Issue 3 - Cecil County Public Schools

THE NORTH EASTER
VOL UM E 2, ISSU E 3
NOV EM BE R 25, 2013
Con tac t : t he n or the a ste r 1 @gmail .com | Ed it ors: C arly L aird , William Yale
A L L CO U N T Y C HO R US
In case you haven’t noticed, North
East is full of talented singers. A large
number of our best had the opportunity
to participate at the All-County level
on Thursday Nov. 14.
To get into all county chorus you
have to audition, where they test you
on not only how well you sing but on
BY A LE C F O R NWA L T
your abilities to read music for the first
time.
The concert line-up was six songs
long; including the songs True Light(Hampton) and Erev Shel Shoshanin(Klebanow). If you’ve never heard of
either song that’s because these are
some complicated chorale arrangements. North East had a large number
W O R D S FR O M TH E WAT ER G I R L
A girl writing about football, you
ask? Yes! My passion is football. I
have played it for years. Not only
that, but this fall I was manager of
the junior varsity football team and
have observed a lot of our games up
close and personal.
One question is on your minds and
that is, why have we not won more
games after last year’s five-win
streak? It would be easy to blame the
coach, but no. Coach Russell has
given everything he has this year and
besides, it was his coaching that led
to last years’ wins.
The varsity team has spirit and
sportsmanship and fights hard. They
stood the test in a horrible homecoming game where even the band had to
take shelter from the rain. Sam
of participants including Carly Laird,
Katie O’Brien, Kindall Houston, Andrea
Travis, Tatiana Plourde, Alison Burgess,
Jessica Simonson, Derek Leonard, Ian
Hannon, and Hayden Marshall.
What a great experience for Dr. Fritts,
who was celebrating his last All-County
Chorus concert as Instructional Coordinator, Fine Arts. He has been helping
the musical talents of Cecil County
grow for eighteen years.
BY A M A N DA LE M A S
Smithmyer made a 17-yard field goal
and put the team in the lead, but in overtime we made mistakes and had a ton of
rain.
Our junior varsity had a good end to
the season. Against Bo Manor, they put
numbers on the board and came out in a
tie with George Crouse moving the ball
35 yards. Christian Nagovich came in
and ran the ball for a touchdown.
The varsity team has been recognized
for improvement, scoring many points
with team leaders like junior quarterback Garren Davidson, who has
had to sacrifice by
throwing interceptions more than
once. Yes, the
loss against Kent
County was a
discouraging end
to the season, but
we see talent training for next year. Our
team for the 2014-2015 season will
have lower expectations and this might
be positive and new players on varsity
might help. Wide receiver/ running back
Brandon Kellenberger will be moving
up as will David Lemas who played
offence, long snapper, defense. Also,
our touchdown man, Christian Nagovich will be moving up.
The junior varsity team will hate to
see these players go, but we know that
they will be showing the varsity team
what talents and great coaches do by
performing well.
I NSI DE TH I S I SSUE :
All county chorus
1
Words from the water girl
Cabaret
2
Marching band
Student spotlight
3
Fun Fundraisers
Book review
4
Letters from a scribbler
1
THE NORTH EASTER
The New Direction for the News
The mission of The North Easter is to provide an up-to-date, interesting, contemporary newspaper for the enjoyment,
education, and entertainment of the North East High student body and faculty. The content developed in this newspaper will never have intentions of being controversial or distracting, but rather be informational and intriguing.
C A BA R ET
BY WI L LI A M YA LE
On Friday, November 8, the North
East High School Drama Club took to
the stage in the 2nd Annual Drama
Club Dessert Cabaret. This year’s
show was a big deal. It was only the
second one ever held here at North
East, the first being a new idea just last
year. This year’s show did not just
mean income, but continuation, establishing the Dessert Cabaret as a new
tradition at North East High School.
