HISTORY OF HIGH SCHOOL Check out some unknown facts and “secrets” about Utica High’s history

PAGE 4 3 FEATURE 3 ARROW 3 MARCH 20, 2020

Students showcase talents on stage

PARKER HOPKINS DIGITAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Senior Dez LaCourse walks onstage, holding a guitar. Bright lights surround him, helping him to stand out against the black curtain he walks in front of. Taking a seat in front of a hundred people, he begins to strum his guitar and sing. Once he finishes and the applause dies down, junior emcees Annie Droelle and Caroline McDade walk onstage to continue the Talent Show.

On Mar. 6, the annual Talent Show was held for students and staff to show off their special talents for the whole school. The theme for this year’s show was ‘Show Us What U Got!’

Auditions were held on Mar. 2, and gave students a chance to get a feel for the actual show and performances. Auditions were judged by the International Thespian Society Executive Board members, who also organized the talent show.

Auditioning is a process that many describe as anxiety-inducing, so the student judges tried to make it as unstressful as possible for those auditioning. Nugent and the other members of the ITSboard gave all of the auditioners time and space to prepare and practice beforehand, while others auditioned.

“The audition process was very loose and laid back, very comforting,” LaCourse said. “Since peers were judging it, you had that sense of just someone watching you in a smaller audience before the bigger audience. It didn’t feel as pressurized as it could have been in that type of a situation.”

Droelle and McDade came out between each performance to introduce the next act and keep the audience energized. The two, friends for years, wrote their own script, which saw Droelle acting as a mentor to McDade.

“We went to the [auditorium] after theatre, and we were fooling around, and we were told we had a good energy and we were asked to do it,” Droelle said. “We had a list of all the acts and we thought of witty jokes that went along with each one. We wanted to really engage with the audience.”

Sophomore Amanda Walters sang and played ukulele, to a song she wrote herself. The song, titled “Why I Was Made,” was inspired by growth. Walters has been playing ukulele for three years, and wants to write more music in the future.

“I couldn’t find anything that fit my voice, so writing my own song seemed like the best idea. I have written a song in a long time, so I tried and I ended up figuring out how to do it. It’s really hard,” Walters said. “[Auditioning] wasn’t necessarily my first idea. I thought it was really cool, but I don’t like singing in front of people, so it was a hard decision. I want to get better at performing in front of people, so it was a good way to practice and do something fun.”

Though many people sign up for the talent show to showcase their singing, there were also comedy and dance acts this year. Senior Regina Araujo-Pedroza danced with her brother to “El Son de la Negra,” which tells the story of two separated lovers.

“It’s a traditional Mexican dancing. The songs and dance each tell a different story. Every state of Mexico has a different dance and a different story to go with it,” Araujo-Pedroza said. “It’s fun to share my culture with other people who probably haven’t seen that type of dance before.”

Senior Gianna Bratke performed a comedy routine about her car for the talent show. This was her first year performing in the show, though she emceed last year.

“My friends, Alyssa and Gabi, encouraged me to audition for the talent show,” Bratke said. “I figured I’d do comedy since it’s all I really have going for me at this point. I’m telling jokes about my car, since it’s old, and people constantly compliment me on it.”

Bratke’s routine was about her car, a 1993 Dodge Shadow, which she calls refers to as “Slim Shady.” She made jokes about the awkwardness of being complimented on her car, especially by people she doesn’t know. Bratke also talked about how certain cars, like hers, are unique and “peppy.”

“I feel like older cars have personality,” Bratke said during her performance. “Slim Shady doesn’t like highways, he definitely doesn’t like long walks on the beach, he’s very picky about his gas, and he definitely doesn’t like to be stopped.”

This year’s talent show brought out the biggest turnout in the last few years, and helped to raise money for the theatre department.

Left: Senior Gabriela Hotaj sang “M” by Zanfina Ismaili, an Albanian song.

Right: Sophomore Beatrice Salazar performed an improvisational dance to “When the Party’s Over” by Billie Eilish. PARKER HOPKINS PHOTOS

Senior Dez LaCourse practices the song he sang at the Talent Show, “Astronaut” by the band Simple Plan, before auditions on Mar. 2. “I listen to a lot of indie/folk music, and the problem with that is they have really good guitar skills and very mediocre voices, and I have the opposite problem, so I couldn’t do any of those songs,” LaCourse said. “I found a rock song that has very simple guitar and much better vocals to work with.” PARKER HOPKINS PHOTO

Senior Regina Araujo-Pedroza and her brother, Niko, performed a traditional Mexican dance to “El Son de la Negra”. PARKER HOPKINS PHOTO

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Every day, students walk into school with an eagerness to learn, and leave with the sense relief that another day is over. Since 1860, over one million students have come and gone through both the Utica Union School and Utica High School--all without considering the history behind the school.

