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December 18, 2015
Volume 11, Issue 2
cial cheers and coordinated
blackouts: the fan section.
That energy grew when the D5
finals rolled around. Levi
Sheeler, a regular attendee, said
that winning the District 5 match
against Meyersdale at Shanks-
ville was, “...legit, and [he] was
going crazy.” Olivia Zuchelli, a
team member, described win-
ning the D5 finals: “It felt amazing,
winning the twelfth year in a row. It
was a great time.”
Continued p. 11.
The first round of finals against
Bishop Carrol was just as thrilling
with the Lady Cougars continuing
their streak, still not losing a single
set for the entire season (the scores
to that game were: 25-22, 25-21,
and 25-12).
Volleyball By Cooper Tretter
Making a difference: NS blood drive By Izabella Walters
In North Star, the American Red
Cross held a blood drive on No-
vember 17, 2015. Around fifty peo-
ple in our school donated blood.
This helps people in need of a
blood transfusion so they can have
a better chance of getting one
sooner.
Some history about the Red Cross
is that in 1665, the first recorded
successful blood transfusion oc-
cured in England. A physician,
Richard Lower, kept a dog alive by
transfusing blood from other dogs.
In 1818, a British obstetrician,
James Blundell, preformed the first
successful blood transfusion on a
human. In 1907, Reuben Ottenberg
performed the first blood transfu-
sion using blood typing and cross-
matching. Red Cross became the
first national blood program for
civilians by opening its first collec-
tion center in Rochester, NY. Peo-
ple working for Red Cross started
adding “additive solutions” to ex-
tend the shelf life of red blood cells
to forty two days. The American
Red Cross has really come a long
way from where they were when
they first started.
Continued on p. 3.
On Saturday, November 21, it
seemed as if all of Boswell packed
into Richland High School to watch
North Star’s Volleyball girls battle
it off in the PIAA state finals. Nearly
150 students showed up to watch
the Cougar’s monumental second-
go at winning the gold.
The built up excitement to the final
match originated long before North
Star entered PIAA playoffs. It start-
ed when the girls created a strong-
ly-founded following in the regular-
season games, complete with offi-
Volleyball team and fan section Photo courtesy of Kayla Rice.
countries. James also spent eight
years on shore. He really enjoyed
being in the Navy. He was the only
one in his family to join the military.
James liked the Navy because of
the opportunity it gave him to
learn, the ability to interact with
other races and gained a real in-
sight to teamwork. He received the
following awards: the National
Award, Navy Achievement Award,
Expert Rifle and Expert Pistol. He
served in the U.S. Navy for twenty
years in uniform and eighteen
years as a civilian. His favorite
place that he was stationed was in
San Diego, California, where he
helped train sea lions and dolphins
to find underwater mines. His fa-
vorite place that he visited was Fiji.
I got to interview Mr. Thomas St.
Clair, a former North Star Elemen-
tary teacher. He has three daugh-
ters. He is still trying to adjust to
retirement life. Thomas is married
to Debbie St. Clair who is a retired
learning support aide at our high
school. He enlisted when he was
ninteen years
old. Thomas
was in the U.S.
Army and
served with the
military police
in Alaska, which
was difficult due
to the weather.
No one else in
his family
served in the
military. Thom-
as performed
security func-
tions and was
on the Nike mis-
sile base locat-
ed near the
Arctic Circle. He served two years
in the military. His favorite place
where he was stationed was Fort
Jackson, South Carolina.
John Straka was in my opinion one
of the most interesting veterans that
I spoke to. He is eighty-eight years
old and enlisted in the military was
he was 19. John left the military in
1948. After the military he owned
his own auto body shop. He then
worked at B. J. Maurer Ford for
eighteen years. John decided to
join the military to serve our coun-
try. All of John’s brothers also
served in the U.S. Army. His favor-
ite experience in the military was
his trip from Washington to Yokaha-
ma, Japan, which was seven days
long. He received the good conduct
medal and a Japanese medal just
for fighting in Japan. His favorite
place where he was stationed was
Atsugi Air Base.
Veterans Day breakfast By Kaylee Deist
Page 2
I had the greatest honor and privi-
lege to interview and interact with a
few of the veterans at the teacher-
sponsored Veteran’s Day breakfast
that was held in the gym on Novem-
ber 11, 2015. I learned about the
wars in a different way than any of
our history teachers could have
taught us. It was the best experi-
ence that I have ever had.
One of the veterans I got to talk to
was Michael Bittner. He served in
the United States Army for twenty-
one years. He has two daughters,
Josie a junior and Emily a middle
school student. He graduated from
North Star in 1985 (go class of 1985)
and currently lives in Jennerstown.
He enlisted in the military when he
was only eighteen years old and en-
joyed his time in the army most of
the time. Michael joined the military
to help with money for college and
for the adventure. His grandfather
served in the Navy. While in the U.S.
Army he was a chemical operations
specialist, platoon sergeant, and a
drill sergeant. During his service in
the army he received the Iraqi Free-
dom Medal. Michael’s favorite place
where he was stationed was in the
Black Hills of South Dakota.
James Smith was another veteran
that I had the honor to speak to. He
is one of six children born in Birds-
boro, PA. He lived there till he was
twelve and had a lot of animals on
his farm. After high school he went
to St Vincent’s College. During his
junior year, he ran out of money.
James got drafted in 1969 and even-
tually enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the
age of twenty-one. In his first ten
years he moved thirteen times. He
was at sea for twelve years and dur-
ing that time he visited thirty-six Veterans Day breakfast sponsored by North Star teachers
Photos courtesy of Kaylee Deist.
When donating blood there are a
few requirements to be eligible.
You have to be over seventeen in
most states or sixteen with a parent
or guardian’s permission. You must
be in good health, meaning you
can’t be sick and you must weigh at
least 130 pounds if you’re under
eighteen. However, if you’re over
eighteen you can weigh 110
pounds but no less. You can donate
frequently but there is also a limit
to that as well, like how you can
only give whole blood every fifty-
six days. You may only give plate-
lets every 7 days, plasma every 28
days and double red cells every
112 days.
Working in the blood drive was a
woman named Dana. She has been
working in this field for over six-
teen years and has given blood as
well. She says that she enjoys her
job, which involves a lot of travel-
ing to over five neighboring states.
Dana was happy about how many
people were giving blood on No-
vember 17 and says that her favor-
ite part of her job was dealing with
friendly people.
Students were also happy about
how the blood drive was conduct-
ed, like Case Tretter and Haven
Brehm. Both Case and Haven had
given a pint of blood and were hap-
py they could make a difference.
This was Case’s first time giving
blood and Haven’s second. Both
were nervous but got over it pretty
quickly. Both students plan to give
blood again at the following blood
drive. When asked what calmed
them down and made them more at
ease, they both said, “how nice
everyone was working for the
blood drive,” and I agree.
Making a difference: NS blood drive Continued from p. 1.
The boys have had an extremely
successful season. It consisted of
eleven wins, six losses, and two
ties. Each game, there were sup-
portive fans cheering on our Cou-
gars in hopes of a win. Their suc-
cess continued into the post sea-
son. The six seeded cougars over-
powered the third seeded Everett
team coming in at a 3 to 1 win in the
first round of playoffs. Next came
the semi-finals with a 4 to 3 win
against the second seeded Fannett-
Metal. The Cougars surprised
many as they headed to the D-5
championship game against Berlin.