The Cabaret was a huge success,
bringing in both adults and students
alike. At 7:00 the lights dimmed as
John Gillespie opened the show in his
second consecutive year as emcee. The
show opened with Mama Who Bore
Me sung by Jessica Simonson, Alison
Burgess, and Katie O’Brien. The rest
of the show followed in a succession
of laughter, effected silence, and awed
applause as Hayden Marshall sang and
danced Footloose, and Olivia Oikemus
recited the monologue Ugly.
After some songs and monologues,
the Cabaret had a short intermission
with some audience participation improvisation games. Then, after some
cookies and cake, the curtains unfurled
for the skit The Tale of Melissa
McHiney McNormous McWhale performed by Susan Travis, Katie O’Brien, Jessica Simonson, Olivia Oikemus,
Hayden Marshall, and even I had to get
in on the action. The Cabaret then
turned to more songs and monologues
such as I don’t know how to love Him
sung by Carly Laird.
The Drama Club closed out the
show with the popular 1980s song and
dance Thriller by Michael Jackson in
full costume and make up. Overall, the
Drama Club Dessert Cabaret was a
good night, and well-performed.
Next year the Drama Club looks
forward to the 3rd Annual Cabaret, to
be held once again here at North East
High School.
M A R CH I N G B A ND
Have you heard the news? Blue
Crew has just wrapped up their 20132014 marching band year. The band
took the field for the November 3 competition at the Naval-Marine Corps
Stadium in Annapolis - scoring
92.174, they made NEHS history receiving the second highest Blue Crew
score ever.
The band competed against 13 of the
BY M A RY F O LE Y
country's top bands from: New Jersey,
Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.
They took third place overall, color
guard finished in the top five, percussion
finished in the top three, and the band
took top honors in the category of Overall Effect.
These folks worked really hard to get
to where they are. They make it look
easy, but they put in just as many hours
as any other sport. Perhaps you have
seen the band perform while at a football game. Don't they add some pep?
If you see a guy or gal in marching
band or color guard give them a pat on
the back for having such a wonderful
season. With scores that high, they are
surely something to cheer about.
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THE NORTH EASTER
S T U D EN T S PO T L I G H T :
BY M O RGA N WA RF I E LD
mark, they formed a dynamic duo –
speaking German to each other at
school and on the bus home. Results:
two students who really have fun
learning a language and who could
probably pass out of any college requirement. As Jared says, “Learning
and speaking German has given me a
different point of view.”
Andrew Koenings and Jared Blomquist
Most of us only take a language because
we have to fulfill the requirement, but Andrew Koenings and Jared Blomquist look
at learning German as a personal project
and have learned far more than they needed to to pass their course. Andrew spent
time in Denmark because his father was
transferred there and he chose German as a
school language because he could use it
more than Danish. When he returned to
North East, he was already speaking fluent
German. Jared Blomquist started German
because his sisters had liked the classes
with Mrs. Soltis- and he began to learn
outside of class, too, until his German was
great. When Andrew returned from Den-
F U N F UN D R A IS ER S :
Jerone Gillespie also took Spanish
because it was a requirement.
“Spanish appeared to be the best
choice” Jerone explains. He assumed
he would take his two years of language and then be done. What ended
up being the case was he actually began to develop an appreciation for
Spanish. “I thought it would be interesting to be able to speak to the teacher and none of the students would be
able to understand me.” Jerone started out without being spectacular but ,
because he began working on Spanish
in his free time and practicing, his
grades went from failing to mostly
A’s. He says he believes Spanish is
Jerone Gillespie
very similar to English which helps his
learning because he can make associations between the two. Jerone says that
“when it comes down to learning a new
language …it is hard work, consistency
and finding out how one learns” that
helps him better himself. “It didn’t
come easy for me, not even a little bit. I
had to work hard. Hard work pays off;
hard work to accomplish goals is what
breeds excellence”
BY K A TI E O ’ BRI E N
North East High students know
how to have fun doing good and
how to do good while having fun.
