

military police

in Alaska, which

was difficult due

to the weather.

No one else in

his family

served in the

military. Thom-

as performed

security func-

tions and was

on the Nike mis-

sile base locat-

ed near the

Arctic Circle. He served two years

in the military. His favorite place

where he was stationed was Fort

Jackson, South Carolina.

John Straka was in my opinion one

of the most interesting veterans that

I spoke to. He is eighty-eight years

old and enlisted in the military was

he was 19. John left the military in

1948. After the military he owned

his own auto body shop. He then

worked at B. J. Maurer Ford for

eighteen years. John decided to

join the military to serve our coun-

try. All of John’s brothers also

served in the U.S. Army. His favor-

ite experience in the military was

his trip from Washington to Yokaha-

ma, Japan, which was seven days

long. He received the good conduct

medal and a Japanese medal just

for fighting in Japan. His favorite

place where he was stationed was

Atsugi Air Base.

Veterans Day breakfast By Kaylee Deist

Page 2

I had the greatest honor and privi-

lege to interview and interact with a

few of the veterans at the teacher-

sponsored Veteran’s Day breakfast

that was held in the gym on Novem-

ber 11, 2015. I learned about the

wars in a different way than any of

our history teachers could have

taught us. It was the best experi-

ence that I have ever had.

One of the veterans I got to talk to

was Michael Bittner. He served in

the United States Army for twenty-

one years. He has two daughters,

Josie a junior and Emily a middle

school student. He graduated from

North Star in 1985 (go class of 1985)

and currently lives in Jennerstown.

He enlisted in the military when he

was only eighteen years old and en-

joyed his time in the army most of

the time. Michael joined the military

to help with money for college and

for the adventure. His grandfather

served in the Navy. While in the U.S.

Army he was a chemical operations

specialist, platoon sergeant, and a

drill sergeant. During his service in

the army he received the Iraqi Free-

dom Medal. Michael’s favorite place

where he was stationed was in the

Black Hills of South Dakota.

James Smith was another veteran

that I had the honor to speak to. He

is one of six children born in Birds-

boro, PA. He lived there till he was

twelve and had a lot of animals on

his farm. After high school he went

to St Vincent’s College. During his

junior year, he ran out of money.

James got drafted in 1969 and even-

tually enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the

age of twenty-one. In his first ten

years he moved thirteen times. He

was at sea for twelve years and dur-

ing that time he visited thirty-six Veterans Day breakfast sponsored by North Star teachers

Photos courtesy of Kaylee Deist.

When donating blood there are a

few requirements to be eligible.

You have to be over seventeen in

most states or sixteen with a parent

or guardian’s permission. You must

be in good health, meaning you

can’t be sick and you must weigh at

least 130 pounds if you’re under

eighteen. However, if you’re over

eighteen you can weigh 110

pounds but no less. You can donate

frequently but there is also a limit

to that as well, like how you can

only give whole blood every fifty-

six days. You may only give plate-

lets every 7 days, plasma every 28

days and double red cells every

112 days.

Working in the blood drive was a

woman named Dana. She has been

working in this field for over six-

teen years and has given blood as

well. She says that she enjoys her

job, which involves a lot of travel-

ing to over five neighboring states.

Dana was happy about how many

people were giving blood on No-

vember 17 and says that her favor-

ite part of her job was dealing with

friendly people.

Students were also happy about

how the blood drive was conduct-

ed, like Case Tretter and Haven

Brehm. Both Case and Haven had

given a pint of blood and were hap-

py they could make a difference.

This was Case’s first time giving

blood and Haven’s second. Both

were nervous but got over it pretty

quickly. Both students plan to give

blood again at the following blood

drive. When asked what calmed

them down and made them more at

ease, they both said, “how nice

everyone was working for the

blood drive,” and I agree.

Making a difference: NS blood drive Continued from p. 1.

The boys have had an extremely

successful season. It consisted of

eleven wins, six losses, and two

ties. Each game, there were sup-

portive fans cheering on our Cou-

gars in hopes of a win. Their suc-

cess continued into the post sea-

son. The six seeded cougars over-

powered the third seeded Everett

team coming in at a 3 to 1 win in the

first round of playoffs. Next came

the semi-finals with a 4 to 3 win

against the second seeded Fannett-

Metal. The Cougars surprised

many as they headed to the D-5

championship game against Berlin.

The support for the boys was re-

markable; schools from all over

came to support them including

teams they competed against pre-

viously. The Cougars played their

hearts out into an overtime with the

final score Berlin 2 and North Star

1. We are proud of our boys for

making it so far, and for being the

D-5 runners up of 2015. Coach

Duryea said “The boys played

well, they carried out the game

plan that they had. Any game gets

tough when you are forced to de-

fend many free kicks.” Coach

thought as a whole that this season

went well and thought that every-

one who watched the games saw

that they improved each time.

When asked what he will miss most

about this season he responded, “I

will miss the competition and the

hard training sessions.” He also

thought that the team benefited the

most from each other and how they

all got closer each game, each

practice, and each spaghetti din-

ner. Anyone in the crowd,

strangers or acquaintances, could

easily see that this team was more

of a family. Coach’s goals for next

season are to be competitive, stay

in the race for the D-5 title, and to

stay true to their style and values. It

is very hard to put this season into

one word, but how Coach put it was

“Earned.” The players gave their

all and benefited from each prac-

tice and game. We hope to see the

same support next year for our

boys!

Varsity boys soccer wrap up By Trinity Romesberg

Page 3

The North Star Soccer Team lines up!

Photo courtesy of Anne Romesberg.

Many seniors are looking forward

to graduation. Many want to go to

college, or get out of school and

enter the work force. Seniors prob-

ably do not know what they will

face when they leave. I interviewed

Dustin Collins, a 2014 graduate, to

see how his life has changed since

graduation.

Q: Did you go to college after high

school?

A: I am currently enrolled at Penn-

sylvania Highlands Community

College under General Studies.

Q: What are the differences be-

tween college and high school?

A: There are more differences than

I can count. I can’t say how dorm

life is since I don’t live in a dorm. I

would have to say the biggest dif-

ference between the two is the way

classes work. In high school, you

show up in the morning, you have

to stay the whole day and go to

each class throughout the day, and

you leave. In college, you only

have to show up for your classes

and that’s it. You don’t have to stay

an entire day if you don’t want to. I

would also have to say that there is

more schoolwork involved in col-

lege. You may get one assignment

from one class to work on, but if

you have four classes in a semester

and each of your classes does that,

you would have four assignments in

a week to do. That along with any

big projects like research papers

and tests, it can pile up pretty

quickly.

Q: What is your favorite high

school memory?

A: I don’t think I can think of just

one. High school was a pretty en-

joyable experience for me but I

would have to say my favorite

memories and experiences would

have to be from the many band ac-

tivities I was in. I met a lot of awe-

some people and have had many

wonderful experiences like getting

the opportunity to perform at Dis-

ney World twice.

Q: Where do you see yourself in

the future?

A: I don’t really have an answer for

that. Life could take me anywhere

so it’s hard to say point blank

where I’m going to be at in the fu-

ture. This is something I sort of play

by ear and see what happens. I do

have a basic plan on what I want to

do, which is to transfer from Penn

Highlands and focus on whatever

career I want to do, but I don’t have

my whole life planned out in per-

fect detail.

Q: What challenges have you had

to face since graduation?

A: I’ve had a lot of obstacles to pass

since I graduated, but I would have

to say the biggest challenge would

be adjusting to the real world; get-

ting a job, going to college, learn-

ing how to try and make it on my

own. It was not the easiest thing in

the world to tackle when I graduat-

ed.

Q: What advice do you have for

current students/seniors?

A: A piece of advice I would have to

offer would be to have a plan on

what you want to do after high

school. Do you want to go to col-

lege right away? Do you want to

take a year or two off and work?

