North Pointe- February 14 2014

NORTH GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL

POINTE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2014

SINCE 1968

Parents seek solutions for special education issues

By Lauren Semack & Haley Reid editor & Assistant editor

“The more we talked about it, we realized, ‘Oh my gosh there are a lot of really bad things happening.’”

Parent Julie Moe, a member of the Down Syndrome Guild of Grosse Pointe, is one of many pleading with the district for inclusion of their special needs students. Moe and her husband Philip moved their three children to Grosse Pointe for the schools.

Their youngest, one-year-old Max, has Down Syndrome. The Down Syndrome Guild has met with administration since July, but at the Board meeting on Jan. 27, they re-voiced their concerns.

“So it’s not just kids with Down Syn-

drome. There are many other kids with other cognitive disabilities who had the same problems with inclusion, so it started with inclusion, but now it’s a lot more than that.”

The Guild requests that the district create an inclusive preschool program rather than the current segregated programs that exist at Barnes Early Childhood Center.

“When my daughter was at Barnes, they had a preschool with general ed students, and they included her all the time in there,” Karen Grobbel, parent of a special needs middle-schooler, said. “And now, for some reason, that’s not happening and (the parents are) very frustrated.”

Director of Student Services Stefanie Hayes believes assimilation into a gen ed

classroom is a critical piece to success for these children.

“Our kids have to have access to the gen ed curriculum and their gen ed peers that are non-disabled,” Hayes said. “So we have to start with that in mind and then work on what their needs are and how we can supplement the aides and services to help in those areas.”

Joan Mason is an advocate for these students and their parents. She has a 23-yearold special needs daughter who graduated from North.

“Honestly, inclusion’s the kind of thing that has to be done from the top, and we have a failure of leadership and have had,” Mason said. “We’ve never had a superintendent take up the ball and say, ‘Okay, as

a district, this is something we really want to support.’”

Moe said that during their first meetings with Hayes was when she started having worries about her son’s inclusion when he reached preschool.

“I remember one of the things she said at those meetings, which was, ‘The law gives us wiggle room.’ That was my first area of concern, that instead of pushing for our kids, they’re finding all the legal loopholes,” Moe said.

Hayes said “consistency and alignment from level-to-level” is a “have-to-have,” and that having a “continuum available for kids Continued on page 2

MIDWINTER BREAK

Begins Monday, Feb. 17 and resumes Monday, Feb. 24

Common C re

SCHOOL RESUMES

Monday, Feb. 21 at 8 a.m.

ELECTION FOR TECHNOLOGY BOND

Tuesday, Feb. 25 at your local precinct

JUNIOR MME TESTING

Tuesday, March 4 through Wednesday, March 6 at 8 a.m.

FRESHMEN AND SOPHOMORE PLAN TEST

Tuesday, March 6 at 8 a.m. through 12 p.m.

SPRING MUSICAL OLIVER

Wednesday, March 5 at 1 p.m., Thursday, March 6 through Saturday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m.

IDEAS

Some “wonder

exist, and

the answer is simple— because we wish they page 3

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did.

ASSISTANT EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

By Melina Glusac & Erica Lizza LIFE EDITOR & ASSISTANT EDITOR

Instead of “How many similes are in a paragraph?” a typical Common Core test question would say, “Figure out what those similes mean and apply that knowledge to life.”

The method of testing that would best convey these questions, however, is currently up for debate: the ACT Aspire vs. Smarter Balanced testing.

Assistant Principal Tom Beach said the state is now examining the ACT Aspire as an alternative to Smarter Balanced; the prototype Aspire has been tested out in schools and edited in the hopes of launching this summer.

“When ACT launches this, it’s going to be a full continuum,” Beach said. “So ideally, we’ll have data on kids from third grade all the way up through the ACT in eleventh grade, and we will be able to determine college readiness.

And you will be able to see growth.”

The Common Core State Standards are a set of educational standards in place for math and English education.

These standards were approved in 2010 by the Michigan State Board of Education. Michigan officially adopted them last summer, joining the ranks of 44 other states.

“One of the things that is different about the Common Core State Standards is the fact that it’s created kind of like an unofficial national curriculum, where the idea is that, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Mississippi or in Michigan, you’re gonna get the same core concepts in school,” economics teacher Dan Quinn said. “The idea is that everybody gets the same basic focus or the same basic service of school. That’s the equity piece that’s behind it, so that everybody in the country has the same equitable access to schools.”

The true aim of the new Common Core is in the name; the standards attempt to create commonality in the way classes are taught throughout the country, stressing deeper thought and real-world application in learning.

“It doesn’t change what you’re being taught. It’s changing the way that the classes are being taught,” Quinn said. “So instead of looking at it from a nonfiction novel, you’re looking at it from this concept of, ‘How do I use this knowledge in an applicable way?’ And it’s difficult for a lot of people to understand, and most people confuse it with curriculum.

The curriculum of the Grosse Pointe Public Schools System

hasn’t changed.”

The standards are arousing political debate amongst many due to federal involvement.

“The right wing establishment is fighting it because they view it as a overreach of the federal government telling states and local schools what they should be teaching,” Quinn said. “So that’s one argument that’s out there. The other argument is on the far left that is worried about the tests that are associated with the Common Core because they’re gonna come with more testing that will be used to evaluate schools, evaluate students and evaluate teachers.”

Beginning in spring 2015, juniors will no longer take the Michigan Merit Exam (MME). The two replacement options are the ACT Aspire and the new Smarter Balanced test. Deciding which test will be implemented is currently the subject of discussion in the Michigan state legislature.

Assistant Principal Tom Beach said implementing the ACT Aspire test would not be a significant change, as students already take the similarly structured PLAN test earlier on in high school.

However, Beach foresees potential problems with the Smarter Balanced test because it is computer-based.

“From a technological standpoint, we are going to be seriously challenged,” Beach said. “We use computers in AP testing for our foreign language, and it is a challenge just to get enough computers in that foreign language lab to run the computer programs properly.”

Smarter Balanced is an adaptive test, which means the difficulty of questions is determined by how a student performs on the previous questions.

“Smarter Balanced looks very different. Individual questions are designed for much more complex thinking,” Beach said.

On the whole, science teacher Don Pata sees the new Common Core standards as beneficial.

“I mean, there are still places that are asking kids to identify the verb in a sentence at the high school level, and that doesn’t make any sense,” Pata said. “We want to get past that. We want to say, ‘Okay, now that we have all this base information, can you really apply it? Can you create something new and different with the skills that you have?’ And that’s real learning for me. I’m a big proponent. And whether it’s science or not, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just good teaching and learning.”

obsessed School closings approach limit, with all raise question of extra time

don’t

By Wendy Ishmaku & Erin Haggerty

Michigan decides between Smarter Balanced, ACT Aspire

why we’re

these things that

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By Marie Bourke & Emma Brock web editor & STAFF REPORTER

Walking one-and-a-half miles to school on icy sidewalks with inches of snow in negative wind chills is a battle for freshman Sawyer Barsh. He doesn’t think this is safe.

“There really should have been (a snow day) because they know that people have to walk to school and (they should) take that into account because it could be dangerous because cars can’t stop and stuff, and it’s really cold,” Barsh said about the weather on Feb. 5.

Cold temperatures and large amounts of snow this winter have caused several school districts in Michigan to exceed the allowed closures per year.

The state is looking into a long-term fix for this problem.

State law in Michigan says that classes can be cancelled six days before time needs to be made up. One hundred and seventy days of instruction, and 1,098 hours of class time is required to receive state funding.

For the Grosse Pointe Public School System, there is no need to make any adjustments at this point.