In November, students raised money
for worthy causes while playing basketball and dodgeball.
this helped end the event with a profit of $709.00 which will be donated
to Relay for Life. Just think– this
money raised, might just be the contribution that leads to a cure for cancer.
The basketball tournament was
organized by the National Honor
Society. Mr. Hadjis quite rightly
advised them to have 3-on-3 teams
and that was the ticket to their success. Lots of teams paid to play and
The dodgeball event also had good
participation, with Mr. Miller and
Mr. Burkhardt jumping on to the
court as well as other faculty and
students. The profits for this event
went to Operation Battle Buddies.
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THE NORTH EASTER
BOOK REVIEW
Have you ever wanted to read a great
romance book? Don’t read? Well,
listen, I never really liked reading
books until I picked up one by Nicholas Sparks. His books are about relationships, marriage, heartbreaks, courage, trust, honesty, and most of all,
love. I respect and agree with his opinions about love and relationships.
The first book I read by Nicholas
Sparks was A walk to remember and it
was such a great book, I read it twice.
My other top favorite books by him
BY M O RGA N NA GGI E
are The last song, and The longest
ride. Here are some of my favorite
quotes: “Love is like the wind - you
can’t see it, but you can feel it” –A
walk to remember; “If you like her,
if she makes you happy, and if you
feel like you know her, then don't let
her go.” – Message in a bottle. This
quote is a perfect example of what
true love really means. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it
does not boast, it is not proud. It
does not dishonor others, it is not
Editors: Carly Laird, William Yale
[email protected]
self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
and it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. It’s also nice to read
a book that doesn’t distort what love,
marriage, and relationships really are.
Letters from a Scribbler
It seems the holiday season has come
even earlier this year. The very day after
Halloween, stores were already stringing
up the blinding lights and ridiculous
blow-up Santas that we have come to
associate with Christmas. The radios are
singing about reindeer and snow and the
malls are already boasting about special
Christmas deals.
It’s great to be feeling the holidays so strongly, but one cannot help
but ask one question: What happened to
Thanksgiving? Sure, everyone has heard
of all the great Black Friday sales, but
what does that even have to do with
being thankful? Are we so busy that we
can’t even take a moment to enjoy the
fall leaves before the white Christmas
snow covers them? Is anyone even
thinking about the smell of turkey with
gravy, or are we all thinking about the
scent of fresh pine on Christmas morning?
The holidays are supposed to
be a time of family and friends, of peace
and humility. So, why are we all so
quick to rush through them, to get them
all over with? Like always, we’re rushing through life, scribbling down the
simpler picture instead of taking care to
write down every detail. There’s no time
to be nostalgic with the memories of
yesterday or to enjoy the ones of today
because we’re so quick to worry about
what will come to us tomorrow.
Everyone wants a bigger tree
than last year or brighter lights or a better ham, but do you know what I want? I
want to watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Netflix at midnight on Thanksgiving Eve. I want to wake up to the
smell of mashed potatoes and cranberry
sauce, and see my family seated together
around a table, remembering what to be
thankful for in this era of so much pain
and misfortune. I want to go for a walk
with my friends and look at the trees, all
dressed in red and orange and yellow,
and hope the snow holds out a little
longer so they don’t turn brown with rot.
Do you really want to be worrying about what gift wrap you’re going
to use this year before you’ve even basted the turkey? Just forget about shiny
new presents for a moment and remember your family. Remember being a little
kid and stealing a piece of the pumpkin
pie hidden in the fridge for dessert, or
watching your dad carve the turkey and
wondering why you weren’t allowed to
hold the carving knife for a mere second.
Remember trying everything on the table
except for the cranberry sauce, because
it was purple and shiny and nothing a
person eats should look like that, or falling asleep in your mom’s lap in the living room after dinner as you listen to the
adults slurping their coffee and complaining about what happened on the
news that morning.
Just hold on to family a bit
longer, and be glad you still have over a
month before you have to worry about
how in the world you are going to fit that
dried-up needle-shedding tree through
your small, front door.
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