You don’t have to plan your whole

life out in perfect detail, but know

enough that you’re not leaving

school wondering what to do next.

If you plan on going to college, start

looking ASAP and look at your op-

tions. Don’t sell yourself short. Have

some ideas where you want to go.

Also, enjoy high school while you

are there. Four years may seem like

a long time, but you will be throw-

ing that cap in the air before you

know it, wondering where the time

went.

Graduate corner By Ashley Kelly

Page 4

North Star high school’s rifle team

has members from ninth grade

through twelfth grade consisting of

twenty-six members. Chad Snyder

is the coach of the team. He started

out as an assistant coach for three

years and has been the head coach

for three years. Chad also hunts on

the side. He enjoys coaching so

much because, “I enjoy being

around the kids and helping to

mold them into responsible adults

and excellent shooters.” His idea of

a good rifle team member is being

focused, disciplined ,dedicated to

practicing regularly and being

able to encourage and set a good

example for younger shooters and

team members as well. Chad has a

few goals for his cougars: he wants

them to have a winning season, and

to obtain the WestPAC and State

title. “We were state runners up by

one point last year, so we have our

sights set on the state title for this

year.” One more thing that he ex-

pects as the coach is for all students

to try their best in school to get

good grades and to keep up on

their studies.

Jesse Moyer is a senior at North

Star and this is her fourth year

shooting. She was inspired by up-

perclassmen to pursue this sport.

Jesse practices three days a week

outside of team practices for rifle,

and her favorite thing about rifle is

shooting in general and being

around her teammates. Jesse en-

joys shooting prone (laying down

to shoot) the most and her best

score is a 281 out of 300. Her goals,

along with the coach’s goals for this

year, is to get the WestPAC title

and be State champs also. Jesse

was offered a rifle scholarship to

shoot for Morehead University for

their rifle team after she graduates.

Robert Yourich is also a senior this

year, and this is his fourth year on

the team. He practices with his team

and sometimes with the Jr. rifle

team on the weekends. Robert’s

favorite position to shoot in is

kneeling down, and his best score

is a 278 out of 300. What he enjoys

the most about rifle is his support-

ive teammates. He hunts, putting

his rifle skills to good use. He along

with many others wants this team to

keep their WestPAC title and be-

come this year’s state champs.

Rifle team By Trinity Romesberg

As winter sports come to a head, it

is time to recall the sport that has

come to a close: football. This sea-

son, the North Star Cougars fought

hard, coming out with a record of 2-

8. The team was under the leader-

ship of senior quarterback, Gus

Strassier, whom I interviewed to

get a better idea of how the season

went.

When asked what the team’s main

strength was, Gus replied that the

players all played like a team, and

worked well together. The high-

light of the season was most defi-

nitely going into double overtime

against Windber and beating them

after much hard work from the

team, a game that those who were

there will not soon forget. When

asked if there was anything he

would change about the season,

Strassier said that he would change

the times when there was anger

and frustration over problems that

could easily be solved.

After losing many seniors this year,

we wish next year’s football team

the best of luck and will leave them

with Strassier ‘s advice for any and

all upcoming players: “Don’t take it

too seriously; you’ll end up getting

hurt.”

Football season wrap up By Lindsay Walker

Page 5

Eight talented musicians move on

to District Six festivals.

Nick Baron and Matt Darr have

made it to District Jazz. Evan Ger-

ney, Cooper Tretter, and Tiffany

Walker sang their way to District

Chorus. Matt Darr, Lucas Deist,

Evan Gerney, Ashley Kelly, and

Sierra Mafield have made it to Dis-

trict Band.

The District Jazz festival will be

held January 21 and 22 at Richland

High School. The District Chorus

festival will be held February 3-5 at

Hollidaysburg Area High School.

The District Band festival will be

held January 27-29 at Bellwood An-

tis High School.

Students were selected for their

respective festival through blind

auditions. The judges looked for

tone quality, accuracy and style.

The auditions were held on Octo-

ber 18 at Shanksville-Stonycreek

(Chorus), November 15 at

Conemaugh Township (Band), and

December 1 at Northern Bedford

(Jazz).

District band, chorus and jazz By Ashley Kelly

A famous uncredited quote once

said, “Art does not become art until

it meets an audience.” The students

in Mr. Mrosko’s Art and Creativity

class are bringing this statement to

life through Art Drop.

Art Drop was created by artist Jake

Parker and is celebrated as a whole

on September 2. However, it can

be celebrated at any time. Art Drop

is simply the practice of creating

art and using social media to give

hints as to where the work of art is

hidden. Once the work is found, it

falls into the ownership of the per-

son who found it. A simple way to

think of it is that Art Drop is basical-

ly a scavenger hunt using social

media.

There have been two art drops so

far this school year, and due to

their growing popularity, there are

most likely more to come. To keep

up to date and ahead of the hunt,

follow @nsart110 on Instagram.

Art drop By Lindsay Walker

Page 6

The fourth album from the truly rock and roll Cage

the Elephant is finally upon us, and with it comes

the fiery garage rock single “Mess Around”.

Mess Around arrived on October 29, and served

as the first taste of the new record “Tell Me I’m

Pretty”, which is set to arrive on December 18.

The previous album “Melophobia” was released

in 2013, and after touring extensively on that al-

bum, the band decided to go back and record

their follow-up. Fans have been patiently waiting

for the album, which started production way back

in the spring of this year. Dan Auerbach, frontman

of the garage rock duo The Black Keys, was re-

cruited to produce the album; and due to the in-

stant chemistry between the two, the album was

recorded in only three of the six months allotted to

the project. The producer was obviously inspir-

ing some part of the band’s songwriting process

as this song is very similar in style to the produc-

ers main musical act The Black Keys. But it still

consists of the signatures of the Cage the Elephant

sound that listeners are all very familiar with.

Such as the dual guitar attack, independent

bassline, creative mirroring style drum part, and

bold Kentucky accent of the flamboyantly per-

forming lead singer Matt Shultz.

Clocking in at just under three minutes, this is the

type of song where simplicity is key, and the focus

stays based around the catchy hook almost the

whole time. The song starts with an intro provid-

ed by a shaggy guitar riff, then lunges almost im-

mediately into the signature main hook, and then

backs off just as fast as it came in. The first verse

trots through in the form of four lines and evolves

quickly to a pre-chorus. Then, it runs right back

to the main hook once again. This same process

repeats itself once more, but after the second cho-

rus, the song takes a step forward into the guitar

solo. An impressively sparse solo, showing off

just the right amount of spice that all garage rock

guitarists seek, it shows the band’s talent for hear-

ing a moment, and using to their advantage. The

solo continues through the bridge and finale cho-

rus. The bridge features a drop of the drum track,

lasting only a few bars of course, then the hook

reappears for the final time. The final chorus, now

Mess Around - Cage the Elephant ★★★★★ By Ben Volk

imprinted in

the listener’s

head for the

rest of the

day, con-

cludes the

song by

ending on a

single par-

ticularly

pronounced

note.

The song

overall is a

simple, to-the-point rock song with a catchy

hook and rhythm that’s hard to sit still to. But the

song lacks the lyrical depth of some of their past

songs, and could very easily be mistaken for a

Black Keys song, if Dan Auerbach would have

provided the vocal part. But the message of the

song is unimportant in this case, as the song does

not appear to convey a singular message, but

rather it conveys a feeling instead. The song is

obviously inspired by Mr. Auerbach, and slightly

moves away from Cage the Elephant’s original

style. But, with that in mind, Cage the Elephant

brought in Dan to produce, which means they

wanted his input, and wanted him to help them

create something special, which they did. If they

were not completely comfortable sounding simi-

lar to The Black Keys in only a few aspects, they

wouldn’t have even included it on the album,

much less the lead single.