The support for the boys was re-
markable; schools from all over
came to support them including
teams they competed against pre-
viously. The Cougars played their
hearts out into an overtime with the
final score Berlin 2 and North Star
1. We are proud of our boys for
making it so far, and for being the
D-5 runners up of 2015. Coach
Duryea said “The boys played
well, they carried out the game
plan that they had. Any game gets
tough when you are forced to de-
fend many free kicks.” Coach
thought as a whole that this season
went well and thought that every-
one who watched the games saw
that they improved each time.
When asked what he will miss most
about this season he responded, “I
will miss the competition and the
hard training sessions.” He also
thought that the team benefited the
most from each other and how they
all got closer each game, each
practice, and each spaghetti din-
ner. Anyone in the crowd,
strangers or acquaintances, could
easily see that this team was more
of a family. Coach’s goals for next
season are to be competitive, stay
in the race for the D-5 title, and to
stay true to their style and values. It
is very hard to put this season into
one word, but how Coach put it was
“Earned.” The players gave their
all and benefited from each prac-
tice and game. We hope to see the
same support next year for our
boys!
Varsity boys soccer wrap up By Trinity Romesberg
Page 3
The North Star Soccer Team lines up!
Photo courtesy of Anne Romesberg.
Many seniors are looking forward
to graduation. Many want to go to
college, or get out of school and
enter the work force. Seniors prob-
ably do not know what they will
face when they leave. I interviewed
Dustin Collins, a 2014 graduate, to
see how his life has changed since
graduation.
Q: Did you go to college after high
school?
A: I am currently enrolled at Penn-
sylvania Highlands Community
College under General Studies.
Q: What are the differences be-
tween college and high school?
A: There are more differences than
I can count. I can’t say how dorm
life is since I don’t live in a dorm. I
would have to say the biggest dif-
ference between the two is the way
classes work. In high school, you
show up in the morning, you have
to stay the whole day and go to
each class throughout the day, and
you leave. In college, you only
have to show up for your classes
and that’s it. You don’t have to stay
an entire day if you don’t want to. I
would also have to say that there is
more schoolwork involved in col-
lege. You may get one assignment
from one class to work on, but if
you have four classes in a semester
and each of your classes does that,
you would have four assignments in
a week to do. That along with any
big projects like research papers
and tests, it can pile up pretty
quickly.
Q: What is your favorite high
school memory?
A: I don’t think I can think of just
one. High school was a pretty en-
joyable experience for me but I
would have to say my favorite
memories and experiences would
have to be from the many band ac-
tivities I was in. I met a lot of awe-
some people and have had many
wonderful experiences like getting
the opportunity to perform at Dis-
ney World twice.
Q: Where do you see yourself in
the future?
A: I don’t really have an answer for
that. Life could take me anywhere
so it’s hard to say point blank
where I’m going to be at in the fu-
ture. This is something I sort of play
by ear and see what happens. I do
have a basic plan on what I want to
do, which is to transfer from Penn
Highlands and focus on whatever
career I want to do, but I don’t have
my whole life planned out in per-
fect detail.
Q: What challenges have you had
to face since graduation?
A: I’ve had a lot of obstacles to pass
since I graduated, but I would have
to say the biggest challenge would
be adjusting to the real world; get-
ting a job, going to college, learn-
ing how to try and make it on my
own. It was not the easiest thing in
the world to tackle when I graduat-
ed.
Q: What advice do you have for
current students/seniors?
A: A piece of advice I would have to
offer would be to have a plan on
what you want to do after high
school. Do you want to go to col-
lege right away? Do you want to
take a year or two off and work?
You don’t have to plan your whole
life out in perfect detail, but know
enough that you’re not leaving
school wondering what to do next.
If you plan on going to college, start
looking ASAP and look at your op-
tions. Don’t sell yourself short. Have
some ideas where you want to go.
Also, enjoy high school while you
are there. Four years may seem like
a long time, but you will be throw-
ing that cap in the air before you
know it, wondering where the time
went.
Graduate corner By Ashley Kelly
Page 4
North Star high school’s rifle team
has members from ninth grade
through twelfth grade consisting of
twenty-six members. Chad Snyder
is the coach of the team. He started
out as an assistant coach for three
years and has been the head coach
for three years. Chad also hunts on
the side. He enjoys coaching so
much because, “I enjoy being
around the kids and helping to
mold them into responsible adults
and excellent shooters.” His idea of
a good rifle team member is being
focused, disciplined ,dedicated to
practicing regularly and being
able to encourage and set a good
example for younger shooters and
team members as well. Chad has a
few goals for his cougars: he wants
them to have a winning season, and
to obtain the WestPAC and State
title. “We were state runners up by
one point last year, so we have our
sights set on the state title for this
year.” One more thing that he ex-
pects as the coach is for all students
to try their best in school to get
good grades and to keep up on
their studies.
Jesse Moyer is a senior at North
Star and this is her fourth year
shooting. She was inspired by up-
perclassmen to pursue this sport.
Jesse practices three days a week
outside of team practices for rifle,
and her favorite thing about rifle is
shooting in general and being
around her teammates. Jesse en-
joys shooting prone (laying down
to shoot) the most and her best
score is a 281 out of 300. Her goals,
along with the coach’s goals for this
year, is to get the WestPAC title
and be State champs also. Jesse
was offered a rifle scholarship to
shoot for Morehead University for
their rifle team after she graduates.
Robert Yourich is also a senior this
year, and this is his fourth year on
the team. He practices with his team
and sometimes with the Jr. rifle
team on the weekends. Robert’s
favorite position to shoot in is
kneeling down, and his best score
is a 278 out of 300. What he enjoys
the most about rifle is his support-
ive teammates. He hunts, putting
his rifle skills to good use. He along
with many others wants this team to
keep their WestPAC title and be-
come this year’s state champs.
Rifle team By Trinity Romesberg
As winter sports come to a head, it
is time to recall the sport that has
come to a close: football. This sea-
son, the North Star Cougars fought
hard, coming out with a record of 2-
8. The team was under the leader-
ship of senior quarterback, Gus
Strassier, whom I interviewed to
get a better idea of how the season
went.
When asked what the team’s main
strength was, Gus replied that the
players all played like a team, and
worked well together. The high-
light of the season was most defi-
nitely going into double overtime
against Windber and beating them
after much hard work from the
team, a game that those who were
there will not soon forget. When
asked if there was anything he
would change about the season,
Strassier said that he would change
the times when there was anger
and frustration over problems that
could easily be solved.
After losing many seniors this year,
we wish next year’s football team
the best of luck and will leave them
with Strassier ‘s advice for any and
all upcoming players: “Don’t take it
too seriously; you’ll end up getting
hurt.”
Football season wrap up By Lindsay Walker
Page 5
Eight talented musicians move on
to District Six festivals.
Nick Baron and Matt Darr have
made it to District Jazz. Evan Ger-
ney, Cooper Tretter, and Tiffany
Walker sang their way to District
Chorus. Matt Darr, Lucas Deist,
Evan Gerney, Ashley Kelly, and
Sierra Mafield have made it to Dis-
trict Band.
