Fall 2022 Nighthawk News Magazine

You’ve

seen them everywhere.

From commercials on TV to mailboxes exploding with campaign mailers, we are all aware of the upcoming midterm election. While the majority of high school students are not yet 18 years old, there are 54 FFHS students who will be eligible to vote in time for the upcoming election. However, even if you aren’t of voting age yet, there are still many ways to get involved in the races.

Students are more vital to election cycles than they may think. Becoming educated on certain topics most talked about in a particular election allows students to stay more involved in their community. Students may not realize the importance of local elections, yet with three school board seats up for grabs this election season, the election impacts students more than ever.

We made the decision to highlight this election in particular because of the effect it has on the school system. We want students to be informed citizens in our community and understand the fundamental process of voting.

While presidential elections typically receive the most attention, midterm elections are no less important. Midterm elections mainly involve local races which more closely influence our day-to-day lives. Presidential elections

historically have higher voter turnout than the midterms, but both elections are crucial in deciding the future of the United States.

Our cover photo, taken by Nighthawk News Photo Editor Taylor Newton, conveys the idea of drowning in political campaign advertisements. There are signs on every street corner, every free patch of grass, even billboards and planes with banners flying

in the sky. We wanted to highlight this feeling, using campaign signs to deliver the message of being inundated with political messaging.

While this edition focuses on voting, we also cover many other topics such as FFHS being over capacity, a Topics of our Time spread covering the ever-present issue of suicide on the Outer Banks and lighter subjects like Halloween opinion pieces to help

Photo Editor Taylor Newton places campaign signs for various candidates around Editor-in-Chief Olivia Sugg at the cover shoot. Editors were sure to take a photograph of the signs before moving them so they could be put back in the same spot a few minutes later. After all, stealing campaign signs is a crime!

Photo by Emmy Benton/ Nighthawk News

you get in the fall spirit.

On behalf of the entire Nighthawk News staff, we would like to thank our readers and advertisers for supporting our publication. We hope you enjoy the first print edition of the 2022-23 school year!

– Editors-in-Chief Emmy Benton, Emma Braithwaite and Olivia Sugg

prepare for the

Nighthawk News staff members cover voting-related topics in light of the upcoming election.

Kira Walters discusses the new local documentary ‘Shattering the Silence.’

Stella Bryson highlights recent changes at First Flight to increase school spirit.

Allie Nigro introduces First Flight’s new college adviser, Bryanna Ledbetter.

Betty Morales Bravo discusses Hispanic Heritage Month.

Foster Guns features the ‘Spooking for Change’ fundraiser.

Samuel Smith highlights the lack of spirit at recent home games.

Logan Thiessen and Mackenzie Edwards give their point of views on energy drinks.

Vada Clark reviews classic horror movies to watch during Halloween.

Football player overcomes adversity

Emmy Benton introduces Abi Jastrzemski, a JV football player with a big dream.

Bella Sarbora highlights the upcoming Good Guys vs. Cancer tournament.

Eight athletes sound off in our fun Sports Card Q-and-A session.

School

By Olivia Sugg Editor-in-Chief

Onyour mark, get set, go. This is the typical set of instruc tions called out at the start of a race. In this race, though, the choice is up to you: Which candi date will you help cross the finish line. And more importantly, which local candidate?

It’s a well-known fact that voter turnout is higher in years with presi dential elections as voters tend to get lost in the campaigns for “big” elec tions, but local politician Bob Woodard, Chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, believes it should be quite the opposite.

“Local elections are so important because when you put local folks in office they are dealing with day-today issues with respect to your taxes, with respect to your funding for your schools and your funding for facilities,” Woodard said. “That is very critical on a local level because it is everything you have to deal with as a resident of not only the county but also your town.”

Voting in presidential and other national elections is extremely import ant, yet the outcomes generally will not affect your day-to-day life near ly as much as local elections. It can be challenging, however, for a lot of voters to understand that since media coverage of presidential races and Congressional seats seems to be 24/7 despite the fact people most likely do not see a change in their everyday lives based on who the new president or senator from Pennsylvania may be.

“By voting, you are expressing your feelings about local issues and candidates,” Woodard said. “It’s just extremely important that you exercise that right as a citizen.”

For students who are able to vote, the best example of this is school board elections, as the school board affects every aspect of their edu cation. Many students do not even know how the school board works, yet alone what this year’s candidates are standing for.

Nighthawk News caught up with Dare County Board of Education candidates after attending the League of Women’s Voters Board of Education Forum on Oct. 12 and asked each can didate the same questions. Note: The Dare County Board of Education can didate for District 1, Barry Wickre, was not interviewed as he did not attend the candidate forum and is running unopposed.

Q: Why are you passionate about running for the Dare County Board of Education?

Ron Payne, District 2: “I’m an ed ucator. This is what I’ve been doing for

about 23 years. I’ve been very fortunate to be very successful in my 23 years. As a teacher, I implemented a new curricu lum. I was a PE teacher – kids hated PE. With the curriculum we implemented, kids were running through the hallway to get to PE class. I walked into the gym one day and our superintendent, Dr. Robeson, was sitting in the gym because he had heard so much about it and wanted to see what we were doing. So, successful teacher, obviously, successful principal, and this is what I know: It’s my expertise.”

Jessica Fearns, District 2: “I care about students and I care about teach ers. I have a daughter in first grade, and I want to see her go to the best school. I am a sub and I want to get Dare County back to No. 1.”

Marie Russell, District 3: “When I first decided to run it was because they closed schools and I felt like there should have been more discussion on how to handle that, especially with el ementary school because parents who work from home or work outside of home had to teach. It is very difficult compared to my high schooler, who was self-sufficient. But the littles were hard with chromebooks and not know ing how to read: How can you do an assignment when you can’t even read? I felt like it was something that the board did not consider because there wasn’t a parent on the board. So that was my main reason why I decided to run.”

Matt Brauer, District 3: “To be honest, I didn’t see the current board being as involved with certain things as they should have been. I don’t think they communicated as well as they might should have and it was frustrat ing for a lot of parents. I felt that as a parent, if I can get on the board, it’s one less person to communicate with, right?”

Q: What message do you have for the students of Dare County Schools being affected by your decisions, especially the students who are about to vote for the first time in this upcoming election?

Ron Payne, District 2: “Get involved, but understand both sides of an issue and make a decision. That’s where critical thinking comes in. Just do your homework on each candidate and make your best decision not based on friendship or what your mom or dad say. If you’re able to vote, you’re able to think about certain aspects of each candidate and make your best decision.”

Jessica Fearns, District 2: “Do your homework, learn about your

students and teachers

candidates and go in and vote because your vote does matter. Look into the candidates that are going to look out for you.”

Marie Russell, District 3: “Oh my gosh, I’m so excited for them. I remem ber being 18 and voting for the first time. I remember the political candi dates coming to my college because I was 17 when I went, so I was very young. Make sure to do your home work. Make sure you know exactly who you’re voting for. Make sure that it’s for somebody who agrees with things that you agree with. Get out there and vote and vote and vote and vote, because every vote counts. The last election in 2020 between the two can didates for District 2 was 815. So every vote counts – as much as you don’t think it does, every vote does count.”

Matt Brauer, District 3: “We need to set the schools up so that the stu dents graduate with all the tools they need to either go on to college or to do something here locally. I think it’s a certain skill set it takes to live and work here. I just want to make sure that we’re doing the best we can for

the students to get that.”

Q: What do you see as the most pressing issue facing county schools?

Ron Payne, District 2: “It’s hous ing and retaining teachers, and we do need to get academics caught back up.”

Jessica Fearns, District 2: “Teach er retention and school culture and morale. Boosting the energy so teach ers are happy to work so the kids are happy to go to school.”

Marie Russell, District 3: “It’s the teachers, teacher retention and mainly teacher support.”

Matt Brauer, District 3: “I think the test scores are a little bit concern ing. Progress was made from two years ago to last with EOG scores, but there’s still a long way to go and I think that it needs to be the primary focus for whoever the superintendent is going to be.”

Senior Olivia Sugg can be reached at 23suggol52@daretolearn.org.

By Annie Heath Staff Writer

Nov. 8. Election Day. It could be a day already scheduled in your calendar. Maybe you know exactly who you’re voting for and you’ve been waiting for this moment since you were a little kid.

Or… perhaps you didn’t even know what exactly was so special about Nov. 8 until a few seconds ago. For high school voters, this is new territory. And you’re not alone in feeling a bit clueless.

With the midterm election coming up, some seniors who are freshly 18 are feeling some pressure. Voting is a part of growing up. We’ve watched the adults in our lives vote in election after election, knowing that soon enough, we would grow up and have the chance to vote ourselves.

However, some seniors aren’t too eager to vote just yet.

“I’m just not educated enough to have my voice out there for that,” senior Marija Frasca said. “If you’re actually educated on the topic and you do your research, then I say go ahead and (vote).”

Similarly, senior Brigid James stated that she wasn’t going to vote because she had absolutely no insight or information about the upcoming elections.

”I don’t even know what’s happening,” James said.

Still, no matter how intimidating voting can seem, especially as an under-informed new voter, you don’t have to shy away from voting. There are plenty of resources out there, and a little research goes a long way.

Senior Jace Porrata plans to vote in the upcoming general election. Porrata explained that before he goes to vote, he will be doing some research. He plans to build his confidence before going to the polls by watching the

news and reading some articles on voting.

Like Porrata, senior Sophia Martin is looking forward to voting as well.

“It’s like your first step into being an adult,” Martin said. “(Voting) is just the thing you’re supposed to do.”

Martin also added that she would be doing some research on voting before Nov. 8.

“I’d like to know how to fill it out,” Martin said. “I’m pretty sure I could find that online.”

Whether they’re planning to vote or not, a common question arises among the seniors with this responsibility. Why should they vote?

“We really need students to be active. They should have a voice in their community,” said Rosemary Rawlins, Publicity Director for the League of Women Voters.

The League of Women Voters’ mission is to empower voters and defend democracy. The nonpartisan group – that means the LWV is not aligned with any political party – wants voters’ voices to be heard, which includes high school voices.

A resource the League offers to new voters is vote411.org. Rawlins explained that this website is crucial, as it offers necessary information about voting as well as information about the candidates. Even spending just a few minutes on the website can be extremely helpful to a new voter.

Rawlins noted that something that may stick out to students is that in this upcoming election, there are two contested races on the Dare County Schools Board of Education.

“If they only want to vote for the school board, or they only want to vote for this or that, they can do that,” Rawlins said. “They don’t have to fill out the whole thing.”

She acknowledged that having so many choices can become overwhelming, sometimes driving a potential voter to stay home on Election Day.

“The issues of affordable education, student loan debt and forgiveness, racial justice, environmental and climate change, protecting our coasts so that we don’t get oil rigs that can spill here in the Outer Banks, gun control and school shootings – you’re voting for people who believe one way or another about these issues,” Rawlins said.

Rawlins believes that voting is crucial for ensuring your voice is heard. It’s one of the easiest ways to influence local and national politics.

“We all have to live with the consequences of our elections,” Rawlins said. “Elections determine how we live our day-to-day lives.”

Even if your day-to-day life still includes being a student.

“They can either not vote and things will happen one way or the other, and they’re just rolling the dice and taking their chances. Or, they can be a part of the solution,” Rawlins said.

Junior Annie Heath can be reached at 24heathan45@daretolearn.org.

Nighthawk News File Photo

Recent graduate Simone Midgett registers to vote during lunch with the help of the League of Women Voters at an on-campus event several years ago. The League of Women Voters is a resource helping young voters navigate their way through voting in their first election.

Under 18? Here are ways to get involved during an election cycle

By Emmy Benton, Emma Braithwaite and Olivia Sugg Editors-in-Chief

Whilemost high school students have yet to obtain the right to vote, there are many ways to get involved during election season. Some of these include signing petitions, educating yourself on relevant topics, and researching candidates, among others. Staying informed during an election cycle ensures that the voices of students can be heard.

Encourage 18-year-old friends to register and vote

Students who aren’t yet 18 years old can still encourage their friends who are of age to register and vote on Election Day. Anyone 18 or older can register online through the Department of Motor Vehicles, or by mail. In addition, individuals can pre-register to vote when they obtain their license at age 16. Registering at this time allows you to get a head start on becoming an informed citizen. Election Days are optional teacher work days, too, meaning students don’t have to miss school to vote.

Get educated on important topics

Understanding topics relevant to the election

and knowing your stance on these subjects allows students to become involved in other ways. Being educated means you can sign petitions in more knowledgeable ways. You can even use your knowledge to educate others who are not yet sure where they stand. Being educated gives students crucial insight into the candidates themselves and the issues on their agendas.

Take political classes in school and get involved in student government

Political classes like Civics and AP US Government and Politics allow students to develop a deeper understanding of the political structure of the United States. These courses teach students the foundations of the government, allowing them to know how the government operates.

Taking part in student government empowers students to have a leadership role in their school and be heard on important issues that impact their lives. They’ll also develop a sense of the inner workings of the government. And students can even run an entire mock election in AP Gov with candidates, campaign committees and a school-wide vote.

Sign petitions for important causes

Signing petitions is a quick and easy way to show your support for issues you are passionate about.

Websites such as Change.org allow users to easily create or sign petitions. Putting your name on petitions about topics crucial to the election shows your involvement and eagerness to create change.

Volunteer for a campaign or work on Election Day

Giving your time on Election Day as a Student Election Assistant allows you to work in the polls and get a better understanding of how they work. Assistants must be 17 years old by Election Day and hold US citizenship. They must also be in good academic standing and obtain permission from both a parent or guardian and school principal. In addition, students can volunteer for a campaign and help a candidate who has views that align with theirs to get elected.