I give this song five stars because it has an in-

credibly catchy hook, a fantastic guitar riff, a

melody that perfectly follows the flow of the

song, and most importantly, the human nature of

the song. You can just feel the energy coming

from the humans performing the song. The song

will fit perfectly into their high-energy, perfor-

mance driven shows; a perfect song for the lead

singer to do his signature stage diving antics to.

If the rest of the album is anything similar to this

song, we should expect a fantastic rock and roll

album as unique as the band that composed it.

Page 7

“To realize one’s destiny is a per-

son’s only obligation.” The Alche-

mist is a book written by Paulo

Coelho that follows the journey of

a boy named Santiago as he goes

on his a journey to fulfill his Per-

sonal Legend. It starts with Santia-

go having a reoccurring dream in

which he visits the pyramids of

Egypt. Curious as to what the

dream could mean he visits a

woman who tells him that a great

treasure awaits him at the pyra-

mids. Yet it isn’t until he is visited

upon by an old king that the boy

decides to go on his journey sell-

ing everything he owned in Spain

to go to Africa.

This book is all about finding one’s

destiny and about how the real

treasure of the journey is not the

prize at the end. (That’s just an

added bonus if you get there.) In

my opinion this book is more of a

self-use story that helps one grow

as a person. If you start reading it

hoping for a great work of fantasy

you’ll be disappointed as the story

itself has little to offer. The true

pleasure of this book is seeing the

lessons and themes in the pages.

I enjoyed The Alchemist and

would give it rating of four and a

half stars. I would recommend this

book to anyone looking for some-

thing to read but not sure what

kind of story they want to read

about.

The Alchemist By Meagan Friedline

I know what you’re thinking,

you’re thinking that musical audi-

tions are an extremely stressful

event that takes place in front of

your peers and a handful of expe-

rienced adults, dead-set on cri-

tiquing your every misstep and

misspoken word. Let’s put it this

way, you’re right about every-

thing. Except for the fact that it’s

not that way unless you make it a

point to make it that way. North

Star’s musical audition process is

about as laid back as it can possi-

bly be. Each person involved is

specifically happy to see you

show interest in the musical, and

they mirror that enthusiasm back

to the amount that you have given.

Additionally, positive reinforce-

ment is a common theme, and

negative comments remnant of a

certain former judge on one par-

ticular popular television singing

competition, are nowhere to be

heard. Musical auditions are an

all around positive event, and they

are the thing that every cast mem-

ber marks as the start of the be-

loved musical season.

Now, let’s look at the events that

occurred on the days of October

8, 9, and 10 of this fall, in North

Star’s own auditorium. The audi-

tions start off with everyone

dancing together. Choreogra-

pher Mary Mauzy teaches the

dance in which you take part in

moments earlier. After the danc-

ing portion, every person exits

the auditorium, and waits in the

stairwell for their opportunity.

Then, one by one, each student

gets called back in, and auditions

for either the ensemble, which

doubles as an audition for a small

role, or they audition for a lead

role. This choice depends on

what each student would feel

comfortable portraying in the

show. The second portion of the

audition consists of each student

delivering a monologue and

singing a song. For the ensem-

ble audition, you deliver a short

monologue or joke, and sing one

verse of “My Country Tis of

Thee”. For the lead audition, you

deliver either, one of the three

monologues provided, or one

that you provide, and you sing

the song proved for your specific

gender. For the ladies, the song

was “Notice Me, Horton” from

Suessical the Musical, and for the

males, the song was “It Takes

Two” from the legendary musical

Hairspray, both accompanied by

pianist Bryan Lohr. After your

audition, the panel consisting of

Producer Kathy Shaffer, Music

Director Mariah Seymour, the

aforementioned Choreographer

Mary Mauzy, and Pianist Bryan

Lohr, thank you for auditioning,

and ask you to send in the next

person on the list. After that it’s

the waiting game.

Since the auditions, we have been

informed as a cast that the show

this year will be Godspell, but the

cast list; however, is not expected

until Christmas. Everyone that is

included in the cast is extremely

excited to be a part the show this

year, as we always are. The audi-

tions mark the beginning of musi-

cal season, and begun, it has.

Now patiently wait is all we can

do, first for the cast list, and then

for the beginning of rehearsals

that always comes with January.

Musical auditions By Ben Volk

Page 8

“And now to announce our King

and Queen, Gus Strasiser and Lind-

say Walker!” I remember the look

on her face when she was an-

nounced Queen. For this month’s

Featured Senior I chose Lindsay

Walker. I couldn’t think of anyone

more interesting to write about. I

decided to ask Lindsay a few ques-

tions to learn more about her; I also

wanted to get a few of her opinions

on some things. So without further

ado, here is Lindsay walker.

Q. So, how is your senior year go-

ing?

A. Senior year is going great! I’m

honored to have been elected class

president and voted homecoming

queen. I cherish the memories I

made during homecoming and the

time I spent with the other mem-

bers of the court. I’m looking for-

ward to my final forensics season as

team captain with a great team full

of potential and the musical

(whenever we find out what it may

be!).

Q. What do you plan on doing after

high school?

A. I plan to attend either Seton Hill

University or St. Vincent College

and major in communications.

Q. What made you want to major in

communications?

A. I love meeting and talking to

new people, and I want to be able

to help others by doing something I

love, hopefully by becoming an

advocate of some sort (Homeless

advocate, etc.).

Q. How is it being Editor-in-Chief

of the newspaper?

A. I didn't realize so much behind

the scenes work goes on, from as-

signing editors to corresponding

with individual writers. Mrs. Con-

rad is the number one person I

email and truly runs an air-tight

ship that shows in her success as

advisor for the newspaper.

Since the original questions some

things have happened, the musical

has been released, the forensics

season has started, and the news-

paper has made progress on its

upcoming edition (That would be

this one).

Q. What do you think of the musical

that was chosen?

A. I'm looking forward to what is

sure to be another stellar produc-

tion by Mrs. Shaffer, Miss Mary,

and Miss Seymour. The musical has

an awesome soundtrack, and I can't

wait to see what direction the pro-

duction team takes with it.

Q. How is forensics going now that

the season has started?

A. The team is as strong as I have

ever seen it be, thanks to our new

direction under Mr. Lohr and Mr.

Ogline. The team is full of strong,

superb talent and great teammates

that support one another through

the ups and downs of competition.

As a captain, I am very proud and

confident that the team will contin-

ue to impress.

Q. How is the newspaper staff com-

ing together?

A. There are many interesting arti-

cles being written by very talented

individuals, who are very good at

proofreading their articles.

I am very lucky to call Lindsay one

of my friends; I thank her for an-

swering all of my questions with

ease. Just like we’ll never forget

who our homecoming queen was

after we’ve all graduated; I’m sure

she will never forget us.

Lindsay Walker By Andrew Revello

Page 9

Q. What should a principal expect

from teachers, parents and stu-

dents?

A. A principal should expect teach-

ers and student to be their best, to

be honest and to focus on getting

the most out of their experiences. I

hope they are learning something

every day that will make them a

better student, student, teacher or

person. I expect parents to be sup-

portive of the school and support-

ive of its students, its teachers and

administrators.

Q. What do you see as the major

role of the principal?

A. A principal’s role is to help facil-

itate a school to be the very best it

can be. A principal can’t teach

every class every day but he/she

can make sure that teachers have

what they need to be their very

best. Likewise a principal is not a

student attending classes every

day but he/she can make sure that

they have classes that meet their

needs and are preparing them to

be successful post high school. By

facilitating, a principal can become

a leader by doing things that

makes the school stand out among

others and a highlight of its com-

munity.

Q. What is your first priority in this

position?

