NORTH GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
POINTE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016
IDEAS
2 – Wednesday, April 13, 2016 – North Pointe
Welcome to North By Rey Kam
SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR
from the SAT and about 182 high school days from not being a freshman. Five days a week, you’re going to step over the threshold and enter high school for another day. Welcome to Grosse Pointe North High School, home of the Norsemen. As a student here, your picture will be immortalized in Valhalla (our yearbook), and you’re entitled to a free North Pointe every two weeks. You’ll be issued a school ID (which is valid photo ID by the way) and an assignment book. You’ll get a school username and password, but the Wi-Fi password is probably still the same. From there, it’s really up to you. You’ve gotten all the literature, seen the words on the homepage of our website telling the world what Norsemen are capable of. You’re one of us now, and every single time you follow your passion, and meet success, know that “this is what we do
One step inside the doors, most people don’t look down, but those who do would see the faded words WELCOME TO NORTH. Two steps and you’re over the threshold. Turn left, walk up 40 steps (with up to 5 additional ones on each landing), through another set of doors, and you’re there. Third floor: Home of the freshman lockers, English classes and the LRC. Most of your classes are going to be in the B building, with the first digit of the room number determining what floor it’s on. Even-numbered rooms are on the inside of the hall, odd on the outside. If you’re looking to score some instant “cool points,” make sure you know how to get to the library (the only entrance is cleverly hidden on the second floor landing of the southeast stairwell). At this point in time, you’re four years away from college, three years
10 Tips for 2020
ere. That statement, at six words long, is far more than just a catchphrase. It’s a commitment to our school, a promise to contribute to a culture of excellence both in and out of the classroom. You have four years left, and now the real question is what you’ll choose to do. Join a club, do a sport, compete, write, go, do. Be excellent and take pride in your time and in your school because that is what we do here. A busy life is not equivalent to no life at all, and the only thing anyone around you can guarantee about your high school experience is that you will reap what you sow here. You’re gonna get out what you put in. So welcome. Welcome to high school, you freshman, you. Today, tomorrow and for the next four years,
Don’t worry about getting lost. You get your schedule two weeks before school starts and the school will most likely be open all of those days. Come in and find where your classes a re a head of time.
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Participate in float building. Float building is one of the easiest ways to meet new people and get involved with your class.
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Attend the football games. Besides going to float parties, football games are the easiest way to meet new people. The fall of your freshman year is where you initially meet the people that you’re going to spend the next four years w ith.
“Freshman Friday” is a myth. No one is going to pull pranks or intentionally make your life harder.
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Tyler White SOPHOMORE
YOUR TURN: What’s the best thing about North? By Sydney Benson
SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR
By Mora Downs MANAGING EDITOR
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Don’t be scared of the upperclassmen. Everyone was a freshman at some point and they know how scary it was at first. If you don’t know where a room is, just ask an upperclassman.
FRESHMAN
“The after school activities, it just gives you something to do and you make a lot of new friends and it gives you a better high school experience.”
we’re proud to call you a fellow Norseman.
High school is nothing like the movies. My freshman year I was astonished to find out that High School Musical had lied to me and that there are no impromptu musical numbers in the cafeteria. I was further confused when I found out there were no “Plastics” ruling North like in Mean Girls. Movies have left us in the dark when it comes to a genuine high school experience, which is where I come in. This is Mora’s Declassified North Survival Guide.
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“I like the diversity of friends that I have, like there are so many of them and they’re all different.” Mya Norris
Go to the North vs. South football game. It’s a huge school event and you only have four of them, so you won’t want to miss out. You’ll have a great time with your friends, even if we lose.
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“The sporting events because everyone is pretty much united. Like, people around the community coming around to support the team.”
Justin Jackson JUNIOR
Don’t panic if you don’t have classes with your friends. The amount of new friends that you will make freshman year will astound you. You’ll still see your middle school friends, but you will branch out.
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Go all out on spirit week. This is the greatest week of the year if you get into it. Buy your spirit pack and decorate your shirt.
“The diversity of this place, the diversity of sports, clubs, the people, everything, and it makes it feel more welcoming. “ Nuha Mosa SENIOR
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Join Interim Council. Interim Council is open to all and is a great way to get to know new people during the summer prior to your freshman year. It allows you to get involved with homecoming festivities, and also gives you a taste of what being on student council is like.