The District Jazz festival will be
held January 21 and 22 at Richland
High School. The District Chorus
festival will be held February 3-5 at
Hollidaysburg Area High School.
The District Band festival will be
held January 27-29 at Bellwood An-
tis High School.
Students were selected for their
respective festival through blind
auditions. The judges looked for
tone quality, accuracy and style.
The auditions were held on Octo-
ber 18 at Shanksville-Stonycreek
(Chorus), November 15 at
Conemaugh Township (Band), and
December 1 at Northern Bedford
(Jazz).
District band, chorus and jazz By Ashley Kelly
A famous uncredited quote once
said, “Art does not become art until
it meets an audience.” The students
in Mr. Mrosko’s Art and Creativity
class are bringing this statement to
life through Art Drop.
Art Drop was created by artist Jake
Parker and is celebrated as a whole
on September 2. However, it can
be celebrated at any time. Art Drop
is simply the practice of creating
art and using social media to give
hints as to where the work of art is
hidden. Once the work is found, it
falls into the ownership of the per-
son who found it. A simple way to
think of it is that Art Drop is basical-
ly a scavenger hunt using social
media.
There have been two art drops so
far this school year, and due to
their growing popularity, there are
most likely more to come. To keep
up to date and ahead of the hunt,
follow @nsart110 on Instagram.
Art drop By Lindsay Walker
Page 6
The fourth album from the truly rock and roll Cage
the Elephant is finally upon us, and with it comes
the fiery garage rock single “Mess Around”.
Mess Around arrived on October 29, and served
as the first taste of the new record “Tell Me I’m
Pretty”, which is set to arrive on December 18.
The previous album “Melophobia” was released
in 2013, and after touring extensively on that al-
bum, the band decided to go back and record
their follow-up. Fans have been patiently waiting
for the album, which started production way back
in the spring of this year. Dan Auerbach, frontman
of the garage rock duo The Black Keys, was re-
cruited to produce the album; and due to the in-
stant chemistry between the two, the album was
recorded in only three of the six months allotted to
the project. The producer was obviously inspir-
ing some part of the band’s songwriting process
as this song is very similar in style to the produc-
ers main musical act The Black Keys. But it still
consists of the signatures of the Cage the Elephant
sound that listeners are all very familiar with.
Such as the dual guitar attack, independent
bassline, creative mirroring style drum part, and
bold Kentucky accent of the flamboyantly per-
forming lead singer Matt Shultz.
Clocking in at just under three minutes, this is the
type of song where simplicity is key, and the focus
stays based around the catchy hook almost the
whole time. The song starts with an intro provid-
ed by a shaggy guitar riff, then lunges almost im-
mediately into the signature main hook, and then
backs off just as fast as it came in. The first verse
trots through in the form of four lines and evolves
quickly to a pre-chorus. Then, it runs right back
to the main hook once again. This same process
repeats itself once more, but after the second cho-
rus, the song takes a step forward into the guitar
solo. An impressively sparse solo, showing off
just the right amount of spice that all garage rock
guitarists seek, it shows the band’s talent for hear-
ing a moment, and using to their advantage. The
solo continues through the bridge and finale cho-
rus. The bridge features a drop of the drum track,
lasting only a few bars of course, then the hook
reappears for the final time. The final chorus, now
Mess Around - Cage the Elephant ★★★★★ By Ben Volk
imprinted in
the listener’s
head for the
rest of the
day, con-
cludes the
song by
ending on a
single par-
ticularly
pronounced
note.
The song
overall is a
simple, to-the-point rock song with a catchy
hook and rhythm that’s hard to sit still to. But the
song lacks the lyrical depth of some of their past
songs, and could very easily be mistaken for a
Black Keys song, if Dan Auerbach would have
provided the vocal part. But the message of the
song is unimportant in this case, as the song does
not appear to convey a singular message, but
rather it conveys a feeling instead. The song is
obviously inspired by Mr. Auerbach, and slightly
moves away from Cage the Elephant’s original
style. But, with that in mind, Cage the Elephant
brought in Dan to produce, which means they
wanted his input, and wanted him to help them
create something special, which they did. If they
were not completely comfortable sounding simi-
lar to The Black Keys in only a few aspects, they
wouldn’t have even included it on the album,
much less the lead single.
I give this song five stars because it has an in-
credibly catchy hook, a fantastic guitar riff, a
melody that perfectly follows the flow of the
song, and most importantly, the human nature of
the song. You can just feel the energy coming
from the humans performing the song. The song
will fit perfectly into their high-energy, perfor-
mance driven shows; a perfect song for the lead
singer to do his signature stage diving antics to.
If the rest of the album is anything similar to this
song, we should expect a fantastic rock and roll
album as unique as the band that composed it.
Page 7
“To realize one’s destiny is a per-
son’s only obligation.” The Alche-
mist is a book written by Paulo
Coelho that follows the journey of
a boy named Santiago as he goes
on his a journey to fulfill his Per-
sonal Legend. It starts with Santia-
go having a reoccurring dream in
which he visits the pyramids of
Egypt. Curious as to what the
dream could mean he visits a
woman who tells him that a great
treasure awaits him at the pyra-
mids. Yet it isn’t until he is visited
upon by an old king that the boy
decides to go on his journey sell-
ing everything he owned in Spain
to go to Africa.
This book is all about finding one’s
destiny and about how the real
treasure of the journey is not the
prize at the end. (That’s just an
added bonus if you get there.) In
my opinion this book is more of a
self-use story that helps one grow
as a person. If you start reading it
hoping for a great work of fantasy
you’ll be disappointed as the story
itself has little to offer. The true
pleasure of this book is seeing the
lessons and themes in the pages.
I enjoyed The Alchemist and
would give it rating of four and a
half stars. I would recommend this
book to anyone looking for some-
thing to read but not sure what
kind of story they want to read
about.
The Alchemist By Meagan Friedline
I know what you’re thinking,
you’re thinking that musical audi-
tions are an extremely stressful
event that takes place in front of
your peers and a handful of expe-
rienced adults, dead-set on cri-
tiquing your every misstep and
misspoken word. Let’s put it this
way, you’re right about every-
thing. Except for the fact that it’s
not that way unless you make it a
point to make it that way. North
Star’s musical audition process is
about as laid back as it can possi-
bly be. Each person involved is
specifically happy to see you
show interest in the musical, and
they mirror that enthusiasm back
to the amount that you have given.
Additionally, positive reinforce-
ment is a common theme, and
negative comments remnant of a
certain former judge on one par-
ticular popular television singing
competition, are nowhere to be
heard. Musical auditions are an
all around positive event, and they
are the thing that every cast mem-
ber marks as the start of the be-
loved musical season.
Now, let’s look at the events that
occurred on the days of October
8, 9, and 10 of this fall, in North
Star’s own auditorium. The audi-
tions start off with everyone
dancing together. Choreogra-
pher Mary Mauzy teaches the
dance in which you take part in
moments earlier. After the danc-
ing portion, every person exits
the auditorium, and waits in the
stairwell for their opportunity.