Utilizing these five simple tips before you turn 18 allows you to make your voice heard in various ways other than voting. It’s important to be educated, so get out there and get involved!

Senior Emmy Benton can be reached at 23bentonem58@daretolearn.org.

Senior Emma Braithwaite can be reached at 23braithwaiteem06@daretolearn.org.

Senior Olivia Sugg can be reached at 23suggol52@ daretolearn.org.

YOU BELIEVE

In building a brighter future and making a difference in the world around you.

WE AGREE

Proud to support First Flight High School.

It decides America’s future – how hard can it be?

By Oliver Parks Staff Writer

Youdid it! You’ve grown up enough to become a le gal adult and now you find yourself with new privileges you’ve never had before. Instead of worrying about upcoming taxes and student debt that litters your future path, let’s take a deep breath and look at the glory of voting.

Voting is a major part of Ameri can life, serving as a special moment where you stake your claims and opin ions and show your support to those you believe in. As daunting a task as voting may seem, the whole shebang can be broken down into a few simple steps, which I shall lay out for you in a clear and humorous way. Along for the ride is AP Government teacher Erin Basilone, who’s something of a voting guru.

So sit back, relax and get ready to play along with Voting for Dummies!

Step One: Getting started

“Voting is a civic duty,” Basilone said. “I also think it’s something people should be excited about, be interested in.”

Before you can get excited about voting, though, you have to be eligible to cast a ballot. Registration is the name of the game here, and it’s some thing every 18-year-old can do when they reach their christened golden age. The registration process isn’t too complicated, although every state has different ways to do it.

“What you can do in the state of North Carolina is you can pre-register to vote once you turn 16, and (they) keep your application on file,” Basi lone said. “You just check the box that says you understand that you can’t vote until you actually do turn 18.”

Some, if not most, states also allow for the whole process to be online, which makes it even more convenient, though there is still a paper applica tion process for those wishing for the authentic ways of old. Most young voters in North Carolina are offered the chance to register when they get their driver’s license. Do note that, for each election, there is a registration deadline for voting periods, so make sure to research specific time slots and plan accordingly.

this. More importantly, there isn’t really one right choice you should feel obligated to vote for – the decision is yours to make. The more research you do, the more it benefits your vote.

“There’s lots of local elections. For exam ple, there’s the school board elections, and those are individuals who you might have read a profile for on the Outer Banks Voice if you’re paying attention,” Basilone said. “They might have a website, or a Facebook page, but sometimes it takes a little bit of digging to figure out who they are and what they stand for.”

The League of Women’s Voters has your back with a helpful website called vote411.org, which has great resources that can help you on your voting quest. You also can look up your very own sample ballot before you vote so you know who all the candidates are in all the races – from the biggest national office to the smallest local elected official, not that size matters.

You can also visit the NC State Board of Elections website at www. ncsbe.gov and click on Sample Ballot, if you’re just really desperate for that sweet, sweet voting process info. Armed with this information, you can do your research and know exactly who you’re voting for long before you

Step Three: Doing it

Like most things in life, voting has a lot of rules and regulations to follow. These vary from when you can actually cast your vote to what you might need

For starters, it’s important to make sure you actually have the time needed to vote. Polling places in North Carolina are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. If you’re busy working on Tuesday, Nov. 8, some businesses will let you have time off to vote, but in other cases you have to plan time on your own. You know, sacrifice your lunch break for American politics, really do your

“There’s a number of different op tions, too. You could vote early, which is a great option,” Basilone chimed in.

across the street from FFHS! Early voting hours run from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays (8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays), so it’s pretty convenient to pick a time.

A last tiny tidbit: In recent years, it has become necessary in some states to have a photo ID of oneself in order to vote. While it’s also been proposed in North Carolina, you don’t need an ID to vote here, so just tell the nice polling worker who you are and they’ll take it from there. Don’t worry, they’ll know who you are. We all know who you are.

With so many options at the variety of polling centers, it should be easy to pick your winner and pin that tail on the … non-politically affiliated … m-mule. So good luck, campers!

Step Four: Enjoy the fruit of your labors

It’s all come to this: Everything in your life has led up to this moment, and after it nothing will ever be the same – or something along those lines. Either way, you’ve made it to our fea

ture presentation, and the name of the flickering film is “Voting.”

“Even if you’re not voting, it’s still good to maybe connect with somebody that is,” Basilone said.

Now that you’ve tossed your vote into the bingo roller of American politics, just cross your fingers and try to roll high. Once you’ve done your civic duty and made your voice heard, it’s time to either go back to work, go home and sleep, or do something else legal to celebrate your accomplish ments. There’s also the small matter of seeing how it all came out: Big national races like the North Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat will be on the major TV networks on Tuesday night (Nov. 8th), but if you want to know who your new Dare County Schools Board of Education members are, you’ll need to check out local outlets online like the Outer Banks Voice or OBX Today for that power hour of fun.

And don’t feel bad if your candidate didn’t win. You’ll get a chance to vote again next November.

“It’s not something that should be intimidating. It should be something that people feel totally comfortable with doing,” Basilone said. “Don’t be intimidated and enjoy the sticker.”

Senior Oliver Parks can be reached at 23parksol67@daretolearn.org.

Choices! As if there weren’t enough in your life to stress you out, you get to make even more of them once you are officially registered. But I tell you, these are very important choices, so researching candidates and political parties is incredibly important.

There are many ways you can do

That’s right: While on Election Day you vote at your specific town pre cinct – Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, etc. – early voting starts Oct. 20 and is available up until Nov. 5 at three locations in Dare County: Buxton for the Hatteras folks, the Dare County Administration Center in Manteo, and the Kill Devil Hills Town Hall, conveniently located

T pics of

the Silence’

By Kira Walters News Editor

Everyonefeels sad. It is a common emotion felt by every individual at some point in their life. The concern, however, is when depression becomes so overwhelming that you feel like you’re in the dark with no one to help you out. That is when suicide becomes a greater risk.

“Shattering the Silence” is a documentary made in order to raise awareness about suicide in Dare County. The film was brought together by the Breaking Through Task Force, the Saving Lives Task Force, Be Resilient OBX and the Dare County Department of Health & Human Services. The documentary introduced people in our community with experience with suicide and its traumatic effects, either personal or with family members.

“Suicide attempts and suicidal ideations are probably the greatest cry for help a person can make,” said Wally Overman, Vice-Chairman of Kill Devil Hills.

On Sept. 27, a number of local healthcare professionals and county officials joined together at First Flight High School for a viewing of the documentary and question-and-answer session.

“The purpose of the town hall this

evening is to bring awareness to this issue and to make everyone aware of the resources available for those affected and to provide information regarding prevention,” Overman said.

According to the most recent Dare County Community Health Needs Assessment, suicide is the eighth-leading cause of death in Dare County with a rate of 19.3%. North Carolina’s overall suicide rate is only 13.4%.

This could be for a variety of reasons – one being the lack of access to mental health resources due to financial problems. A local mother, whose son died by suicide, highlighted these issues in our community when she addressed the panel in the auditorium.

“I suggested counseling, but he would always say, ‘Mom, I have to work, I have to pay the bills, there is nothing for people at night. If I call and miss the appointment by 10 minutes, I have to wait a month for another appointment,’ ” she recalled. “These were the struggles I heard from him trying, in this county, to get help.”

The price of mental health care in general is expensive, and for many people in Dare County who live on a seasonal income, getting help is simply unrealistic.

“Suicide is real. There needs to be something in this county for people who do work and don’t have the option to take off because they might get

fired or something that is affordable because they can’t make ends meet,” the mother said. “The end result could lead to suicide if they don’t get that help immediately.”

If you have a friend or family member that you believe is at risk of suicide, it is important to simply be there for them. Asking questions and asking if they are OK is not always the best option. Sweet Pea Tillett, who appeared in the documentary, addressed this from her own experience with her husband’s suicide.

“When someone asked me a question, I was thinking about, ‘Well, what do they want me to say?’ ‘How do they want me to say it?’ Do I need to dot every i and cross every t when I’m speaking?’ Just let it come. You aren’t supposed to feel like you did something wrong,” Tillett said. “It’s more about letting them open up to you than trying to know how someone is feeling at that time.”

While “Shattering the Silence” highlighted the experiences of some, every case is different. There isn’t necessarily a list of symptoms for what a suicidal person may experience or a way to know when someone is experiencing those feelings.

“I don’t think we can narrow it down to how someone is supposed to feel when their time has come,” Tillett said. “Sometimes you don’t under-

at

stand why a person would decide not to battle anymore, and we all battle in different ways. Sometimes we want to battle, sometimes we don’t want to battle. We just don’t know where that person is at that time in their life.”

Even though it is not always easy to help someone who is having suicidal ideations, or to get help when you are experiencing those feelings, it is essential that whoever is in this situation does get help. Even if it is simply finding someone who can be there for them.

“Those types of feelings can flare at any given time. Just be patient with that person. Just say, ‘You know what, I got you,’ ” Tillett said.

The goal of this documentary was to portray how serious mental health and suicide are in Dare County, but now, there must be solutions. It is extremely important to get help, not only if you notice a loved one expressing these feelings, but to get yourself help if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or ideations.

“They are in the dark, and it puts you in the dark,” Tillett said. “It’s one of those things that you have to work with and not be afraid to go get therapy and to talk to someone to help you understand what you’re going through.”

Junior Kira Walters can be reached at 24walterski77@daretolearn.org.

Documentary Screenshot by Benny Baldwin/Special A film was produced this year to bring awareness about the issue of suicide in Dare County. The documentary was shown as part of a special event at FFHS last month and can be viewed on YouTube.

party: avoiding political stigma ur Time

laying in bed, scrolling through TikTok, and come across a political account. You see that they posted a video about a Republican Congress member who is speaking out for abortion rights. You begin to watch more videos and see Democrats who don’t support gun control.

You’re

Wait: Is it opposite day?

The two-party system has been used in the United States since shortly after we won our independence from Great Britain in 1776. However, it wasn’t until the 1850s that the Democratic and Republican parties became the main political parties in elections.

The parties then were not like how they are now. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican candidate to ever be elected president, and he spoke out against slavery. All Democratic candidates before him were for slavery.

Obviously, neither of the parties today would be for slavery. Today, we argue over other things like abortion, economic policy, immigration, gun control and gay rights. It seems like there is typically a clear line between these topics when it comes to the Democratic and Republican parties, but that’s not always the case.

Many politicians try to walk more of a fine line on some issues, with Republicans supporting things that don’t exactly fit the “right-wing conservative” stereotype or Democrats who don’t support things that would be considered “left-wing.”

That’s why it’s extremely important to research the candidates you’re voting for instead of just checking “all Democrat” or “all Republican” on your ballot. You could end up accidentally voting for someone who doesn’t believe in the same ideas as you, and missing out on a candidate who mirrors your ideas extremely well.

The candidates who you’re expected to vote for are not always especially different when it comes to being right-wing or left-wing. Take President Joe Biden, for example: Many right-wing conservatives

consider him to be too far left, while people who are left-wing consider him not to be “left” enough.

Thanks to all the anger surrounding today’s political climate, there are plenty of citizens who believe that the two-party system used in the United States is broken. Many ask, “Why should we only have two groups to choose between?” The answer is that parties outside the mainstream Republican and Democrat ranks don’t get many votes during elections. People believe that because the third party never wins, their vote for it won’t matter.

This is not always the case. While a third party has never won the presidential election, a third party has won a state (but not since Alabama Gov. George Wallace in 1968). Sometimes, however, a good third-party

candidate can pull enough votes away from a Democrat or Republican to help decide the outcome.

Still, a single vote can make an otherworldly difference. A candidate could win by a landslide or they could win by only a handful of votes. Your vote could be one in a thousand.

Voting is a privilege, one that a lot of people around the world are not graced with. It’s extremely important to exercise the privilege that you have after you turn 18 and go vote. Go to your local polling place and proudly cast your ballot.

Do your research and vote for who you want to vote for. And even with the stigma that surrounds today’s political affiliations, it’s important not to let politics affect your interactions with friends and family. Your relationships will always be more important than politics.

Junior Kayla Loveless can be reached at 24lovelesska73@daretolearn.org.

North Carolina State Board of Elections

North Carolina’s voter registration totals follow a nationwide trend of voters choosing to label themselves as unaffiliated rather than register as Republicans or Democrats. Many people prefer to vote for candidates and issues rather than parties.

New class requirement teaches students about financial literacy

By Helen Thorp Staff Writer

Thelong list of class options for your next year of high school fills the registration sheet. Suddenly a new course catches your eye: Economics and Personal Finance. Will it be painfully boring? Or com pletely empowering?

It might not sound exciting, but this course may actually be one of the most important classes you will take in high school, teaching skills you will need for the rest of your life. Some students have been graduating with a high school diploma and entering “the real world” – but they don’t know how to write a check, stay out of credit card debt, or other vital knowledge they need to be successful adults.

“As the public education system says, it’s kind of our job to pick up that slack,” econom ics and personal finance teach er Amanda Robinson said.

When people think about economics, their mind imme diately goes to money, but this class teaches much more than just how to deal with money, write checks and stay out of debt.

“How decisions are made as far as prices, as far as how businesses are set up. We talk about scarcity of resources and what that means and how that impacts your decision mak ing,” Robinson said.

Robinson believes that

what makes this class so im portant is the decision-making skills that it teaches: the idea that every life skill involving money revolves around sound decision-making.

