Knightwatch | Nepean High School

June 11, 2015

knightwatch.nepeanhighschool.com

Humans of NHS Page 19 How Celebrity Culture is Distorting Your View Page 20 The Top 5 High School Movies of All Time Page 21

GET TO KNOW THE STUDENTS OF NHS Congratulations to Nepean High School’s Class of 2015!

KNIGHTWATCH

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JUNE 11, 2015 • 18

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR As a grade twelve, I often found myself grumbling about the freshmen who swarmed the cramped corridors of Nepean High School. It annoyed me when they walked the wrong way on the stairs (keep to the right!), or stood in the middle of the hallway to talk to their friends, effectively blocking the wave of students that was building behind them.

However, I had to remind myself that I was once like them – oblivious, confused, and absolutely terrified. I remember how hard it was to navigate the stairwells and hallways, and how one wrong turn could lead you straight to The Stoop when you were trying to find the cafeteria.

Even as I became more comfortable with the school itself, other issues began to arise. I appreciate all that Nepean has given me, although I’d be lying if I said that high school was filled with only good experiences. It’s surprisingly easy to feel absolutely alone in a school populated with one thousand-some-odd students.

But Nepean gives students the opportunity to get involved. A wide range of sports teams, clubs, and school events are offered to help make high school a little more bearable for many students. One of these opportunities is Knightwatch.

Knightwatch is Nepean’s own newspaper, and this special issue – a joint project with the Kitchissippi Times – showcases all the effort that so many students put into the publication this year.

Knightwatch gives students the opportunity to get their voices out and to have their opinions heard. It supplies them with a place to publish poems and short stories, editorials and personal essays. Without contributions from the student body, without help from willing faculty members like Ms. Walker, and without Ben Barone, the publisher, there would be no Knightwatch.

Nepean gives students the opportunity to get involved.

Soon, we’ll reflect on our experiences in high school. Some of us will reminisce about the fond memories while others will look back with a sense of disdain, but I think we can all be proud of what we accomplished in our short time at Nepean and the legacy we left behind. As we graduate and move on to other endeavours, I believe that our time at Nepean has prepared us for whatever lies ahead.

Thanks for everything, NHS! Meghan Oliver

KNIGHTWATCH EDITOR: MEGHAN OLIVER PUBLISHER: BEN BARONE CONTRIBUTORS: MAIA ALLAN-RILEY, GRACE MACLEOD, LAUREN WILD BIG THANKS TO MS. GILLIAN WALKER

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KNIGHTWATCH

KNIGHTWATCH HUMANS OF NHS

JUNE 11, 2015 • 19

By: Maia Allan-Riley

ALL IMAGES BY MAIA ALLAN-RILEY

1985-2015

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“What’s one of your happiest moments?”

“Billy has an obsession with squirrels, like any other dog. I was walking him once when I was really young and he saw a squirrel that was across the road so he runs to the squirrel but I didn’t let go. I wasn’t strong enough to hold him back so he dragged me across the pavement. This was when I was six so cut me some slack. Anyways, he dragged me across maybe 20 meters to get to this squirrel.”

“Hanging out with my friends when they aren’t fighting.

People fight.”

“What causes your friend group to fight most?”

“We all don’t get along sometimes because we love each other too much.”

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“Did you get road burn?”

“Oh yeah! My clothes were destroyed. He’s a little nut job.”

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“What’s your biggest accomplishment in life?”

“When I was younger we used to go to Africa and volunteer at orphanages.”

“Who has had the greatest influence on you in your life?”

“Wow, that’s awesome! What was your favourite part about that?”

“My mom. My parents divorced when I was two so my mom has raised me for so long. I don’t like screaming at her. Most kids end up fighting with their parents but when my mom says no to something, I don’t even argue. It’s just like ‘ok.’ She said no and that’s final.”

“The kids were really grateful for everything that they got. We would pack little presents for them and they would be so excited and to see the smiles on their faces was really nice. I haven’t been since grade eight but I’m going back after I graduate.”

“So you have a lot of respect for her.”