Then, one by one, each student
gets called back in, and auditions
for either the ensemble, which
doubles as an audition for a small
role, or they audition for a lead
role. This choice depends on
what each student would feel
comfortable portraying in the
show. The second portion of the
audition consists of each student
delivering a monologue and
singing a song. For the ensem-
ble audition, you deliver a short
monologue or joke, and sing one
verse of “My Country Tis of
Thee”. For the lead audition, you
deliver either, one of the three
monologues provided, or one
that you provide, and you sing
the song proved for your specific
gender. For the ladies, the song
was “Notice Me, Horton” from
Suessical the Musical, and for the
males, the song was “It Takes
Two” from the legendary musical
Hairspray, both accompanied by
pianist Bryan Lohr. After your
audition, the panel consisting of
Producer Kathy Shaffer, Music
Director Mariah Seymour, the
aforementioned Choreographer
Mary Mauzy, and Pianist Bryan
Lohr, thank you for auditioning,
and ask you to send in the next
person on the list. After that it’s
the waiting game.
Since the auditions, we have been
informed as a cast that the show
this year will be Godspell, but the
cast list; however, is not expected
until Christmas. Everyone that is
included in the cast is extremely
excited to be a part the show this
year, as we always are. The audi-
tions mark the beginning of musi-
cal season, and begun, it has.
Now patiently wait is all we can
do, first for the cast list, and then
for the beginning of rehearsals
that always comes with January.
Musical auditions By Ben Volk
Page 8
“And now to announce our King
and Queen, Gus Strasiser and Lind-
say Walker!” I remember the look
on her face when she was an-
nounced Queen. For this month’s
Featured Senior I chose Lindsay
Walker. I couldn’t think of anyone
more interesting to write about. I
decided to ask Lindsay a few ques-
tions to learn more about her; I also
wanted to get a few of her opinions
on some things. So without further
ado, here is Lindsay walker.
Q. So, how is your senior year go-
ing?
A. Senior year is going great! I’m
honored to have been elected class
president and voted homecoming
queen. I cherish the memories I
made during homecoming and the
time I spent with the other mem-
bers of the court. I’m looking for-
ward to my final forensics season as
team captain with a great team full
of potential and the musical
(whenever we find out what it may
be!).
Q. What do you plan on doing after
high school?
A. I plan to attend either Seton Hill
University or St. Vincent College
and major in communications.
Q. What made you want to major in
communications?
A. I love meeting and talking to
new people, and I want to be able
to help others by doing something I
love, hopefully by becoming an
advocate of some sort (Homeless
advocate, etc.).
Q. How is it being Editor-in-Chief
of the newspaper?
A. I didn't realize so much behind
the scenes work goes on, from as-
signing editors to corresponding
with individual writers. Mrs. Con-
rad is the number one person I
email and truly runs an air-tight
ship that shows in her success as
advisor for the newspaper.
Since the original questions some
things have happened, the musical
has been released, the forensics
season has started, and the news-
paper has made progress on its
upcoming edition (That would be
this one).
Q. What do you think of the musical
that was chosen?
A. I'm looking forward to what is
sure to be another stellar produc-
tion by Mrs. Shaffer, Miss Mary,
and Miss Seymour. The musical has
an awesome soundtrack, and I can't
wait to see what direction the pro-
duction team takes with it.
Q. How is forensics going now that
the season has started?
A. The team is as strong as I have
ever seen it be, thanks to our new
direction under Mr. Lohr and Mr.
Ogline. The team is full of strong,
superb talent and great teammates
that support one another through
the ups and downs of competition.
As a captain, I am very proud and
confident that the team will contin-
ue to impress.
Q. How is the newspaper staff com-
ing together?
A. There are many interesting arti-
cles being written by very talented
individuals, who are very good at
proofreading their articles.
I am very lucky to call Lindsay one
of my friends; I thank her for an-
swering all of my questions with
ease. Just like we’ll never forget
who our homecoming queen was
after we’ve all graduated; I’m sure
she will never forget us.
Lindsay Walker By Andrew Revello
Page 9
Q. What should a principal expect
from teachers, parents and stu-
dents?
A. A principal should expect teach-
ers and student to be their best, to
be honest and to focus on getting
the most out of their experiences. I
hope they are learning something
every day that will make them a
better student, student, teacher or
person. I expect parents to be sup-
portive of the school and support-
ive of its students, its teachers and
administrators.
Q. What do you see as the major
role of the principal?
A. A principal’s role is to help facil-
itate a school to be the very best it
can be. A principal can’t teach
every class every day but he/she
can make sure that teachers have
what they need to be their very
best. Likewise a principal is not a
student attending classes every
day but he/she can make sure that
they have classes that meet their
needs and are preparing them to
be successful post high school. By
facilitating, a principal can become
a leader by doing things that
makes the school stand out among
others and a highlight of its com-
munity.
Q. What is your first priority in this
position?
A. My first priority is shared be-
tween student and teachers. With-
out a doubt a school is nothing
without its student so I must focus
on their success and needs. How-
ever, I cannot do that alone; my
success depend greatly on how
well the teachers are meeting the
need of their students and I must
also prioritize their needs.
Q. What issues are you willing to
take care of at this school?
A. There isn’t any issue that I am
not willing to work on. Fortunately
North Star High School and its stu-
dent are very proactive in dealing
with things that may become big-
ger issues before they get out of
hand. Our guidance department is
great at meeting the needs of our
student body and helping direct
programming to address the most
pressing issues. I, too, am always
open to address issues as they
arise.
Q. How do you, as a principal, pro-
mote good race relationships?
A. Believe it or not, race relations
can be more challenging in a
school like North Star than a school
that is more diverse. Since we
don’t have many students of differ-
ent races it can be easy to overlook
their needs or issue.
Q. What plans do you have for the
Our new high school principal, Mr. Kiesnowski By Kaylee Deist
Marvel has done it yet again with
the 12th film in their Cinematic Uni-
verse: Ant-Man. A Universe that
first began with the movie Iron Man
can now add this shrinking hero to
its ever growing franchise of great
superhero films.
Ant-Man tells the story of Scott
Lang, a master thief who is chosen
by Dr. Hank Pym to pick up his
mantle of being the Ant-Man and
protect Pym’s shrinking technology
from his former protégé. If you are
wondering how a movie about a
superhero with a lame name like
Ant-Man could be good (the char-
acters mock the name also), don’t
worry. Ant-Man embraces the
name and offers what is pretty
much an action-comedy heist film
about a man who can shrink to the
size of and control ants, with some
very creative and hilarious results.
The action is very refreshing as it
takes advantage of the heroes abil-
ity to fight anywhere from the in-
side of a briefcase to a toy train set.
With a cast including the always
funny Paul Rudd as the titular hero
and Michael Douglas as his mentor,
it is no surprise that this movie is
great. Marvel has yet again taken a
relatively un-
known hero
(much like their
Guardians of the
Galaxy movie),
and made a suc-
cessful and re-
freshing movie
out of the char-
acter. With a
sequel already in production and
many references to Marvel’s largest
superhero group (The Avengers)
throughout the movie, we will defi-
nitely be seeing Ant-Man again.
Ant-Man By David Miller
Page 10
Photo courtesy of flickeringmyth.com.
On October 27 the Principles of
Accounting students took a trip to
St. Vincent College in Greensburg
to take a look at the wide world of
accounting.
