Fall 2015 Final PDF Layout

Fall 2015

2016 Presidential

Debate CoverageSee Page 3

Fall Events in Whitefish Bay

See Page 4

Opinion on the Pumpkin Spice

LatteSee Page 6

A Look at the Fall Play, The

CrucibleSee Page 12

Meet the New AFS Students!

See Page 8

The Football Team’s Fighting

SeasonSee Page 14

vol 82Issue 1

Graphic by Anyssa Camacho

w h i t e f i s h b a y H i g h s c h o o l

Everyone can picture that Disney homecoming; a massive parade prome-nading through the town with students and families lining the streets, intricate hallway decorations hung on every wall of the school, raging school spirit at the homecoming game, and a dance filled with great music and good memories. Although it may seem almost impossible to achieve this picture perfect homecoming, Student Council worked to create that dream event. This year’s homecom-ing week celebration included significant changes in activities, scheduling, and overall dynam-ics that students agree, were for the better. Before Homecoming week even started, Haughey Pro-ductions released yet another hilarious promo video for Homecoming 2015, and intro-duced the memorable theme of defeating the “school spirit”. The week started off Sunday afternoon on Silver Spring Drive with students showing off their artistic abilities at Window Painting and then hallway dec-orations. Throughout the week, WFB students showed class pride and school spirit with the various dress up days: Color wars, Thrift shop, Summer vs. Winter, Class theme, and finally Duke Pride/Best of the Bay. At night, there was also the Spirit Concert and Spirit Bowl. The school week closed out with a big bang, thanks to the scheduling changes made by Student Council. Shortened classes led up to the eventful pep rally. One of the best yet, this year’s pep rally included performanc-es from the impressive new Dance Team,

Cheer Team, Whitefish Bay Staff, and

By Grace D’Souza

A Fairytale HomecomingJustin Bieber’s backup dancers. Grandpap-py Derose even made a special appearance! Pumped up for the afternoon and the football game, students headed out to the softball field for a cookout and tailgate

games. Brave teachers like Ms. Schmidt, Mr, Hampel, and Mr. Krause braved the cold in the dunk tank, which attracted a huge crowd. The school day ended with a festive parade, promentating from the library back to the high school. Just a few hours later, the student section was packed with Bay students cheering on the team.

Although it was a loss for Bay, the spirit from the stands never died down. There was also a huge turnout Saturday night at the Richards Elementary Great Room for the homecoming dance.

Some pretty significant changes were made to Home-coming week this year, all thanks to the dedicated Student Council Exec Board. Student Council Vice President, Amelia Windorski, recalls starting the planning for this year’s home-coming all the way back in January 2014! Delaney Brower, Student Council President, agreed, noting that this plan would have been used for Homecoming 2014, but Nico-let’s football team jumbled the schedule last year, making it im-possible to do. Delaney said the main reason for the change was that “there seemed to be a lack of school spirit through dress up days, attendance of events, and the parade.” Not only was the success of homecoming attributed to Student Council, but also the students them-selves. Michael Muth, Student Council Exec Board Member, recognized the huge role this year’s Senior class played in making the week work. He said that they succeed in, “showing the rest of the school what it means to be seniors.” Overall, the revamping of

homecoming this year was received well by the students and staff. The changes to the week allowed for more students to take part in the action and experience the parade and evening activities. There was a notable increase in dress up participation, school comradery, and class unity over the course of just one week.

The newWhitefish Bay High School Dance Team performs at the pep assembly. Photo courtesy of the Yearbook staff.

Students cheer in excitement during the pep assembly. Photo courtesy of the Yearbook staff.

tower times fall 2015

News

2

Embracing the Political Chaos

2 0 1 6

This year’s presidential race has been completely and utterly unpredictable. If someone had said 6 months ago that three out of the four leading republican candidates had never served in a political office before, most would have called them crazy. If someone had said that a self-proclaimed socialist from Vermont would be a legitimate contender for the democratic nomination, most would have called them a liar. And if someone had said that the former host of the TV

Graphic by Ari Beightol.

By Sam Beem

show “Celebrity Apprentice” was close to becoming the most powerful man on the planet, most would have considered it laughable. No one is laughing now. In the past month alone, the public has witnessed the rising poll numbers of Carly Fiorina, the incriminating sound bites of the second republican presiden-tial debate, and Scott Walker’s campaign suspension. Walker, Wisconsin’s Gov-ernor, began his campaign on July 13 and ended it on September 21, polling at less than half of a percent. He is the second republican candidate to drop out of the race, after Rick Perry’s campaign suspension on September 11th. Repub-lican newcomers include Donald Trump,

an entrepreneurial businessman, Ben Carson, a soft spoken neurosurgeon, and Carly Fiorina, a former chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard. This surge of newcomers has proven a huge hit to veteran politicians like Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee. Even still, Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Marco Rubio, and Senator Ted Cruz, remain above 6% in the polls. However, for other republi-cans like Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and John Kasich, the oval office seems like a

somewhat unattainable feet. We can cor-relate these shifts in the polls to the first and second republican debates. After the first debate, Bush’s numbers saw a significant drop, while Trump’s surged. After the second debate, there was a drop in the polls for Carson, as well as