A. My first priority is shared be-

tween student and teachers. With-

out a doubt a school is nothing

without its student so I must focus

on their success and needs. How-

ever, I cannot do that alone; my

success depend greatly on how

well the teachers are meeting the

need of their students and I must

also prioritize their needs.

Q. What issues are you willing to

take care of at this school?

A. There isn’t any issue that I am

not willing to work on. Fortunately

North Star High School and its stu-

dent are very proactive in dealing

with things that may become big-

ger issues before they get out of

hand. Our guidance department is

great at meeting the needs of our

student body and helping direct

programming to address the most

pressing issues. I, too, am always

open to address issues as they

arise.

Q. How do you, as a principal, pro-

mote good race relationships?

A. Believe it or not, race relations

can be more challenging in a

school like North Star than a school

that is more diverse. Since we

don’t have many students of differ-

ent races it can be easy to overlook

their needs or issue.

Q. What plans do you have for the

Our new high school principal, Mr. Kiesnowski By Kaylee Deist

Marvel has done it yet again with

the 12th film in their Cinematic Uni-

verse: Ant-Man. A Universe that

first began with the movie Iron Man

can now add this shrinking hero to

its ever growing franchise of great

superhero films.

Ant-Man tells the story of Scott

Lang, a master thief who is chosen

by Dr. Hank Pym to pick up his

mantle of being the Ant-Man and

protect Pym’s shrinking technology

from his former protégé. If you are

wondering how a movie about a

superhero with a lame name like

Ant-Man could be good (the char-

acters mock the name also), don’t

worry. Ant-Man embraces the

name and offers what is pretty

much an action-comedy heist film

about a man who can shrink to the

size of and control ants, with some

very creative and hilarious results.

The action is very refreshing as it

takes advantage of the heroes abil-

ity to fight anywhere from the in-

side of a briefcase to a toy train set.

With a cast including the always

funny Paul Rudd as the titular hero

and Michael Douglas as his mentor,

it is no surprise that this movie is

great. Marvel has yet again taken a

relatively un-

known hero

(much like their

Guardians of the

Galaxy movie),

and made a suc-

cessful and re-

freshing movie

out of the char-

acter. With a

sequel already in production and

many references to Marvel’s largest

superhero group (The Avengers)

throughout the movie, we will defi-

nitely be seeing Ant-Man again.

Ant-Man By David Miller

Page 10

Photo courtesy of flickeringmyth.com.

On October 27 the Principles of

Accounting students took a trip to

St. Vincent College in Greensburg

to take a look at the wide world of

accounting.

The day’s events consisted of hear-

ing multiple speakers from the ac-

counting field of both private and

certified public accountants. The

students also got to engage in a

question and answering with stu-

dents from the school that were

majoring in accounting. We

learned from the students that after

graduation, students are pretty

much guaranteed a position in the

accounting field. Students are em-

ployed in many major businesses

right out of graduation such as Ken-

nametal and Bombardier Recrea-

tional Products. Talk about a pres-

tigious program!

A short lunch followed thereafter

and then it was off to a tour of the

campus. St. Vincent is a rather

small college with a wide variety of

majors and also has a beautiful

campus. With its state of the art sci-

ence building holding a planetari-

um, a football field worthy of being

the practice field of the Pittsburgh

Steelers, it’s truly a wonder to be-

hold. St. Vincent also has multiple

activities for its students to get in-

volved in. With different clubs such

as rugby, disc golf, and field hock-

ey, students can get to know each

other and also relieve a little stress

from their academic classes.

St. Vincent is a beautiful college

with an amazingly prestigious ac-

counting program and a campus

worthy of a king. It was a very edu-

cational and exciting trip that I hope

will be the pinnacle of college trips

for accounting students to come.

Accounting students attend an American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Workshop By Michael Sabo

The girls persisted at Chambers-

burg against York Catholic, in spite

of the smaller student fan section

that formed because of the dis-

tance. Kayla Rice, the team captain,

said that “the team definitely felt

more supported when they did

have a fan section there.” Regard-

less, the team pulled off yet another

win (25-22, 25-15, and 25-21).

Moving onward to the semi-finals

against Marian Catholic at Mid-

dletown, this match may have been

the team’s toughest yet (25-20, 25-

23, 19-25, and 25-14), losing their

first set of the season. Even still,

NSYO leader and fan bus chaper-

one Emma Ball said that the fan sec-

tion, “kept the girl’s spirits high

even when [the team] dropped a

set.”

And finally, the championship

match. Goodness, was the energy

electrifying. Being at a state finals

game was just incredible, for the

the fans and for the team. Olivia

Zuchelli and Kayla Rice said again

that they felt the team’s restless-

ness and slight anxiety before the

game, ultimately losing all three

sets (21-25, 16-25, and 17-25). It

was extremely heartbreaking to

see such a loss after so much hard

work. Jackie Stanko sums it best

when she says: “We played a really

great team which caused us to

struggle throughout the entire

game. Although we lost, I'm so

proud of the team and how we grew

as a great group of friends through-

out the season. North Star volleyball

2k15 will always have the greatest

fan section. Thank you everyone for

supporting us all year.”

Volleyball Continued from p. 1

Page 11

November 25 was a shortened day

for the high school in preparation

for our Thanksgiving break. It was-

n’t a normal Wednesday of classes

though. The day was filled with nu-

merous activities in which students

could partake until they were dis-

missed in the afternoon. Through-

out the day there were various par-

ties for any clubs of which students

might have been a part. The big-

gest activity of the day, however,

was the volleyball tournament. The

entire school showed their support

for our varsity volleyball team that

had just placed second in the state

volleyball finals that previous Sat-

urday. Fifteen different teams in-

cluding one teacher team compet-

ed in four different elimination

rounds. The winning team consist-

ed of Dillon Charlton, Gus Stra-

siser, Morgan Lehman, Cody

Koontz, Von Yoder, Riley Hem-

minger, Kayla Rice and Courtney

Schrock. Aside from the Volleyball

tournament, members of the musi-

cal cast anxiously

held their breath

as they waited for

noon to come,

when they had

been promised a

reveal of this

year’s musical.

The meeting was

held in the library

where Mary

Mauzy, Mrs. Shaf-

fer and Ms. Sey-

mour unveiled to

the expectant cast

that this year’s

musical would be

“Godspell” by

Stephen Schwartz. Students were

dismissed from school at 1:15 to

return home for a long and hopeful-

ly relaxing Thanksgiving break.

Send-off for Thanksgiving Break By Caleb Hildbold

When I wake up and I see your

face,

You remind me of that one elusive

Christmas cookie.

You know the one I’m talking

about:

The little sugar-dough tree,

Green sprinkles for pine needles,

Red sprinkles for the small, twin-

kling lights,

The bright yellow star at the top,

tying it together…

And seeing you reminds me,

“She’s just like that Christmas

cookie…

“The one I always attempted to

make for myself,

“But never quite got the hang of

decorating…”

Thinking about it makes you know:

That cookie from your childhood,

It had a face, and that face is beau-

tiful.

Her hair lightly sprinkled on her

face like pine needles…

Her cheeks, flush from the cold,

sparkling red…

Her bright, shining eyes like the

stars…

Christmas cookies By Austin Lyons

Page 12

Photo courtesy of Ashley Kelly.

Page 13

On December 14, the North Star

Concert Band performed their an-

nual Christmas concert in order to

prepare for the holidays. The con-

cert gained a lot of attention, and

managed to capture the Christmas

spirit.

The concert started off with Somer-

set County Community Band per-

forming songs such as Twenty Car-

ols in Two Minutes by Mark Wil-

liams, and A Christmas Canon by

Michael Green. The Community

Band has joined North Star on their

Christmas concert in the past, and

it is starting to become a tradition.