The day’s events consisted of hear-
ing multiple speakers from the ac-
counting field of both private and
certified public accountants. The
students also got to engage in a
question and answering with stu-
dents from the school that were
majoring in accounting. We
learned from the students that after
graduation, students are pretty
much guaranteed a position in the
accounting field. Students are em-
ployed in many major businesses
right out of graduation such as Ken-
nametal and Bombardier Recrea-
tional Products. Talk about a pres-
tigious program!
A short lunch followed thereafter
and then it was off to a tour of the
campus. St. Vincent is a rather
small college with a wide variety of
majors and also has a beautiful
campus. With its state of the art sci-
ence building holding a planetari-
um, a football field worthy of being
the practice field of the Pittsburgh
Steelers, it’s truly a wonder to be-
hold. St. Vincent also has multiple
activities for its students to get in-
volved in. With different clubs such
as rugby, disc golf, and field hock-
ey, students can get to know each
other and also relieve a little stress
from their academic classes.
St. Vincent is a beautiful college
with an amazingly prestigious ac-
counting program and a campus
worthy of a king. It was a very edu-
cational and exciting trip that I hope
will be the pinnacle of college trips
for accounting students to come.
Accounting students attend an American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Workshop By Michael Sabo
The girls persisted at Chambers-
burg against York Catholic, in spite
of the smaller student fan section
that formed because of the dis-
tance. Kayla Rice, the team captain,
said that “the team definitely felt
more supported when they did
have a fan section there.” Regard-
less, the team pulled off yet another
win (25-22, 25-15, and 25-21).
Moving onward to the semi-finals
against Marian Catholic at Mid-
dletown, this match may have been
the team’s toughest yet (25-20, 25-
23, 19-25, and 25-14), losing their
first set of the season. Even still,
NSYO leader and fan bus chaper-
one Emma Ball said that the fan sec-
tion, “kept the girl’s spirits high
even when [the team] dropped a
set.”
And finally, the championship
match. Goodness, was the energy
electrifying. Being at a state finals
game was just incredible, for the
the fans and for the team. Olivia
Zuchelli and Kayla Rice said again
that they felt the team’s restless-
ness and slight anxiety before the
game, ultimately losing all three
sets (21-25, 16-25, and 17-25). It
was extremely heartbreaking to
see such a loss after so much hard
work. Jackie Stanko sums it best
when she says: “We played a really
great team which caused us to
struggle throughout the entire
game. Although we lost, I'm so
proud of the team and how we grew
as a great group of friends through-
out the season. North Star volleyball
2k15 will always have the greatest
fan section. Thank you everyone for
supporting us all year.”
Volleyball Continued from p. 1
Page 11
November 25 was a shortened day
for the high school in preparation
for our Thanksgiving break. It was-
n’t a normal Wednesday of classes
though. The day was filled with nu-
merous activities in which students
could partake until they were dis-
missed in the afternoon. Through-
out the day there were various par-
ties for any clubs of which students
might have been a part. The big-
gest activity of the day, however,
was the volleyball tournament. The
entire school showed their support
for our varsity volleyball team that
had just placed second in the state
volleyball finals that previous Sat-
urday. Fifteen different teams in-
cluding one teacher team compet-
ed in four different elimination
rounds. The winning team consist-
ed of Dillon Charlton, Gus Stra-
siser, Morgan Lehman, Cody
Koontz, Von Yoder, Riley Hem-
minger, Kayla Rice and Courtney
Schrock. Aside from the Volleyball
tournament, members of the musi-
cal cast anxiously
held their breath
as they waited for
noon to come,
when they had
been promised a
reveal of this
year’s musical.
The meeting was
held in the library
where Mary
Mauzy, Mrs. Shaf-
fer and Ms. Sey-
mour unveiled to
the expectant cast
that this year’s
musical would be
“Godspell” by
Stephen Schwartz. Students were
dismissed from school at 1:15 to
return home for a long and hopeful-
ly relaxing Thanksgiving break.
Send-off for Thanksgiving Break By Caleb Hildbold
When I wake up and I see your
face,
You remind me of that one elusive
Christmas cookie.
You know the one I’m talking
about:
The little sugar-dough tree,
Green sprinkles for pine needles,
Red sprinkles for the small, twin-
kling lights,
The bright yellow star at the top,
tying it together…
And seeing you reminds me,
“She’s just like that Christmas
cookie…
“The one I always attempted to
make for myself,
“But never quite got the hang of
decorating…”
Thinking about it makes you know:
That cookie from your childhood,
It had a face, and that face is beau-
tiful.
Her hair lightly sprinkled on her
face like pine needles…
Her cheeks, flush from the cold,
sparkling red…
Her bright, shining eyes like the
stars…
Christmas cookies By Austin Lyons
Page 12
Photo courtesy of Ashley Kelly.
Page 13
On December 14, the North Star
Concert Band performed their an-
nual Christmas concert in order to
prepare for the holidays. The con-
cert gained a lot of attention, and
managed to capture the Christmas
spirit.
The concert started off with Somer-
set County Community Band per-
forming songs such as Twenty Car-
ols in Two Minutes by Mark Wil-
liams, and A Christmas Canon by
Michael Green. The Community
Band has joined North Star on their
Christmas concert in the past, and
it is starting to become a tradition.
“I feel as if the Christmas Concert
is a great opportunity to perform,
and to reach out to some of the stu-
dents at North Star,” said Jason
June, the Community Band Conduc-
tor. In fact, several students from
North Star, such as Draven Beener,
Matthew Darr, Kaitlyn Darr, and
Ashley Kelly, are members of the
Community Band.
After the Community Band finished
their performance the North Star
Concert Band took the stage. The
members of the band had been
practicing since the beginning of
the school year. While some stu-
dents were nervous, many were
excited to see their hard work pay
off. “I feel as though I never have to
worry about this group,” said Mrs.
Cannistraci, the Concert Band’s
director, “They are motivated and
always work towards a great per-
formance, and we have fun getting
to that goal.” The group of students
produced a wide variety of songs
throughout the night, such as slow
songs, like Candlelight Carol by
John Rutter, and fast songs, like
Carol of the Bells by Chip Davis.
When asked about the selection of
music, french horn player, Sierra
Mafield, stated, “The songs are re-
ally fun and also have a high skill
level.”
Towards the end of the concert, the
Community Band returned to the
stage and joined the Concert Band
in the performance of Midnight
Sleigh Ride by Tom Wallace. “The
concert this year was tiring, but
also incredibly fun,” said Matthew
Darr, “Especially at the end.” Both
bands coming together to end the
concert made for a great finale.
If you missed the Christmas concert
but still want to see a performance;
the Concert Band also hosts another
annual concert in the spring. An
exact date will be posted in the
band room after Christmas break.
The North Star Concert Band en-
courages anyone who wants to see
the concert to attend.
Christmas band concert By Lucas Deist
The North Star High School Concert Band. Photo courtesy of Roberta Kelly.
Monday, December 14. "Star Wars:
The Force Awakens" directed by J.
J. Abrams and starring Daisy Rid-
ley, John Boyega and Harrison Ford
had its world premiere at the TCL
Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles
and NBC broadcasted Adele live in
New York (previously recorded).
Also the same day the book club
met as they have every Monday
since the first month of the school
year.
The members held a party before
Thanksgiving and all have great
expectations for what is to come in
the next year. The club has gained
many new members and is always
willing to invite more to join in their
love of books.