“So far this year, we had the three days after the holiday break and one the following week. We have used four of the six days allotted to us per year,” superintendent Dr. Thomas Harwood said via email. “If we go beyond the six days (and I don’t believe we will), we would need to make up the instruc-

@myGPN

www.myGPN.org

Tech bond groups compete for final vote Controversy over the technology bond passing in the district continues as voting day approaches.

The tech bond aims to prepare schools for advanced technology, meaning strong wifi connections, accessing the servers at a startup and having a strong infrastructure.

Laura Monahan, co-chair of the GP Tech Yes steering committee, has been supporting the tech bond since November and sees it as wellresearched and thoughtful.

“I felt very confident that they had done their best work and their homework and, you know, asking community,” Monahan said.

If the bond does pass, she has realistic expectations for the turn-out.

“You’ve gotta first lay out the groundwork for the physical building and rewire the buildings so they can all connect and talk to one another,” Monahan said.

“And at the same time you have to train your teachers to be able to be at calm between students and the technology; and so they need to be trained on all the tools, new educational tools.”

Junior Harris Bunker has an opposing view: the new bond’s program won’t be effective. continued on PAGE 2

tional hours and days.”

In order to make up time without adding entire days, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a change to state law for The 2013-2014 year that allows schools to add minutes to the end of the school day. Michigan legislature is looking to change state laws to give long-term flexibility for making up classes in future years.

However, this change could affect teacher contracts, so it is being discussed.

“I think of it ... that we have jeopardized students’ futures because they’re not in school enough. We have to add the time, and I would say we have to look at the way it’s best done,” Assistant Principal David Reed-Nordwall said. “My only hesitation to June is there’s not one person here who wants to be here that late. Are you really focusing? That’s the only question, are we really focusing?”

Grosse Pointe does not usually see this many weather-related days off, mainly because there is no bus system. Superintendent Dr. Thomas Harwood said they “look very closely” if windchills reach 25 degrees below zero or lower.

“Both Mr. (Christian) Fenton (deputy superintendent for business and operations) and I do not recall that we have ever had three snow days in a row.

There may have been a time in the past where we have had three individual snow days,” Harwood said. “We could not recall any time that there has been more than three snow days during the winter season.”

Many factors are considered when it comes to calling off a day of school.

Harwood and Fenton also consult the director of building maintenance in making a decision. They do not predict that the district will end up going over the six allotted days this year.

“Keeping students in school and engaged in their learning is a primary goal of our educational system,” Harwood said. “I do not anticipate any further polar vortex or extreme arctic air.”

VOLUME 46, ISSUE 9

© 2014 North Pointe

2 – Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 – North Pointe

Tech bond Continued from page 1

“I don’t think it really gets to the root of the problems with education in the school specifically,” Bunker said. “I would say that more of the problems have to do with the way the education was run rather than the fact that we don’t have ‘x’ amount of technology.”

While the cost of the project caused an uproar, Monahan believed the financial ramifications were accounted for by the Board.

“I just really feel that they did everything they could to bring down the cost of the bond and take out things that were unnecessary, considering this is a very buttoned-up bond,” Monahan said.

The anti-tech bond group noted the necessity for GPPSS to provide a shared-use digital infrastructure, yet they opposed the idea of providing devices.

“Personal-use devices, which the 1-to-1 devices most

Special education Continued from page 1

at all different levels of need” is mandated by law.

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, special education children are to be educated in a gen ed environment with typical students and are only removed if that education cannot be “achieved satisfactorily” in that environment. Mason said this is where these “loopholes” can be created because the section of the law that specifies a least restrictive environment is ambiguous, and nowhere does it explicitly define inclusion.

“There have been parents who have seriously opted for inclusion, and it has been the equivalent of declaring war on the school district because it’s been a constant, constant fight, and it shouldn’t be,” Mason said.

Parents at the Board meeting also showed concern regarding a perceived loophole in the law where special education students are in a classroom with a gen ed teacher but without typical peers present.

There is no requirement for gen ed teachers to have experience working with special education students, but Hayes said they provide training on professional development days.

“We have staff that are interested and willing all the time to work on professional development days that offer training for accommodations and modifications in the gen ed environment,” Hayes said.

Hayes also said that in the past, special education classroom assistants were not required to hold anything higher than a high school diploma, but that the administration now looks for stronger qualifications.

“They have some really great people, but when it comes to specific things like working on certain things in the classroom ... that person just sometimes doesn’t have that experience,” Grobbel said. “We’ve been trying to help the district with that for a while, and they were making some really good improvements when they had their last director of special education, but they’ve kind of halted.”

The district changed the qualifications for future aides in 2012, requesting a higher skill set.

“Right now, we are looking at having any new classroom assistants have their associates (degree) or passed what’s called the WorkKeys. It’s kind of a global skill set test ... For highly qualifying, you definitely want someone with an associates or the WorkKeys,” Hayes said. “But the people who had come in prior may have only come in with a high school diploma.”

Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are another central source of conflict between administration and parents. Once a year, the district works with parents to create a specialized behavior and education plan that best fits a child’s needs. There was an influx of parents whose children were autistically or cognitively impaired or have Down Syndrome who complained during the Jan. 27 Board meeting of being intimidated and unfairly treated during these annual meetings.

“You’re not supposed to have their IEPs already planned out before you go into the meetings, but when they get there, they’ve already written all over the form. It’s like walking into a class, and the teacher has already given you your grade,” Grobbel said.

In some accounts, parents have cited that the district has brought its attorney to be present at the meetings.

“That is intimidation, and my advice is to all parents who walk into the room in that scenario is to adjourn that meeting and walk right back out,” Mason said. “There should never be a time that a parent walks into a room to find legal representation from the district when they have not been aware that that is going to be the case.”

news definitely are, should be provided by students’ parents,” the anti-tech bond group’s website (www.gpresponsiblespending.com) states. “Why? Because that is the fiscally responsible model used by nearly all public and private universities that embrace the 21st century learning style.”

If the district distributed devices to each student, the grand total would be $16.9 million.

Eric Warren, an information technology professional, spoke at the Jan. 27 Board meeting at Brownell on his view of the amount of money going into the bond.

“The proposed project that is up for vote in a month, … I could meet or exceed the entire scope of that project for $10 million,” Warren said. “You’re being asked for $50 (million).”

“People’s taxes will go up 4% overall for 10 years,” Monahan said. “There (is) some confusing misinformation that sometimes gets neglected to be told and that is that taxes are going up 23%, and that is not true. The school tax is going up 23% because that’s where all the increased tax money would go.”

The anti-tech bond group, however, would accommo-

date for the few who would need monetary aid.

“GPPSS could certainly help buy 1-to-1 devices for the relative few who demonstrate financial hardship, but it is inappropriate to have taxpayers, especially fixed-income taxpayers, subsidize a school cost that in most other educational settings is carried by parents,” the website said.

Many residents overlooked the cost and are concerned over how the state will run testing to keep investments lively in Grosse Pointe.

“A significant part is that we can run the state mandated testings on the new system, which we can’t right now.

Without that we would not have a rating, and without the rating property, values will drop because people won’t see that they can invest in this community and buy a property with confidence,” Monahan said.

Despite the controversy, there must be a consensus by Feb. 25.

“I think there’s a groundswell of support for the ‘no’ right now, but it could definitely pass,” Bunker said. “It depends on who turns out the vote.”

However, superintendent Dr. Thomas Harwood said that an attorney can be present to assist the process.

“There are times because of the complications associated with special ed requirements and rules that we may need an attorney present to help assist us in the interpretation of those particular rules,” he said.

Harwood said that the administration will continue to meet with the parents.

“The Board, we make sure that any policies, laws, or procedures are appropriately put in place and followed,” Harwood said. “That federal and state laws are appropriately put in place and aligned with our policies.”