“I feel as if the Christmas Concert

is a great opportunity to perform,

and to reach out to some of the stu-

dents at North Star,” said Jason

June, the Community Band Conduc-

tor. In fact, several students from

North Star, such as Draven Beener,

Matthew Darr, Kaitlyn Darr, and

Ashley Kelly, are members of the

Community Band.

After the Community Band finished

their performance the North Star

Concert Band took the stage. The

members of the band had been

practicing since the beginning of

the school year. While some stu-

dents were nervous, many were

excited to see their hard work pay

off. “I feel as though I never have to

worry about this group,” said Mrs.

Cannistraci, the Concert Band’s

director, “They are motivated and

always work towards a great per-

formance, and we have fun getting

to that goal.” The group of students

produced a wide variety of songs

throughout the night, such as slow

songs, like Candlelight Carol by

John Rutter, and fast songs, like

Carol of the Bells by Chip Davis.

When asked about the selection of

music, french horn player, Sierra

Mafield, stated, “The songs are re-

ally fun and also have a high skill

level.”

Towards the end of the concert, the

Community Band returned to the

stage and joined the Concert Band

in the performance of Midnight

Sleigh Ride by Tom Wallace. “The

concert this year was tiring, but

also incredibly fun,” said Matthew

Darr, “Especially at the end.” Both

bands coming together to end the

concert made for a great finale.

If you missed the Christmas concert

but still want to see a performance;

the Concert Band also hosts another

annual concert in the spring. An

exact date will be posted in the

band room after Christmas break.

The North Star Concert Band en-

courages anyone who wants to see

the concert to attend.

Christmas band concert By Lucas Deist

The North Star High School Concert Band. Photo courtesy of Roberta Kelly.

Monday, December 14. "Star Wars:

The Force Awakens" directed by J.

J. Abrams and starring Daisy Rid-

ley, John Boyega and Harrison Ford

had its world premiere at the TCL

Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles

and NBC broadcasted Adele live in

New York (previously recorded).

Also the same day the book club

met as they have every Monday

since the first month of the school

year.

The members held a party before

Thanksgiving and all have great

expectations for what is to come in

the next year. The club has gained

many new members and is always

willing to invite more to join in their

love of books.

To start off the school year the club

elected its officers. Sydney Trout is

the new president/king, Draven

Beener is the vice president/lady,

and Kaitlin Darr is the new secre-

tary. The current book being dis-

cussed and read is The Maze Run-

ner by James Dashner. A new book

will be selected before Christmas

break.

Book club By Megan Friedline

It’s that holly jolly time of the year,

and though the weather may not be

very festive, the Christmas spirit is

still in the air. So, to get you in that

“Best time of the year” mood, here

are some trivia facts about the holi-

day:

Santa Claus wasn’t always known

for his iconic sleigh—in fact, the

idea for his vehicle of choice didn't

start until 1819, when Washington

Irving, the same author of the Head-

less horseman, thought it up.

Mistletoe comes from the Anglo-

Saxon word “miseltan”, which

translates to “little dung twig”. How

romantic.

Germans made the first ever artifi-

cial Christmas tree by dying goose

feathers green

Do you know the first state to recog-

nize Christmas as a holiday? Good

‘ol Alabama in 1813, while the last

state to recognize it was Oklahoma

in 1907

While it’s up for debate as to who

put the first Christmas tree in the

white house (either 14th president

Franklin Pierce or 23rd president

Benjamin Harrison), in 1901 Teddy

Roosevelt flat out banned all Christ-

mas trees from the White House

(Teddy should’ve taken a note from

the Germans, and just made a goose

feather tree)

These presidents however, weren’t

even close to being the first person

to ever decorate a Christmas tree-

that would be Martin Luther. He was

supposedly so awed by the sight of

stars through an evergreen tree, he

bought one himself and decorated

it with candles so his family could

experience it too.

Lastly, while we’re probably all fa-

miliar with hiding a pickle orna-

ment in the tree, it wasn’t the first

food based decoration- apples

were!

So, while you try to make conversa-

tion at your Christmas gathering

this year, maybe you’ll think about

the environmentalist Teddy Roose-

velt and his stance on trees—Merry

Christmas!

Christmas trivia By Mattison Lyons

Featured teacher: Ms. Saylor By Kira Heider

Q: I understand that you are a

North Star Graduate; have you no-

ticed any changes since you’ve

been hired here?

A: There have been a couple

changes, such as teachers being in

different rooms and the cafeteria

renovation. There is a lot more

technology available to use in the

classrooms now and that is really

impressive.

It has been really neat to work with

many of the teachers that I grew up

with and even some of my former

classmates. The close-knit commu-

nity and school pride that exists at

North Star is very refreshing!

Q: What are your hobbies?

A: In my spare time, I do a lot of

hiking with my puppy, Pearl. I also

really like to hula-hoop! My friends

and I have a group that sometimes

does performances around the ar-

ea.

Other than that, I really enjoy read-

ing, knitting, cooking, and watch-

ing movies and TV series. My fa-

vorite shows right now are Game of

Thrones, Parks and Recreation,

Broad City and South Park.

Q: How long have you been teach-

ing?

A: This is my seventh year teach-

ing. I’ve been at various schools in

Cambria County over the years. It is

really exciting to be back in the area

at my alma mater.

Q: What are you most excited

about this school year?

A: I’m really excited to just be

here. I’ve always loved teaching,

but it really makes a difference to be

in a district that you love. North Star

is wonderful district with a strong

community backing. I’m very proud

of this school and feel honored to be

a part of it.

Q: Are there any projects this year

that you are looking forward to do-

ing?

A: We are going to read The Great

Gatsby after Christmas break. It is

one of my favorite novels, and I’m

really looking forward to sharing it

with my students.

Q: What do you think is the most

important thing for a student to do

in order to do well in your class?

A: All that I ask is that my stu-

dents show up with an open mind

and try their hardest. I can present

you with information, but it is up to

you to take it and do something

with it.

Q: Is there anything you would like

to add?

A: I’m just really looking forward

to my career here at North Star. Go

Cougars!

It’s Christmas today. A holiday I no

longer enjoy. Earlier today, it was

my favorite holiday, but not any-

more. It’s the worst day of my en-

tire life. It all started this morn-

ing….

“Wake up! Wake up!” my little sis-

ter Alice screamed, “Santa came!”

Alice is only seven, so Santa is

very important to her. She’s a bub-

bly, little brunette with shining

green eyes like my mom. She’s

adorable when she’s not jumping

on my bed!

“Okay, okay, I’m up,” I groaned. I

wiped the sleepiness from my eyes

as she skipped out of my room to-

wards my parents’ bedroom.

I started my way down the stairs

with my parents close behind. Al-

ice would not stop screaming about

how Santa came and she knew she

was on the nice list. I sat down on

the bottom stair and looked at all

the colorfully wrapped presents

under the tree. I couldn’t help but

wonder how long this will take.

Nearly two hours later, Alice

opened her last present under the

tree. She got tons of Frozen items,

stuffed animals, and other toys. I

also got everything I wanted. I got

Beats headphones, a new stereo,

and $150.00.

“Hey, mom?” I asked as I walked

into the kitchen where a tall blonde

woman stood over the sink washing

dishes. “Yes sweetie?” She replied.

“Can all of us go out shopping?” I

asked eager to spend my money.

“Sure,” she answered happily.

After about an hour, we were all

ready to go, well except dad.

“Dad, Hurry up!” I yelled up the

stairs.

“I’m coming!” He yelled back. Not

much later he came stomping down

the stairs with his once messy

brown hair neatly placed. “Let’s

go.”

Once several layers of clothing

were equipped, we stepped out the

door into the winter wonderland of

snow and ice. We live outside of a

small town which has several

shops. My favorite shop is the floral

shop. I don’t get to go there often

because it’s kind of in the bad part

of town, but nothing has happened

in a while. “Can we go to the flower

shop?” I look at my parents with a

hopeful face. They exchange glanc-

es before my mom finally answers.