To start off the school year the club
elected its officers. Sydney Trout is
the new president/king, Draven
Beener is the vice president/lady,
and Kaitlin Darr is the new secre-
tary. The current book being dis-
cussed and read is The Maze Run-
ner by James Dashner. A new book
will be selected before Christmas
break.
Book club By Megan Friedline
It’s that holly jolly time of the year,
and though the weather may not be
very festive, the Christmas spirit is
still in the air. So, to get you in that
“Best time of the year” mood, here
are some trivia facts about the holi-
day:
Santa Claus wasn’t always known
for his iconic sleigh—in fact, the
idea for his vehicle of choice didn't
start until 1819, when Washington
Irving, the same author of the Head-
less horseman, thought it up.
Mistletoe comes from the Anglo-
Saxon word “miseltan”, which
translates to “little dung twig”. How
romantic.
Germans made the first ever artifi-
cial Christmas tree by dying goose
feathers green
Do you know the first state to recog-
nize Christmas as a holiday? Good
‘ol Alabama in 1813, while the last
state to recognize it was Oklahoma
in 1907
While it’s up for debate as to who
put the first Christmas tree in the
white house (either 14th president
Franklin Pierce or 23rd president
Benjamin Harrison), in 1901 Teddy
Roosevelt flat out banned all Christ-
mas trees from the White House
(Teddy should’ve taken a note from
the Germans, and just made a goose
feather tree)
These presidents however, weren’t
even close to being the first person
to ever decorate a Christmas tree-
that would be Martin Luther. He was
supposedly so awed by the sight of
stars through an evergreen tree, he
bought one himself and decorated
it with candles so his family could
experience it too.
Lastly, while we’re probably all fa-
miliar with hiding a pickle orna-
ment in the tree, it wasn’t the first
food based decoration- apples
were!
So, while you try to make conversa-
tion at your Christmas gathering
this year, maybe you’ll think about
the environmentalist Teddy Roose-
velt and his stance on trees—Merry
Christmas!
Christmas trivia By Mattison Lyons
Featured teacher: Ms. Saylor By Kira Heider
Q: I understand that you are a
North Star Graduate; have you no-
ticed any changes since you’ve
been hired here?
A: There have been a couple
changes, such as teachers being in
different rooms and the cafeteria
renovation. There is a lot more
technology available to use in the
classrooms now and that is really
impressive.
It has been really neat to work with
many of the teachers that I grew up
with and even some of my former
classmates. The close-knit commu-
nity and school pride that exists at
North Star is very refreshing!
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: In my spare time, I do a lot of
hiking with my puppy, Pearl. I also
really like to hula-hoop! My friends
and I have a group that sometimes
does performances around the ar-
ea.
Other than that, I really enjoy read-
ing, knitting, cooking, and watch-
ing movies and TV series. My fa-
vorite shows right now are Game of
Thrones, Parks and Recreation,
Broad City and South Park.
Q: How long have you been teach-
ing?
A: This is my seventh year teach-
ing. I’ve been at various schools in
Cambria County over the years. It is
really exciting to be back in the area
at my alma mater.
Q: What are you most excited
about this school year?
A: I’m really excited to just be
here. I’ve always loved teaching,
but it really makes a difference to be
in a district that you love. North Star
is wonderful district with a strong
community backing. I’m very proud
of this school and feel honored to be
a part of it.
Q: Are there any projects this year
that you are looking forward to do-
ing?
A: We are going to read The Great
Gatsby after Christmas break. It is
one of my favorite novels, and I’m
really looking forward to sharing it
with my students.
Q: What do you think is the most
important thing for a student to do
in order to do well in your class?
A: All that I ask is that my stu-
dents show up with an open mind
and try their hardest. I can present
you with information, but it is up to
you to take it and do something
with it.
Q: Is there anything you would like
to add?
A: I’m just really looking forward
to my career here at North Star. Go
Cougars!
It’s Christmas today. A holiday I no
longer enjoy. Earlier today, it was
my favorite holiday, but not any-
more. It’s the worst day of my en-
tire life. It all started this morn-
ing….
“Wake up! Wake up!” my little sis-
ter Alice screamed, “Santa came!”
Alice is only seven, so Santa is
very important to her. She’s a bub-
bly, little brunette with shining
green eyes like my mom. She’s
adorable when she’s not jumping
on my bed!
“Okay, okay, I’m up,” I groaned. I
wiped the sleepiness from my eyes
as she skipped out of my room to-
wards my parents’ bedroom.
I started my way down the stairs
with my parents close behind. Al-
ice would not stop screaming about
how Santa came and she knew she
was on the nice list. I sat down on
the bottom stair and looked at all
the colorfully wrapped presents
under the tree. I couldn’t help but
wonder how long this will take.
Nearly two hours later, Alice
opened her last present under the
tree. She got tons of Frozen items,
stuffed animals, and other toys. I
also got everything I wanted. I got
Beats headphones, a new stereo,
and $150.00.
“Hey, mom?” I asked as I walked
into the kitchen where a tall blonde
woman stood over the sink washing
dishes. “Yes sweetie?” She replied.
“Can all of us go out shopping?” I
asked eager to spend my money.
“Sure,” she answered happily.
After about an hour, we were all
ready to go, well except dad.
“Dad, Hurry up!” I yelled up the
stairs.
“I’m coming!” He yelled back. Not
much later he came stomping down
the stairs with his once messy
brown hair neatly placed. “Let’s
go.”
Once several layers of clothing
were equipped, we stepped out the
door into the winter wonderland of
snow and ice. We live outside of a
small town which has several
shops. My favorite shop is the floral
shop. I don’t get to go there often
because it’s kind of in the bad part
of town, but nothing has happened
in a while. “Can we go to the flower
shop?” I look at my parents with a
hopeful face. They exchange glanc-
es before my mom finally answers.
“Since it’s Christmas we will go.” I
practically jumped with joy. We
began our travels to the flower
shop. About a half an hour later, we
arrived in front of a dainty little
white house with a red door that
held a sign that read, “Come in,
we’re open!” I flung the door open
running immediately to the back of
the store where the vases were.
The last time I was here there was a
vase that as soon as I saw it, I knew
it had to be mine. It was a deep red
with black swirly designs on it. I
couldn’t get it last time because I
didn’t have the money. I grabbed
the vase and set it on the counter.
“Nicky! Nicky!” Alice yelled grab-
bing my hand.
“What?” I said following her.
“These are so pretty, look!” Her
little finger pointed to the most
beautiful white roses. They practi-
cally sparkled. I grabbed four of
them, one to represent each family
member.
“I’ll take these too.” I said to the
clerk. He was an older man, but he
was very kind. I found it quite easy
to talk to him.
“You guys can go outside and wait
if you want, I’ll be out in a second,”
I looked at my family. My mom nod-
ded and one by one they filed out.
That’s when it happened. That is
when my happiness was ripped
away from me.
I heard several gunshots. I immedi-
ately ran outside. What I saw is now
burned into my eyelids. Both of my
parents were laying perfectly still
on the snow. Alice was screaming
in pain. I ran to her side. I was so
overwhelmed I dropped my bag
with the vase, which shattered and I
blacked out. There aren’t many po-
lice in this little town, especially
since nothing really happens.