Mason has dealt with IEPs for almost 20 years, beginning when her daughter went through the district. Now, she accompanies parents to these meetings to ensure they receive the services their student is allowed.

“I had a vision of a round table, and we were all sitting at this table together talking about my child,” Mason said. “When I had the first bump heads, my visual became a rectangular table. I was on one side, everybody else was on the other side.

Every parent is going to make that shift. They may start out the way I did. Chances are they’re going to have a situation that makes them say, ‘We’re not all on the same page.’”

In addition to issues raised with the meetings themselves, parents cited failures in following IEPs. Harwood said the administration is stepping up to ensure the process improves.

“We’re working closely with the staff to go through the discussion about the IEP process, and we also have our special ed administrators taking a look into each and every IEP, and they are also attending some of the IEPs,” Harwood said.

Hayes said district staff must not only rely on themselves but also on teams and administrators within buildings.

“We have almost 1,200 kids with IEPs. I know that it’s almost humanly impossible for me to monitor each one and each person’s minutes, but we have professionals that are working with kids in the best interest of kids,” Hayes said.

Anne Cafagna, parent of senior Anthony Cafagna said.

Cafagna said she’s been in the district under both the previous superintendent Dr. Suzanne Klein and Harwood. She said that either way, it’s been a struggle for parents in getting the best services for their children.

“People come to me all the time because people don’t know how to fight. They don’t know who to go to or what to do,” Cafagna said. “You cannot rely on the school system.

You have to be behind the scenes pushing the whole time, not taking no for an answer.”

Hayes understands the extent of the issues these families face.

“There’s a lot of emotion, a lot invested from families, the staff. You know, there’s a lot of involvement, and that can sometimes can cause a lot of emotional responses as well,” Hayes said. “So a lot of the things that we’re talking about are ongoing processes because a lot of things you can’t fix overnight. We do want to do better at what we do, but we do a lot of things really well already.”

Mason said these issues are nothing new to the district and have been around since her daughter was new to the school system.

“The fact that we haven’t done it before, we just didn’t have a group of parents pushing hard enough for it. Now you have the perfect storm. You’ve got a relatively large group of children of the same disability at the same age, and they’re right,” Mason said.

With a larger group of young students with Down Syndrome enrolling in the district, Mason said including these children will help typical and special education students learn to work together, promoting acceptance and positively impacting the integration between the two groups in the real world. Mason believes Grosse Pointe needs a reality check.

“We, in Grosse Pointe, have become too comfortable with the status quo. We’ve institutionalized how we do things, and there’s been a lot of resistance to make that next leap,” Mason said. “What I love about this group of parents is their package is pretty clear. They’re not being vague about what they want to see happen.”

Harwood said that to help communicate and work effectively with the parents, there will be meetings to further discussion.

“We have continued meetings that we have with the parents, and we have one scheduled again next week (Monday, Feb. 10), and so we’re going to continue the dialogue there,” Harwood said.

Mason still stands behind her belief that the administration can either be the problem or the solution.

“The disappointment, I think, for a lot of the parents (is that) when Dr. Harwood was hired into this district, he was hired to be the new head of special education after a tumultuous period of time,” Mason said. “I think that’s what the frustration is. You’re going to be held to a higher standard when people know what your background is if this is what you were brought into the district to do.”

Hayes said she and two department supervisors, Lillie Loder and Sue Lucchese, are meeting with families often “to be as involved as possible.”

“We know some of the areas that they’ve addressed that we’re continuing to work on. For example, making sure that modifications and accommodations are in place, using data to help with decision-making. So we’re working on professional development for those things. Staff are attending training.”

Moe is determined to have her son Max be successful in the Grosse Pointe Public School System despite perceived difficulties she and other parents are experiencing.

“I will do whatever it takes to get my son a quality education. I will go to every meeting, and I have been going to every public meeting since September. I’ll keep talking, I’ll go to the media, and I will sue,” Moe said. “They’ve been sued a number of times, but I will sue as publicly as I have to when I have to do it to see a change.”

The public comment portion of the Board meeting also raised allegations regarding the use of seclusion rooms which are usually small, padded, nearly windowless locations that are used in emergency situations when a student could cause harm to him or herself or others, according to the Michigan Standards for Using Seclusions and Restraints.

“We don’t have seclusion rooms in our district,” Harwood said. “We have what are called break rooms where a student, because of their behavior, may need a break from the activity and needs to be removed visually and physically from the activity, but they’re typically removed with a staff member.”

Hayes said that the use of these break rooms must be written into the child’s IEP. “It’s an area for them to calm down, to take a break, for them to regroup or regulate themselves dependent upon their disability and their need for behavior purposes and their IEP and their behavior plan,” Hayes said.

Hayes said administration investigated the rooms within the district that are used for quiet time, breaks and timeouts and plan to touch base with the parents to clarify.

Hayes said there is only one seclusion room in the district.

It is at Kerby Elementary School but is not active and is currently used for storage.

“Semantics. You can call it whatever you want. How did you use it? How did your staff use it? Was it used to be a sensory break, or was it used to be punishment? And can you ever prove that? As parents, you can’t ever prove that, which is the nightmare of it all,” Mason said.

“Now the school, by law, has to give you what your child needs, but you have to make sure that that happens. I’m always kind, and I’m always nice, but I’m tough, and I’ll say, ‘No, this is not good enough. This is what has to happen,’” Mary

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IDEAS Fandom, not fandumb “Grosse Pointe Public School administrators and teachers are responsible for encouraging and ensuring freedom of expression and freedom of the press for all students, regardless of whether the ideas expressed may be considered unpopular, critical, controversial, tasteless or offensive.”

Board of Education Policy

Maria Liddane Editor-in-Chief Izzy Ellery life editor

Andrea Scapini Gabby Burchett NEws editor Managing EDITOR

Melina Glusac ideas editor

Colleen Reveley Lauren Semack Sydney Thompson sports editor web content manager business manager

Our editorial represents the opinion of the North Pointe Editorial Board consisting of the editors above and staff members Erica Lizza and Jennifer Kusch.

Members who have a conflict of interest with an editorial topic do not partake in that meeting or vote.

OUR EDITORIAl

It’s a top-down process:

Let’s make our system one desired by others by being the pinnacle of the most extensive services provided to our special education students The district’s special education programs have taught some of their students in a way that provides for their needs. Some families are happy with what teachers, aides and administration have provided for their children. However, too many are unsatisfied with the services provided (or not provided) and are discouraged by a lack of inclusion and general education experience for students.

Caring for and educating our schools’ population of students with special needs should not be obligatory, but rather, a top priority. Children with special needs cannot advocate for themselves concerning their education. To many, the special needs department has made it difficult to immerse students in a gen ed environment, especially early on in their schooling, and has not been proactive in solving the issues raised.

We acknowledge there are special needs families who received services they are happy with. There are many aides who have a positive influence on the kids they help.

But until 2011, the classroom assistants of special education classes only needed a high school diploma to qualify for the position. It is wise of the district to institute new requirements of either an associates degree or WorkKeys, as these employees work very closely, often one-to-one, with students, and it is fair to raise their standards. This has the potential to improve the educational experience of all special needs children.

Structuring an IEP (Individual Education Program) should be collaborative. Everyone there should have one thing in mind: the welfare and development of the student being discussed. Nothing should be pre-determined before the meeting takes place.

Inclusion, a vital part of any special needs student’s experience, should start at the preschool level and be maintained – a true continuum. To not immerse special needs students at a young age is not only detrimental to growth and development but illegal. Section 612(a)(5) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) states that: “Removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment may occur only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

Not putting forth a maximum effort in these vital areas has somewhat tarnished the reputation of our schools. The administration needs to make fixing this flawed system a priority and follow through, thus changing the workings of the schools’ special education department and restoring a trusting mentality. If the necessary changes are made, proper services can be provided – only then can we hold up the reputation and integrity of a school district that aims to provide an exemplary education for all students.