the resurgence of Marco Rubio among the top three republican candidates. The Democratic Party is a different story. Whereas the Republican Party seems to be a cluster of possible candi-dates, the Democratic Party’s candidates are more concrete. Despite the presi-dential hopes of Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee, there are primarily two legitimate contenders. Former Secretary of State, Senator, and First Lady, Hillary Clinton, leads the

polls with a dominate 43%. However, over the past two months the public has seen a significant dive in her poll num-bers and a significant increase for one Bernie Sanders, a Senator from Vermont. Vice President Joe Biden recently announced that he will not be running. As a result, Clinton may receive a hefty boost in the primaries. CNN reported that 58% of Biden supporters would vote for Clinton if their candidate decided not to run. Despite all these predictions, there will still be a lot of uncertainty and excitement present on the road to November 2016. Until that time, all one can do is sit back and em-brace the chaos.

“I am really excited to vote in the upcoming

election. It’s on my birth-day and I couldn’t ask for a better way to celebrate

being an adult!”

-Amelia Windorski


News

3

THE GREAT PUMPKIN FESTIVAL

The school year is in full swing, which means it’s time to find activities that take your mind off the stacks of homework assigned each week. Fall is the perfect time to be outside enjoying the cool weather, and there are wonderful opportunities to get involved in the community and spend quality time with friends and family. An event that embodies the spirit of fall while also drawing the community of Whitefish Bay together is the Great Pumpkin Festival, held each year in celebration of the fall season and Halloween. The Great Pumpkin Festival allows families, students, and people of all ages to come together and carve pumpkins, dis-playing their creations at the Old School-house Park across the street from the library. The event does not solely consist of pumpkin carving; the community offers live music and food from local vendors as

well. This free affair is the perfect place to have fun, relax, and to be around the community and people you love. Not only is the festival an enjoyable place to be around friends, family, and neighbors while carving pumpkins, but it

also creates a beautiful pumpkin display, which benefits the community and makes Whitefish Bay an even more charming town to live in. These Jack-o-lanterns are

on display and lit each night of the five day festival, illuminating Old Schoolhouse Park and capturing the eyes of passers by who can observe the beautiful reflection of the community. It is always refreshing to go to the fes-tival and see Whitefish Bay come together. Children of all ages are enamored by each pumpkin. Even teenagers find the festiv-ities a great opportunity to socialize with friends and have a great time. Each year, the festival becomes more enchanting and magical. This year The 29th Annual Great Pumpkin Fest will be begin on Tuesday, October 27th, and run until Saturday, Oc-tober 31st, just in time for Halloween. Whether it be to carve a pumpkin of your own, or simply to admire the works of others, The Great Pumpkin Festival offers attractions to people of all ages. In order to see its true beauty, you have to go yourself!

A Halloween Celebration Brings the Community TogetherBy Alison Pogorelc

Photo courtesy of morgueFile.

Trick-or-Treating in Whitefish Bay

“Where is the best place to go trick-or-treating?”

“My street.” -Sophomore

“The Lake Drive having full-sized candy bars is a total myth!” -Junior

“Do you go trick-or-treating?”

“No.” -Everyone

By Jenna Marget and Grace D’Souza


features

4

A Smart Decision?By Gwennie O’Connell

What makes Whitefish Bay so smart? Is it the smart students, the smart teachers, the smart curriculum, or the SmartBoards? Over the few past years, the district has poured money into purchasing enough SmartBoards to have one in every single classroom across the district, and, for the most part, it seems as though that goal has been reached, primarily in the elementa-ry and middle schools. But how much do we really need all of these touch-enabled boards in order to learn better? Senior Emma Jonas felt that, in fact, so many SmartBoards are not necessary because “some teachers just use [SmartBoards] as if they were projectors.” How-ever she, along with fellow senior Tyler Harmsen, agreed that the technology had been extremely helpful in math classes above all others mainly because the boards allow students to write out problems and

interactively draw on graphs, while also permitting teachers to show instead of just explain the process to solve various prob-lems. Yet, in classes like middle school band and choir, the boards, which cost upwards of $5,000 dollars each, seem unnecessary to many students, who might rather have the district spend valuable dollars on other

New and Old Clubs Take Off at BayBy Annie O’Neill

A broken SmartBoard serves as a whiteboard in Dr. Derose’s room. Photo courtesy of Jenna Marget.

goals of the club is to educate Whitefish Bay High School on the inequality between the sexes that exists in all aspects of life, and to think of ways to abolish it. The club holds meetings once a week in Ms.Kind-Kepple’s room, 259 in the

As the school year begins and peo-ple return to sleep deprivation, more work and more stress in their lives, the importance of extracurricular outlets for students has increased immensely. One club that has been reborn this year is the Feminist Club, lead by sopho-mores Dora Peregrine and Emma Brown. Feminist Club plans to hold movie screenings, self defence workshops, vol-unteer opportunities at women’s shelters, and other interactive ways to learn about gender inequality in today’s society. Their latest event was a bake sale held to spread awareness of the gender pay gap. To emphasize their point, the club sold the baked good for 75 cents to wom-en and 1 dollar to men. One of the main

English wing. All students are encouraged to come, even just to check it out. Another new club beginning this spring is the Ultimate Frisbee Club, led by sophomore, Rose O’Neill. The club will be a part of the Milwaukee Ulti-mate Club (MUC) Youth League, and play against teams like Wauwatosa East, Brookfield Central, Brookfield East, Marquette, Greendale, and Hamilton, on a weekly basis. The team will also be directed by a coach from the MUC to work on skills, strategies, and logistics. The club is in-tended for students of all skill levels, and is open for registration throughout the season.