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Make the most of your first pep assembly. North pep assemblies are a gift, which is why we only do them once a year. However, it’s only fun if you make it fun. For 10 more tips, visit northpointenow.org
HOMECOMING
3 – Wednesday, April 13, 2016 – North Pointe
TOP 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR YOUR FIRST SPIRIT WEEK
By Billy Moin & Sarah Wietecha MANAGING EDITOR & DIGITAL EDITOR
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CLOTHING: SPIRIT PACKS
The spirit packages contain a class shirt, spirit beads and temporary tattoos. Order one while registering in school or online.
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EVENT: FRESHMAN CLASS DAY
Freshmen wear their class shirts to school on the Tuesday of homecoming week. Be in the gym before school for the class photo.
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EVENT: PEP ASSEMBLY BELLA DESANDY Hurry to the gym after second hour for the school’s pep assembly. The freshman class meets in the southeast corner of the bleachers. Also, make sure to sign up to represent the freshman class in assembly games between the classes before homecoming week.
SYDNEY BENSON
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COMPETITION: PENNY WARS
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EVENT: HOMECOMING PARADE
March with fellow freshmen from the Monteith Elementary School parking lot to North’s football field to watch the homecoming game.
Bring pennies, nickels and any other coins and bills to put into the penny wars. This is a competition between the classes. All money is worth the same number of points as it is cents, but only pennies are positive—put pennies in the freshman jar and other coins and bills into jars for the other classes to The class with the most points at the end of the week wins the war. All of this money will go to charity.
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Come help build the class float at these parties. Times and location of the events are designated by the freshman interim council.
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DECORATIONS: CLASS STAIRWELL
Help decorate the class stairwell (the southwest one) and showcase according to the class theme. Decorations are made by the interim council over the summer and put up at the beginning of homecoming week.
EVENT: FOOTBALL GAME
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EVENT: HOMECOMING DANCE
Miss the parade? Not a problem. Be at the field by the 7 p.m. kickoff to catch the Finish up homecoming week football game. Admission is with the annual dance in the $5. gym. The dance is from 7-10 p.m.,
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PAIGE FRANCIS
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EVENT: FLOAT PARTIES
ITEM: SPIRIT JUG
Every year, the spirit jug is awarded to the class that shows the most spirit during the week. Judges will award points to the classes throughout the week based on which class makes the best stairwell, showcase and float. Points are also awarded for the class that shows the most spirit at the pep assembly, for winning games at the assembly and for the penny wars. The winner is announced at halftime of the game.
but doors lock at 7:30, so don’t be late. Buy tickets at the school bookstore before the dance for $15. They aren’t available at the door.
SCOTT COOPER SCOTT COOPER
NORTH’S A-Z
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EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG
ATHLETICS
BUSINESS
CHOIR
DIVERSITY CLUB
North has a w ide-variety of athletic opportunities for girls and boys sports in the fall, w inter and spring seasons. Depending on the sport, there w ill be a freshman, JV,and varsity team. If you are tr ying out for a sport, make sure you have a physical, Gold Card and participation fee paid for the first day of tr youts. For more information go to w w w.gpnorthathletics.com.
Run by business teachers Michelle Davis and Brian Levinson, DECA is an international organization that is a great opportunity for those interested in business. Members compete at the state, national and international level in DECA’s various categories of competition. In addition to DECA, North has many business-orientated classes including accounting, marketing and other related courses.
The choir program is made up of different choirs that includes Norsemen, Treble Choir, GOOGLEUSERCONTENT.COM Choraliers, Pointe Chorale, AcaFella and CounterPointe. The different choirs range in level of difficulty, gender specificity and type of skills focused on. There are many different choir performances throughout the year and the choirs compete at Solo & Ensemble where they have been repeatedly ranked. To find out more go to www.gpnorthchoirs.org.
North offers a Diversity club to help celebrate ever y student’s background. The club is run by social studies teacher Dan Gilleran and has meetings once a month to hold open discussions about controversial topics.
INTERACT CLUB
JOURNAL
KNOTS
LINK CREW
Hosting events such as w riting letters to veterans, coat drives and packing bagged lunches to donate to the homeless, the Interact Club is ver y involved in giving back to the community. The club is not demanding, only meeting once a month, and centers around charity.
Harbinger is the residential literary magazine at North. Open to submissions from all students, Harbinger accepts art, poetry, short stories and many other kinds of written or drawn self-expression. The journal is published once a year after its members comb through submissions and select pieces for each page. This club is a good way to get exposed to literature and art.
Kids Need Opportunities To Socialize (KNOTS) is a club at North that allows special needs students to interact with their general education peers. Members volunteer to spend their time with the students at lunch to keep them from eating lunch alone. KNOTS requires a weekly commitment of a lunch period or two and a training session, it helps create lasting friendships.