“Since it’s Christmas we will go.” I

practically jumped with joy. We

began our travels to the flower

shop. About a half an hour later, we

arrived in front of a dainty little

white house with a red door that

held a sign that read, “Come in,

we’re open!” I flung the door open

running immediately to the back of

the store where the vases were.

The last time I was here there was a

vase that as soon as I saw it, I knew

it had to be mine. It was a deep red

with black swirly designs on it. I

couldn’t get it last time because I

didn’t have the money. I grabbed

the vase and set it on the counter.

“Nicky! Nicky!” Alice yelled grab-

bing my hand.

“What?” I said following her.

“These are so pretty, look!” Her

little finger pointed to the most

beautiful white roses. They practi-

cally sparkled. I grabbed four of

them, one to represent each family

member.

“I’ll take these too.” I said to the

clerk. He was an older man, but he

was very kind. I found it quite easy

to talk to him.

“You guys can go outside and wait

if you want, I’ll be out in a second,”

I looked at my family. My mom nod-

ded and one by one they filed out.

That’s when it happened. That is

when my happiness was ripped

away from me.

I heard several gunshots. I immedi-

ately ran outside. What I saw is now

burned into my eyelids. Both of my

parents were laying perfectly still

on the snow. Alice was screaming

in pain. I ran to her side. I was so

overwhelmed I dropped my bag

with the vase, which shattered and I

blacked out. There aren’t many po-

lice in this little town, especially

since nothing really happens.

When I woke up Alice was silent,

my family was laying still, each on

their own red sheet of snow. I cried

for hours and hours. When I finally

stopped crying I took each white

rose and put one in their gloved

hands. The last rose, that represent-

ed me, I picked up and I ran. I ran

until I reached the one place I could

think. There is a cliff a few yards

away from my house that looks out

over the rolling hills. That leads you

to the present. Here I am standing

on the edge of the cliff letting the

cool air hit my face. I grip the rose

tighter and squeeze my eyes shut.

This is to prepare

for what I am

about to do. I

slowly take a step

forward and it

suddenly felt like

I was flying… and

just like that, the

last white rose

was put to rest.

The Last White Rose By Kylie Kelly

Page 15

Mario Kart Double Dash Review By Michael Sabo

Page 16

Game: Mario Kart Double Dash

Platform: Nintendo Gamecube

Release Date: November 7, 2003

Rating: E

Review: ★★★★★

For those with a Gamecube, you’re

about to rock! This exciting thrill

ride of a Mario racing game has

gone down, in my book, as a won-

derfully action packed game that

put the Gamecube on the spectrum

of the early 21st centuries greatest

gaming consoles.

Mario Kart Double Dash was a real-

ly edgy concept conceived by Nin-

tendo in 2003. The game incorpo-

rates many features that other Mar-

io Kart games lacked in the past,

which is specifically why it was one

of the best-selling games released

by Nintendo for the Gamecube.

With Shigeru Miyamoto leading the

production team, Mario got a new

smash hit that would put Microsoft

and Sony to work on something

better.

Mario Kart Double Dash has many

unique features including the obvi-

ous two riders per kart. This al-

lowed the multiplayer status of the

game to explode with new ways to

get engrossed in the action. The

game introduced double item box-

es that equipped both players to

receive an item whether that is a

turtle shell or Bobomb, or a boost

to improve your ranks. This also

allowed the feature of switching

between driver and rider. Only the

rider can use items and only the

driver has control, so compromise

between players is critical.

They can select ghost mode where

a player races against the past

player who had the previous best

track time. In Battle Mode, players

strive to attack opponents with

items in a closed arena. Much like

the battle mode in Mario Kart DS,

players can choose between Shrine

collecting or Balloon popping in

order to win. This mode is only

compatible with 2 to 4 players.

Double Dash is also compatible

with LAN Mode on the Gamecube’s

Broadband Adapter. Up to eight

Gamecubes can be connected al-

lowing for sixteen players to com-

pete with two players controlling

each kart.

Overall, Mario Kart Double Dash is

one of the great legends that Nin-

tendo Produced for the Gamecube.

With its many special features that

cannot be found in any other Mario

Kart game, its incredible graphics,

unbeatable arsenal of characters,

courses, and modes of play, I, with-

out any hesitation, give the game a

perfectly deserved five stars. Keep

on Playing!!!

The game also allowed players to

choose from nearly twenty different

characters and added eleven new

characters to the series. The game

allows you to pair up with any two

characters on a kart. There are also

many special karts that are themed

for certain characters and are com-

patible with special abilities. For

instance, Yoshi’s kart is lightweight

and easy to handle, where Bow-

ser’s is heavy yet unstoppable

when on the offensive. The courses

are also one huge aspect of the

game that makes it a ride with

thrills, spills, and chills. With doz-

ens of different courses to choose

from in any mode, the courses al-

low the player to see the whole

track and characters through a

map. Along with winding roads,

curves with no barriers, narrow

straight ways that force you to fight

your way to first, it’s the game that

keeps on challenging.

The games many different modes

are another thing that makes it

unique. With five different ways to

play, it allows for many realms of

endless play. Grand Prix mode al-

lows the player to go up against

seven other teams of characters in

a series of predetermined courses.

A player can choose the engine

class size of 50, 100, and 150 cc

along with a locked class and mir-

ror mode. Versus mode offers mul-

tiplayer human played action simi-

lar to Grand Prix. Players can race

on all sixteen courses and choose

from all characters in selected

courses and size classes. Time Trial

is a single played challenge mode

where a player can choose a

course and attempt to beat his or

her personal best track record.

Adele, what can possibly be said

about a woman so tremendously

talented that would do her the cor-

rect justice. Her talent puts her

head and shoulders above all of the

competition, and for good reason,

she’s real. When her debut album,

19, was released way back in 2008,

the most successful single, Chasing

Pavements, made a small ripple in

the music industry. Yet no one

could have imagined that her soph-

omore effort, 21, would take the

artist straight to the forefront of

modern pop music. Now, after a

four-year album hiatus, Adele is

back once again to take over the

music industry. The lead single,

“Hello”, was first teased in a short,

surprise commercial that aired on

October 18 during the popular Brit-

ish competition “The X-Factor”.

The single was released on Octo-

ber 23, five long days after the

tease, and debuted at number one

in dozens of countries around the

world.

The song itself a soul piano ballad

in the magnificent style signature to

only Adele that we all know and

love. It starts off with an ominous

piano that eventually accompanies

Adele, and gradually builds

through the first verse and chorus.

When the second verse comes like

an emotional refresher after the

power of the first chorus, we hear a

muffled drum kit, performed by the

singer herself, added to the sonic

soundscape. After the story-

building second verse, the second

chorus comes charging through the

speakers. This chorus, filled with

extraordinary backup vocals and

instrumental accompaniment,

serves as the cement in the songs

now established message and

chord structure. It stays intense for

the rest of the song, and instead of

going back to another verse, goes

to a bridge, which instead serves

as a vocal solo for Miss Adkins.

After the singer nearly brings lis-

teners to tears with a handful of

choice high notes, she powerhous-

es her way directly back into the

third and final chorus. This chorus

is much more intense from start to

finish, and features Adele riffing on

the already established chorus

melody, adding the perfect amount

of icing to the already perfectly

trimmed cake of the song. After

the climactic final chorus, every-

thing drops out except for the same

ominous piano from the beginning,

and resolves the chord progres-

sion.

Overall, I think that this composi-

tion is incredibly well done. It

builds in intensity, keeping the lis-

tener on their toes the entire time,

anxious about what the next mas-

terfully sung line will be. The sing-

er uses the breath in, breath out

structure of the song to showcase

the message in the proper way,

along with intelligently placed vo-

cal flares and piano exhibitions.