Photo courtesy of morgueFile.

resources, or even simply place boards in more useful classrooms such as physics, which lacks a Board but involves vari-ous activities where one could be useful. However, Mr. G makes due by projecting problems onto his whiteboard, instead of a SmartBoard, and uses dry-erase markers to work out solutions in front of the class, a strategy that, in my experience, seems to be a perfectly adequate way to fake SmartBoard learning. Mr. G. commented on this issue by saying, “I’d like to have one if I got it for free, but if it’s so expensive, the whiteboard works. I’d rather use the money for other, more effective teaching equipment.” This, a much cheaper alterna-tive to over-buying SmartBoards, should be considered in future decisions as to wheth-er or not SmartBoards should continue to fill district classrooms and drain the district budget.


features

5

Pumpkin spice lattes. Such joy. Such majesty. The start of fall brings pumpkin spice everything, but the most important pumpkin spice any-thing is, in fact, the latte. Just the smell of it sends the warm, autumn feeling throughout our bodies. Much more important is the actual drinking of the delectable coffee. Once it touches the tongue, it gives a sense of in-dividualism, resulting in time stopping for a split second,

This year’ presidential cam-paigns show an interesting, and somewhat revealing, lineup: Donald Trump, an independent and a businessman; Ben Car-son, a neurosurgeon with no political background; Hillary Clinton, pushing for being the first female president; Bernie Sanders, a self-titled socialist and Vermont political figure. Not only are the candidates themselves an interesting variety of human beings, but they also show an interesting variety of political ideals and plans of action. As alway, the US pretends that we have a two party system, and every viable

candidate is in either the Democratic or Republican

PUMKIN SPICE LATTEBy Sian Whitney

campaign systems. The debates themselves have started already, early in the running, and CNN’s style has proven to have a political bias

The Presidential Race Thus Far

resulting in the universe coming to a complete stop for that single moment just so one can fully experience the ultimate grandeur of that single drink. It leads me to believe that I, as a person, can do any-thing I set my mind to.

against the Republican party-- while questions presented at the democratic debate were focused on policy and almost every candidate got to answer

their questions with mutual respect for each other, the questions presented to the republican candidates were slightly skewed to focus less on the policies themselves and more on the personal attacks that have been made against and by each candidate. This may be caused by a volatile attitude between serious, politically educated republican candidates and people running who may not, or definitely do not, know how to run a country. Such candidates include Trump, who is incredibly quick to defensiveness and equally as fast in accusations and making up facts without sources or evidence. This may greatly

For instance, often times I feel comfy talking

to everyone and anyone. In

fact, many of my job opportu-

nities have come from me talking to citizens while drink-ing pumpkin spice lattes. I currently have my own

THE MAJESTY OF THE

talk show where I talk solely about pumpkin spice lattes. Strangely enough, it has taken off quite nicely. It just goes to show you the impact that pumpkin spice lattes have on the greater public. To conclude, I’d like to personally thank pumpkin spice lattes for turning my life around. Ever since Starbucks started making them, my entire world changed for the better. I’d even go as far to say that I have been changed for good.

Photo courtesy of Philly.com.

By Audrey Head

Photo courtesy of Headline Politics.


opinion

6

harm the political chances of the republican party in general, because the candidates have been losing stability and com-posure; even the socialist Ber-nie Sanders is coming up with

GOOD GOURD! A Halloween Cartoon by Ari Beightol

millions from small businesses and has one of the lowest burn rates (Hillary Clinton having the highest, having spent 90% of earnings made within the last three months; Ben Carson

follows up with 50%), bringing in most millennials and many liberal or unrepresented peo-ples’ votes. Unfortunately, none of this really answers the important

question of where our country will head; that’s all in the Con-gress majority, which currently is in the hands of the Republi-can Party.

Students React to Local Racial Profiling Incident

Last Monday, Whitefish Bay’s Jewelry store, Schwan-ke-Kasten Jewelers, was accused of racially profiling Milwaukee Bucks’ Power-For-ward, John Henson, raising the question if racial profiling is common throughout the rest of the community. Henson posted a photo on Instagram of the jewelry store and described what happened, saying that the “they locked the door and told me to go away. After I rang the doorbell twice everyone went to the back...This was followed by two police cars pulling up and parking across the street and watching me for 5 minutes... I was then approached by 2 offi-

cers and questioned about the dealer vehicle I was in which is apart of my endorsement deal with Kunes country Chevrolet and asked me what I wanted. I told them I was just trying to look at a watch.” Payton Stovall, a fresh-man who identifies as African American but is also 50% cau-casian, claims that she has been racially profiled in Whitefish Bay. She explained that while walking home from a Fox Bay movie around 9 pm with a group of about 7 girls, most of whom were African Ameri-cans, a police officer rolled down his car window and asked what they were doing