For years, economics and personal finance lessons were combined with civics, and the push to separate the two classes only happened a few years ago. Junior Katie Bryson believes that the economics

part of the combined class was mostly forgotten.

“Civics focuses mainly on the government and how it runs, but barely includes how the money in our government is transferred around and how to manage our money,” Bryson said.

Separating these classes was a controversial topic for the North Carolina Board of Education even though Virgin

ia had made it mandatory five years prior. Junior Kenya Lopez believes that the split was ul timately a good thing because she enjoys learning about the economics aspect of civics.

“It was separated so that we can go more in depth about the economics and finance part of the civics class,” Lopez said.

Even though some stu dents may not share Lopez’s

opinion, Robinson hopes to make the class captivating so that students want to learn about personal finance.

“I’m really looking forward to being able to go into more detail with economics and especially spending time with personal finance and individu al planning,” Robinson said.

Junior Helen Thorp can be reached at 24thorphe91@ daretolearn.org.

Activities new and old help

By Stella Bryson Sports Editor

Thebuzz of the stadium lights at the Friday night Homecoming game. The laughter in the hallways when your friends see your “soccer mom” spirit day outfit. The smell of perfume in your best friend’s room as you rush to get ready for the dance on Saturday night. Homecoming week at First Flight arrived in October and provided a much-needed boost of school spirit.

This year didn’t offer just any old spirit week, though. Students, teachers and administrators alike worked together to plan something extra special to increase school pride. There were new events, new spir it day themes and new privileges for students to look forward to. All of this culminated in the desire to grow school spirit after years of restrictions thanks to the Covid pandemic.

“I feel like it’s great that we’re adding changes,” senior Tatum Dermatas said. “I think it will make people more excited and more willing to participate when you have good ideas and fun ideas instead of

the same ideas that you’ve had every year.”

One new event during spirit week was the highly anticipated powderpuff game, a girls flag football game in which the football players took on the role of coach es and cheerleaders. Student Government Association sponsor Samantha Reynolds hopes that activities like the powderpuff game will get more students involved in school activities.

“I think that’s great that we’re starting another tradition that can involve different groups of kids,” Reynolds said.

The hope is that giving students options for ways to express themselves will inevitably lead to them being proud of where they go to school. Everyone has different interests, so providing options like parking spot painting and building floats for the Homecoming parade will appeal to a wide demographic.

This year, organizations, sports teams and clubs had the opportunity to make and ride their own float in the parade and show off the school’s culture in their own unique ways.

“I’m really happy that we’re having more oppor tunities to show off our school spirit because more

Photos by Helen Thorp/Nighthawk News

Economics and Personal Finance teacher Amanda Robinson leads her students through a lesson on international markets and the importation and exportation of goods, including discovering where items in the room are made. The new class gives students an opportunity to learn vital life skills.

Photo by Foster Guns/Nighthawk News

Junior Kellen Morris paints her parking spot earlier this fall. Juniors and seniors were granted this fun activity this year in hopes of raising school spirit.

The bigger the better? Capacity issues plague FFHS

By Emma Braithwaite Editor-in-Chief

different rooms to be able to fit his class sizes.”

Classrooms

bursting at the seams, teachers changing classrooms each period, athlet ic buses packed tighter than a can of sardines and major traffic jams after school: Overcrowding at FFFHS has made all these things a reality, and this may only be the beginning.

This year, First Flight welcomed almost 300 new students to the school, including a freshman class of 265. There are 201 students in the class of 2023 and the class sizes only get bigger as the grade levels get lower. These increasing numbers have led FFHS to be at its highest capacity of students since the school opened in 2004.

“It’s crazy to see how much we’ve grown in the four years since I got here,” guidance counselor Beth Garrett said. “I think Manteo is still under 500 (students), so if you think about it, we are about double their population. That’s a lot of kids.”

Being over capacity has led to mul tiple problems for both students and teachers. One of the worst issues for students has been scheduling.

“The biggest problem is for (stu dents), when a class fills up, you don’t have access to it and we didn’t add more teachers or more classes, so it kind of restricts you guys,” Principal Chuck Lansing said. “From our end, we can schedule as many kids in a class as we can. It’s not a problem for us, it just makes us realize that you guys are sitting in bigger classes with fewer choices.”

When schedules are released in late August every year, students, specifically underclassmen, are often disappointed when they don’t have all

eight classes they signed up for in the spring. Freshman Emerson Hoggard is no exception to this trend.

“I signed up for photography and did not get in,” Hoggard said. “I was a bit sad at first. I really wanted to take Photography because I thought it would be a really fun class and I knew I would enjoy it. I was put into career management, but I have a really nice teacher so it’s not the worst at the end of the day.”

As hard as the counselors try, with almost 1,000 students in the school it is impossible to give every student their dream schedule every year.

Garrett does her best to give every student as close to a perfect schedule as possible.

“I try and make it if a student got a class that they didn’t request, it was only one, not two,” Garrett said. “I

always try and make it so the seniors get every class they requested and then the underclassmen, I make sure they get it in the years following as they get older.”

Overcrowding isn’t only affecting students; teachers are impacted as well. More students means larger class sizes and even led some teachers to “float” and not have permanent class rooms. Other teachers have given up their planning periods to teach another class.

“Looking at classrooms, some his tory classes that we were holding last year in Dr. (Ted) Mitchell’s old room wouldn’t necessarily fit in there this year because there are 29 students versus last year he had 23 or 24,” Lansing said. “So now that’s one more teacher that’s floating. For example, Mr. (Justin) Keeley is now floating to

increase Nighthawk pride

people are going to be willing to participate,” Dermatas said. “Homecoming week is way more fun when more students participate.”

Another new privilege available to students this year was the opportunity to paint their parking spot. While there were accent colors available, everyone started with a background of either white, light blue or navy.

“In the past, it had been asked for, for years before I even got here,” Principal Chuck Lansing said. “And I just felt like this is a nice addition at this time to grow that feeling of culture and inclusivity.”

Lansing believes that giving students more oppor tunities to get excited about school-related events will lead to a better school environment in general.

“If you go back to Homecoming last year, we kind of took a new approach and really wanted to wrap it more around school spirit,” Lansing said. “I would love to see it continue to grow and be more about us and our teams and what we do and our programs.”

The idea of the parking spots in school colors is just another way that the school can be unified. This is the same reason that students now dress in school colors

on Friday of spirit week, a decision that faced a bit of backlash last year. Instead of dressing in yellow, or ange, green and red, students now wear the four school colors. Freshman dress in black, sophomores in navy, juniors in light blue and seniors in white.

Administrators and students alike hope that all of these changes lead to an increase in school pride among students.

“I think the school culture and First Flight spirit will grow when we have a lot of people participate (in spirit week),” Dermatas said. “It’s always fun when you are walking around and you see people participating in the spirit days.”

Reynolds echoed similar thoughts and anticipates even more school unification in the future.

“The goal for everyone who works here is that we just want kids to want to be at school, we want them to have fun, and we want them to feel like part of a com munity,” Reynolds said. “We just want to help students have the best memories and experiences while they’re here.”

Senior Stella Bryson can be reached at 23brysonst69@ daretolearn.org.

While efforts are made to keep classrooms less claustrophobic, mod ified schedules for seniors help make the school as a whole less crowded. Seniors can modify for College of The Albemarle classes in the dual en rollment program, NC Virtual Public School classes such as AP Psychology or French, as well as online NC School of Science and Math classes.

“That helps us make it so that we don’t have to house all of those students in the building every period,” Garrett said. “We probably have about 150 to 175 students who take COA for over 300 to 350 classes, so that helps us get probably 100 students all day out of the building.”

A growing student population doesn’t only bring along challenges, though. It can also lead to many good things such as increased diversity and new interests and talents among the student population.

“Anytime we are talking about stu dents, more is better. There are more students to try out for our teams, to participate in plays and musicals and to show off their talents,” Lansing said. “Having more students enriches our school and brings more perspectives and personalities, and that should be a good thing.”

So what’s next if the student population continues on its upward trajectory?

“We beg for more teachers,” Lansing said. “But looking at next year’s eighth-grade numbers and seventh-grade numbers, it seems to go down. So I hope it does.”

Senior Emma Braithwaite can be reached at 23braithwaiteem06@dare tolearn.org.

Photo by Emma Braithwaite/Nighthawk News

Students walk through the crowded halls at FFHS during a class change. The issue of over crowding has been seen in virtually every aspect of school life.

Photo by Taylor Newton/Nighthawk News

Members of the football team try their hand at cheerleading at the powderpuff game while junior and senior girls took the field playing flag football during Homecoming week.

Cooper soars into new role at First Flight

By Kat Gregg Staff Writer

Arocket

scientist, a landscaper, a church administrative assistant, a teacher and a married mom. It might be difficult to imag ine all these roles intersecting. Until you meet Kathy Cooper.

Cooper is the newest addition to the FFHS science department this year, bringing with her a passion for teaching and a fascinating life story. In fact, her first “dream job” was fueled by a sibling rivalry.

“I have a brother who’s 15 months older than I am,” Cooper said. “He’s a math genius and he wanted to be a pilot. So I wanted to – of course – one-up him. I wanted to be a fighter pilot.”

Women were barred from entering military combat positions in the 1970s, but that did not stop Cooper from pursuing a career in aviation.

“I said, ‘Well if I can’t fly them, I’ll make them,’ ” Cooper explained. “So I went into aerospace engi neering at Georgia Tech and that’s where the ‘rocket science’ comes from.”

When looking at job prospects after college, Coo per had two rules: stay east of the Mississippi River, and don’t work for the federal government. Her two job offers broke both rules: One job was based in Tex as working on fighter planes and the other involved Tomahawk cruise missiles for General Dynamics in San Diego.

“It was completely opposite of what I said it was going to do,” Cooper said. “I went all the way to Cali fornia to work for a federal government contractor.”

After having her second child, Cooper and her husband made the decision to move their family back East, where the rest of their relatives were.

After sending in applications to various compa nies, Cooper began working for the Defense Informa tion Systems Agency. However, her time in that po sition was short-lived when the government signed a treated agreeing to stop using ground-launched cruise missiles. Cooper was then transferred to the Pentagon, where she worked as a black box data ana lyst for eight years.

Cooper was living the typical “American dream.” She owned a house, she had a young family, and a job she loved. But in 1991 during the Iraq War, Cooper had a realization.

“I sat there that night watching those rockets take off and blow up buildings, realizing there were people in those buildings that were getting killed because of what I did,” Cooper said. “I sat there and cried that night and realized, ‘My job is to kill people.’ ”

Cooper decided that she wanted to use her mind

Submitted Photos

From conducting fun experiments to celebrating accomplishments in challenging competitions over the years, Kathy Cooper has found her calling as a science teacher after working at a number of other jobs.

Photo by Allie Nigro/Nighthawk News Science teacher Kathy Cooper goes through a lesson on molecular compounds in her Physical Science class. While new to FFHS, Cooper possesses plenty of experience in a wide-ranging professional career.

for a new creative venture.

“I’d been taking a course in landscape design on the side, just to keep my brain going,” Cooper said. “So, I opened my own landscaping business for two years and mostly did designs. I did the drawings, then I would sell the drawings to people and they would do their own landscape part.”

However, as her daughter was accepted to Elon University, Cooper recognized the need for a stable flow of income. As a result, Cooper became an ad ministrative assistant at a church where a friend gave her some insight on her potential.

“A friend of mine said, ‘You know, you work great with the kids at the church and you love science: Have you ever thought about being a teacher?’ ”

She had not.

But the result of that conversation has been a 21year teaching career along the East Coast.

“Fortunately, there was a brand new high school that my younger son was attending, and they needed

a one-period chemistry teacher,” Cooper said.

During the rest of the day, Cooper worked as a substitute teacher for the Exceptional Children’s program.

At the same time, her husband got laid off from his job and struggled to find something else in the Washington area. As a result, they had to widen their search. Cooper taught science at the The Early College at Guilford in the Greensboro area, but once their son graduated from school, she scoured the job listings for the Outer Banks.

“Every spring I would scroll through the Dare County listings to see (if there were any open posi tions),” Cooper said. “We love the beach and wanted to live out here. Some days (it is difficult), but I love teaching because I am building up the world instead of designing things that break it down or destroy it.”

Sophomore Kat Gregg can be reached at 25gregg ka46@daretolearn.org.

From digging up artifacts to college advising, Ledbetter has done it all

By Allie Nigro Online Editor-in-Chief

Recovering

artifacts from the 1500s, creating diagrams, virtual models and putting your hands on something that hasn’t been touched in 600 years. Not many people ever get the chance to experience this. Though for First Flight High School’s new college adviser, Bryanna Ledbetter, archaeological digs are just the beginning of her fascinat ing story.

Ledbetter grew up in the small town of Hudson, North Carolina, and graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2022, where she started out majoring in archeology.

“I started doing archaeology and I thought, before I get too deep into this program, I want to go excavating and see if this is for me,” Ledbetter said. “I was very lucky to be part of one of the field schools through UNC Chapel Hill where we excavated in Hillsborough, North Carolina.”

This excavation took place in a Native American site from times prior to European contact.

“It was phenomenal. I’ve never done anything like it,” Ledbetter said. “I didn’t realize how many misconcep tions I had about archaeology. It’s so meticulous and methodical and I never would have expected that. A lot of people think we just dig up dinosaurs, but it’s more than just digging in the ground.”

Ledbetter has always had a love for history and described this ex cavation as a very “transformative experience.”

“The feeling of pulling something out of the ground and you’re like ‘Oh my god, I’m the first person to touch this in 600 years’ is absolutely inde scribable,” Ledbetter said.