Our goal should always be to do the most, not the least.

That is the true standard of a quality education – something every student, special needs or not, deserves.

Tech bond is too much

In our previous tech bond editorial, we understood the bond to be all or nothing – either vote the tech bond in or vote it out, and that’ll be the end of it. So we figured no tech bond at all was much worse than an imperfect one. However, in light of recent Board meetings and community opposition, it is understood that the bond, if voted down, could be up for revision. And revision, editing and clarity is exactly what it needs. We’re pro-tech bond, just not this tech bond.

One item included in the bond is armored doors, a feature that seems handy in light of recent school shootings. But this fancy feature will most likely do nothing to defend us against danger if, say, a window is open next door. So what about armored windows? That’s just one not-thought-through item included in the bond, which is why it could be valuable to vote this down and allow its creators to revise the bond and eliminate the wants and keep the needs – think it through. There’s not a student in Grosse Pointe that hasn’t had trouble using one of the ancient computers. This is a need. Armored doors are a want.

Also, we’re living in a time when there’s a new device out every six months, making it impossible and expensive to be caught up with the hippest new item. Sure, tangible textbooks go out of date, but technology goes out of date much faster. The bond needs revision to account for these swift technological updates and how the district would handle them.

Common Core offers paper testing to schools if computers aren’t updated. We’ve got time. There is too much money at stake to make a hasty decision – focus on the necessities and justify everything else included. Voting for this bond should make Grosse Pointers think of the effects of new technology on students. And it may seem old-fashioned, but is all this technology (like the iPads) really necessary and good for the students? It may be too soon in children’s lives to start this. These changes should be more natural and occur with the shifting of time, with the money shelled out over the years in increments, perhaps – not with a large, all-at-once bond.

Saying we’re against this tech bond doesn’t mean we don’t want what’s best for the students. Those campaigning for the tech bond should not be using this argument to guilt-trip voters. Like we said before: We’re for a tech bond, just not this tech bond.

I am a part of the populous subspecies of teenage girl known as the “fangirl.” Fangirls are obsessed with one or more franchises, whether they’re books, TV shows, anime or celebrities. All fangirls exhibit the similar behaviors: buying merchandise and spending large portions of their spare time My TURN reading about Malika kanneganti the object(s) of their obsession on the Internet. I could be classified as a Harry-Potter-Rick-RiordanSer ies-of-Unfor tunate-Events-Avata rSmosh-and-(a little)- Zelda fangirl.

I’ve read each Harry Potter book countless times, and I record every one of ABC Family’s Harry Potter weekends. I own a Gryffindor robe, a wizard’s hat and a magic wand. I sometimes have long conversations with my friends about “shipping,” a fangirl term for relationshipping. I admit that I’m obsessed.

I was introduced to Harry Potter in the third grade and fell in love immediately.

Entering this fandom had a domino effect. I’ve since fallen into other fandoms, including Percy Jackson and the Series of Unfortunate Events. I’ve reread all of these series multiple times, and while they are often called kids’ books, I maintain that they are great books for any age.

As much as I enjoyed the series, I sometimes got bored of reading the same thing over and over, so I turned to fanfiction, which I enjoyed almost as much as the original series. I spent nearly all my time reading it on the Internet and even tried (and failed) to write some. I liked it because the stories still included my favorite

characters and universes, but introduced new plots.

My dad was the one that gave me the Harry Potter books, and at first he was glad that I liked them. However, he soon became concerned that I liked them too much. He didn’t want me reading the books anymore and instead assigned me books that he thought would be good for me.

I didn’t read any of those books, and I still secretly read Harry Potter. When my dad asked what I was reading, I lied, relieving his fears for a while. The cycle repeated when I became infatuated with Percy Jackson. My dad and I both became very irritated, always arguing, not able to get through to one another.

Some wonder why we’re obsessed with all these things that don’t exist, and the answer is simple— because we wish they did. The different universes are appealing to us. Obviously, no one wants muggles to be terrorized or sentinels to take over the world, but every child has, at some point, identified with a character and wanted to be a hero like them.

We know it’s not real. We’re not insane.

Our obsessions aren’t unhealthy. They’re just fun.

If we were locked in our basements with no human contact, using these books as a substitute for real life, it’d be a different story. But I still have friends and still know how to live in the real world, so I don’t see a problem with being part of a fandom.

People with more respectable social lives may disagree with me, and so will people who read “grown-up” books. To them I say, agree to disagree. To any fellow fangirls reading this, I say, keep reading.

There’s nothing wrong with it.

“Bobsled because they go really super fast.”

“Ski jumping because they just fly through the air.”

“Curling because it looks really funny.”

Augie Sonaglia

Charles Craig

Alanna Sparks

freshman

sophomore

junior

YOUR TURN: What Olympic event do you plan on watching?

By Addison Toutant

“Speed skating because the competitors hold back at the beginning and go super intense at the end.”

“Curling, just because.”

“Skiing because my family skis a lot.”

Jillian Fenner

Stephanie Kryzminski

Kathy Byron

senior

North Pointe – Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 – 3

Fashion and fabrics teacher

office secretary

The North Pointe is edited and produced

by Advanced Journalism students at Grosse Pointe North High School and is published every two weeks. It is in practice a designated EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Maria Liddane public forum without prior review. ComMANAGING EDITORS: Gabby Burchett, Dayle Maas ments should be directed to the student SECTION EDITORS: Andrea Scapini, Melina editors, who make all final content decisions.

Glusac, Izzy Ellery, Colleen Reveley The views expressed are solely those of the WEB CONTENT EDITORS: Marie Bourke, Lauren authors or the student editorial board and do Semack not reflect the opinions of the Grosse Pointe WEB MANAGERS: Emma Puglia, Anu SubramaSchool System. niam BUSINESS MANAGER: Sydney Thompson We are a member of the Michigan Scholastic STAFF DEVELOPMENT EDITOR: Patricia Bajis Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press DESIGN EDITOR: Kristen Kaled Association, National Scholastic Press AsPHOTO EDITOR: Brigitte Smith, Emily Huguenin sociation and Student Press Law Center. We ASSISTANT EDITORS: Haley Reid, Wendy subscribe to McClatchy-Tribune Information Ishmaku, Jennifer Kusch, Audrey Kam, Katelyn Services and iStockphoto.com.

Carney, Erica Lizza STAFF REPORTERS: Jenna Belote, Radiance One copy is available free to all community Cooper, Dora Juhaz, Emily Martinbianco, members. Additional copies may be purBrittney Hernandez, Malika Kanneganti, Caelin Micks, Diajah Williams, Olivia Asimakis, chased. Our editorial policy and advertising rates are available online at myGPN.org. The Gowri Yerramalli North Pointe is printed on 100% recycled INTERNS: Dana O’Donnell, Thomas Remenar, paper.

Emma Brock, Mora Downs, Kristina Kowalski, Kaley Makino, Isabella Meteer, Billy Moin, Ritika Sanikommu, Addison Toutant, Calix WalCONTACT US drop, Alex Batts, Josie Bennett, Yena Berhane, 707 Vernier Road Dajai Chatman, Claire Dalian, Lia DeCoste, Erin Grosse Pointe Woods MI, 48236 Haggerty, Lawrence Lezuch, Kayla Luteran, Phone: 313.432.3248 Lillian Rancourt, Josie Riley, Stephanie Roy, Email: northpointe@gpschools.org Maya Sewell Twitter: @myGPN FACULTY ADVISER: Shari Adwers, CJE

Editor’s desk Patricia Bajis

Common sense can be hard to come by When I was in kindergarten, I learned the hard, painful truth of common sense and how it’s not exactly as common as it’s made out to be.