and where they were going. After telling him that they were walking home, Stovall said that he continued to ask things such as, “Are you sure you’re going home?” and “Are you supposed to be here?” In school however, Stovall said that although she used to feel treated differently when she was younger, she currently doesn’t feel racially profiled. Bay student Michael Kirkendoll, who also identi-fies as African American, said, “We [minorities] just aren’t prioritized as much as people of another race may be and it’s just unfair and not right.” On the other hand, Stuart Blu and David Behrns, who

identify themselves as cauca-sian, said that they’ve never been racially profiled, but understand that a lot of other races are profiled because Whitefish Bay is predominant-ly a white community. Sharing his thoughts, senior Van Bassindale said, “I un-derstand that the store was nervous because of recent robberies but they should be equal in their security to people of all races. If they are cautious about people coming in, then do the same proto-col for everyone. Don’t keep someone out because of ve-hicle suspicion. They outright profiled him, you can’t do that.”

By Claire Chappell


opinion

7

Say Hello to the New Foreign Exchange Students!

Pimpatchara Komalarajun

From Bangkok,

Thailand

Cecilia PaltrinieriFrom Italy

Nakye BaldanFrom Australia

By Emily Gehrke

Anna JörglerFrom Austria

Guten Tag und Hallo! My

favorite sport is Snowboarding and that is why I’m thinking about

joining the Snowboarding Club. Here, I have been doing Cross Country until the season

ended and I think I did well. Our summer period is a lot longer [in Austria] and our winters don’t get as cold. I think one of the biggest differences in our cultures is

that almost everybody celebrates Christmas on the 24th of December, so on the Christmas Eve,

and I am looking forward to celebrating it here. I’m so excited!

Martin de la GuardiaFrom Madrid, Spain

My favorite activity when I was in Spain was to skateboard with

my friends because I live in a big city so you can take a lot of subways and buses to go whereever you

want to skateboard. I think my favorite thing I have done here was going to a Packers game, it was awesome! In my country, I

play basketball for one of the best teams in Madrid. Here, I just finished the soccer season and I want to play basketball. Also, I am in the Snowboarding club, in the Spanish club, and,

of course, in AFS. My goals for this year are to have a really great experience with my new

family, new friends, and my new high school, and I want to have per-

fect English.

I really like Whitefish Bay because

there’s a lot a green and since it’s small, you can basically walk everywhere.

Also, I like the school here. The school system is very different but also interesting. I like the fact

that you can set your schedule and, above all, the fact that you do lots of things at school (sports, clubs, watch

games). Whitefish Bay is a real community! At home I didn’t play any sport because I had to study a lot. Here I’m in

the swim team! The girls there are super nice and I think it’s a good way to relax after

school.

Hello! I know my name is long and

hard to remember. This is a typical Thai name. Yes, I am Thai and I come from

Bangkok, Thailand, home to the longest cap-ital name in the world. You can call me Gam,

which rhymes with Sam. Back home, I am a high school debater and a Thai classical dancer. Here, at Whitefish Bay High School this semester, I am in AFS, Debate, HOSA, and Key Club. I am looking forward to experiencing American lifestyles and, at the same time, becoming friends with all of you. So far, everything I did is joyful and

fascinating. I learn something interesting ev-eryday, and I look forward to getting to

know you and exchanging thoughts, lifestyles, and cultures with

you during my year here.

G’day. My favorite activities to do in

Australia was going surfing (even though I am horrible compared to my mates) or gener-

ally just hanging out with my mates. Definitely, my favorite thing about Milwaukee is how welcoming every-

one is and friendly. My favourite activity here in Milwaukee is the bike trails. Sydnney Islam and I went for a lot of bikes rides Back home i wasn’t a massive sports fan. I played basketball and football (Australia Rules, it’s

completely different to the NFL) four times a week. Here at Bay I have been doing a lot more sports. I am in the rock climbing club which

is super fun and in the basketball work outs after school. I am looking forward to Prom, from all the American

high school shows and movies.


specials

8

Meet the New TeachersBy Julia Ogorchock

Madame Schowettr is replacing Ma-dame Madler, who is also teaching in Switzerland.

Madame Schowettr is yet another new teacher in the language wing and will be teaching all of the French classes this year. Her opinions followed suit: Whitefish Bay is a great school with impressive academics, and she’s happy to be working here.

From Illinois, Ms. Grzesik is excited to work in Whitefish Bay as a math teacher. For her, the best part of Whitefish Bay is the activities offered to kids. “There’s lots to do here,” she said. “It’s good for students. It’s a great place for them to find what they’re into.” Ms. Grzesik also described the students as very respectful and hard workers.

Ms. Grzesik is a new math teacher, graduate of Loyola University and coaches the girl’s JV volleyball team.

Profesora DeBoer, a new spanish teacher, is originally from Wisconsin and is happy to be teaching back “home” after living and working in Minnesota for five years. She has noticed that the students at Bay are very involved with their learning. Compared to other schools, she described the students here as “very aware” of their futures. Moreover, she said she is excited to be work-ing with such driven students!