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QUIZ BOWL
If you have a knack for facts and a love of trivia, Quiz Bowl is a great way to test your knowledge. Competing with schools across the state, North’s team is ranked statewide and nationally. Students are able to test their knowledge when competing against other schools by trying to answer the given question the fastest.
UPLOAD.WIKIMEDIA.ORG
RATZ
Frequenting the roof and the school’s planetarium, the Radio-Astronomy Team explores different concepts about space and the earth. The group meets a few times a month and is headed by science teacher Ardis Herrold. Many members have gone on to do comprehensive research and won awards or been invited to present what they have learned. All interested are able to join.
EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG
STUDENT COUNCIL
During the summer before freshman year, incoming freshmen have the opportunity to join interim council. Interim council is a precursor to student council, which is made up of class councils and Student Association. The council helps put together homecoming and school events throughout the year.
At the beginning of freshman year, each student is paired up with an upperclassman Link Crew leader. At orientation, freshmen interact with their leader through fun games, a tour of North and advice from an experienced high s c ho oler. Sophomores and juniors can apply to be leaders themselves and help future freshmen transition into h i g h school.
WWW.JSPGRAPHICDESIGN.COM
TUTORIAL
Unlike middle school, North has the elective option of a tutorial. Tutorial is a free period sometime in your day that allows you to work on your homework or get extra help from a teacher. Tutorial doesn’t give any credit towards graduation and is not graded, but is an official class students can take. It is offered in both semesters.
NORTH’S A-Z North has activities for everyone
5– North Pointe - Wednesday, April 13, 2016
By Anu Subramaniam SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR
PUBLICDOMAINPICTURES.COM
ENVIROMENT
The Health Careers Investigation Club (HCIC) dives deep into the professional field of health care and helps students explore their options. Headed by science teacher Susan Speirs, the club hosts many different speakers from the area who are involved in the health care profession. Talks are open to anyone, and the club is a great opportunity to explore a future in the field or meet different professionals.
ORCHESTRA
PEP BAND
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HCIC
Overseen by social studies teacher Sean McCarroll, Gearheads is a North-South combined robotics team. After being assigned a task for their robot to complete, the Gearheads spend time after school building it. Together, they build a fully-functional robot that is able to compete in state and national competitions. Meetings usually take place during winter months. ST
The Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCL A) club is new club that focuses on teaching students life skills including cooking and sew ing. The club goes on to compete against other schools in these areas. There are meetings after school and all students interested are welcome to join.
GEARHEADS
PB
Students Against Violation of the Enviroment (S.A.V.E.) works to conserve nature. S.A.V.E. is an enviromental club that helps North with green initiatives, like recycling, raising money to help the enviroment, taking care of the campus and more. Their biggest event of the year is the S.A.V.EA-Life 5K, in which they raise money to donate to a charity while also educating people about the enviroment.
FCCLA
COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG
MUSICAL
During the w inter season, those interested in musical theatre have the opportunity to tr y out for the w inter play. The play provides opportunities for those who enjoy singing, dancing, acting or being a member of stage crew. Tr youts are open to anybody and begin towards the end of fall. For w inter season athletes who would still like to be a part of a North production, there is also a fall play and spring One Acts.
NORTH POINTE
North Pointe is a bi-week ly 12page print publication and website that is updated daily. Writing, photography, graphic design, videos and leadership are all skills you can work on in this co-curricular class. North Pointe is a nationally ranked paper and provides many out-of-classroom opportunities for students.
For those who have been playing an instrument for many years or for those who would like to start, North offers a class so students can start or continue their pursuit of music. With instruments ranging from string to percussion to brass, the orchestra has a diverse selection. Orchestra members compete in Solo & Ensemble during the year and also perform a few concerts throughout the year.
The Pep Band plays its woodwind and brass instruments to maximize school spirit. They perform upbeat, contemporary songs that get the crowd excited for their home team. The Pep Band can be seen at every home football and basketball game.
PIXABAY.COM
UNION COOKIES
A legend and a North tradition, Union Cookies are a must have. The smell of Union Cookies floods the hallways every Monday and Friday during both early and late lunch and are 50 cents a piece. The money spent on Union cookies goes towards the school and student council to help make positive changes, and is well-spent as they have a well-established history of being some of the best-made cookies.
VALHALLA
For students interested in design, graphic design or photography, Valhalla is a great co-curricular activity. A fullyear course with some out-of-class commitments, Valhalla is a good way to meet students throughout the school, and creatively express yourself. Valhalla is a stateranked publication and puts out a yearly yearbook that is available for purchase before school or during the school year.