One day, when my mom was driving me to school, a car came out of nowhere and almost hit us on the side. In what seemed like one swift motion, my mom stopped the car, jumped out and gave the other driver a few choice words of hers that I had never heard before. Naturally intrigued by this new language, I went straight in to my classroom, waited for my teacher to come up to me, then proceed to repeat everything I heard and asked what it all meant.

Needless to say, my mom’s face turned bright red as she explained my actions.

A few days later, armed with my new vocabulary, I decided to annoy my uncle, who was babysitting my brother, sister and I, for a bit. As he cooked dinner, I started dancing around the kitchen trying to distract him, until I slipped and grabbed the heated stove top to break my fall.

Crashing down, I burst into tears as my scorched hand swelled and turned red. My uncle rushed to put some sort of cream on it as the excruciating pain became almost unbearable. I was taken the the hospital to have my whole hand wrapped. The next day at school, my mom was back explaining my mummified state.

Oh, but Patricia, you must have learned your lesson now, right? One would assume so, but stubborn ol’ me wasn’t quite done yet.

About a week had passed as my bandaged and bruised self made my way home from another day at school. My grandmother had come over to watch my siblings and I while my parents went out.

After situating us at our activities, she pulled out the ironing board and some shirts and began to iron them in the hallway. Leaving plenty of room in front of her for anyone to get by, I decided it would be a great idea to try to fit in between her and the wall she was pinned up against instead of using the expansive area she left open.

Squeezing and shimmying my way through, I hit her leg, causing her to become startled, and resulting in her dropping the scalding iron on my face. Blocking the painful memory, the only thing I remember that night is my parents tucking me into bed and having a slight red mark on my face. When they came to see how I was doing in the morning, a full iron print was present on the left half of my face.

I’d have to imagine that I looked pretty tough coming into school with my wrapped hand and freshly marked face – coolest kindergartener around – but did it hurt. And my mom did say that they almost called Child Protective Services. So it probably wasn’t as cool as I thought.

Maybe the sense just needed to be knocked into me, but I learned to use a little bit more thinking in certain situations, and that common sense becomes a just a tad more common when you have painful experiences to help guide one in the right path.

Next time my uncle came over or my grandmother was helping with chores, I knew to keep my distance and act a lot more mature when the adults were around. But seriously, how many kids can say that had a full iron print on their face?

On Campus

4 – North Pointe – Friday, Feb. 14, 2014

District showcases technology Every school in the Grosse Pointe district sent representatives to Brownell on Feb. 4 to showcase the pilot technology being used in classrooms. Teachers, as well as students using the technology in class, discussed and demonstrated how these devices have contributed to their education to community members

By Brigitte Smith photo editor

Faces in the crowd George Mourtos

Imagine waking up at 5 a.m. and traveling to an enclosure in the dark, hidden next to a clearing and spending most of the day there, listening, waiting and hunting. This activity is nothing new for sophomore George Mourtos.

“It’s something that my family has always done,” Mourtos said, who has been hunting with his dad for several years. “I started when I was 9 or 10.”

Mourtos and his family hunt in western Michigan by the Manistee National Forest.

“I hunt in a blind,” Mourtos said. “My grandpa makes a bunch of blinds.”

Blinds are small camouflaged enclosures that hide hunters from animals. “(I hunt) deer, a little waterfowl, but mostly deer,” Mourtos said.

At the end of a day hunting, Mourtos’ love for it comes down to one thing: spending time with his dad and his family.

Jamie Lackner

TOP: Junior Kelly LaBarge, looking at her classmates’ I-Search for her AP Biology class on a laptop, came to the showcase to support her fellow AP Biology classmates. “I think it’s really cool to see how people in different age groups use technology,” LaBarge said.

ABOVE: Junior Graham Eger and Duncan MacAskill talk to a community member. “Our goal as a group was to demonstrate that we weren’t just using technology as a distraction in the classroom, but as a tool to learn,” junior Graham Eger said.

TOP: Science teacher Gary Abud spends time with Principal Kate Murray’s son William during the showcase, looking at an iPhone.

RIGHT: Juniors Alex Blunden, Duncan MacAskill and Michael Marchiori show off laptops. Marchiori, one of the student presenters on behalf of North, believes that with the current technology it can be hard to access information. He is hoping that this struggle will be fixed through the tech bond. “With the new technology bond I’m hoping for the same amount of access to information, but improved efficiency,” Marchiori said.

The question of whether another planet can sustain life has been on the minds of astronomers for years, and junior Jamie Lackner has decided to take a crack at that question. She’s taking an independent study to work on a research project about Mars with astronomy teacher Ardis Herrold.

“We are trying to describe and observe the geologic content of the Mawrth Vallis region and its environment as it pertains to life,” Lackner said.

Last year she contributed to another research project about Mars. She was a national co-winner in the Mars Student Data Exploration Teams Project.

“I mean, without last years project I wouldn’t be doing it this year, so I kind of owe everything to the project last year,” Lackner said.

Nick Burguron

Freshman Nick Burguron likes to live in the fast lane. His passion? Racing cars. Even though he’s the only one in his family who races, his father’s friend got him hooked.

“They were in the military together. He alway talked about racing, and I wanted to get into it,” Burguron said. “He’s been doing it for a while; his sons do it, too.”

As enjoyable as it may seem, this sport also has its dangers according to Burguron.

“When you crash, you hit other people.

One time I got T-boned, and my whole body got yanked and hurt. It’s hard to breathe after,” Burguron said. “It’s scary sometimes, but it’s fun.”

A future career in the sport sounds appealing to him, as there is a gain through the pain.

“Oh yeah, racing makes a lot of money,” Burguron said.

By Billy Moin, Thomas Remenar & Claire Dalian

FIVE MINUTES WITH Special education teacher Rebecca Ruth

By Andrea Scapini News Editor

alanna sparks

Special education teacher Rebecca Ruth has become a teacher in another aspect of her life: yoga. “Last January, I started taking classes in yoga medics, which is yoga training for people who may have a physical disability, people with depression, people with anxiety, so it started as kind of a clinical based program and I finished my training in June, and then I started practicing teaching. There’s this whole flow we have to learn and then teach it,” Ruth said.

With the lights dimmed and the candles tapering, special education teacher Rebecca Ruth ends her routine yoga class lying in her favorite stress-relieving position: Shavasana.

“It literally means ‘corpse pose’, so you’re supposed to lie as still as a corpse, well that’s what Shavasana means,” Ruth said. “If you take a block and you put it underneath your back, it opens up your shoulders and releases tension, because I don’t know about you, but I hold all my stress and tension in my shoulders, so I just release.”

What started out as her New Year’s resolution last year, has developed into a routine aspect of Ruth’s life.

“When I don’t do it, I know it. My body tells me, my stress level tells me, so I love that it’s an opportunity to get a fantastic workout, allow your mind to just be free of any worries, and to really challenge yourself to do things you didn’t think you could,” Ruth said. “It went from going about twice a week to now five to seven days a week of yoga.”

Ruth has noticed that avoiding attending class to accomplish other work is actually counterproductive.

“There were times when I would allow the work I had to do for teaching or for other commitments to replace yoga, and when I look back on those times, I had more stress in my life,” she said. “I let things that were not important or not as important take precedence over something that I knew was going to serve me so well. If I’m stressed out, it doesn’t help anybody that I come in contact with.”

Ruth has made an easy transition from participant to instructor. She uses the same skills she uses in the classroom to help her in studio, but finds the two jobs vastly different.