Though Ledbetter enjoyed her time studying archaeology, she realized it wasn’t her longtime plan. The discov eries were a lot of fun. But the hard labor of leaning over and digging in dirt for hours on end?

Not so much.

“I love archaeology and I have a lot of respect for the field, but I wasn’t ready to commit to that kind of physi cal labor,” she said.

After making this decision, Ledbetter transitioned into studying history. She originally focused on the ancient and medieval world, starting with Rome in the ancient Near East. This past year she took a turn and focused her studies on the medieval period.

“My honors thesis was looking at depictions of the undead and purgatory in the 12th century British Isles,” Led better said. “So, essentially, medieval Zombies.”

After writing this 85-page thesis, Ledbetter wanted to take a pause in her studies, leading her to the Outer Banks and the role of college adviser.

“I had an adviser through a College Advising Corps program when I was in high school and she was absolutely fundamental to getting me to UNC,” Ledbetter said. “I knew I wanted to be the next ‘her’ in a way.”

Although she specializes in college advising, Ledbetter does all kinds of post-secondary planning.

“I definitely don’t just focus on college because I understand it’s not the right path for everybody,” Ledbet ter said. “I don’t want to force anyone into going to college who doesn’t want to because I think you can definitely be successful without it.”

She has been helping numerous students with the Common App, essays and even coming into classrooms to talk with students about the applica tion process as a whole.

“When teachers ask me to come to their class I ask if there is anything specific they want me to talk about, because I can make a presentation on anything,” she said.

After First Flight went without a college adviser last year, counselors are very grateful for everything Led better is doing to help students with post-graduate plans.

“It definitely frees up some of our time,” counselor Amy White said. “She’s helping students communicate with college representatives and really is just that extra hand to focus on that particular college field.”

With the school being at full ca pacity, White explains that Ledbetter couldn’t have come at a better time.

Ledbetter has helped a lot of students realize that they can make a career out of their interests and take paths that they never knew existed.

“The best part for me is seeing the diverse interests and what people want to do and how they’re planning to nav igate that,” Ledbetter said. “I’ll have students come to me interested in something that they don’t even realize they can make a career out of.”

Given the type of advising program Ledbetter is doing, she will only be able to work as a college adviser at FFHS for two years. Because of this, she has be gun to make plans for her next chapter in life.

“I’m going to look at some interna tional programs and try to get my Mas

ter’s in history so I can keep doing my research,” Ledbetter said. “What I do with purgatory and the undead is very underrepresented in medieval scholar ship, so there’s not a lot of secondary source material on it.”

Senior Allie Nigro can be reached at 23nigroal20@daretolearn.org.

Submitted Photo

Bryanna Ledbetter sifts for artifacts at an archaeological excavation before shifting her career interests to history – and helping high school kids with plans following graduation.

Submitted Photo

First Flight’s new college adviser, Bryanna Ledbetter, poses with her thesis at UNC Chapel Hill. Ledbetter graduated from Chapel Hill in 2022.

Counterclockwise, from top left: Seniors (from left) Brooke Hymiller, Rylee Young and Lauryn Willis dance under a cloud of baby powder on the ‘Soapy Seniors’ float. Participating in their first Homecoming parade, freshmen (from left) Allison Roper, Morgan Miller, Mamie Kyger, Jasmine Cook and Danny Gardill cheer and throw candy out of the ‘Freaky Freshmen’ float. Holding their ground, seniors (from left) Noah Morris, Arden Harrison and Livi Roper compete in a tug-of-war against the juniors. Showing their school spirit, sophomores (from left) Nathan Tsonev, Zachary Burgess, Lukas Cook, Jake May and Joseph Wagner ride on the ‘Surfing Sophomores’ float. Seniors Isaac Dobie and Ava Norko are crowned Homecoming King and Queen during halftime of the Homecoming football game. Freshman Roxie Small performs alongside the marching band during the parade. Junior Alayna Jester leads the class-level cheer for the seniors. Dancing to ‘YMCA’ by the Village People, juniors (from left) Abby Wallace, Lucy Stecher, Emma Snow, Annie Heath, Kayla Loveless and Isabell Thorn wave their arms in the air. On the thespian-themed float, (from left) senior Sasha Vazquez Panchenko, junior Knott Holmes, senior Charlie Ernst, sophomore Mary Williams and sophomore Vada Clark express their passion for theater.

Photos by Taylor Newton/Nighthawk News

By Kate Wasniewski Staff Writer

Whenit comes to picking out a forever bracelet, choose wisely: These permanent bracelets are welded together so you can’t take them off. Their rise in popularity has been seen across the country and even made its way to the Outer Banks.

Carson Davis, a local artist who makes jewelry, has her own business called Dvandva Designs. She has a passion for making unique jewelry and, recently, her forever bracelets have been taking the Outer Banks by storm. Mainly working with different types of metals – something not a lot of artists do – leaves a lot of room for Davis to be able to make creative pieces.

“I have a really deep connection to metal in general. It’s my favorite medium,” Davis said. “I can build something that’s kind of innate. Each weld is different depending on what kind of metal you’re working with and that’s the big learning curve there.

As forever bracelets started to grow in popularity this past summer, they created a shift in Davis’ business. She offers anklets or bracelets and a variety of chains from gold to silver with different textures to choose from. Davis then uses her metal skills to weld the two ends together, leaving a piece of jewelry

you are unable to simply slide off.

“I had never heard of the permanent jewelry before,” senior Griffin Ash said. “But once I saw the process, I thought it was really cool to watch and I liked the idea that you couldn’t take it off’. It’s very memorable and special.”

Crafting special pieces is what Davis is all about. More than just selling her work, she has a deep passion for artistry that has lived within her throughout her life.

Selling her work at local businesses

and pop-up shows has opened up an array of opportunities. In early 2020, two weeks before the Academy Awards, Davis was offered to show off her work on the red carpet. She had little time for preparation, but managed to create 100 pieces for a new audience to show the art she is able to create.

“I value the stories I am able to tell from that, the adventures that I had and the people that I met,” Davis said. “Stepping into this role of just being able to meet people and forge connec-

tions, it’s very refreshing. Every piece is an achievement in and of itself and every person that I meet, our connection is an achievement in and of itself.”

Davis’ business goal is to create, inspire and let new things happen.

“I have my whole life based around the fact that one day there’s going to be something perfect for me,” Davis said. “I want to have a gallery show one day – I want to walk into a room and it’s just my art everywhere and everyone’s like, “Wow, look at this metal!’ ”

With so many opportunities coming her way, she is ready to take on whatever happens head first.

“There’s this standardization of people like we’re all supposed to fit into a box and we’re all supposed to do what we’re told, and I just can’t. I never could,” Davis said. “The biggest, most important thing that I learned is that you always say yes to an adventure. And you don’t have to be inside that box. If you’re not happy with the box, then get out of it because it’s not worth it.”

The links of the bracelets may be closed forever, but Davis’ future path is wide open.

“I’m exactly where I want to be,” Davis said. “I do not live with regrets. I promised myself that. Anything that comes to me is meant for me.”

Sophomore Kate Wasniewski can be reached at 25wasniewskika33@daretolearn.org.

Hispanic Heritage Month short on celebrations

By Betty Morales Bravo Staff Writer

Everyyear, Hispanic Heritage Month is cele brated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Many events around the United States celebrate Hispanics and their cultures. As of 2020, 7.7% of people in the Outer Banks community could trace back their roots to Spanish-speaking countries.

The Outer Banks had a few Latin celebrations a few years ago presented by Mano al Hermano, an or ganization that’s main priority was to help Hispanics all around the community. The organization later disbanded, ending the OBX Latin Festival.

But what happened to the Hispanic celebra tion? The Outer Banks celebrates farmers, artisans, seafood, bluegrass and plenty of other things, but no Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations.

Danyele Graham was one of the event coordi nators for the Latin Festival. Graham helped gather volunteers, organized where everything would be set up, and even tried to help in the kitchen the day of the event.

“I think it’s important to recognize people who not only contribute to the community but are part of the community,” Graham said.

Graham explained that the Latin Festival was important because it brought many people together. People had the opportunity to try many traditional dishes and share stories. Graham also explained how difficult it must be to move to a whole different place and to not know anyone.

“The world has millions of people moving around, coming to different countries, being moved out of their home country, that we need to be more welcoming to, not just Hispanics but to everyone coming in,” Graham said. “With a festival, people will come over, there’s good food, so we’re shar ing time together and getting to learn about other people.”

Hispanics fill up many job positions like con struction, landscaping, cleaning services, teaching positions and many more that are integral to the Outer Banks community. This festival celebrated Hispanics by bringing their traditional foods, music and entertainment into the spotlight.

Over the years, the Hispanic population has grown. According to Graham, the Outer Banks con sisted of only a few Hispanics in the early 1990s.

This is something that Kay Minis has seen as well. Like Graham, Minis used to also be an event coordi nator for the OBX Latin Festival.

“It was expensive to do,” Minis said. “You have to have money, you have to have sponsors, you have to have a location. All of that was very challenging.”

Although the Latin Festival doesn’t happen any more, a few Hispanic events are still held here on the Outer Banks.

On October 16, the Latin Ballet of Virginia came to put on a show in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. This event partnered with the Dare Arts Council and Dare County Schools, with the ballet coming to the FFHS auditorium and performing various folkloric dances and music from many Latin American countries.

Additionally, the Festival Latino de Ocracoke will be occurring on Dec. 2. In this event, people are invited to gather and celebrate Latino culture with games, food and music.

While the Latin Festival was a big hit not only for the Hispanic community but for the greater Outer Banks community, there are other ways to celebrate Hispanic heritage.

“You don’t have to have a festival to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month,” Minis said. “I think there’s

other ways of doing it, but it just takes somebody with an idea.”

Sophomore Betty Morales Bravo can be reached at 25moralesbe41@daretolearn.org.

Mes de la Herencia Hispana: ¿No hay celebración?

los que entran,” Graham dijo. “Con un festival, la gente vendrá, hay buena comida. Así que esta com partiendo tiempo juntos y aprendiendo sobre otras personas.”

Los hispanos ocupan muchos puestos de trabajo como construcción, paisajismo, servicios de limpieza, puestos de educación y muchos más que son parte de la comunidad de Outer Banks. Este festival celebró a los hispanos trayendo sus comidas tradicionales, música y entretenimiento.

Cada

año, el Mes de la Herencia Hispana se celebra del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre. A lo largo de este mes, muchos eventos en los Estados Unidos celebran a los hispanos y sus culturas. A partir del 2020, el 7.7% de la comuni dad de Outer Banks podía rastrear sus raíces hasta los países donde hablan español.

Outer Banks tuvo algunos festivales latinos hace unos años presentado por Mano al Hermano, una organización cuya principal prioridad era ayudar a los hispanos en toda la comunidad. La organización luego se disolvió, terminando el festival latino.

¿Pero qué pasó con la celebración hispana? Outer Banks celebra a los agricultores, artesanos, a los mariscos, bluegrass y otras cosas, pero no hay cele bración del mes de la Herencia Hispana.

Danyele Graham fue una de las coordinadoras del evento para el festival latino. Graham ayudó a reunir voluntarios, organizó donde todo se establecería e incluso trató de ayudar en la cocina el día del evento.

“Creo que es importante reconocer a las personas que no solo contribuyen a la comunidad sino que son parte de la comunidad,’’ Graham dijo.

Graham explicó que el festival latino era impor tante porque unía a muchas personas. La gente tuvo la oportunidad de probar muchos platos tradicionales y compartir historias. Graham también explicó lo difícil que debe ser mudarse a un lugar completa mente diferente y no conocer a nadie.

“El mundo tiene millones de personas movién dose, llegando a diferentes países, siendo traslada dos fuera de su país de origen a los que debemos ser más acogedores, no solo hispanos sino para todos

Con los años, la población hispana ha crecido. Según Graham, Outer Banks consistía en solo unos pocos Hispanos a principios de la década de los 1990.

Esto es algo que Kay Minis también ha visto. Al igual que Graham, Minis también solía ser coordina dora de eventos para el festival latino.

“Era costoso de hacer,” Minis dijo. “Debe tener dinero, debe tener patrocinadores, debe tener una ubicación. Todo eso fue muy desafiante.”

Aunque el festival latino ya no ocurre, muchos eventos hispanos todavía se llevan a cabo aquí en Outer Banks.

El 16 de octubre, el Ballet Latino de Virginia vino a hacer un espectáculo, en honor del Mes de la Herencia Hispana. Este evento se asoció con Artes de Dare y Las Escuelas del Condado de Dare. Llegaron a First Flight High School e interpretaron varios bailes folclóricos y música de muchos países latinoameri canos.

Además, el Festival Latino de Ocracoke ocurrira el 2 Diciembre del 2022. En este evento, se invita a las personas a reunirse y celebrar a los latinos con juegos, comida y música.

El festival latino fue un gran éxito no solo para la comunidad hispana sino también para la comunidad de Outer Banks, hay muchas otras formas de celebrar la herencia hispana.

“Creo que hay muchas maneras (de celebrar), no es necesario tener un festival para celebrar el Mes de la Herencia Hispana,” Minis dijo. “Creo que hay otras formas de hacerlo, pero solo se necesita a alguien con una idea.”

Estudiante de segundo año Betty Morales Bravo puede ser contactada por 25moralesbe41@daretolearn. org.