Profesora DeBoer is replacing Senora Davis, who took a job on the West Coast.

“Students are concerned about their work and really enjoy learning”

-Frau Schiel

Mrs. Mwai is a new math teacher here at Bay that used to teach in the

Mosinee School District.

Senora Robinson, a new Spanish teach-er, is replacing Senora Talajkowski.

Mr. Schneider is the new health teacher, who is replacing Mrs. Copeland

after she moved to Colorado.

Frau Schiel is the new German teacher who taught in Iowa before coming to Bay. When asked what she thought of her new students, she happily replied, “academics play a higher role. Students are concerned about their work, and really enjoy learning.”

Frau Schiel is new to the high school, replacing Her Madler, who is currently teaching in Switzerland.

Many new teachers are joining the Whitefish Bay High School staff this year. The Tower Times interviewed a few of them about their first experiences at Whitefish Bay High School. Most agreed that the students are truly hard working and motivated. The teachers ex-pressed their excitement about having a good year at Whitefish Bay High School!

Mr. Loebl is the new band teacher, having previously taught band at

Cumberland and Richards.


specials

9

By Claire O’Malley

Picture of Colectivo’s Pumpkin Spice latte in front of Tower Times YouTube sensations Ellie Taft and Michael Muth editing a weekly video.

HAUNTED HOUSESNo one has explicitly specified at what age it becomes unacceptable to trick-or-treat on Halloween, but for most high school-ers, the days of dressing up and begging for candy are over. Fortunately, there is still a way to go out with friends and get in Halloween spirit - by going to a haunted house! In the words of Gunnar Stock, a junior, “[They] provide a great thrill, which is much needed to electrify the heart.” As even more eloquently stated by fellow junior Gabby Martinez-Ortiz, “What could be more fun than nearly peeing yourself?” For this reason, haunted houses are set up around Milwaukee, such as the Wisconsin Feargrounds, The Hill Has Eyes, the Mars Haunted House, and my personal favorite, the Hubertus House of Horror.

HALLOWEEN CANDYVegetables are fine and fruits may be nutritious, but nothing beats candy corn in autumn. Everyone is bound to have more than their usual share of sweets on Halloween. After all, it is difficult not to with enticing bargains on every kind of confectionery imaginable. In a 2013 article by USA Today, it was stated that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, M&M’s, Snickers, and Kit Kat bars take the cake for America’s favorite candy. Sophomore Betsy Froiland’s preferred brand is Butter-fingers, and when asked why she loved them, she claimed,

“They are quirky and relatable.” Even if trick-or-treating isn’t on your calendar this year, Halloween candy is sure to be at every corner store this season.

HORROR MOVIESDreyel Taylor, a senior, captures the true nature of scary movies in saying, “Horror films bring you into a place where the majority of the stuff you see [in the films] could never really happen. Essentially, they scare the heck out of you, but you keep go-ing back for more.” A list of the best horror movies of all time, released by Rotten To-matoes, mentions the films The Conjuring, The Shining, Poltergeist, and The Exorcist. If you’re not looking for a terrifying R-rat-ed movie, check out American Horror Sto-ry on Netflix, a Hitchcock-esque thriller in the form of a series.

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTEThe arrival of pumpkin spice lattes, an au-tumn staple of coffeehouses around Ameri-ca, is always anticipated around this time of year. Starbucks, the most preferred vendor of the delicious drink, sells 16 ounce cups at around 310 calories. Thousands of cof-fee-drinkers enjoy them every year, such as Emily Enes, “I thoroughly enjoy pumpkin spice lattes, especially from Stone Creek Coffee, because unlike Starbucks, they’re rich in flavor and smell like fall!” Several students, however, didn’t have great things to say about the PSL, the new abbreviation for the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Senior Erin Rosenberg described them as, “An unnec-essary cultural obsession,” and Rhys Koch, a sophomore, commented, “[They’re] a beacon of light for Caucasian females in the

chilly months.” Starbucks, Colectivo, and Stone Creek all offer pumpkin spice lattes, so try one before they disappear until next autumn! It’s obvious to see

that people have mixed reactions with the PSL so only way to see what the true hype about it is to try one out yourself from your favorite local or chain coffee shop.

APPLE PICKINGIf you have never tried a Honey crisp apple in October or November, you have not tasted one of the finest delicacies the Midwest has to offer. And to make it taste even better, go pick it yourself! Wiscon-sin offers plenty of fun opportunities to get outside in the fall and enjoy the brisk weather with friends or family, and one of my personal favorite ways is to go apple picking. Probably the most well-known apple picking location nearby would be Barthel Fruit Farm located in Mequon. Right now they are offering customers to pick apples, pears, and pumpkins. For all of you picky apple eaters out there, they offer the iconic Honey crisp, the elusive Ida Red, the classic Golden Delicious, and the fun Jonagold. Small bags go for $10.00 and large bags go for $20.00. Get to Barthel’s and say the Tower Times sent you! (It won’t make a difference...)