“It’s so crazy because I’ve been teaching school for 14 years so I’m so used to teaching minds, but now I’m teaching bodies how to move,” Ruth said. “It’s really threefold. When teaching yoga, it’s the music, the movement and the message, so the three M’s. In every class there’s some sort of message about being kind to ourselves (and) recognizing our limitations but not letting them dominate.”

What’s your favorite song to play in yoga class right now?

“For (the class) Slow Flow, I now started using the song “Runaway” by The National. They’re really great, but I try in every playlist to put a Dave Matthews song in because I am a Dave Matthews fan, so just about every playlist has a Dave tune in it.”

Are there any phrases that you repeat in class often?

“In the beginning, allowing things that may have been going on outside of the yoga space to leave because they’re not going to serve us here, and then being in the moment when you leave the class. At the end of class, we take this deep breath and hold it, then we release and let the body completely melt into the mat.”

Do outside thoughts ever affect you in the class?

“As a biology teacher I always tell my students that what’s going on in my life does not come in the classroom because it’s not their fault. I really try to keep that there because people come to yoga to let go and release, so I can’t bring in my stress and bad day because that’s not what they came here for, so I really do not let that stuff get in the way.”

Do you have any future plans for yoga?

“Of course. I look forward to the summer when I can teach more because it’s really hard to work a full day here and then to go and teach because that means I can’t go and practice.”

life

North Pointe – Friday, Feb.14, 2014 – 5

SADD teaches peer resistance To Future Norsemen

By Olivia Asimakis & Brigitte Smith Assistant Editor & photo editor

Members of SADD traveled to Poupard Elementary, Monteith Elementary and Ferry Elementary and performed scenarios about the dangers of alcohol and how to be prepared for these situations when they’re older.

ABOVE: Senior Robert Nesom gets ready to perform a skit in front of the class. He has enjoyed his time in the club. ”I’ve done it ever since I was a sophomore and it’s a great fulfilling thing to do,” Nesom said. “It’s interesting to see the incoming classes of North.”

LEFT: Sophomore Stephanie Godoshian interacts with the younger students. “It’s a good program to inform little kids and help with with their transition to middle school and high school,” Godoshian said. “I thought it was a fun experience and the kids were really fun to work with.”

RIGHT: Fifth grader Alexis Waldburg watches the skit. “It was fun because we got to learn new things about why not to drink alcohol,” Waldburg said.

Foreign exchange student extends her skills through American schooling

By Brittney Hernandez & Dora Juhasz

Staff Reporters

The western world seems far on the horizon for Europeans, only observed through school. For Bulgarian-born, German-raised foreign exchange student Stephania Loukanova, it’s an environment she was eager to step into and experience independently. After seven years of learning English, and having spent family vacations in the United States, Loukanova’s craving for adventure and new freedoms ambitiously led to a five-month educational journey in America.

“We (she and her family) have friends who live here in Grosse Pointe. They asked me if I wanted to come live here for a few months,” Loukanova said. “I wanted to do it on my own.”

Speaking five different languages and having visited over 15 countries, she is more than familiar with diverse cultures.

“I speak German, Bulgarian and English—a little French, but I’m not good. And Latin, but I can’t speak Latin, well, because no one can,” Loukanova said.

However, this semester she gets to engage in a completely different cultural experience: being a Norseman.

“In Germany, America is something ‘Wow.’ My classmates are jealous because I’m here,” Loukanova said.

At her high school in Germany, Loukanova and her classmates are obligated to take the pre-decided classes required for her grade level. Unlike the average American high school student, her options are nearly nonexistent when it comes to core class selection.

“We have 15 different subjects at my school, and you can’t choose. You have to take all of them,” Loukanova said. “For example, I have to take English, French, Latin and also German.”

With an array of unique classes to choose from at North, Loukanova has been given a whole new educational experience. She enjoys psychology the most, a subject that is not offered at her school back home. Counselors (who

aren’t available at her German high school), teachers and students have all helped Loukanova adjust and take advantage of her new-found freedom.

“I like the teachers here. They communicate with us. In Germany, there are teachers and students. Here, you can talk to them and ask them things,” Loukanova said. “They try to talk to you. In Germany, they just teach you.”

One teacher in particular, German instructor Madeline Salonen, is establishing a familiar environment for Loukanova by only speaking German with her. Being in AP German IV, Salonen’s students are getting a beneficial opportunity in return.

“They have an expert right here,” Salonen said. “They have a native speaker. They’ve got someone who is their contemporary. And really, I think we’re so fortunate to have her in our group.”

Speaking with the students in her class, Loukanova helps them learn German, as they extend her skills in English. Getting the best of both worlds, Salonen feels this will only benefit Loukanova’s further expansion of language abilities.

“With every language you learn it makes the next one easier. And she is so adaptable, and she learns quickly. I really think this is a great experience for her. And when she goes back to Germany, her English will be just fabulous,” Salonen said.

Fellow students have also lent a hand in her transition, helping her get acquainted with school by navigating with her through the halls.

“I feel more welcome than exchange students in Germany. When we have exchange students it’s different,” Loukanova said. “No one’s going to come to you and show you the school and your next classes.”

Brigitte smith

Foreign exchange student Stephania Loukanova notices differences between North and her school back home in Germany. “My school is a lot smaller than North. But where I’m from the buildings are older and my school is separated into six buildings. I like how this school is all one,” Loukanova said.

6 – Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 – North Pointe

REVIEWS

pyro jump app

Jelly app

When entering the fiery world of Pyro Jump, don’t be fooled. The cutesy characters and the adorable storyline do not make this game child’s play. In breakingdawn-themovie.com fact, the amount of precision and agility needed to control this bouncy ball of fire through dozens of levels is surprisingly high.

Pyro, an ambitious fireball, ironically falls in love with a princess made of paper. It is the player’s job to lead Pyro through various turning wheels in each level so he can reach the princess. As the wheels turn, players must tap Pyro to make him leap from one wheel to the next, collecting small flames as bonus points and avoiding large spikes and a fatal fall into the abyss.

Sound easy? Not quite. As with most platform games, it is simple to learn the basic controls (tap the screen to make Pyro jump). However, the frustration sets in once players reach higher, more challenging levels where wheels are bigger and move much faster. One wrong motion and poor Pyro plunges into the abyss forcing the player to restart the level.

For beginners, it can be difficult getting through the levels. But players who crave challenge can compete against collection and time goals for each level.

Having the opportunity to beat both collection scores and timing creates hours of intricate fun.

While mastering this lively game can be time-consuming and challenging, its bold personality with vivid colors, charming characters and a variety of obstacles keeps players engaged and entertained.

Jelly proposes a new way for people to get their questions answered by bringing the Facebook community and Tw itter verse toItunes.apple.com gether to find a solution. The app offers a fresh form of asking people questions on the spot by using pictures taken by the questioner.

Jelly makes this experience a lively process for users. First, the user points to the subject, snaps a picture of it and then sends it out w ith a related question. They can crop, zoom or draw on the photo to enhance the image. W hen in the app, questions are limited to being answered to those the user is connected w ith on social networks.

However, questions can be forwarded to people w ithout the app by text message, which lets a non-user resolve an inquir y app users aren’t able to.

Unlike other inquir y websites and apps, Jelly opens the scope of discussion to any thing from fashion tips to weekend plans. Users can ask for opinions on different buzz-worthy topics and ever y thing in between.

A lthough Jelly shares qualities of different forums at times, it has enough features to set it apart. The editing options for photos used in questions give users the most out of questions asked, and the little things inside the app, like thank you cards, make things more meaningful.

