Southern Lehigh High School 5800 Main Street Center Valley, PA 18034
SENIOR ISSUE 2014 Volume 57 Issue 7
spotlight In this
Issue:
Don’t know what movies you should see this summer? Check them all out on page 10.
The Spotlight bids farewell to our beloved McKenzie Browne. Read her senior bio on page 10.
Speech and Debate Nationals by Talia Trackim
The group takes in the city of Chicago. Photo credit: Fiona Bultonsheen
One thing that most people don’t know about speech and debate is that it involves three very important things: long bus rides, referring to others as “senators,” and the usage of really bad puns. Twelve Southern Lehigh students know this all too well as they return from another round of competition at the 2014 National Catholic Forensics League (NCFL) National Tournament in Chicago, Illinois. “[NCFL Nationals was] very fun, and I had the chance to see some of the greatest orators in the nation compete against each other in the same room,” sophomore Naomi Li said. “It was also set in the absolutely gorgeous city of Chicago, something which enhanced the experience of the competition.” Austin Piel, Jason Renner, Fiona Bultonsheen, Lucy Zhang, Talia Trackim, and Georgian Fan competed in Duo Interpretation, along with Naomi Li who competed in Original Oratory and David Rush and Alexandra Curtis who competed in Dramatic Performance. Solehi debaters included Andrew Sheats and Jake Stattel, who competed in Congressional Debate, and Eric Kinyon, who competed in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
“I think one of the main reasons we were all so excited to go to Nationals was not only the actual tournament, but being able to spend time with the team,” freshman Georgian Fan said. The students competed in four preliminary rounds of their respective events on Saturday against students from all over the country. Octa-finals, semi-finals, and finals were held on Sunday. “All of the preliminary rounds are on one day, and all of the out rounds are on the other,” Solehi speech and debate coach Mr. David Long said. “When we arrived it was, ‘Okay let’s practice and get you settled in, and the next day you compete and hopefully you’ll compete the day after that. It’s very intense.” The competition took place in Chicago, Illinois. The students traveled with other competitors from Allentown on a charter bus. They left Thursday night and returned Monday. “[The bus ride] was …. interesting. It was fun to spend more time with the team, but the drive was long and occasionally painfully boring,” freshman Alexandra Curtis said. In order to attend NCFL Nationals, the students first attended a qualifying tournament in March. Students from all over the Allentown Diocese gathered and competed for a spot at Nationals, and only the students who placed third or better in their events qualified to compete at the national level. “The competition [at the qualifier] wasn’t at all bad,” sophomore Lucy Zhang said. “Southern Lehigh takes up [many] of the speech positions in the league anyway, so most of the time we’re at the top of the competition.” None of the Solehi team members finaled at Nationals, but the students can all agree that it was still a great experience as they begin to prep for next year’s competitions. “[We’re] trying to get people prepared for next year and see where they want to head,” Mr. Long said.
Boys Lacrosse “Mans Up to Cancer” by Brandyn Berean
Carnival day returns once again to Southern Lehigh. See the pictures on back page.
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The Southern Lehigh boys’ lacrosse team played in their second annual HEADstrong Foundation charity game on Monday April 28, against Nazareth High School. The Spartans defeated the Blue Eagles 18-6. The money received from the game was sent to the HEADstrong Foundation for further cancer research. “We collected around 2,300 dollars for the game, and we were able to send around 1,200 dollars to the foundation,” senior Greg Farris said. The HEADstrong Foundation was started by the Colleluori family in Philadelphia. Nick “Head” Colleluori was a graduate of Ridley High School in Folsom, PA. He went on to play Division I Lacrosse at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. Colleluori was diagnosed with a large Bcell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma which is a blood cancer that affects the lymphatic system. Colleluori passed away on November 28, 2008, after a 14-month battle with cancer. Doctors only expected him to survive for three months. Colleluori created the HEADstrong Foundation shortly after he was diagnosed. To this day, many schools across the east coast honor his legacy. Since 2006, the HEADstrong Foundation has raised more than five million dollars for research to find a cure
to the disease that took Colleluori’s life. The foundation’s mission is to “improve quality of life for those affected by blood cancers and supporting those working to eliminate the diseases.” The boy’s lacrosse team created t-shirts for players and attendees to wear during the game. The color of the tshirts was lime green to promote awareness of cancer, and included a the message on the front saying, “Man Up To Cancer.” The HEADstrong game also happened to be youth night for young lacrosse players who got to be a part of the action too by playing a mini game during halftime. “We were expecting a tight game so we wanted to come out super fired up and take to them early and give the youth kids a show,” Farris said. For the senior lacrosse players, this was the last charity game. “They were a lot of fun and it was really good to help spread cancer awareness,” senior Collin Johnston said. “Its always a sense of accomplishment,” Farris said, “because even if you don’t win the game, you still feel really good about yourself because you know you did something good.”