Photo by Taylor Newton/Nighthawk News

Seniors (from left) Emely Bejarano, Yesli Pineda, Jonathan Chavez and Valentina Tabasquez proudly show off their heritage in the 2022 Homecoming parade. Hispanic Heritage Month lasts from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

band’

By Samuel Smith Opinions Editor

Playingan instrument is one of the most difficult arts to master for a growing youth. Those who do play one tend to spend hours on end throughout their week to hone their musical skills, striving to better grasp the auditory tool they hold within their grasp. Playing an instrument is an amazingly impressive ability to hold, with a single instrument being a notable aspect of an individual’s repertoire.

That being said, if one instrument is an astounding skill, must you call one who plays multiple anything short of a prodigy?

Junior Heath Miller, then, qualifies for the prodigal title with flying colors, holding within his skillset the capability to play not one, not two, but rather six instruments both in his free time as well as while draped in the Nighthawk band colors.

With a sigh of exasperation, Miller lists the many instruments he has learned to play since sixth grade: “French horn, mellophone, I started on trumpet, I also know piano and violin,” Miller said. “I know trombone. I think that’s about it.”

Choosing many instruments to learn merely on a whim, Miller is fascinated by music as a whole, striving to learn as much as he can in and out of the classroom.

Miller’s interest in music has not gone unnoticed by the music department, with his prowess earning him his position as drum major of the marching band and putting him in daily close contact with band director Bob Ebert.

“I think he is hungry to learn as much as he possibly can as quickly as he possibly can,” Ebert said. “He’s playing a variety of instruments… he’ll play mellophone in the stands, he’s playing trombone in jazz band, he’s playing the violin in the stage band and he’s working with Mr. (John) Buford in the strings program.”

Miller’s wide reach throughout the musical department of First Flight has made him more than deserving of his position of drum major, the on-field voice of the band director, ensuring that everyone does everything in an orderly fashion.

When asked why Miller was chosen, Ebert specified that a “decision” is not

what placed Miller in his role:

“I didn’t choose him for it,” Ebert said. “He earned it. He auditioned for it.”

While Miller has earned the respect of the adults within the music department, his friends and peers have exhibited a deep respect for the “hunger” for musical learning that has driven Miller’s school career.

“Heath really likes music,” said senior Delaney Hanf, one of Miller’s closest friends and classmates in band. “It doesn’t matter what it is. Hip-hop, jazz, video game soundtracks, he listens to it all, plays it all, he even knows some basic music theory… he is just super talented.”

Despite personal skill, Miller’s success with instruments cannot be solely attributed to him. He derives plenty of inspiration and support from his family.

Miller’s sister took private violin lessons when she was in elementary school, and the early exposure through his sibling is what Miller credits for his ever-growing interest in music.

Miller’s parents, too, have shown constant support for his musical ambitions, going so far as to drive him to Durham to purchase an electric violin.

While Miller isn’t sure what he wishes to do with music after high school, he is grateful to be able to play the many instruments he does simply due to the life lessons and friendships he’s gained over the years, let alone the potential scholarships once he comes around to the college admissions process.

“I’m just kind of in a raft floating down a white water river right now, seeing where life takes me,” Miller said.

At the end of the day, Miller doesn’t see his musical ability as a mere exhibition of skill through practice, but rather the culmination of his friendships, his family’s support, his teachers’ guidance and his willingness to work for success. Proving an exemplary student and friend, Miller is a true artist in the spotlight.

“(Music) really builds up your self-discipline,” Miller said. “It keeps you ahead of everything and makes sure you’re on the right pace. You should hold yourself accountable and be responsible. (Music) also benefits with making friendships, because for a lot of kids it’s hard to do that but if you’re in band it’s pretty easy. It just makes you a better person in general.”

Samuel Smith can be reached at

is an instrumental member of multiple aspects of the

music

by

and

Allison’s artistic talent brings colorful abstract portraits to life

By Daisy Morales Features Editor

Brightreds, cool blues, dark greens, canary yellows and fuchsia pinks. Portraits with octopuses and artists. All of this is abstract art that senior Piper Allison loves to create.

“I’ve just always been really inspired by art and it’s always been like a little getaway from me,” Allison said.

Allison has always loved art, but she found her calling in painting about three years ago because it let her explore more artistic styles than just drawing. Along the way, she discovered that others also loved her art: Allison started selling her work after many of her peers told her she could make money as an artist. As a result, Allison created an Instagram account dedicated to showcasing many of her paintings for sale.

And her Instagram account has been a success – just this year, she has sold over 19 portraits.

“My favorite memory with art is

when I first started posting it on my Instagram and I got four back-to-back offers to buy my paintings,” Allison said.

That end result is one small part of the step-by-step process Allison goes through when it comes to painting a portrait. She starts any canvas by going through a detailed thought process and pencil outline.

But sometimes it’s difficult to continue working, even for someone who loves painting as much as Allison does.

“I usually, more times than not, feel like I can’t finish a portrait,” Allison said. “When this happens, I put that specific painting away and go to the next one and if I decide to go back to it I will.”

In her paintings, Allison is able to transform the colors and hues of each piece, creating her own little world.

Allison added that painting makes her feel free, like she can do anything.

“I have always enjoyed painting because there’s no right or wrong way to do it,” Allison said.

For Allison, inspiration comes

in many forms. It might be scrolling through Pinterest or looking up to musical stars. Allison has featured many artists in her portraits, including Tupac, Mac Miller, Freddie Mercury and the Notorious B.I.G.

Each painting is a new adventure, hours and hours of hard work paying off.

“When I did Notorious B.I.G., that was my favorite. It turned out better than I expected it to,” Allison said. “I really loved it.”

Over the years, Allison’s artistic abilities have grown, something that many of her peers have noticed about her. Senior Kurt Felthousen has been with her for three classes and is currently in her Art IV class.

“I’ve seen her paint more and more over the summer and try out new color palettes, new techniques and style art painting,” Felthousen said.

Allison is able to use colors, shapes, forms and gestural marks to create something that explores ideas beyond the canvas. Something that stands out about abstract art is the fact that there are no rules, which Allison particularly enjoys.

Felthousen described Allison’s art as being special because not many people are able to create abstract art.

“Her art is really abstract and more unique, and uses brighter colors – col-

ors you usually wouldn’t use with the subjects that she’s painting,” Felthousen said.

Art is something that Allison has always been passionate about. This is something that art teacher Alice Baldwin noticed since day one with Allison.

Art Teacher Alice Baldwin had Allison for Art III, and she is currently in her Art IV class as well as her Sculpture and Ceramics class. Next semester, Allison will be taking AP Art with Baldwin.

Baldwin is excited to see how Allison will transform her 2D art into something 3D in the Sculpture and Ceramics class.

“She’s naturally gifted, but she also puts a lot of time and effort into every skill that we grow,” Baldwin said. “You can tell Piper is full of creative energy.”

Baldwin believes that Allison connects her personality to the art she creates, making her art style unique.

“She pulls from everyday experiences so you can see a lot of her everyday life in her artwork,” Baldwin said. “I think that once you take the lens off the fact that art isn’t just something that hangs on the wall and art is in your everyday life, it really changes your perspective. Art is what you make it, not just what’s in a frame.”

Senior Daisy Morales can be reached at 23moralesda04@daretolearn.org.

Submitted Photo

Senior Piper Allison displays her work in her cozy art studio. She has created many pieces, from abstract paintings to celebrity portraits.

Photo by Kayla Loveless/Nighthawk News

Senior Piper Allison uses her creativity and talent to customize her parking spot. She has had a passion for art since a young age.

By Foster Guns Staff Writer

Teacherby day, scarer by night.

Sam Iulo’s two worlds intersect in the form of “Spooking for Change,” a fundraiser held at her farm, benefiting her students.

The idea came about when she met a special student who helped her realize the effect that horses can have on people.

“Many years ago, one of the first students with autism came to Dare County Schools, and he had been going to see horses with a speech therapist,” Iulo said. “The speech therapist left the school system, so he stopped being able to go see the horses with her. One day he just had a meltdown and we didn’t know why.”

The horses had such an impact on the student’s ability to learn and develop his speech, and he was upset that he could no longer see them. Thankfully, Iulo had her own farm with plenty of horses for the child to interact with.

“I actually put them on a behavior plan where I would take him out to see the horses,” Iulo said. “And then the following year, he was doing so well that instead of him having a separate teacher, he just was included in part of the class. I would take the whole class out to see the horses, so that he could continue doing that.”

She soon realized the impact that being on the farm had on her students. Trips like this are what led her to get

Scarers

She

her therapeutic riding instructor certification. But this wasn’t the first time Iulo had been exposed to the world of horseback riding.

“When I was younger, I was a volunteer at a program that was started by one of the people that started the whole organization [PATH Intl. (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International)], the international organization that certifies people for therapeutic horseback

event at Sam Iulo’s farm.

Mane & Taill, a non-profit

riding and farms,” Iulo said.

Her love for horses is what drove her to buy a farm in Currituck County, which is the site of her “Spooking for Change” haunted hayride, held every Saturday in October.

One of her volunteers is FFHS senior Peyton Harris, who has been riding with Iulo since she moved to the Outer Banks last year, and has nothing but fond feelings for the cause.

“Sam is the sweetest person ever,”

Harris said. “She was one of the first people here who really welcomed me to the school and everything, so I want to help her as much as I possibly can.”

Harris expressed her love and admiration for the program, as she has helped with therapeutic horse rides and the Special Olympics.

“They’ve done a lot and I wanted to give back to them as well,” Harris said while talking about the non-profit.

Iulo came up with this idea because her hayride donates all the proceeds to the Mane and Tail program, a program that is constantly supporting her students, as well as her own barn.

“Mane and Tail is a program that provides horsemanship and horseback riding and access to farm animals to people with special needs, including cognitive, physical, emotional, behavioral, so we kind of cover all the rounds of special needs,” Iulo said. “We do work with people with mental health issues as well.”

Iulo has now been successfully running her fundraiser since 2009, and in 2010, it became an official nonprofit. The business continues to thrive, but Iulo has kept in mind a simple message.

“The ultimate goal is treating everybody with kindness and equality and respect,” Iulo said. “That’s what is great about horses because horses treat everybody with equality and respect.”

Junior Foster Guns can be reached at 24gunsfo54@daretolearn.org.

Photo by Peyton Harris/Special

Wicked Woods

Avon’s

at

Grandy Greenhouse & Farm Market Harvest Time

Outer Banks Ghost Tour, OBX Walking Tours

Island Farm’s

By Ella Ogburn Staff Writer

On the Outer Banks, the weather doesn’t always align with the seasons, so you may not feel the festive energy on a 75-degree October day. But there are so many activities to get you in the fall mood. Whether you like pumpkin patches, ghost stories or seasonal history, there is a fall activity for you!

Grandy Greenhouse

Grandy Greenhouse is a classic for many Outer Banks residents. During each harvest time visit, memories flood back and fill your mind: apple cider, fresh hay bales and crisp apples galore. Hayrides and hay mazes are a staple for fall. Ride over to the pumpkin patch, where you have your choice of pumpkin, no matter how large or small. Hayrides are $10 per person. Grandy Greenhouse is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekends. To keep making harvest memories, head over to Grandy Greenhouse.

OBX Ghost Tours (Oct. 1-Nov. 12)

Growing up on the Outer Banks and residing near Blackbeard’s final resting place, you hear many tales of terror. But OBX Ghost Tours will give you a new insight to these spooky stories like you’ve never heard before. The walking tour in downtown Manteo is available for all ages on Wednesdays and Saturdays through Nov. 12. You will be able to use ghost detectors on the beaches of the Outer Banks and explore Manteo. Admission is $12 for ages 13 and up. Ghost tours are a great way to get into a festive mood for fall.

Wanchese Wicked Woods is a true test of terror. With a $20 admission fee and an age minimum of 13, Wicked Woods is available Fridays and Saturdays in October. The “haunted” trail is open from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and takes about 30 minutes to complete. Each year has a new theme that will bring new fears to conquer. Take on the Wicked Woods of Wanchese this year to see if you can handle the terrifying trek.

Night of 1587 Pumpkins (Oct. 29)

The Night of 1587 Pump-

kins is an event at the Elizabethan Gardens running from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 29. 1,587 jack-o-lanterns will be lit to commemorate the English colonists who came to Roanoke in 1587. The night is full of trick-or-treating, contests and lots of pumpkins. The Night of 1587 Pumpkins is on the path to become a new tradition at the Elizabethan Gardens. Pumpkins are provided by the community for carving, and will be added to a path in the gardens. You are also able to bring a precarved pumpkin to put on display. Admission is $8 for youth and $12 for adults. Get your pumpkin-carving skills

Grandy Greenhouse is full of fall fun and a favorite spot for students and their families to visit every October.

Submitted Photos

ready for the Night of 1587 Pumpkins.

Trunk or Treat (Oct. 31)

Trunk or Treat in Avon will take place on Oct. 31 at Koru Village. This event, enjoyable for all ages, is free: just bring yourself and a fun costume. Candy will be passed out “trunk to trunk”, ensuring plenty of candy is gathered by partygoers. You can expect to get candy, see funky costumes and have a good time. This Halloween celebration is a great way to end off October.

Sophomore Ella Ogburn can be reached at 25ogburnel65@ daretolearn.org.

Wicked Woods (Oct. 8-29)

Nighthawk

News Magazine is published four times a year by the journalism classes at First Flight High School. The publication is distributed free to the FFHS student body, faculty and staff and to First Flight Middle School. Approximately 3,000 copies are distributed in various retail outlets throughout the Outer Banks.