A-

B

Peet’s Coffee and TEa

pheonix wright

Wit h free WiFi, cof fee a romas a nd a lot of seating, Peet’s Cof fee a nd Tea has t he ma king of a n idea l cof fee shop. On Nov. 18 Peet’s sacramento.aero Cof fee a nd Tea shop joined t he Grosse Pointe scene, replacing t he beloved Ca ribou Coffee in t he Village.

As customers wa lk into Peet’s, t hey a re greeted by friendly workers who seem like t hey a re genuinely happy to see t hem. Peet’s creates a chill atmosphere by play ing sof t folksy music t hat is ba rely audible which is idea l for t he students working on t heir homework. The great t hing about Peet’s is it w ill probably never be a seat short because t he entire store is brimming w it h sma ll tables a nd cushy seating.

If t he customer is not into t he coffee, tea or espresso scene, he or she is out of luck here because Peet’s Cof fee a nd Tea shop rea lly lives up to t he na me, since t hat’s a ll t hey have drink w ise. However, a cof fee joint wouldn’t be complete w it hout pastries, a nd Peet’s has quite a few to choose from like muf f ins, croissa nts, cook ies a nd scones. The prices a re idea l a nd a re likely to ma ke a ny student’s tight budget happy.

Peet’s Cof fee a nd Tea shop is a chill place to ha ng out, it doesn’t live up to Ca ribou’s legacy a nd def initely doesn’t compete w it h its highly successf ul neighbor Sta rbucks.

Phoenix Wright is making a comeback. The spikyhaired defense attorney has returned to clearing the names of those falsely arrested in his new Infendo.com adventure Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies.

Following the previous games in the series, this Ace Attorney game is about defending a person framed for murder by investigating the crime and defending him or her in court. Wright once again takes the lead after regaining his attorney’s license.

He is helped by his new assistants, Athena Cykes, who has the ability to read people’s emotions, and Apollo Justice, who contributes a different way of thinking to the game.

Cykes’ ability to read emotions fits well into the rest of the game and is an intelligent new way of solving problems.

This game also is the first entry into the series to feature full motion cutscenes. The player can also control Athena and Apollo during some portions of the game instead of Phoenix.

As always in the Ace Attorney games, figuring out the mysteries is difficult, though everything is logical and satisfying when solved. The characters are also varied, well-written, immediately likeable and deliver genuinely funny dialogue.

Like all the games in the series, this one is relaxed in gameplay and is mostly story-oriented. Playing the game requires patience and asymmetrical thinking similar to an old style point-and-click adventure game, which may discourage some players.

Dual Destinies knows what a good mystery entails—an engrossing story, intriguing and logical puzzles and likeable characters to experience the journey with. This game has all of these and much more. The twists and turns never stop coming.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies; Capcom; 3DS; T

B-

Pyro Jump; Jan. 29; iPhone, iPad, Android; Free

Jelly; April 2013; iPhone, iPad, Android; Free

17043 Kercheval Ave, Grosse Michigan;(313)499-9891;www.peets.com

By Dora Juhasz

By Radiance Cooper

By Stephanie Roy

A

Pointe,

By Thomas Remenar

Sports

North Pointe – Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 – 7

QUICK HITs spring conditioning in full swing The dog days of spring athletic training have officially started. Athletes participating in spring sports have started conditioning in preparation for the upcoming season.

“It gets you ready for the sport; it prepares you,” freshman Rachel Stander said.

Stander is honing her throwing and running skills for softball tryouts.

Students are doing a variety of exercises to get in shape, like running laps and doing drills in the hallway. Athletes can also utilize the weight room in the upper gym. Freshman Grace Sexton, who is currently conditioning for track, takes advantage of the latter option.

“I use it for track conditioning, so usually for correlated exercises, and once in a while I will go on the exercise bike if I can’t run,” Sexton said. “For example, I have a strain so it’s really painful to run, and therefore, I use the bike.”

The looming season can foster anxiety for tryouts, but students are still looking forward to the new season. Freshman Taylor Burton is getting into shape for tennis, eager to start playing.

“I think it is going to be fun,” Burton said. “I’m really excited.”

Junior’s leadership shines on track When junior Micah Darnell came to North her freshman year, she literally hit the ground running — and she hasn’t slowed up yet.

“I started track my freshman year and I’ve always loved running but I didn’t think I’d be as fast as I was,” Darnell said. “When I made the relay team, I was really surprised to find out that I was with the varsity group.”

With the leap over the freshmen and JV teams, Darnell, then 14, was faced to endure what normally only upperclassmen have to in terms of sports ascendancy.

“Being on varsity my freshman year helped to give me more confidence to be a leader,” Darnell said. “It helped me to get more comfortable with a leadership position especially since I was one of the youngest and smallest on the team.”

Darnell’s leadership skills flourished throughout her years on the team and became strikingly noticeable to not only her teammates, but her instructors as well. They decided to invest in her trait in a unique way.

“My track coaches invited me to a leadership conference for women’s sports in Lansing,” Darnell said. “It provided a lot of information on how to lead the team and how to unify the team, and it gave a lot of pointers on how to be a captain.”

Using her newly found knowledge of sports leadership, Darnell is now better prepared for seasons to come.

“Since I learned how (to) make the team stronger and bring the team closer together I feel like I can contribute in making the track team one big family,” Darnell said. “Now being a stronger track leader is one of my goals for the next season.”

Girls lacrosse tryouts altered with new head coach This spring, the girls lacrosse team will face new challenges with both tryouts and adjusting to a new coaching staff.

“We started conditioning Thursday ... the season doesn’t start until March 9,” varsity coach Christianne Simms said.

The implementation of a new health and physical test will be used to keep track of the players’ fitness level.

“Really, we’re just doing a lot more conditioning, especially preparation for the season starting. We’re just making sure that the girls are physically in shape in addition to letting them understand the game of lacrosse more during tryouts,” Simms said. “It is just a simple fitness test like push-ups, a timed run and maybe one other activity. We’re figuring it out, but it is nothing that they would be unprepared for if they came to conditioning. The coaches made the decision together to get the girls ready.”

Along with the change in the tryout structure, the coaching staff was altered.

“I took over as varsity coach, and then we had a slight coaching change ... the old assistant coach is now the JV coach, and Ms. Nixon is the assistant coach,” Simms said.

By Gowri Yerramalli, Diajah Williams & Dajai Chatman

Courtesy of Jessica Gabel

LEFT: Junior Mackenzie Clark and senior Jessica Gabel show off their medals from a sectional competition, their ticket to the 2014 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships. Gabel and Clark skated for North until this year. “We wanted to continue skating so we had to find somewhere else. Some people went out to Ann Arbor, some people went to Rochester and we went to Crystallettes. We actually ended up doing the best out of all those teams,” Gabel said.

TOP: The Crystallettes share each others’ excitement as they are given their skating results.

ABOVE: The team bows down to kiss the ice after their sectional competition.

Crystallettes to compete in Colorado Senior Jessica Gabel and junior Mackenzie Clark head to the United States Synchronized Skating Championships

By Sydney Thompson & Ritika Sanikommu Business Manager & Staff Reporter

Everything’s up: the competition, the altitude, the intensity. Crystallettes, the Dearborn-based synchronized skating team, will be heading to Colorado Springs for the 2014 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.

Senior Jessica Gabel and junior Mackenzie Clark are members of the Crystallettes and said the team had a rough start in the preliminary competition in Kalamazoo and placed eleventh out of the 18 teams there.

“They’ve worked extremely hard and improved night and day basically from the beginning of the year,” Crystallette coach Emily Naperkowski said.

In their most recent competition, they qualified for Nationals.

“This (was) like a sectional competition. So it’s all the teams from the Midwest, and there are 18 teams.

We’re one of the biggest groups, and the top four out of 18 got to go to nationals,” Gabel said.