There are not many artists who can

compose a song with an incredible

message, and also showcase their

talent along with it. Adele has de-

veloped a style that is signature to

her, and only her. Originality is

something that is hard to come by

in society, and she has found her

unique spot. I give this song five

stars out of five stars because the

song has an intelligently written

message, about reaching the true

rank of adulthood after struggling

through the teens and early twen-

ties. Along with a fantastically com-

posed structure, that includes a

catchy chorus hook performed in

the perfectly original style that Ad-

ele can call her own. Adele is one

of a handful of artists that we as the

listeners may have to depend on to

get us through the current era of

pop music.

Adele– Hello ★★★★★ By Ben Volk

Page 17

Page 18

Girls soccer season wrap up By Mattison Lyons

On Halloween, our North Star soc-

cer girls wrapped up their season

with a game against Windber, but

that’s just the tip of the iceberg on

the girls’ great season. “We had a

pretty rough start (4 losses)”, says

Allison Carmean, a freshman on the

team, “but as we played more

games we bonded more and be-

came a better team.” And they did

just that; the girls won a total of 12

games out of the 19 they played,

and they’re scores showed their

quotes, “I cried like a dinosaur, ha-

ha.”, and as a team who slowly be-

came more of a family over this

season, who can blame her? Over

all their, season was a good one.

They got off on the wrong foot, but

as the awesome team that they are,

they overcame their issues and

came out with a great track-record.

Congratulations on your great sea-

son this year girls!

improvement (winning games

against Johnstown Christian School

8-0 and United 7-0). Their last game against Winder was

a pretty good playoff game and

agreed to be a “bitter-sweet end-

ing”. The team is going to be losing

some valuable members due to

graduation: Megan Coddington,

Maddy Huzek, Kara West, and Ally

Eutin are all 4 seniors who’ll be

graduating this year. Hannah

St.Clair, a freshman on the team

North Star Varsity Basketball 2016 By Caleb Hildbold

The 2015-16 basketball season

kicked off on the weekend of No-

vember 20 when teammates ar-

rived at Laurel Mountain Christian

Camp for their yearly basketball

camp. The team started practice

upon their arrival on Friday. They

worked out and worked on their

skills and techniques with local

players Timotheus Pope, the leader

of the Citikidz Christian Sports

Camp and one of our own, Mr. Bals-

ley. The team worked long and

hard to improve their skills under

the direction of Head Coach Mat-

thew Fox and came home on Sun-

day. The team captains for this sea-

son are junior Nathan Thropp, sen-

ior Von Yoder and junior Alex Dan-

iels. The team lost their first three

games against Blacklick Valley,

Shanksville Stonycreek and Por-

tage. Team captain Daniels said

this after Tuesday’s game against

Portage, “I think we have a very

promising team this year. If we

work together we can really go

far.” The team’s losses have not

discouraged the team in the slight-

est. Forward Brandon Stepp of-

fered these words of encourage-

ment about the team after their

loss against Portage, “Stay hungry

because victory tastes good.”

Photo courtesy of Coultan Lucas.

FCA stands for Fellowship of Chris-

tian Athletes, but you don’t have to

be an athlete to join in on FCA

breakfast. Every other Wednesday

morning, students can gather in the

FCS room at 7:1 1a.m. with North

Star Youth Outreach (NSYO) lead-

ers like Emma Ball, Jon Ledyard,

Brit Dunlap, and Steve Battaglia and

have a delicious breakfast. Near

the end of the meal, a speaker from

the community (or, most recently, a

student!) delivers a talk on Christi-

anity and how it plays a role on the

sports field or in life in general.

The most recent FCA (Wednesday,

December 16) featured Morgan

Lehman with an outstanding talk

about living a positive life. Listen

for announcements for FCA break-

fasts coming up in 2016!

FCA breakfast By Cooper Tretter

Rumors have been circling for

years about North Star High School

being haunted.

I’ve heard many rumors such as

one about the wrestling coach fall-

ing from the “third floor” and dying

on impact. There is no truth to that

story according to Mr. Lepley, Su-

perintendent. Next, the one about

there being a janitor’s wife dying at

the bottom of the staircase leading

to the locker room where the jani-

tor had kept a picture of her in the

dirt room. We had disproved this

by going to the three dirt rooms

that the school has and not finding a

picture of the woman unfortunately

in any of them. Though the picture

of the janitor’s beloved wife wasn’t

there, it was definitely a creepy

experience. We had observed

three letters which appear to be

initials spray painted inside one of

the dirt rooms. Along with finding

where the dirt rooms are we have

also been able to disprove the ru-

mor that “a locker leads to the dirt

room” because they are sealed off.

There was also a story about a man

who is believed to be a janitor

walking along the hallways with

black

hair on

top and

white

hair on

the

sides.

There

have

been

posts on

web-

sites by

“former

students” that have seen

this man; his sightings are typically

after school when few people are in

the building. This claim has not

been confirmed by any teacher yet

which leaves this rumor inconclu-

sive.

Overall, the rumors that “haunt”

North Star about its ghosts are en-

tertaining if not entirely truthful.

Haunted North Star? By Kira Hieder

Page 19

The Dirt Rooms.

Photo courtesy of Kira Heider.

FCA Breakfast.

Photo courtesy of Emma Ball.

Forensics By Casey Ray

Page 20

What is Forensics? A lot of people

mistake our forensics team for the

FBI forensics. But are Forensics

team is more of a speech team. We

have many topics including Dra-

matic Interpretation, Duo Drama,

Humorous Interpretation, Persua-

sive, Poetry, Informative, Prose,

Declamation, Extemporaneous,

Commentary, and Debate. This

year we have Seniors Caleb

Ogline, Lindsay Walker, Jak Dupre,

Sierra Mafield, Michael Sabo, Da-

vid Miller, Sydney Trout, AJ Revel-

lo, Megan Fredline, and Tori De-

luke-Nicoletti. The rest of the team

members are Katie Darr, Casey

Ray, Twila Blanset, Hannah Hille-

gas, Nick Baron, Tiffany Walker,

Cooper Tretter, and Austin Lyons.

Our first meet was at Berlin

and the following people

placed 3rd: Twila Blanset

and Casey Ray (Duo Dra-

ma), Nick Baron (Humorous

Interpretation), Austin Ly-

ons (Poetry). The next two

people got second: Lindsay

Walker (Dramatic Interpre-

tation), and Hannah Hillegas

(Humorous Interpretation).

Last but not least Cooper

Tretter (Persuasive) got

First.

Our next meet is at Blacklick Valley

on January 15, 2016. So wish all of

us luck and hope for the whole

team to bring back a ribbon.

Girls Basketball by Taylor Miller

This year the 2015-16 girls basket-

ball team got off to a good start,

winning the Forest Hills Holiday Tip

Off Tournament in a great competi-

tion game against the Forest Hills

Lady Rangers. Then, on December

7, the team traveled to Hol-

lidaysburg Area High School,

bringing home a win for varsity,

but a loss for JV. The team this year

has twelve girls, consisting of three

seniors, two juniors, three sopho-

mores and four freshmen.

Senior Courtney Schrock says that

her goals for this year are for the

team to make it to districts and

state playoffs. Courtney, along with

Kayla Rice and Olivia Zuchelli, has

been playing the game since they

were in second grade. Kayla Rice

pete with her friends and other

schools.

also has the same goals as Court-

ney and the rest of the team. Kayla

says her favorite thing about bas-

ketball is getting to play and com-

The Forensics Team Absent from photo: Casey Ray and

Andrew Revello. Photo courtesy of Casey Ray.

school?

A. I hope I can continue to help fa-cilitate North Star becoming a

school that is known for having

great students. This year our high

school lead the county with the

highest rating is school perfor-

mance. While that is great, what

makes me proud to be principal

here is what out student do while

leading the county academically.