Fall Frenzy


reviews

10

Going into this movie, I didn’t have high expectations. I can admit that I was pleasantly surprised. It was a scary movie with some funny moments mixed in. The premise of The Visit is two grandchildren meeting their grandparents for the first time and spending an entire week at their house. The two grandchildren, Becca and Tyler, are met with an elderly couple who takes them back to their secluded farm-house. Becca, an uptight 15 year old, is filming their whole visit to make their ex-perience into a documentary. When the first night comes to a close, Becca and Tyler are told that they need to go to bed at 9:30 PM, stay out of the basement, and not leave their room. During the night, they hear sounds and footsteps throughout the whole house, which the next day is explained as the grandparents being old and sleepwalking. More and more unexplained things occur, and the grandparents start to become se-cretive and their behavior becomes harder to make sense of. As the visit comes to an end, the siblings are aware that something is off and they need to leave. The last night of the stay throws a major plot twist at the audience that I will let you find out on your own time. The movie is suspenseful, scary, and entertaining, and one I recommend seeing with friends! (But maybe not with your grandparents…) Rate: 6/10 Popcorn Kernels

The VisitBy Alex Jorndt

Revival by Selena GomezBy Michael Muth

Selena Gomez is a household name and she has a lot of experience in the enter-tainment industry. She started off as one of the adorable children on the television series, Barney; however, Go-mez is most well-known for her witty and sarcastic character as teen-wizard, Alex Russo, in Disney Channel’s Emmy winning television show, Wizards of Waverly Place. Although she continues to act in movies such as Monte Carlo and Spring Breakers, Gomez has increasingly pursued her love for music in past years with her origi-nal group, Selena Gomez and the Scene.Gomez recently released her sophomore album as a solo artist on October 9 titled Revival, and as a huge Selena fan since her days on Wizards of Waverly Place, I am not disappointed in the least. On an informal note, she slayed it. On a more formal note, this album shows Selena maturing and her

Music Magnifying Glass:Little Mix

By Alex Jorndt

The 2011 X-Factor UK champions, Little Mix, are gaining quite the media attention with their vintage pop single “Black Magic.” Personally, I am a fan of Little Mix. Their harmonies are precise and clean while their songs are ones you can scream at the top of your lungs. The girl group is releasing their next album, Get Weird, on November 6 and I couldn’t be more excited. Little Mix is all about girl power and good times. They bring new songs, melodies, and sounds to the table that you can’t find

abandonment of her Disney persona for someone who has experienced heartbreak and enjoys a good time. She promoted the album with a breathy, slow-paced, and intimate single titled “Good for You” which features a guest verse from A$AP Rocky. Next, she released “Same Old Love,” a confident break-up song where Gomez doesn’t rely heavily on background instru-mental tracks, which I found to be quite common in the album. Revival is quite a bold statement for someone who is so early into their career but after listening through the album and the topics she addresses, she gets all rights to use the word as the album name. Gomez establishes herself as a force to be reckoned with through this well-thought out and revealing album. If you don’t commit to purchasing or streaming the entire album, even though this would be my suggestion, and you only have time to listen to three songs, I suggest listening to the debut track “Good for You,” a light, upbeat love song “Hands to Myself,” and finally, the heartfelt ballad longing for love, “Nobody.” I have very little to say negative-ly about this album except that I wish it had more tracks and a collaboration with Queen Bey but overall, Selena hit this one

out of the park and her future in the music industry looks very promising if she keeps putting out content similar to Revival.

Rate: 9/10 Alex Russos

in any other group. They have pre-re-leased full audio to their songs “Hair” and “Love Me Like You” and is promoting the debut for their upcom-ing album to their loyal fan base, the Mix-ers. Their voices blend together to create a tidal wave of sound for each song. Mixers, as well as myself, are excited for their new album, Get Weird.


reviews

11

THE CRUCIBLE

the role of Elizabeth Proctor, shares her thoughts on putting on a drama. “I think it’s a challenge. But I think we can pull it off; it’s really good experience for everyone because we’ve done comedies and it’s always gone really well, but no one has really worked with drama. It’s re-ally exciting!” Many of the actors like the show because of how it is very intense. There are moments in the show in which several characters scream, cry, or even get vio-lent with one another.

Despite its emotion and power, however, not too many people seem to know what The Crucible is about (unless you’ve taken American

Literature, of course). When asked about their knowledge of the show, one student says, “[I know] abso-lutely nothing, other than the name, and that a crucible is ac-tually a piece of lab equipment in chemistry.”

Although they may be unfa-miliar with the show, students generally seem excited about this year’s fall play. Because there is a large cast of twenty

By Brittany Katcha

The drama department’s fall play, Arthur Miller’s The Cru-cible, provides a unique look into the lives of real historical figures who lived during the Salem Witch Trials. The story tells of a farmer named John Proctor (Brandon Haughey) who lives in Salem, Massachusetts, during the year of 1692. When Proctor’s wife Elizabeth (Siân Whitney) and others are accused of witchcraft by Proctor’s ex-mistress Abi-gail Williams (Brittany Katcha), Proctor is faced with either letting his wife be hanged, or telling the truth and exposing his dark and murky past. A play truly focused on the good and evil inside us all, The Crucible seems like Whitefish Bay High School’s first true drama since 1692!