YAF
If you are interested in politics, specifically more conservative politics, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) is a good way to get involved. In charge of the 9/11 monument at North and other programs, the North YAF chapter is a good way to be politically educated and involved in the community.
WILLOW
Starting off the school year with a picnic, WILLOW is the perfect place for girls to make friends before the school year starts. With meetings about girls for girls, WILLOW is a female empowerment group that helps girls navigate their way through high school and special occasions like homecoming. PINTEREST.COM
X-RAY
If Grey’s Anatomy sparked your interest in the medical field or you want to further explore it as a career option then Applied Medical Research is the perfect class for you. With monthly rotations and a curriculum that covers human anatomy, cancer and many other medical-related topics, it is a good look into the medical field.
ZOO
Both Anthropolog y and AP Environmental Science take a mid-year trip to the Detroit zoo. Studying different aspects of the zoo, both classes make use of its attractions to relate to the material they are covering in class. C1.STATICFLICKR.COM
SPORTS
7 – Wednesday April 15– North Pointe
By Sydney Benson SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR
Fall Boys Cross Country
Boys Tennis
Boys Soccer
Football
Field Hockey
“If you want to make the varsity team, practice over the summer, really work on your touch. Coaches really appreciate fitness, so if you’re in shape and can run for a while then you have a real good shot at making it.” Thomas Essak Boys Soccer
Girls Swimming
Winter Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Boys Swimming
Girls Hockey
“Just stay focused and remember that we’re all cheer sisters, we’re all here for each other. Ask if you need help, and to never give up because it gets frustrating and hard sometimes, but in the end it’s worth it.” Sydney Woods Competitive Cheer
Wrestling
Gymnastics
“Make sure to try out even if they don’t think they’re going to make it because there’s still a chance and it’s fun, so just do it.” Billy Hoover Boys Basketball
Spring Baseball
Boys Golf
Boys Lacrosse
Boys Track
Girls Tennis
“The team is really fun, cool guys, and you become good friends.”
“You make so many friends that you don’t usually see in school.”
Andrew Delas Boys Lacrosse
Jimmy Mazzola Boys Baseball
SPORTS
Wednesday April 13, 2016 – North Pointe – 7
Fall Girls Golf
Volleyball
Dance
Boys Golf
“My teammates are my best friends, it’s been like eight months and we still have the group chat popping; they are bonds that you’ll never forget and they’ll stay forever, so I highly recommend playing.”
“Our bonds are really strong, we became really close especially through pasta parties and then we practice with each other every single day.“
Thomas Essak Boys Soccer
Sideline Cheer
Girls Cross Country
Olivia Benoit Girls Golf
Winter Boys Hockey
Figure Skating
Competitive Cheer
Synchronized Swimming
“I would say the hardest part about competitive cheer is being nervous for the competition and practicing before and really trying to not mess up, trying to do our very best to win first place.” Sydney Woods Competitive Cheer
Boys Swimming
“Make sure to try out even if they don’t think they’re going to make it because there’s still a chance and it’s fun, so just do it.” Billy Hoover Boys Basketball
Spring Sailing
Crew
Boys Lacrosse
Boys Track
“Get involved and just know that you don’t have to be nervous. You can just play and the coaches are eager to watch you.”
Girls Soccer
Emily McPharlin Girls Soccer
Girls Track
MAP
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YOUR GUIDE TO NORTH North’s layout can be confusing at first. Use this map to help you navigate the squares and locate key places in the school
Key Stairwells Bathrooms Counseling office (first floor only) Main office (first floor only)
FRONT OF SCHOOL
SCIENCE BUILDING
B-BUILDING
A-BUILDING
Just as the name suggests, this building is where you’ll find the science classrooms. The science wing is one hallway with three floors. It can be accessed via the science stairwell or a hallway in the southeast corner of the B-building.
This is where you will find most of your classrooms. The B-building is shaped like three squares stacked on top of each other. Staircases are located in the corners of each floor. Math classes are on the first floor, social studies and language classes are on the second floor, and the third floor is mostly English classes. The third floor is also where freshman lockers are located.
“A” stands for arts and athletics. This is where you’ll find all arts classes (including foods and TV), the gym and the cafeteria. You can get to the Abuilding through two hallways—one in the front and one in the back—on the west side of the school.
C-BUILDING If you are taking choir, band or orchestra next year, you will need to find your way to the C-building. To get there, you will go through the set of doors in the first floor science hallway. The C-building is not in the picture below.
GABE KORKMAZ