The Nighthawk News staff strives to provide informative and accurate coverage of individuals and events within the school and the Dare County community. The opinion pages serve as a forum for the publications staff and community. Views expressed in Nighthawk News do not represent the opinions of the faculty or administration, the Dare County School Board or its administration. Editorials represent the views of the staff; bylined columns are the opinion of the authors.

Readers are encouraged to write letters to the editor on matters of concern. Letters may be mailed to FFHS or delivered to Room B-214. They must be signed. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, grammatical errors or libelous content. Reach us by mail at 100 Veterans Drive, Kill Devil Hills, N.C. 27948, by phone at (252) 449-7000 or by e-mail at hanfst@daretolearn.org. Advertising inquiries can be made by phone or email.

Nighthawk News is a member of the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association and the National Scholastic and Southern Interscholastic press associations. Our stories also are published online at NighthawkNews.com. Follow us on Twitter @FFNighthawkNews, Facebook.com/NighthawkNews, Instagram @FFHSNighthawkNews and Snapchat at Nighthawk.News. Sun Coast Press of Venice, Florida, prints our paper.

View: Political activism –the inherent truth of the future

Inheritance. When a loved one dies, you are left with that which they wished you to have. It is something to cherish them by, or perhaps it is some money for you to appreciate as a gift for their existence. It is a welcomed practice, being bestowed with the possessions of those who came before you.

Why then, does inheriting the world call for utter fear among the modern generation’s populace?

Millennials, Gen Z and eventually Gen Alpha, even, are going to inherit the world some day. It’s a fact of life, that for those before us it shall end. This leaves the next generations to fill their shoes and “rule the world,” so to speak.

The fear that our generation shares for many aspects of an uncertain future is not on account of the fact we shall hold the world in the palm of our hands, but rather that the world we are soon to inherit will be broken beyond repair by the time it reaches our jurisdiction.

Political and civil unrest, a seemingly ever-present series of pandemics, depletion of the ozone layer, rampant deforestation, the list goes on. The world as we know it is being beaten and battered as if it were in a Rocky movie, indicating that if it hasn’t already fallen, it will be our duty to piece it back together.

Modern generations are neither the first nor the last to call for changes to the way things are. The extremely progressive civil rights movement and women’s rights movement have all shown that prior generations have been in the exact same state of mind as us, yet as time has gone on, hate

crimes, abuse of the ecosystem and detrimental mindsets still hold strong in a large portion of both the world and our nation.

Many members of the Nighthawk News staff have stood in their own way for change within the world, with political activism being on the minds of editors and staff writers alike, but we feel as if the world has failed to listen to our generation as a whole.

Throughout the history of Nighthawk News, ranging from peaceful protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death to the Washington Women’s march, our staff members and peers alike have contributed to the positive changing of the world.

Inside and out of the publications room of First Flight High School, the Nighthawk News staff has proven time and again that we – both journalists and plenty of others who roam these halls – are not simply children to be ignored; rather, that we are young adults with opinions to be heard.

Our generation is informed. We are not ignorant children who merely watch the world go by without any valid opinions as to what’s going on. We have voiced our concern time and again, yet far too often it has not been heard.

We wish to inform the world that it matters to us. The world, the unrest, the harm. We are young, but we are not fools.

We will inherit the Earth. Maybe it’s time we be given a chance to show we deserve to do so.

This staff editorial reflects the opinion of the Nighthawk News editorial board.

Braithwaite, Olivia Sugg

Mackenzie Edwards, Allie Nigro

Morales

Kayla Loveless, Audrey Lovell

Staff Writers: Vada Clark, Kat Gregg, Foster Guns, Annie Heath, Betty Morales Bravo, Ella Ogburn, Oliver Parks, Cameron Piland, Bella Sarbora, Logan Thiessen, Helen Thorp, Kate Wasniewski

Hanf

Someone call a seance: We need more school spirit

Whatscared Scrooge into becoming a kindhearted man? What does my mother think moves paintings in our house? What does First Flight High School need more of?

The answer to each of these pertinent questions is simple: spirit.

FFHS has plenty of sports teams throughout the school year. Whether you like the fall or spring more, First Flight has the Dare County masses covered in terms of extracurricular activities that leave your muscles aching.

Why then, with football, soccer, volleyball, tennis, baseball, lacrosse, golf, swim (the list goes on), would one say that First Flight needs spirit? So many sports year-round, there couldn’t possibly be any shortage of excitement through the walls of the lovely 2004born school. Right?

Wrong.

Spirit matters. Excitement is key. Hype is crucial. And it is lacking.

The fact of the matter is, the First Flight student body is dropping the ball in terms of supporting those that throw a much less proverbial ball.

In layman’s terms: We don’t show up.

I had the pleasure of going to a volleyball game a few weeks ago between First Flight High School and Manteo High School. I hadn’t heard much discussion about the game throughout the school, but I was excited nonetheless.

It was my first time going to a volleyball game ever. Supporting my home team in a foreign land and drinking dramatically overpriced Pepsi? Who wouldn’t want to go?

Apparently most people, because for the entirety of the junior varsity volleyball game, the only supporters in the stands for First Flight was the lovely varsity team, and myself.

“That’s fine,” I told myself. “This is fine. Manteo doesn’t have that many people here in support of their team,

so it evens out to the expected ratios of an away game.”

Suddenly, I heard thunder. Rows and rows of the bleachers in the Manteo gym began to be filled by supporters of the Manteo Redskins. Football players finishing practice, friends and family excited to see those closest to them play their hardest. The Ghostbusters were unnecessary, for the spirit was abundant, palpable even.

Small numbers of First Flight supporters eventually showed up for the varsity game, but the damage to our fragile high school egos had been done.

Aside from the fact that First Flight’s junior varsity team had actually won.

Those beautiful moments of fellow students showing up and cheering as you make a basket, or run a touchdown, or swim a lap, or trip during hurdles. Where are they for First Flight?

The perfect example of lackluster performance on behalf of the students would be this year’s homecoming festivities.

In the face of the First Flight High School homecoming parade and

pep rally, the student body officially dropped the ball.

For years, not including those steeped in COVID, the First Flight homecoming traditions have been a staple of the Nighthawk spirit, with students from throughout the school going all-out to celebrate their school pride.

The day is shortened, the students are brought outside, the floats begin their journey. School colors galore and school spirit abundant, the parade was quite the success. Students got hyped on floats and excited the youthful minds of middle schoolers and elementary schoolers alike.

Then, the parade ended.

While, traditionally, the end of the homecoming parade was merely the transition from one festivity to the next, with the pep rally following immediately after, something was different this year.

Where once there was the mass collection of students awaiting in anticipation for inter-grade competitions and the mystical nature of Coach Prince’s “I Am Somebody” speech, there was instead the hallowed husk of a student body.

Devoid of spirit, a large portion of First Flight High School students simply left upon the start of the pep rally, leaving the bleachers a sad excuse for what they once would have been years ago.

The failure of proper student spirit so very apparent in the pep rally behavior is simply another symptom in the illness of lacking spirit. For every

good student turnout to a game, there is the neglect of pep rally tradition waiting just around the corner.

Oftentimes we pride ourselves and our school, holding ourselves to a higher standard than those schools our sports teams combat, on account of our spirit, but we can no longer make such a claim.

If we wish for FFHS to be the shining city on a hill we’d like to imagine of it, things must change.

First Flight needs spirit, for it is sorely lacking.

However, while spirit may indeed be lacking, the absence of such cheer is not long gone.

The previous year’s Marlin Bowl held that raw beauty. The victory in First Flight’s name was accompanied by the roar of the crowd and the running of students alongside the precious marlin.

The win breathed life into what was once thought to be the corpse of school pride. It showed the joy of high school life, the pleasures of a school game night, the power of the Nighthawks.

It showed spirit.

Soccer season isn’t over. Baseball has yet to begin, same with swim and lacrosse and basketball and more.

When Mr. Lansing tells us that we are the No. 1 school in Dare County, we have spirit.

When Coach Prince delivers his “I Am Somebody” speech and the grades that compose our school scream in embrace, we have spirit.

When Mrs. Head yells at us because we buzzed our head over the summer, we have spirit. Or I guess in that case it’s more “I have spirit,” but the point stands.

First Flight High School has spirit. I think it’s about time we show everybody else.

Go Nighthawks.

Senior Samuel Smith can be reached at 23smithsa22@daretolearn.org.

“30

– junior Gracie Parks

– senior Alanah Long

– senior Cadence Darden

– junior Carson Hahne

Photo by Kira Walters/Nighthawk News

At some sports games, it can feel lonely being a fan of the Nighthawks.

Think before you (energy) drink

Sparkling

Watermelon, Raspberry Açaí, Wildberry, Grape Rush, Strawberry Lemonade, Mango Passionfruit, Coconut Berry, Peach Nectarine and Dragon Fruit. These are energy drink flavors from various companies including but not limited to Celcius, Bang, Monster and Red Bull.

These flavors sound fruity and healthy for you; however, you could not be more wrong.

Over recent years, energy drinks have become more and more popular. They are most commonly known for giving a “boost” of energy as the drink is consumed but they can have more effects than just an energy burst.

A study conducted in 2017 linked the consumption of energy drinks to various adverse health effects includ ing cardiovascular defects, decreased mental health, metabolic or dental conditions and even renal failure.

Photo by Olivia Sugg/ Nighthawk News

Senior Mackenzie Edwards looks disapprovingly at the arm full of energy drinks senior Logan Thiessen is holding. The two have opposing views on energy drinks, as shown in their countering stories.

Energy drinks are made with sever al artificial stimulants such as ginseng, guarana, L-carnitine, taurine, caffeine and added sugars. Consumption of these ingredients in a short period of time is not good for your long-term en ergy balance. In fact, Celcius has been banned by the NCAA and the Olympic Committee for containing some of these artificial stimulants.

Now don’t get me wrong, an energy drink here or there is not extremely bad for you. However, drinking one or more every day can be excessive.

Just this past year, a 21 year old died of heart failure due to cardiovascular toxicity from a high consumption of energy drinks. He spent 58 days in the intensive care unit before he passed away. During this time, his kidneys also failed and he was placed on the organ donor list but never received the organs.

Energy drinks contain addictive stimulants such as caffeine to create this energy boost. Just like any other addiction, caffeine addiction can make you crave more and more of it.

When you drink an excess amount of caffeine every day, you become de pendent on it, making your addiction stronger. Upon trying to quit, you can go through withdrawal symptoms in cluding headaches, fatigue, a decrease in cognitive function and concentra tion, irritability and drowsiness.

Energy drink companies are not helping the caffeine addiction and

energy drink consumption. They target ads toward a younger audience by advertising young people interacting in activities such as sports, gaming and making it through a long school day.

Companies use more online advertising to increase their product among the younger generations, which encourages more and more people to try them like it’s the newest trend.

People should be more aware of the negative effects of energy drink consumption as well as the known effects. If more people were aware of the possible outcomes, maybe fewer people would have less of a caffeine addiction or wouldn’t have to go through extreme health effects.

Energy drinks don’t have to be a bad thing if you manage your con sumption and take care of yourself.

Senior Mackenzie Edwards can be reached at 23edwardsma78@dare tolearn.org.

Are energy drinks really the Monster?

WARNING: this article will convince you to drink energy drinks every day.

Energydrinks are a staple of my diet. By that I mean I drink about two a day. I do this to myself because they give me energy and I feel absolutely fantastic. I can literally run around and do whatever for as long as I want.

And I know exactly what you’re going to say: “That’s bad for your heart” and “How do you fall asleep?” I always just say “Stop, get away from me, you don’t know nothin’!”

In all seriousness, though, yes: Energy drinks can lead to heart problems with overuse, but I live in the here-and-now. That’s future me’s problem.

For current me, the benefits of energy drinks are almost endless. They give you energy, focus and,

most importantly, motivation.

How often do you sit down to get work done and end up scrolling through your phone? I can’t promise you won’t do that, but you will have energy while you do it.

I’m literally the happiest person I know and I am 95% sure that it’s because of energy drinks. I say this because I get things done when I have energy and feel productive. How do you think I wrote this column?

That’s a trick question. Obvi ously, with four energy drinks.

Another benefit from energy drinks is that they don’t only have caffeine. Most brands include a blend of multiple kinds of vita mins and supplements that your body lacks. So instead of eating healthy, have an energy drink.

Some ingredients in most energy drinks that are good for you include fiber, calcium, niacin, potassium and other necessary nutrients that help with overall health.

Some energy drinks contain better ingredients than others. For instance, choosing to drink a Red Bull is worse for you than drinking a Celsius. Two more I can compare are Monster Energy and Red Bull again, with Red Bull being worse for you. (If you couldn’t tell, Red Bull does not give me wings)

Overall, energy drinks aren’t as bad as people make them out to be. They have many benefits and are very convenient. You can get them at any gas sta tion on the cheap and get that fast caffeine boost so you can be ready for anything the day throws at you.

My final message to you is: Remember kids, drink an energy drink any time of the day or night and you will be happy, even if you can’t sleep.

Senior Logan Thiessen can be reached at 23thies senlo14@daretolearn.org

Horror movies to watch (and not watch) this Halloween

Scream.

Slash. Run fast. Blood. Adrenaline. Crazy thrash. Psycho killers. Insane thrillers. And all the glory gory horror movies bring to our twisted minds.

It’s spooky season again, the true “most won derful time of the year,” and horror movies are all the rage. While younger kids get a thrill out of trick-or-treating on Halloween night, many of us teens get our thrills elsewhere.

Halloween isn’t just a fun holiday where you get free candy and play the world’s biggest game of dress up – it’s also one of the most classic horror movies.