Siân Whitney, playing

Graphic design by Dora Peregrine.

roles, many have friends that are in the show. And while supporting your friends and fellow students is extremely important, that’s not the only reason to come out and see the play. “It’s really a show that you get to see Bay kids just completely pull a 180 and be dramatic,” says Brandon Haughey (Proctor). Haughey goes on to say, “A lot of the scenes are really good, and [the show] just feels real.” The Crucible will be per-formed in the Whitefish Bay High School auditorium on November 6th and 7th at 7:30 pm, and the 8th at 2:00 pm.Tickets are ten dollars for general admission and only five dollars for students and seniors. The show is sure to be a witchin’ good time!

Actors in The Crucible rehearse on stage. Photos courtesy of Kyleigh Halfenger.

Drama, Hangings, Witches, and more Drama!


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Stage crew2015-2016 Tower Times

Editorial BoardEditor-in-Chief

Brennan Gregg

Deputy Editor-in-ChiefJieun Heo

NewsAnna Lehman

FeaturesGrace D’Souza and Jenna Marget

OpinionAudrey Head

SpecialsEmily Gehrke and Jack Styler

ReviewsMichael Muth

ArtsClaire O’Malley and Sarah Shin

SportsGabi Breitenbach and Caitlin Wolf

Cartoons/GraphicsAri Beightol and Anyssa Camacho

AdvisorMr. Wepfer

Email us at [email protected] us on Facebook: Tower Times

a l o o k a t t h e c r u c i b l e ’ s

By Grace Wirth

Stage crew members currently participating in Whitefish Bay High School’s play, The Cru-cible, are continuing to prove their importance to the show. After inter-viewing Bobby Pondel, the props master, and Brandon Haughey who is playing John Proctor, it became clear that the stage crew is just as important to the show as the actors. While asking Bobby some basic questions about what stage crew involved, his enthusiasm or his job became very evident. “I think Stage Crew’s work is very crucial. If there wasn’t any stage crew, you would see nothing but the acting,” Bobby said. He continued to discuss all the hard work and dedication that the stage crew puts into the show and how enjoyable it seems for everyone there. He said wso students participating in stage crew for The Crucible this year. Curious of what credit that people behind the curtain get, Tower Times asked

Bobby if he felt he got enough credit before, during, and after the show. “The actors certainly appreciate our work, some more than others. I feel as though a lot of the stage crew members don’t really desire the credit. I don’t think we deserve any more credit than what we already get”, Bobby said, “We get our name put on the credits and receive thank-you’s.” Tower Times then talked to Brandon Haughey, one of the stars of the show. Bran-don’s comments were also very appraising to the stage crew. Brandon discussed the different duties the actors take on in comparison to the stage crew. “Leading up to it, it’s all about practice, prac-tice, practice,” Brandon said. He continued to inform us on what the actors mainly focus on when they are working hard to memorize their lines. “When you’re acting, you’re focusing more

on how natural you’re sounding…and how your movement is, and just trying to make that as natural and as believ-able and fluid as possi-ble,” Brandon added. Tower Times fol-lowed up with a more thoughtful question to Brandon, asking him his view of the stage crew in relation to the show’s success. “The show is possible without a set, a movie is possible with one take. Do you want to watch a movie without any edits made to it? It’s sort of the same thing with the play. It can be done with only actors, but stage crew is what really makes it appealing and brings it up from a level down to a level up,” said Brandon. It is evident that both the stage crew and the actors have an understanding of the importance of both roles when it comes to having a play go smoothly. The preparations for the play seem to represent a well-oiled machine, which wouldn’t be able to work if it was missing a piece.


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Fall is a busy time of the year for athletes at Whitefish Bay. Currently, students involved in swimming, cross country, golf and soccer are fitting practices into their already busy schedules. However their hard work has payed off--The boys varsity soccer team had a fantastic season, losing only two of their 17 games and will be playing on the regional level this weekend. The cross country team performed outstandingly well at the Conference Championship meet on Oc-tober 17th, with both JV teams and girl’s varsity placing first. The boy’s varsity team also did exceptionally well, placing third overall against eight schools. Although student athletes play their hardest and strive to win, the impor-tance of their sports goes beyond num-bers on a scoreboard. Madeline Taphorn, a sophomore on the girl’s swimming team, said her personal improvement is more important than anything. More-

over, it’s a great way to meet people and get involved, and she’ll be sad when this season ends. Clearly, despite the stress posed on student-athletes, the commitment is worth it. The sport no longer becomes an obligation, but cherished hobby. As the fall sports wrap up for many, it’s safe to say the major-

ity of kids are satisfied with how their seasons went. For many seniors, these victories are especially important, as the end of the season closes up their partic-ipation with the sport entirely. George Papajohn, a senior on the boy’s cross country team stated he was happy he decided to run this year, despite consid-ering pursuing other interests instead. “It’s sad that the family I was apart of for four years is coming to an end,” he claims wholeheartedly. “I’ll definitely miss it and I know my teammates and I will remember it fondly.”