“So is helping people something that you want to do with your life? And would helping kids in Africa have influenced your decision to want to do that?”

“Definitely. She moved here when she was thirteen and she only spoke Somali and French. She moved here with her uncle but they kicked her out of the house so she had to get a job and live on the streets for a little while. But then she got married and had us. So after all the hardships she’s been through I’m just gonna listen and not argue.”

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“Most definitely. I want to go into human studies. I’ve always had an interest in kids and I come from a big family so I’m used to taking care of kids and looking after one another. So helping kids is something that I’ve always wanted to do and going to the mission trips in Africa really confirmed that idea in my mind.”

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“What do you love most about biking?”

“I don’t know. It feels like freedom. When I ride I don’t really think about anything else, half because I’m out of it and half because I’ve hit my head so many times so I don’t have to think about anything.”

“When you’re not biking, is there too much to think about or is there too much stress?”

“Not for a normal person but for me, yes.”

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“In five years? Probably studying in Los Angeles at University of California. And in ten years? Hopefully on the set of a movie and or play.”

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“Who’s an actor you’d really like to work with?”

“That’s a long list. Jesse Eisenberg is one. He’s really inspirational. I really like Andrew Garfield. He’s a really good actor. And even though he’s dead, I really would have liked to work with Robin Williams”

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KNIGHTWATCH

JUNE 11, 2015 • 20

How Celebrity Culture is Distorting Your View

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By: Lauren Wild Celebrity culture is widely evident in today’s society. A constant exposure to celebrity news and photos results in an unrealistic idea of the average lifestyle, causes disregard for world issues, and romanticizes the celebrity lifestyle. We are the youth of today and have the ability to tell society we don’t care. We can stop buying into this world of celebrity fixation.

Young people today spend hours subjected to celebrity news, posts, pictures, et cetera. Watching celebrities display a luxurious and excessive lifestyle for a prolonged amount of time can lead to very unrealistic expectations of living standards.

Teenage celebrities like Kylie Jenner (17) utilize social networking websites like Instagram to post pictures of overly extravagant possessions. In one instance she posted her arm stacked with 6 bracelets, all worth roughly $7,000 each (think of how many years of university tuition that is). This is absolute excess at its finest.

People are constantly being bombarded with these images of a luxurious life, but the public will never see what it is like for the single mother with 3 children who can not afford to feed them each day.

A simple trip to the grocery store and one is bombarded with celebrity news. There are countless publications solely surrounding celebrity gossip lining the checkout counter. From OK! to People, and National Inquirer, they are all centred around selling celebrity culture. The world might as well end if Beyonce and Jay Z are having marital troubles, but there is an eerie silence regarding societal issues such as domestic violence or ongoing wars. Celebrity news takes the headlines above world events.

While many people are engrossed with cyberstalking their favourite celebrities, today’s society is displaying an immense flaw in itself. When a celebrity dies, a vast amount of sympathy is shown by people who had absolutely nothing to do with their lives. Many media outlets are flooded with news surrounding the death. In contrast to the outpouring of news and emotion regarding a celebrity’s death, thousands and thousands of innocent people are killed by disease and murdered in war-torn countries each day. This begs the question: how will we

end wars if people don’t know or care that they are happening?

Why do we worship the celebrities we do? Do they showcase intelligence and admirable qualities? Or just beauty and mild to no degrees of talent? For example, Miley Cyrus.

Whether she has any talent is debatable, but she certainly has a devoted following; 12.9 million Instagram followers and 18.6 million Twitter followers, to be exact.

When you think of Miley Cyrus, is it her records and musical abilities that come to mind? No. It is her attention seeking antics and overtly sexual behaviour. It seems as though her whole persona is centred around getting attention, not entertaining her viewers.

What is it about her that evoked tens of millions of people to decide to follow her

The world might as well end if Beyonce and Jay Z are having marital troubles, but there is an eerie silence regarding societal issues on various social media outlets? Does she provide anything to those viewers, or is she just an object of sexuality, fame and popularity? It is up to you to decide the value that these mundane celebrity personalities add to our society, and why people become so easily transfixed by them.