When I woke up Alice was silent,
my family was laying still, each on
their own red sheet of snow. I cried
for hours and hours. When I finally
stopped crying I took each white
rose and put one in their gloved
hands. The last rose, that represent-
ed me, I picked up and I ran. I ran
until I reached the one place I could
think. There is a cliff a few yards
away from my house that looks out
over the rolling hills. That leads you
to the present. Here I am standing
on the edge of the cliff letting the
cool air hit my face. I grip the rose
tighter and squeeze my eyes shut.
This is to prepare
for what I am
about to do. I
slowly take a step
forward and it
suddenly felt like
I was flying… and
just like that, the
last white rose
was put to rest.
The Last White Rose By Kylie Kelly
Page 15
Mario Kart Double Dash Review By Michael Sabo
Page 16
Game: Mario Kart Double Dash
Platform: Nintendo Gamecube
Release Date: November 7, 2003
Rating: E
Review: ★★★★★
For those with a Gamecube, you’re
about to rock! This exciting thrill
ride of a Mario racing game has
gone down, in my book, as a won-
derfully action packed game that
put the Gamecube on the spectrum
of the early 21st centuries greatest
gaming consoles.
Mario Kart Double Dash was a real-
ly edgy concept conceived by Nin-
tendo in 2003. The game incorpo-
rates many features that other Mar-
io Kart games lacked in the past,
which is specifically why it was one
of the best-selling games released
by Nintendo for the Gamecube.
With Shigeru Miyamoto leading the
production team, Mario got a new
smash hit that would put Microsoft
and Sony to work on something
better.
Mario Kart Double Dash has many
unique features including the obvi-
ous two riders per kart. This al-
lowed the multiplayer status of the
game to explode with new ways to
get engrossed in the action. The
game introduced double item box-
es that equipped both players to
receive an item whether that is a
turtle shell or Bobomb, or a boost
to improve your ranks. This also
allowed the feature of switching
between driver and rider. Only the
rider can use items and only the
driver has control, so compromise
between players is critical.
They can select ghost mode where
a player races against the past
player who had the previous best
track time. In Battle Mode, players
strive to attack opponents with
items in a closed arena. Much like
the battle mode in Mario Kart DS,
players can choose between Shrine
collecting or Balloon popping in
order to win. This mode is only
compatible with 2 to 4 players.
Double Dash is also compatible
with LAN Mode on the Gamecube’s
Broadband Adapter. Up to eight
Gamecubes can be connected al-
lowing for sixteen players to com-
pete with two players controlling
each kart.
Overall, Mario Kart Double Dash is
one of the great legends that Nin-
tendo Produced for the Gamecube.
With its many special features that
cannot be found in any other Mario
Kart game, its incredible graphics,
unbeatable arsenal of characters,
courses, and modes of play, I, with-
out any hesitation, give the game a
perfectly deserved five stars. Keep
on Playing!!!
The game also allowed players to
choose from nearly twenty different
characters and added eleven new
characters to the series. The game
allows you to pair up with any two
characters on a kart. There are also
many special karts that are themed
for certain characters and are com-
patible with special abilities. For
instance, Yoshi’s kart is lightweight
and easy to handle, where Bow-
ser’s is heavy yet unstoppable
when on the offensive. The courses
are also one huge aspect of the
game that makes it a ride with
thrills, spills, and chills. With doz-
ens of different courses to choose
from in any mode, the courses al-
low the player to see the whole
track and characters through a
map. Along with winding roads,
curves with no barriers, narrow
straight ways that force you to fight
your way to first, it’s the game that
keeps on challenging.
The games many different modes
are another thing that makes it
unique. With five different ways to
play, it allows for many realms of
endless play. Grand Prix mode al-
lows the player to go up against
seven other teams of characters in
a series of predetermined courses.
A player can choose the engine
class size of 50, 100, and 150 cc
along with a locked class and mir-
ror mode. Versus mode offers mul-
tiplayer human played action simi-
lar to Grand Prix. Players can race
on all sixteen courses and choose
from all characters in selected
courses and size classes. Time Trial
is a single played challenge mode
where a player can choose a
course and attempt to beat his or
her personal best track record.
Adele, what can possibly be said
about a woman so tremendously
talented that would do her the cor-
rect justice. Her talent puts her
head and shoulders above all of the
competition, and for good reason,
she’s real. When her debut album,
19, was released way back in 2008,
the most successful single, Chasing
Pavements, made a small ripple in
the music industry. Yet no one
could have imagined that her soph-
omore effort, 21, would take the
artist straight to the forefront of
modern pop music. Now, after a
four-year album hiatus, Adele is
back once again to take over the
music industry. The lead single,
“Hello”, was first teased in a short,
surprise commercial that aired on
October 18 during the popular Brit-
ish competition “The X-Factor”.
The single was released on Octo-
ber 23, five long days after the
tease, and debuted at number one
in dozens of countries around the
world.
The song itself a soul piano ballad
in the magnificent style signature to
only Adele that we all know and
love. It starts off with an ominous
piano that eventually accompanies
Adele, and gradually builds
through the first verse and chorus.
When the second verse comes like
an emotional refresher after the
power of the first chorus, we hear a
muffled drum kit, performed by the
singer herself, added to the sonic
soundscape. After the story-
building second verse, the second
chorus comes charging through the
speakers. This chorus, filled with
extraordinary backup vocals and
instrumental accompaniment,
serves as the cement in the songs
now established message and
chord structure. It stays intense for
the rest of the song, and instead of
going back to another verse, goes
to a bridge, which instead serves
as a vocal solo for Miss Adkins.
After the singer nearly brings lis-
teners to tears with a handful of
choice high notes, she powerhous-
es her way directly back into the
third and final chorus. This chorus
is much more intense from start to
finish, and features Adele riffing on
the already established chorus
melody, adding the perfect amount
of icing to the already perfectly
trimmed cake of the song. After
the climactic final chorus, every-
thing drops out except for the same
ominous piano from the beginning,
and resolves the chord progres-
sion.
Overall, I think that this composi-
tion is incredibly well done. It
builds in intensity, keeping the lis-
tener on their toes the entire time,
anxious about what the next mas-
terfully sung line will be. The sing-
er uses the breath in, breath out
structure of the song to showcase
the message in the proper way,
along with intelligently placed vo-
cal flares and piano exhibitions.
There are not many artists who can
compose a song with an incredible
message, and also showcase their
talent along with it. Adele has de-
veloped a style that is signature to
her, and only her. Originality is
something that is hard to come by
in society, and she has found her
unique spot. I give this song five
stars out of five stars because the
song has an intelligently written
message, about reaching the true
rank of adulthood after struggling
through the teens and early twen-
ties. Along with a fantastically com-
posed structure, that includes a
catchy chorus hook performed in
the perfectly original style that Ad-
ele can call her own. Adele is one
of a handful of artists that we as the
listeners may have to depend on to
get us through the current era of
pop music.
Adele– Hello ★★★★★ By Ben Volk
Page 17
Page 18
Girls soccer season wrap up By Mattison Lyons
On Halloween, our North Star soc-
cer girls wrapped up their season
with a game against Windber, but
that’s just the tip of the iceberg on
the girls’ great season. “We had a
pretty rough start (4 losses)”, says
Allison Carmean, a freshman on the
team, “but as we played more
games we bonded more and be-
came a better team.” And they did
just that; the girls won a total of 12
games out of the 19 they played,
and they’re scores showed their
quotes, “I cried like a dinosaur, ha-
ha.”, and as a team who slowly be-
came more of a family over this
season, who can blame her? Over
all their, season was a good one.