Fall Sports At Bay: The Struggles and Victories

Bay Football: Fighting Together On and Off the Field

With our newly acclaimed title as conference champions, our football team continues to do great things on the field,

however it is behind the scenes of the Fri-day night lights where the team faces some

challenges. Coach Tietjen, age 61, was tragically diagnosed with brain cancer

a few short months ago. The team was hit hard by the news but luckily, Coach Wolter and Tietjen’s son, Joey, stepped up to the plate to assist Tiet-jen and the team. The Dukes have had to deal with a huge burden this season, but continue to amaze with their teamwork and support for each other. As these changes occurred, practice faced changes as well. More video work was introduced and less fouling practices were en-forced. “The biggest thing for him [Coach Tietjen] is to have these kids succeed and have fun playing the sport they have worked so hard at,” states Coach

Wolter. Players have admitted the news has been hard to deal with, but they do the best they can, fighting each game to pro-tect duke pride. In fact, Matt Bernstein, senior captain, recalls Tietjen instructing fellow captain, Macklin Kortebein, and himself, “I want you guys to play for yourself, not me. This is your team and you guys deserve that.”

The Dukes unify in the singing of the National Anthem for a Friday homegame. Photo courtesy of Matt Bernstein.

By Alex Jorndt

By Julia Ogorchock

Students’ decorate in preparation for the homecoming football game against Homestead. Photo by Caitlin Wolf.

“I want you guys to play for yourself, not me. This is your team and you guys deserve

that.”-Coach Tietjen


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To do so, the players have taken charge this year, especially the senior class, stepping up to lead the team to victory. Senior captain and starting running back, Van Bassindale claims, “Our senior class has been ready for this moment since Junior Dukes days, but heading in a week before the season to hear about Tietj, truly shocked everyone. Tietj’s absence has really forced me per-sonally to take a bigger leadership roll”. Despite the obstacles thrown their way the Dukes have won all but two of their

games, beating Cedarburg, Port Wash-ington, Germantown, Grafton, and many other respectable programs. The support the team receives from the student section has been encouraging as well. The team has posted videos thanking the students after a few of their victories. Coach Tietjen, despite everything, man-ages to stay in the inner circle and stay in control. The coach and his son communi-cate a lot about practice, schedules, and preparation. The school and coaches are impressed

about how the team has handled every-thing, facing it in stride. In the words of Coach Wolter, “There is always going to be adversity in life, and you can either back down and give up or you can fight and try to succeed. I think our kids have definitely learned that this year”. This team continues to illustrate the amazing work the Blue Dukes have accomplished this year. We continue to send our love and support to the team, as well as Coach Tietjen, as they push forward in their season and make us proud.

Matt Bernstein is a 1st Team All Conference Defensive Back and a three year varsity athlete. According to MaxPreps, which has a record of Bernstein’s football stats from last year, Bernstein is ranked 23rd in the state and has had 61 total tackles with about 6.8 tackles per game, and 4 interceptions. This year on offense, Bernstein has made 3 catches for 30 yards, 1 touchdown, as well as 15 carries for 80 yards. On defense, Bernstein has made 50 successful tackles, 1 interception, and 5 pass break ups. Bernstein is one of the captains for his football team and is also the leader of defense. However, 6 weeks into the season, Ber-nstein badly injured his left wrist, which forced him from running back to a defensive safety-with a club on his left wrist. But even with a broken wrist, Bernstein was able to help his team win the North Shore Conference championship for the first time since 2012. As told by Coach Wolter, “Matt Bernstein is just a tremendous kid. He truly loves [the sport] and he plays every snap as if it is his last and that’s what you really want to get from a player.” Wanting to learn more about Matt Bernstein, the Tower Times caught up with him to talk about his experiences playing for the high school football team.

By: Sarah Shin

SENIOR:POTLIGHT

Matt Bernstein

Tower Times: What was the most memorable experi-ence you had playing for the school team? Matt Bernstein: Last year, on our first playoff game against Os-hKosh North, we took a coach bus down as a team. We got to leave school early and when we arrived, we got a celebrity-type treatment there, which was really fun for all of our guys. We also ended up winning 28-0 and that just added to the excitement. TT: What are your proudest achievements in high school athletics so far?MB: I would say just all the rela-tionships and memories I’ve built by being on the high school team and probably being friends with the guys even after the sport is done.

TT: What does the team do after a win?MB: We usually go back into the locker room, sit down, and the coach gives a quick talk. After that we turn on some music. Our go-to song is ‘Who You Wit’ by Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz.

TT: Do you have any advice for other high school athletes?MB: I would say if you are really passion-

ate about something, put all the work you can so when the season comes, you are prepared and you can do the best of your ability.

TT: What do you think is the most difficult thing in football is?MB: Probably learning all the techniques – if you haven’t played football before, it definitely takes awhile to get used to tackling another person and blocking an-other person. So the beginning process of learning all the basic techniques is probably the most difficult. TT: Do you have any role models in football?MB: I think Randy Drew, one of our coaches who works at the school, is a good role model. He played at Northern Illinois, and he went to the 49ers and the CFL (Ca-nadian Football League) for a little.

Bernstein (number 10) tackles a Homestead player. Photo courtesy of Matt Bernstein.


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