Utica Community Schools began its history in around 1818 with multiple one-room schoolhouses around in the area around Utica. As the population grew with time, the school board called for a new school that could better accommodate the amount of students. Founded in 1860, the Utica Union School, a school constructed in response to the population growth at a price of only $8,000. The original building sat on the corner of Hahn Street and Brownell Street in Utica.

During the World War I era, Utica Union School was far less populated than the present day high school. The school functioned with one principal and four teachers, a starch contrast to the over one thousand-strong student population of today.

In 1929, the school was moved to a brand-new building and the Utica Union School was renamed to Utica High School.

With a growing population in the area, the school needed yet another building change. In 1955, the current-day Utica High School opened on Shelby Road and the old Utica High School was renamed as its present-day name: Eppler Junior High School. The new high school building cost a total of $1,314,658.93 to build, opening on Oct. 9, 1955 and the dedicated by Henry Gage, the master of ceremonies for the dedication ceremony.

The present-day building has been expanded over the years to accommodate the ever-growing student population. The school changed with the times, adapting to new education standards and the needs of students.

CHARLES BORUS

EDITOR

“I remember when I was assigned as principal of Utica High, I tried to find all of the pictures that we have stored away, some dating back to pre-World War II,” current Principal Thomas Lietz said. “I’m not sure students fully realize that this institution has been around since the 1800s and the impact this school has had on the community.”

Utica High School was the first high school in Utica Community Schools when the district expanded.

“The fact that we go back so far in history is fascinating to think about.” Lietz said. “I’ve always said that we put the ‘U’ in UCS, despite our city being the smallest municipality that UCS serves.”

Evidence of Utica’s history is visible in numerous areas around the school. The trophy cabinets near the auditorium and near the cafeteria stand as a testament of the sports and clubs that have left their mark on the school. The sports hall of fame honors and commemorates athletes who have demonstrated true athleticism for their school and coaches who have made a valuable impact.

However, it wouldn’t be right for a story about a school to not address the teachers who have taught the children of Utica for many generations. The person regarded as the first teacher in the Utica School District was a man named Ada Adsell. He was paid only ten dollars for his labors and it was reported that he had to “study to keep in advance of his pupils.” However, there is no record to date of where he taught this historical class that pioneered the start of education in Utica.

Since 1818, education in Utica has changed significantly. The education system became more organized, and more students have come through the doors of Utica High School, all eager to learn. While we often overshadow the history behind the school we attend, these events have carved the path that led the school to where it is now. Regardless, while the buildings have changed, there still remains one common thread: to educate and learn.

‘Hunters’ serves a reminder of the past

PARKER HOPKINS DIGITAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

On Feb. 21, 2020, Amazon Studios introduced the new show “Hunters.” Warning: this article will contain spoilers for season one.

The show follows Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lerman), a young Jewish man who lives in Brooklyn in 1977. Following the death of his grandmother, Jonah meets Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino), who is an old friend of Ruth’s, and the man who saved her life during the Holocaust. Desperate for revenge for his grandmother’s death, Jonah hunts down her murderer, one of many Nazis recruited to America following World War II. After a near death experience, Meyer takes Jonah to meet the Hunters, a group of people who work together to hunt down the Nazis secretly living in America.

One of the show’s executive producers is Jordan Peele, known for the films “Get Out” and “Us”. It makes sense that Peele would fund this show, as “Get Out” centers on race, and the difficulties people face based on their culture and background. “Hunters” centers around many of the same themes, in addition to family, history, and guilt.

The show’s script was very well-written and thought-out. It manages to combine topics that are incredibly serious with comedy in order to make a show that keeps the audience interested and on the edge of their seat.

The writers included both predictable and unpredictable twists in the plot. However, predictable doesn’t mean bad. Most of the plot-twists that I saw coming were still brilliantly crafted to add more to the show as a whole. A good plot twist isn’t meant to completely shock viewers, it’s meant to show that things aren’t always as they seem, and to give viewers the satisfaction of figuring it our beforehand.

The script makes frequent use of flashbacks throughout the episodes. While there are many shows that use this technique, a lot of them don’t use it as well as they could. That isn’t the case for “Hunters.” Due to the numerous references to the Holocaust and histories of each character, the flashbacks work wonderfully to give an idea of what was done to the people put in concentration camps.

The show allows viewers who aren’t familiar with Jewish culture to learn more about their traditions and practices. Most notably, there is a scene that shows a wedding between two characters, full of culture and history. The scene also showcases the difficulty in moving on from the past and from those lost during trying times.

Overall, “Hunters” is a magnificent show, and came at a very pivotal time for America. Many messages can be taken away from this show, and it serves as a reminder of the past.