We have great success with our

student athletes, we do tremendous

amounts of community service,

showcase the arts at the state and

national level, have great participa-

tion in school events, have a great

following of student fans at sporting

events, and even have groups of

students that use their educational

travel to do missionary work over-

seas. So my plans are to continue

with that success and find way to

make us better, but that won’t be

easy.

Q. What made you want to be-

come a principal?

A. I am not sure anyone ever grows up or goes to college want-

ing to be a principal one day. For

me my teaching career led me in

this direction. Through coaching

and teaching I developed a skill set

that made me feel that I could do

greater benefit to students and

teachers through work as a princi-

pal. However it is a love for stu-

dents, helping them, and watching

them develop into men and women

that draws my satisfaction for what I

do.

Q. How did you become a princi-pal?

A. I started as a special education and social studies teacher in Vir-

ginia for five years. I continued my

education at Frostburg State Uni-

versity to work on my Master’s De-

gree in Administration and Super-

vision. I was employed at Berlin

Brothersvalley High School as a

social studies teacher and athletic

director for four years. After that I

was an assistant principal at South-

ern Middle School in Oakland, Mar-

yland, for two years before becom-

ing the principal at North Star Mid-

dle School in 2006.

Q. If you didn't become a principal what other plans did you have for

your career?

A. I have always grown up in rural areas and have love for animals. I

think I would have made a good

rancher out west raising cattle.

Our new high school principal, Mr. Kiesnowski continued from p. 10.

Page 21

North Star Chorus Christmas Concert By Andrew Revello

The North Star Chorus will be hold-

ing a Christmas concert on Mon-

day, December 21. The Chorus is

directed Ms. Seymour and will in-

clude four solo songs as well as

four songs done together as a

group. The seniors include Evan

Gerney, Matt Darr, Lindsay Walker,

Grace Rucosky, Sydney Trout, Sier-

ra Mafield and Andrew Revello

(myself). The four songs that we

will be performing together are

Christmas Is, Rocking Christmas Eve,

Deck the Halls By Tiffany Philips.

We hope that you all come out to

support the Chorus, see you all

there!

In December, and Bidi Bom. These

are all great songs and I cannot

wait to perform them.

As for our soloists and their songs

they go as follows: Angels We Have

Heard on High will be a duet sung

by Cooper Tretter and Evan Ger-

ney. Our second and last duet will

be Baby It’s Cold Outside sung by

Tiffany Walker and Evan Gerney.

Lastly we will have two songs that

are purely solo; they are Mary Did

You Know by Cooper Tretter and

Student survey By Austin Lyons

Page 23

With Keystones being re-tested

right now, I decided to ask the stu-

dents of North Star what their plans

were for the study halls.

From the results of the survey, it’s

safe to say that, as students, we

would really rather stay home from

the Keystone re-tests, so the ques-

tion is raised: Why even make them

whole school days? Students miss

out on four periods a day for a

week, which means SCTC students

don’t ever see their teachers and

miss out on their core learning. I

propose that, as a student who is

firmly under the belief that re-

taking the test shouldn’t be inhibit-

ing our learning as a whole, that we

make re-tests happen after school,

on weekends, or at least not during

on mornings that we have to walk

into a ghost town of a school just

because we haven’t taken a certain

required test that we haven’t had

the opportunity to take anyway.

core classes. If we do this, we’ll

have happier teachers, students

will be able to continue learning

while the testing is going on, and

we won’t have to occupy ourselves

What grade are you in?

Freshman: 48 Sophomore: 44 Junior: 1 Senior: 39

Do you come in or stay home on test days?

Come in:48 Stay at home: 0

Come in: 11 Stay at home: 33

Come in: 0 Stay at home: 1

Come in: 7 Stay at home: 32

What do you do in the free time, either in school or at home?

Sleep: 33 Schoolwork: 20

Hang With Friends: 17 Outdoor Activities: 21

Reading/Watching TV: 19 Miscellaneous: 22

A good story is its own reward, an editorial By Megan Friedline

If you know me then you know I’m

practically always reading. If you

don’t know me, well, I’m that kid

you see in the hallway with one to

two books in my hands or arms. I

will advocate reading until I die but

I know not everyone is an avid

reader like me. However, there are

people who make reading to be the

worst thing ever to exist. I don’t

want any excuses, you know who

you. I sometimes think that this hate

for reading stems from our educa-

tion that teaches us to read not for

fun but for comprehension and

“hidden meaning”. (I use quotes

here to show that what you read is

exactly as you interpret it, not how

others do.)

Authors write books not for an in

depth look into the ways of the uni-

casually while talking with

friends. Following that line, read-

ing grants knowledge that you pre-

viously would not have known.

Mario, of Super Mario Bros. fame,

appeared in the 1981 arcade game,

Donkey Kong. His original name

was Jumpman, but was changed to

Mario after Nintendo’s American

landlord, Mario Segale. An exam-

ple of what you can learn by read-

ing.

Therefore, good people, I implore

you not to view reading in a cynical

manner but rather to look at what

you can gain by reading an article

or chapter a day. A good story is its

own reward.

verse or why chickens cross the

road. They write them so the read-

er can enjoy themselves. So you

may ask, what are books good for

besides taking up shelf space?

Glad you asked.

The best use of books or even nice-

ly written articles is probably their

stress reducing factor. A well writ-

ten work immerses the reader in its

story and transports them away

from their everyday lives allowing

them a reprieve from their stressful

lives. Kind of like music but for the

eyes.

Reading increases writing skills

and critical thinking skills that are

very useful in many aspects of life.

It also builds a wide vocabulary set

and understanding of words even if

you can’t put them into a sentence

of our planet is in a perpetual

state of darkness.

A scallop has 35 blue eyes.

Using its web-like skin be-tween its arms, an octopus can

carry up to a dozen crabs back

to its den.

A starfish can turn its stomach inside out.

The biggest starfish is the sun-flower star; it has more than 26

arms.

Sea sponges have no head, mouth, eyes, feelers, bones,

heart, lungs or brain, yet they

are alive.

Sharks do not have a single bone in their bodies. Their

skeletons are made of carti-

lage.

The first tiger shark pup to hatch inside its mother’s womb

devours its unborn siblings un-

til only two pups remain one on

each side of the womb.

The smallest and shallowest ocean in the world is the Arctic

Ocean, located in the Northern

Hemisphere and mostly in the

Arctic North Polar Region.

I hope you enjoyed these interest-

ing facts about the ocean and its

inhabitants. The site is below if

you’re interested on more of these

cool facts.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

nature-and-environment/nature/fun

-surprising-facts-about-the-

oceans.aspx

Useless information By Izabella Walters

Welcome to the world of useless

information. All the things you did-

n’t need to know about but here it

is anyways. All the facts below are

grouped together by the subject of

the ocean and the creatures that

live in it, enjoy.

For starters, did you know that 94 percent of life on Earth is

aquatic? That makes us land-

dwellers a very small minority.

Fifty percent of the United States lies below the ocean.

Oysters can change from one gender to another and back

again depending on which is

best for mating.

The common goldfish is the only animal that can see both

infra-red and ultra-violet light.

About 70 percent of the planet is ocean, with an average depth

of more than 12,400 feet.

Given that photons (light) can’t penetrate more than 330 feet

below the water’s surface, most

Newspaper Staff

Editor: Lindsay Walker

Co-editors: Andrew Revello, Kira Hieder, and Megan Friedline

Design: Ashley Kelly, Izabella Walters and Mattison Lyons

Austin Lyons Cooper Tretter Lucas Deist

Ben Volk David Miller Michael Sabo

Caleb Hildbold Kaylee Deist Taylor Miller

Casey Ray Kylie Kelly Trinity Romesberg

Photo courtesy of Google.