“Halloween” is a chilling tale of a young man named Michael Myers. When Michael was 6 years old, he murdered his older sister and was admitted to an asylum. After 15 years, he escapes from the asylum and begins killing. Myers’ motive for killing was to murder any re maining members of his family. Anyone else who died was just collateral.

The first movie in the series, re leased in 1978, still holds strong with a 4.4-star rating and a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie itself may seem like a ste reotypical horror movie to people these days, but its unique story and chilling cinematography in 1978 set the tone for many horror movies released today.

In 2021, “Halloween Kills” was re leased to begin the wrap-up of the now 13 films in the “Halloween” series. This film, with 2.8 stars and a 39 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, brings lit tle hope to the new “Halloween Ends” movie that was released on Oct. 14.

Michael Myers is well known for his creepy, dead-eyed and pale-faced mask, though not many know the story behind it. The production designer and editor of the film, Lee Wallace, picked up a Captain Kirk mask at a random store on Hollywood Boulevard. He sim ply altered it to look more terrifying than the loveable face of Captain Kirk from “Star Trek.”

Several horror movie icons wear a mask, such as Leatherface, who we attribute to being one of the most iconic horror movie characters and the star of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” movies. The series of films follows a cannibalistic family abducting unsus pecting teens and brutally slaughtering most, if not all, of them.

The eeriest thing about the “Mas sacre” movies is the inspiration behind them. While the graphic scenes of cut ting someone’s face off, sewing pieces of it together, and then wearing it may sound terrifying enough, the fact that it’s loosely based on a true story makes

it all the more horrifying.

Ed Gein was the inspiration for many horror movies, and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” movies are no ex ception. Also known as The Plainfield Butcher, Gein was a serial killer located in Plainfield, Wisconsin. He was a grave robber, which explains the countless number of kitchen utensils made from bones, chairs upholstered in human skin, masks made from faces, and one of the most nota ble, his skin “leather” gloves.

His most well-known victim was found in his home hung by her ankles. This and the furniture made of human skin clearly contributed to the story of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” as did Gein’s obsession with his mother and the fact that he lived in a farmhouse outside of town.

The first “Texas Chainsaw Massa cre” movie, released in 1974, just six years after Gein’s conviction, set the tone for the rest of the movies within the franchise. Having a 4.0-star rating with an 88 percent on Rotten Toma toes almost 50 years after its release proves that the film still holds strong in its overall creepiness and disturbing cinematography.

The 2022 Netflix adaptation is an other story. I’m not saying every “Mas sacre” movie is a hit, but this one takes the cake as the worst “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” movie that was ever re leased. A 2.0-star rating and 31 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes should say it all, but allow me to further explain.

Several plot holes within the story make it choppy and confusing. The iconic farmhouse is located in the heart of the town, whereas in the orig inal films, it is hidden away. The acting was poor and, quite frankly, I think many high school theater departments could’ve done a better job.

People who haven’t watched other “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” movies may have enjoyed it, but I am not one of those people. As a true fan, I found it rather disappointing.

On the other hand, films that never disappoint are those within the “Evil Dead” franchise. The “Evil Dead” movies starring Bruce Campbell are no doubt odd and twisted. These movies, to today’s standards, would probably not be considered to have “great cine matography,” but more along the lines of one of those b-flick horror movies we know and love.

The first “Evil Dead” movie follows Ash Williams and a group of his friends staying at a cabin in the middle of the woods. In this cabin, they find the Necronomicon, a book of spells bound in human skin. After reading from this book, Ash unintentionally unleashes evil onto the world.

Even with this movie being regarded as a b-flick, it still stands at a 4.4-star

rating and a 95 percent on Rotten To matoes, and rightfully so. While the sto ryline can be confusing at times, what more do you need than blood, scream ing and good old-fashioned possession?

“Evil Dead” had a remake in 2013. As a diehard fan, I personally don’t love it, but I do think it deserves the 4.2-star rating and the 63 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Two years later, however, Bruce Campbell came back with a co medic series, “Ash vs Evil Dead.” It had a strong hit and released three seasons. If a 4.8-star rating and a 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t tell you how fantastic of a series this is, then I guess you’ll have to watch it for yourself.

Look out, though, because in 2023, “Evil Dead Rise,” the new and most likely final part of the franchise will ar rive. Campbell, the executive producer, has said that his character will not be making an appearance, nor will he be mentioned in the film, as it is to be a stand-alone film and not a part of the “Evil Dead” trilogy.

Whether you’re enjoying candy, screams or both, having this list of fantastic classics on your horror movie itinerary will make this Halloween season head-rolling, monster-mashing and pumpkin-smashing.

Sophomore Vada Clark can be reached at 25clarkva97@daretolearn.org.

It’s

7 a.m. You crawl out of bed and struggle to get ready for school.

Your breakfast consists of Snickers, Skittles and a Twix that you pulled out of a pillowcase. Lunch will be the same. Before leaving the house, you take a quick look in the mirror and do a double-take: You forgot to take off your clown makeup from Halloween the previous night.

Many students consider Halloween to be the best holiday. You get to stay out late, get a whole bunch of free candy and dress up however you like. This is all fun and games –until Nov. 1 rolls around and it’s back to reality: You have to go to school.

Although Halloween is not considered a national holiday, it is an event that takes place every Oct. 31 that is celebrated by children and adults worldwide. We are not given Halloween or the following day off from school, though. Instead, we get days off like Presidents’ Day and Labor Day. These days are important, but they are not as heavily celebrated as Halloween.

As children get older, the importance of trick-or-treating is minimized.

Teenagers are more focused on going to Halloween parties to celebrate with friends. Halloween parties are a way to still celebrate without the embarrassment of doing “little kid stuff.” Either way, students of all ages are still out late on a school night.

Lacking a good amount of sleep and having an insane candy hangover, students will not be able to perform their best in school on Nov. 1. Some may not be present in school at all. A day to catch up on sleep and recuperate from the prior night’s activities would be best.

This would not only be beneficial to students, but teachers as well. Many teachers have younger children they take trick-or-treating, or they may be handing out candy themselves. So, in addition to students not being 100 percent, teachers won’t be either.

Not only would having the day off following Halloween be crucial, but taking off on Oct. 31 itself would be important as well. Most students’

minds are somewhere else, thinking about their big Halloween plans or working out last-minute costume kinks. It’s not an easy task to focus on school work when all you are thinking about is how much fun you will be having later on in the night.

How about a couple of teacher work days on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 instead of the Wednesdays we’ve had off for parent-teacher conferences and other

teacher training so far this year? Or at least some remote learning days that allow us to do some work at home?

Hopefully in the future, students – and teachers – will be able to focus on the fun and take a day off. Until then, I wish everyone the best of luck while running on zero sleep and a candy buzz.

Senior Audrey Lovell can be reached at 23lovellau71@daretolearn.org.

By Kayla Loveless,

Editor

Ogburn,

Writer

Shorelines File Photo

At a Halloween celebration last year, FFHS students (from left) Sadie Wilkinson, Lainey Greenwood, Ella Laws, Abby Wallace and Lucy Stecher enjoy a fun time together. Many students wish for time off to go all out on Oct. 31.

By Emmy Benton Editor-in-Chief

Ethiopiamay seem like a world away from the Outer Banks, but for freshman Abi Jastrzemski it isn’t as far as some may think. Abi was adopted by the Jastrzemski family from Ethiopia when he was 2 years old, but the idea spurred long before then. Abi’s mother, Julie, had wanted to adopt a child from Africa ever since she was a little girl.

The family, living in Alaska at the time, was part of a program at their church with a sister church in Ethiopia. Church members could donate to the sister church and get to know the children they were supporting.

“A family that we were close to, their little girl, all of her family members died and they decided to adopt her,” Julie said. “So we kind of went along the process with them.”

This process was a long and difficult one, but rewarding nonetheless. The Jastrzemskis first found out about Abi when he was 17 months old and he was formally adopted when he was two years and three months old. Abi went deaf while in the orphanage around the age of 1 as a result of a preventable sickness, meaning he would have had an even harder time being adopted were it not for the Jastrzemskis.

“If you talk to any of the Ethiopian people, he would have been thrown, which means he probably would have died,” Julie said. “It would be hard to find a family.”

The Jastrzemskis took on this challenge and feel stronger for it. They worked fast to get Abi his cochlear implants – just three months after they adopted him. They’ve had to learn how to raise a deaf child, all while taking care of their three biological children.

“We’ve had to be thrown into the world of deafness and all that that entails, but it’s been a neat journey as well,” Julie said. “We’ve learned a lot and we’re obviously happy to have Abi as part of our family.”

Abi is grateful for the life he has here, especially considering the life he

probably would have had if he hadn’t been adopted.

“(My life) probably would have been bad. I probably wouldn’t have food or clothes or anything,” Abi said.

His life on the Outer Banks is full of adventure. He doesn’t let his hearing impairment get in the way of playing sports and doing what he enjoys. His favorite sport, football, is the reason why he is in public school to start with.

“Abi, of course, I sent to school to play football because that’s his dream and we wanted to see what happens with that,” Julie said. “He’s had so many things go against him in life that I wanted him to experience his dream.”

Julie and her husband, Erik, started out homeschooling all of their children because they were paid to do so in Alaska. When they moved to North Carolina and saw that homeschooled children couldn’t participate in school sports, they began to work toward changing this.

“North Carolina goes district by district as to whether they allow homeschooled kids to participate in sports, and our district is not allowing homeschooled children to participate in sports,” Julie said.

Their request was ultimately denied, but Julie hopes to keep working

toward her goal. In the meantime, Abi’s time on the JV football team, playing mostly wide receiver and running back, has been enjoyable for him.

“Football is really fun. I like playing for the team,” Abi said. “I love a lot of my teammates. They’re fun. I joke around with them.”

Abi’s teammates have seen firsthand his kind nature and are influenced by his positive outlook on life.

“He’s a good inspiration. He’s always in an uplifting mood and encourages

others,” junior Dillon Hoggard said.

Senior Andy Cottrell echoed similar sentiments, explaining how Abi brings positive energy to the team.

“I love Abi: He’s super friendly, super charismatic,” Cottrell said. “He always lightens the mood, he always greets everybody nicely, has good sportsmanship.”

Because of his cochlear implants, Abi has to have a specially-made helmet with strong magnets to keep his implants in place.

Aside from football, Abi spends much of his time playing other sports and being outdoors. This comes naturally, as the rest of his family is very active, even running an action sports camp on the Outer Banks called Camp Radiant. Abi helps operate the camp and enjoys the experience assisting with the skateboard and surf camps.

“I help them get people to go to it and set up. I like seeing all of my friends there,” Abi said.

Football continues to be his favorite sport, though, and his dream is to play in the NFL is for a reason bigger than himself.

“I want to go to the NFL and play for the Buffalo Bills,” Abi said. “Hopefully I can make some money and give it to kids in need.”

Senior Emmy Benton can be reached at 23bentonem58@daretolearn.org.

Submitted Photos

Jastrzemski family

Playoff

By Cameron Piland Staff Writer

Everysports season is full of some ups and downs, wins and losses, the adrenaline rush and determination of the players and loud cheers from the fans. Here is a look at how the fall sports seasons are going:

Soccer

The varsity soccer team has had a heck of a season this year. Through mid-October, the Nighthawks were 9-2-2. In conference games, they have won eight out of nine games this season, tying only once.

“They have gotten better throughout every single game they have played,” assistant coach Billy Folkes said. “One of the first games of the season we played Cape Henry and lost 4-1 and made some mistakes. But then we played them two weeks later and tied them.”

The varsity team will continue its push toward the state playoffs in November as it continues to improve.

“The game against our biggest rival, Manteo, was very emotional,” head coach Juan Ramirez said. “It’s our sister school and they play hard. It was very physical, very emotional, and we ended with a tie.”

But after the 1-1 tie in the first meeting, the Nighthawks won 2-1 in overtime in the second meeting.

The JV team has also had a great season so far, with a record of 4-1-2. Freshman Sam Sabora said the biggest obstacle for JV players is “probably having the stress to not mess up.” Winning close games and dealing with injuries also has been a challenge.

Girls Cross Country

“For the girls, cross country season has been amazing,” senior Tatum Dermatas said. “We have been showing the top three contenders in the state. With the girls team especially, every person I talk to wants to better themselves so we can reach our goal: being on the podium at states.”

Being top three in the 3A championship in November would be amazing because, as Dermatas said, “the girls didn’t even qualify for states last year.”

Morgan Miller won conference runner of the year honors and has been a top finisher all season along with Dermatas. The Nighthawks also welcomed back Lucy Stecher from injury, and staying healthy will be important in the final few weeks.

“We have been lucky so far, but some people have nagging injuries or are getting sick, which is

common,” Dermatas said. “Knock on wood, everyone is healed right now and all the girls are running healthy.”

Boys Cross Country

After a slow start to this season, “We are improving steadily, and we have a good chance of making it to regionals and states,” senior Jack Brown said.

Injuries also are a concern for the boys team. Shin splints – when you overuse your legs and get pain in your shin – have sidelined a couple of FFHS runners for multiple weeks this season. But even with the injuries, the team has been getting better and landing different runners in the top five at multiple meets.

“We’ve had some tough competitions, but I think we have enough people willing to put in the work to get better times than the other teams,” senior Jackson Hannon said. Added junior Judah Lacroix: “The practices are pretty intense. We run 30 to 40 miles a week just to get ready for states.”

Tennis

The tennis team finished the regular season as co-conference champions, losing a very close match against Edenton in the first meeting but winning the rematch. The team playoffs and individual regional and state tournament began in mid-October, with the Nighthawks excited to keep their season going as long as possible.