Although the team is

confident in their skills, to our program, and we’re they acknowledge that every doing endurance training event can have a different because the altitude is 7000 outcome. feet there, and it’s only 600 “We can actually base it a here, so we’re doing suilot on our scores of the oth- cides on the ice and double er teams at their sectionals. run-throughs on the proSo Pacific region, we beat gram,” Clark said. all of their scores with our The Crystallettes see high score. good team dyAnd then namics as the the Eastern key to success. region, we “Well (in) also beat all team skating, of theirs,” you need to Gabel said. cooperate with “So if we your teamwere to get mates, and it the same takes more scores as to cooperate ever ybody with teamat sectionmates than als, then to just be out we would there by yourget second self, and you’re place in the just thinking country. But about yourself, it really can whereas you go either Jessica Gabel have to think way. Everysenior about a whole body’s realteam when ly close, so there is not one you’re out there for a team,” team that’s way better than Clark said. all the others. It totally deFriendships on and off pends on the skate.” the rink have led to imClark notes that the in- provements over earlier tensity of practices has competitions. risen in order to prepare for “In the beginning, it was Colorado. a very new team compared “We added 20 seconds to last year because they

“

We’ve created really good friendships, and everybody really gets along. And it shows in our ice skating, I think, that we can skate together really well, too.

”

had a lot of girls that either quit or moved up. So you really have to learn to work together because it actually impacts how you skate,” Gabel said. “So I think that’s why we’ve gotten really good, because we’ve created really good friendships, and everybody really gets along. And it shows in our ice skating, I think, that we can skate together really well, too.”

Though the pressure of training has increased to prepare for nationals, Naperkowski believes the girls will do well.

“The goal is top four if they skate well. I think they have a great chance of getting a medal,” Naperkowski said.

The Crystallettes stay confident about their performance and, despite feeling nervous, try to maintain a normal routine.

“They have their little rituals that they do before they compete. I think that we just kind of do the norm, whatever we would do at a normal practice, I mean, they’re going to feel nervous, but basically just try to keep it as normal as possible,” Naperkowski said.

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North Pointe – Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 – 8

Whatever floats your boat

By Brigitte Smith & Caelin Micks photo editor & Staff Reporter

Regular, Honors and AP Physics students had their annual boat race competition this year, but with one additional rule. For the first time, the boat races were no longer open to the public, and only students enrolled in a physics class could attend the races.

“Kids who are participating in it have to wear wristbands so we know we are a part of the races,” junior Jenna Mazzola said.

This year, physics teachers wanted to make the project more of an educational experience

for students, so they assigned students to make schematic outlines of what their boat were going to look like.

While building their boats based on their outlines, students also had to make sure their boats met the size and material requirements from prior years. After they finished building, they had to find the line of depth of their boat using an equation that they learned in class.

“We made our boat really good and just need to come out and race,” junior Jenna Mazzola said. “You are not allowed to build a huge boat, or else we could get kicked out or you can’t race at all.”

christian sottrel

TOP RIGHT: We Got The Booty spent over $120 on the duct tape they used for the seams of their cardboard boat.

ABOVE LEFT: Senior Maddy Vyletel values the lesson that this project has taught them. “You never think about what makes a boat float. You always see them in the harbor,” Vyletel said. “So doing this project actually makes us think about it and come up with the reason as to why it does actually float, and it makes sense.”

ABOVE RIGHT: Gemini ran into a dilemma with the tape at first because it wouldn’t stick to the waxed cardboard. They retreated to duct tape and continued on. “I would give the advice to make (the boat) thick with multiple layers and use Gorilla duct tape from the start,” junior Katherine MacDonald said.

LEFT SIDE UPPER RIGHT: “I was expecting us to float and make it across, and in the end it was worth it because we succeeded,” senior Anna Sinh said.

LEFT SIDE UPPER LEFT: Junior Nick Koester believes that the pains and troubles of the project paid off. “Building the boat was fun because we had a good group,” Koester said.

LEFT: Gemini finished in the top three overall. During the race, Nick Koester would row on his right predominant side and Mark Koester rowed on his left predominant side. Bystander junior Shannon McEnroe was astounded by their performance in the water. “They flew. It was great,” McEnroe said.

Christian sottrel

Valentine’s Day through the decades Valentine’s Day has grown and evolved through the decades, from the style, to the gifts and the dates. Teachers recall their teenage years and their date night activities.

Approximately 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas.

‘70

Frank Tymrak

“From my experience being a teacher and being with adolescents, it’s a lot more informal now,” Tymrak said.

Watching students in the hallways, Tymrak gets an up-close and personal view of dating in this generation.

“There seems to be more friendships where it doesn’t get really serious,” Tymrak said.

This is different than when he was growing up.

“Normally, a few decades ago, you would go steady with someone and you saw more of that. This still exists today, but you rarely see it,” Tymrak said.

‘80

Andy Montague

“I don’t even know what you guys do now, but we did a lot of dancing. We actually went to what you call a club. We went to a lot of places that were bars and dancing places. We did a lot of that.”

Montague said. “Valentine’s Day would be different. My wife and I dated late in college, so that was a nice restaurant. We might have gone together with another couple and then gone dancing afterwards. So that’s while we were still dating, the big blow-out.”

Some popular love songs of the 80s

Champaign - “How ’Bout Us” (1981) Lionel Richie - “Hello” (1984)

www.History.com

The photo treatment and hairstyles scream 1970s, but the message inside whispers: “With you, I feel beautiful.”

Alexander O’Neal - “If You Were Here Tonight” (1985) LL Cool J - “Need Love” (1987) Dokken - “Alone Again” (1984)

VALENTINES CARDS AND QUOTES FROM HALLMARK.COM

‘90

Lisa Lucas

“It was usually going out to places and being more traditional. The boy would come pick the girl up, and they would go out somewhere fun,” Lucas said.

“The boy had to meet my parents. That wasn’t even a question,” Lucas said. “We didn’t hang out with friends or as a big group. You usually just went out with one another,” Lucas said.

Whether it was “like” or “love,” a new romance or a long-term relationship, “Look, it’s Cupig!” could work its whimsy on a range of 1990s relationships and situations.

In order of popularity, Valentine’s Day cards are given to teachers, children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.

On average, men shell out $130 each on candy, cards, jewelry, flowers and dates. That’s more than double what women commit to spending.

‘00 Devin Cox

“We had two-way to talk. You know, Nextel. That was what most people did. That was the cool thing to have when I was in high school, like two-way to talk you could have it on your hip with your hip clip. It was more like, “Hey do you want to hang out?” That type of date. I feel like no one dated,” Cox said.

“I feel like it was you were boyfriend-girlfriend, and so then you went out on dates. No one called and said, ‘Do you want to go out on a date?’ It was like, ‘Will you be my boyfriend?’ or ‘Will you be my girlfriend?’”

Now

Brandon Davenport

“...You (would) sit by the phone waiting for your significant other to call you and ask for dates for the weekend, and now it’s like (you) send a text Friday evening that says, ‘Let’s hang out tonight.’ So it’s a lot different in that aspect,” Davenport said.

“The way I see it, it’s not how much money you put in it. It’s the sentimental value you put into it — how meaningful the gift is rather than how much you spend on it. And spending time with your significant other,” Davenport said.

It’s a fairy-tale image in this Hallmark card, with words grounded in the reality of new millennium relationships.

“I’m nuts about you!” reads the 2010 inside of this consumer-created Valentine, a finalist in a Hallmark Card Contest, one of many fun options for our greeting card future.

Give tulips to convey comfort and warmth.

Give a red rose to convey love, romance, beauty and perfection.

Give gerbera daisies to convey beauty, innocence and purity. photos courtesy of flickr