What does it actually mean to be famous? Our attention revolves around everything famous rather than what’s worth being famous for. It is time to put down the gossip magazines and to focus on what we can do to improve ourselves and each other.

KNIGHTWATCH

JUNE 11, 2015 • 21

The Top 5 High School Movies of All Time

the Original

By Grace MacLeod As the class of 2015 figured out, high school is nothing like the movies. Nonetheless, these films about teenage hood are a staple for any movie lover and, because of this, we thought it would be appropriate to count down the Top 5 High School Movies of All Time. Here are the films that made the cut.

5

Coming in at number 5 is Grease: A musical about Danny and Sandy, a summer fling who happen to end up at the same high school for their senior year. Grease, one of my all time favourite films, will satisfy anyone who likes a classic romance, musical, or comedy. If you haven’t seen this one, get to it!

4

Number 4 on our list is Dazed and Confused. This 1993 film follows the adventures of incoming high school and junior high students on the last day of school, in May of 1976. One of the best aspects of Dazed and Confused is that it features young actors, such as Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck, when they had yet to become major Hollywood stars.

3

Third on our list is Mean Girls. We’ve all seen it and, love it or not, it’s a classic for our generation. Mean Girls made its debut in 2005, but many lucky NHS students have watched it in the classroom at least once throughout their high school experience. Because, you know, it’s super educational.

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The runner-up on our list of the Top 5 High School Movies of All Time is The Breakfast Club. This 1985 John Hughes classic follows five very different high school students through their Saturday detention. The Breakfast Club’s five characters are each relatable to a different kind of Nepean student, making for a funny, and touching movie overall.

Finally, our pick for Top High School Movie of All Time is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. What else? Another John Hughes classic (really, all of his movies could’ve made this list) following typical senior Ferris Bueller’s day off school. From an inspiring job of faking sick, to an impromptu joy ride in a forbidden Ferrari, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a skip day of dreams – and an awesome movie.

Nepean High School Thanks Our Community

We are proud of our community school and our students. We would like to extend our gratitude to our parents, School Council and Community Partners who have offered unwavering support to the charitable causes our students championed.

Your generosity is humbling.

We wish to extend deep appreciation for the gifts of time, products and services you have so graciously donated.

Bridgehead David’s Tea Dairy Queen / Orange Julius Magpie Jewellery Mrs. Tiggy Winkles Truffle Treasures Swiss Pastries Kiddie Kobbler The Wellington Diner Whispers Pub Richmond Beauty Salon Second Cup Brio Bodywear Inc. Kitchenalia Produce Depot Di Rienzo’s Grocery & Deli Parma Ravioli Starbucks The Works

Real Canadian Superstore The Cup Cake Lounge Inc. Simply Biscotti Churchills Ottawa Dovercourt Recreation Centre Westboro Pharmasave TD Canada Trust West End Kids lululemon athletica Ottawa Keg Manor Hintonburger Fab Baby Gear A Modern Space Pure Yoga Za Za Za Pizza Backlane Café Hintonburg Public House NRML Suede Contemporary Interiors

The Record Center Shoppers Drug Mart Cosmetics Twiss and Weber Harvest Loaf Petit Bill’s Bistro Aladdin Convenience & Bakery Rainbow Foods 4 Cats Kulu Trading Valiquette’s Source for Sports The Body Shop Caffe Mio Italian Bistro Supply + Demand Foods Red Hair Salon M & M Meat Shops Focus Eye Centre Kettleman’s Bagels Co. JD Adams Moving Loblaws Carlingwood

The Bagel Shop Farmboy Edge Imaging The Bulk Barn Staples Truffle Treasures Domino’s Pizza The OAC Yogurty’s Froyo Tall Tree Cycle Dovercourt Community Centre Terra 20 Jewish Community Centre Grace in the Kitchen Village Cafe Gumdocs.com Ottawa Dr. Grace Lee Dentistry

And, a special thank you to everyone involved in the development and advertising support of this special edition of Knightwatch!

“Love Purple; Live Gold”