One of the team’s biggest challenges this fall didn’t involve another team, but the resurfacing of the tennis courts.

“Our biggest obstacle throughout the season has got to be the limited court space at the beginning of the season,” coach Aly Dashiell said. “Trying to find out how we can best help everyone individually while still meeting the needs of the team as a whole, having to work with everyone’s schedules, and trying to coordinate as many people being at practice and matches as possible.”

The senior starters, Heather Snyder and Maura Trivette, as well as the team as a whole have fought hard to keep their season successful.

Football

Through mid-October, the football team was still looking for its first win of the year, but continued to play hard and fight each week. At Edenton, for instance, the Nighthawks were down 40-0 at halftime, then exploded for 25 points in the third quarter alone.

“The season hasn’t been going the way we wanted, but I think everyone has had a fun time,” junior

Carson Hahne said. “I think we are going to win the last few games, if I’m being honest with you. These last three teams are at the bottom of our conference and I think we can pull out a W.”

Injuries also have been a big problem for the football team this year. Starting linebacker Caden Hedges and quarterback Az Simpson are just two of the many Nighthawks who have had to battle through injuries, but other standout players such as sophomore running back Everest Oullette and junior quarterback Alex Bryson have worked hard to put points on the board.

Volleyball

Volleyball “has been doing well but has gotten a lot better, team culture has improved tremendously,” head coach Anna Zappulla said. “We are coming together as a team more because athletically we are at the top of our conference, but mentally we needed to overcome a few things. I think we have overcome what we needed to to finish out the second half of the season.”

Senior starters, Emma Gibbons, Stella Bryson, Mackenzie Edwards and Emma Braithwaite have been crucial to the success of the varsity team this year. In addition to seniors, many underclassmen have helped lead the team to victory, including sophomore Abby Edwards, who has over 200 digs for the season.

JV and varsity volleyball players also enjoyed a big win off the court with their fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. Players sold T-shirts in a partnership with Manteo and Cape Hatteras and ended up raising more than $1,500 for The Outer Banks Hospital.

Cheerleading

The cheerleaders have had fun trying to get a pep in the step of every Nighthawk so far this year.

“I want to have everyone participate to wear the theme, to yell, to shout and jump up with joy because, First Flight Nighthawk pride!” senior captain Mayson Ogburn said.

It might not show on their smiling faces and in their amazing stunts, but the cheerleaders face plenty of obstacles in their path to a successful season. They just flip over them and keep on rolling.

“Some of our people have been out with Covid-19 and have put a strain on our practice time, but we still get what we need to get done,” junior Alayna Jester said.

Sophomore Cameron Piland can be reached at 25pilandca25@daretolearn.org.

Nighthawk News Magazine and Shorelines Yearbook would like to thank Stack ’em High in Kitty Hawk for supporting our students with a pancake dinner fundraiser earlier this fall! Money raised from the event is helping our students attend the national high school journalism convention in St. Louis in November. We are so appreciative of everyone who organized, cooked – and bought tickets!

Fourth annual Good Guys tournament will be bigger than ever

By Bella Sarbora Staff Writer

Everyyear, teams in the Good Guys vs. Cancer tournament take on more than just their opponents. They also fight for a good cause.

The Good Guys vs. Cancer tourna ment has been a First Flight basketball staple since varsity men’s basketball coach Chad Williams started it for his father, Guy Williams, three years ago.

“(My father) developed a very rare form of cancer. The doctors told us he had two months to live,” Williams said. “I wanted to do something to honor him and at the same time put some thing toward a good cause.”

From humble beginnings, Good Guys has grown to showcase over 20 schools from all over the country in just a few years.

“We’ve grown exponentially,” Williams said. “We went from (having) some really good players from some local teams to now having over 40 D-I players and a team from California. We’ve had to expand to three days. I even have to lease an extra backboard in case one breaks.”

By partnering with online broad casting networks such as The Hoop State, Williams has been able to find the best teams and matchups for the most entertainment. But just as important as the great basketball fans from all over Northeastern North Caro lina are treated to are the proceeds the tournament raises.

In the first three years, Williams estimated that Good Guys has raised about $40,000. With all the extra pub licity and growth, this year he is setting his sights even higher.

“This year our goal is $25,000,” Williams said. “One hundred percent of our profits will go to the American Cancer Society. First Flight doesn’t get a single penny from this fundraiser.”

In addition to the ACS, there is a second charity being supported.

“Every dollar made for every ticket sold in our VIP section is being donated to One Shot at a Time, a fundraiser set up for Gwen Botson,” Williams said. “We will make about $8,000 off of our seats and she has to get eight shots.”

Given that each shot is about $1,000, this will hopefully cover the full cost of Botson’s care. The senior was diagnosed with an aggressive form

of cancer last spring and has been in treatment since then.

Senior Isaac Dobie is eager to step up the Nighthawks’ donation game.

“The VIP tickets always sell out re ally early,” Dobie said. “This year some of the money is going to go to Gwen and I think that just shows how good of a community we have.”

While the growth of the tourna ment is great for basketball fans and the fundraising component, there’s also the small little detail of making it all happen. With 20 teams playing for a weekend on one court, planning the tournament is a time-consuming project.

“(I started plan ning) last Febru ary,” Williams said.

“The guys from The Hoop State are shooting interviews with our sponsors now, the content and web pages will be updated in a few weeks. It all starts early.”

There’s an extra variable to consider this year for the Nighthawks, with the First Flight varsity women’s team joining the fun.

“The girls have been so supportive of us and the tournament and I wanted to give them the opportunity to play in front of the big crowd, too,” Wil

liams said. “We want to get as much community and school involvement as possible.”

Senior Courtney Beasley is relieved the addition happened now rather than later: “This definitely makes my senior

year better,” Beasley said. “I’m kind of nervous because there’s so many people going and we’re kind of opening (the tournament), but I’m really excited.”

Senior Bella Sarbora can be reached at 23sarborais62@daretolearn.org.

Photo by Taylor Newton/Nighthawk News

The crowd bursts into cheers at last year’s Good Guys vs. Cancer basketball tournament. Anticipation is building for this year’s showcase, which will include teams from across the country as well as the First Flight women’s basketball team opening the event on Thursday, Dec. 1.

First Flight Sports Spotlight:

How long have you been playing volleyball? Five years.

What are you going to miss the most? My teammates.

What player (teammate, college or pro) do you look up to the most and why? Stella Bryson, because she always hypes me up.

What’s your favorite memory playing your sport? Beating Currituck.

What is your dream job and why? Marine biologist, because I love the ocean.

If you became a millionaire by age 20, what would you do with it? Travel.

If you could have dinner with any three people (living or dead), who would they be, and why? Three of the Kardashians, because they’re interesting.

What is your favorite holiday? Why? Christmas, because I love gifts.

What is your biggest pet peeve? When people chew with their mouth open.

What’s a fun fact about yourself? I’m originally from Maryland.

What’s your favorite TV show? “Game of Thrones.”

Best teacher ever? Why? Mrs. May, because she is a big help.

If you could be any animal, what would you be? Why? A shark, because they are top of the food chain.

How long have you been playing soccer? I have been playing soccer for 14 years.

What are you going to miss the most? I am probably going to miss my team the most. The majority of us have been playing together since we were really young in travel ball and Parks and Rec and we have all grown together.

What is your favorite thing to do before a game? My favorite pregame activity is when we stop at Publix before away games. The whole team runs around the store grabbing a bunch of sandwiches and junk food and rushing back to the bus.

What player (teammate, college or pro) do you look up to the most and why? The player I look up to the most currently is Dylan Rich. He has been an amazing captain and does a really good job at leading the team and is very welcoming to everyone.

What is your dream job and why? My dream job is to become a sports photographer at a college. I want to do this to continue the passion I have from when I started shooting high school sports. It also overall seems like it would be a really fun and enjoyable job that I wouldn’t get tired of doing.”

Best teacher ever? Why? Mr. Hanf, because of his sheer passion for his job and subject. He has always been there for me, and has given me the opportunity to pursue my passion of photography through school and publish that into the community.

What is a lifelong dream of yours? A lifelong dream of mine is to be able to photograph a college or professional level football game.

How long have you been running cross country? Seven years.

What is your favorite thing to do before a meet? Crank out a few strides.

What player (teammate, college or pro) do you look up to the most and why? I don’t know the name, but it would probably be the guy that recently set the marathon world record time, and I’ve really tried to change up my stride to look like his.

Where is your favorite place to eat before/after a game? I don’t like to eat much before, but I would have to say any Mexican restaurant because it fits into my vegetarian diet.

What is your biggest pet peeve? Why does the dollar sign go before the number?

What is your favorite holiday? Why? Thanksgiving, because it’s the best time of year and about getting together with the people you love.

What’s a fun fact about yourself? I am immune to poison ivy.

If you could be any animal, what would it be? Why? A dog, but with wings.

Best teacher ever? Why? Mike Phelan, because he’s a top G.

What’s your favorite beach access? Why do you like it? Any with waves.

If you became a millionaire by age 20, what would you do with it? I would buy an island, then charge people to go out and play games of Airsoft on it.

How long have you been playing tennis? Two or three years.

What is your favorite thing to do before a game? I kind of chill for a minute and warm up.

What player (teammate, college or pro) do you look up to the most and why? I think Maili McManus on Manteo. We’ve been friends for a while and she’s a really good player.

What’s your favorite memory playing your sport? Playing for school has been really fun and there’s a lot of nice people.

What is your dream job and why? I want to get into art in some way, maybe design.

If you became a millionaire by age 20, what would you do with it? I would go to space – that would be awesome.

What is your biggest pet peeve? I hate when somebody is clicking a pen near me.

What’s your favorite TV show? “PSYCH” on Amazon Prime.

What’s the best movie you’ve ever seen? “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.”

Best teacher ever? Mrs. Piland from elementary school.

If you could be any animal, what would it be? Why? Cats. They have a really good life and just sleep all day.

Go-to karaoke song? “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads.

Taylor Newton Senior

Stella Matzgannis Freshman

Brooke Hymiller Senior

Vinnie Yetzer Senior

Nighthawk fall student-athletes

Carly Gardill

Junior

How long have you been playing football? Two years.

What is your favorite part about playing football? Being a part of a team. It makes you feel like you’re worth something.

What is your favorite memory of football? Probably my first sack.

What is the best movie you’ve ever seen? “Top Gun: Maverick” was really good.

What is your dream job and why? My dream job is to play professional football.

Who is your favorite teacher? Mr. Godwin has a good sense of humor and is very energetic.

If you could be any animal what would it be and why? I’d be a very very big pig so I can just sit and do nothing all day.

If you could become a millionaire by the age of 20, what would you do with it? I would probably buy a bunch of little stuff. Or I guess give it to my dad because he’s a financial advisor and he could probably double it.

What is your favorite place to eat after or before a game? Jack Brown’s. They have really good food.

What is your favorite holiday and why? Christmas, because everyone loves Christmas.

How long have you been running cross country? Two years.

What is your favorite part about running cross country? The team aspect and finishing a race.

What’s your favorite thing to do before a meet? I like when we all do our hair. We do it in braids and we put ribbons in it.

Where’s your favorite place to eat before or after a game? Country Deli turkey sandwich.

What is your dream job and why? I want to do something with athletics because I’m really passionate about sports.

What is your favorite holiday and why? I like Christmas because it’s really cozy and everyone just has a good time.

What’s your biggest pet peeve? When people half-step you when you’re running.

What’s a fun fact about yourself? I really like the beach.

If you could be any animal what would it be and why? I guess a panda because they just chill all day.

Go-to karaoke song? Probably “Baby” by Justin Bieber.

How long have you been cheering? I’ve been cheering since seventh grade and all the way up to 12th, so six years.

What’s your favorite part about playing? I like to learn the dances.

Where is your favorite place to eat before/after a game? Tropical Smoothie.

What player (teammate, college or pro) do you look up to the most and why? Brylie (King) cheers at UNCW and she was Cheerleader of the Year, so I would say her.

What is your dream job and why? My dream job would probably be to travel for something, if it has to do with marketing or fashion.

What is your biggest pet peeve? Probably when people chew with their mouth open.

What is a lifelong dream of yours? To go to Paris, France, and go to Europe.

What’s a fun fact about yourself? I have an extra lumbar in my back.

If you could be any animal, what would it be? Why? I would want to be a pink dolphin because I saw it in a Barbie movie when I was 6 and ever since then I wanted to be one.

Go-to karaoke song: Anything by Taylor Swift.

How long have you been playing flag football? I played about four days before our powderpuff game.

What is your favorite part about playing? I liked the team I was on.

What’s your favorite thing to do before a game? Listen to music.

What’s your favorite part about flag football? The environment.

What is your favorite memory playing your sport? Well, the one game I played, probably the only game, I dove into the end zone.

What is your dream job and why? My dream job is to be a teacher because I want to help out younger kids.

If you became a millionaire by age twenty what would you do with it? I would buy a yacht and travel on it.

What is your favorite holiday and why? Fourth of July, because it’s summer.

What’s your biggest pet peeve? When people walk slowly in the hallways.

What’s a fun fact about yourself? I can touch my tongue to my nose.

What is your favorite TV show? “Good Luck Charlie.”

What’s your go-to karaoke song? “Our Song” by Taylor Swift.

Photos by Kat Gregg, Richard Miller and Taylor Newton

Reporting by Emmy Benton, Mackenzie Edwards, Kat Gregg, Foster Guns, Olivia Sugg and Logan Thiessen

Morgan Miller Freshman

Mayson Ogburn SeniorSophomore

Everest Oullette