They got off on the wrong foot, but
as the awesome team that they are,
they overcame their issues and
came out with a great track-record.
Congratulations on your great sea-
son this year girls!
improvement (winning games
against Johnstown Christian School
8-0 and United 7-0). Their last game against Winder was
a pretty good playoff game and
agreed to be a “bitter-sweet end-
ing”. The team is going to be losing
some valuable members due to
graduation: Megan Coddington,
Maddy Huzek, Kara West, and Ally
Eutin are all 4 seniors who’ll be
graduating this year. Hannah
St.Clair, a freshman on the team
North Star Varsity Basketball 2016 By Caleb Hildbold
The 2015-16 basketball season
kicked off on the weekend of No-
vember 20 when teammates ar-
rived at Laurel Mountain Christian
Camp for their yearly basketball
camp. The team started practice
upon their arrival on Friday. They
worked out and worked on their
skills and techniques with local
players Timotheus Pope, the leader
of the Citikidz Christian Sports
Camp and one of our own, Mr. Bals-
ley. The team worked long and
hard to improve their skills under
the direction of Head Coach Mat-
thew Fox and came home on Sun-
day. The team captains for this sea-
son are junior Nathan Thropp, sen-
ior Von Yoder and junior Alex Dan-
iels. The team lost their first three
games against Blacklick Valley,
Shanksville Stonycreek and Por-
tage. Team captain Daniels said
this after Tuesday’s game against
Portage, “I think we have a very
promising team this year. If we
work together we can really go
far.” The team’s losses have not
discouraged the team in the slight-
est. Forward Brandon Stepp of-
fered these words of encourage-
ment about the team after their
loss against Portage, “Stay hungry
because victory tastes good.”
Photo courtesy of Coultan Lucas.
FCA stands for Fellowship of Chris-
tian Athletes, but you don’t have to
be an athlete to join in on FCA
breakfast. Every other Wednesday
morning, students can gather in the
FCS room at 7:1 1a.m. with North
Star Youth Outreach (NSYO) lead-
ers like Emma Ball, Jon Ledyard,
Brit Dunlap, and Steve Battaglia and
have a delicious breakfast. Near
the end of the meal, a speaker from
the community (or, most recently, a
student!) delivers a talk on Christi-
anity and how it plays a role on the
sports field or in life in general.
The most recent FCA (Wednesday,
December 16) featured Morgan
Lehman with an outstanding talk
about living a positive life. Listen
for announcements for FCA break-
fasts coming up in 2016!
FCA breakfast By Cooper Tretter
Rumors have been circling for
years about North Star High School
being haunted.
I’ve heard many rumors such as
one about the wrestling coach fall-
ing from the “third floor” and dying
on impact. There is no truth to that
story according to Mr. Lepley, Su-
perintendent. Next, the one about
there being a janitor’s wife dying at
the bottom of the staircase leading
to the locker room where the jani-
tor had kept a picture of her in the
dirt room. We had disproved this
by going to the three dirt rooms
that the school has and not finding a
picture of the woman unfortunately
in any of them. Though the picture
of the janitor’s beloved wife wasn’t
there, it was definitely a creepy
experience. We had observed
three letters which appear to be
initials spray painted inside one of
the dirt rooms. Along with finding
where the dirt rooms are we have
also been able to disprove the ru-
mor that “a locker leads to the dirt
room” because they are sealed off.
There was also a story about a man
who is believed to be a janitor
walking along the hallways with
black
hair on
top and
white
hair on
the
sides.
There
have
been
posts on
web-
sites by
“former
students” that have seen
this man; his sightings are typically
after school when few people are in
the building. This claim has not
been confirmed by any teacher yet
which leaves this rumor inconclu-
sive.
Overall, the rumors that “haunt”
North Star about its ghosts are en-
tertaining if not entirely truthful.
Haunted North Star? By Kira Hieder
Page 19
The Dirt Rooms.
Photo courtesy of Kira Heider.
FCA Breakfast.
Photo courtesy of Emma Ball.
Forensics By Casey Ray
Page 20
What is Forensics? A lot of people
mistake our forensics team for the
FBI forensics. But are Forensics
team is more of a speech team. We
have many topics including Dra-
matic Interpretation, Duo Drama,
Humorous Interpretation, Persua-
sive, Poetry, Informative, Prose,
Declamation, Extemporaneous,
Commentary, and Debate. This
year we have Seniors Caleb
Ogline, Lindsay Walker, Jak Dupre,
Sierra Mafield, Michael Sabo, Da-
vid Miller, Sydney Trout, AJ Revel-
lo, Megan Fredline, and Tori De-
luke-Nicoletti. The rest of the team
members are Katie Darr, Casey
Ray, Twila Blanset, Hannah Hille-
gas, Nick Baron, Tiffany Walker,
Cooper Tretter, and Austin Lyons.
Our first meet was at Berlin
and the following people
placed 3rd: Twila Blanset
and Casey Ray (Duo Dra-
ma), Nick Baron (Humorous
Interpretation), Austin Ly-
ons (Poetry). The next two
people got second: Lindsay
Walker (Dramatic Interpre-
tation), and Hannah Hillegas
(Humorous Interpretation).
Last but not least Cooper
Tretter (Persuasive) got
First.
Our next meet is at Blacklick Valley
on January 15, 2016. So wish all of
us luck and hope for the whole
team to bring back a ribbon.
Girls Basketball by Taylor Miller
This year the 2015-16 girls basket-
ball team got off to a good start,
winning the Forest Hills Holiday Tip
Off Tournament in a great competi-
tion game against the Forest Hills
Lady Rangers. Then, on December
7, the team traveled to Hol-
lidaysburg Area High School,
bringing home a win for varsity,
but a loss for JV. The team this year
has twelve girls, consisting of three
seniors, two juniors, three sopho-
mores and four freshmen.
Senior Courtney Schrock says that
her goals for this year are for the
team to make it to districts and
state playoffs. Courtney, along with
Kayla Rice and Olivia Zuchelli, has
been playing the game since they
were in second grade. Kayla Rice
pete with her friends and other
schools.
also has the same goals as Court-
ney and the rest of the team. Kayla
says her favorite thing about bas-
ketball is getting to play and com-
The Forensics Team Absent from photo: Casey Ray and
Andrew Revello. Photo courtesy of Casey Ray.
school?
A. I hope I can continue to help fa-cilitate North Star becoming a
school that is known for having
great students. This year our high
school lead the county with the
highest rating is school perfor-
mance. While that is great, what
makes me proud to be principal
here is what out student do while
leading the county academically.
We have great success with our
student athletes, we do tremendous
amounts of community service,
showcase the arts at the state and
national level, have great participa-
tion in school events, have a great
following of student fans at sporting
events, and even have groups of
students that use their educational
travel to do missionary work over-
seas. So my plans are to continue
with that success and find way to
make us better, but that won’t be
easy.
Q. What made you want to be-
come a principal?
A. I am not sure anyone ever grows up or goes to college want-
ing to be a principal one day. For
me my teaching career led me in
this direction. Through coaching
and teaching I developed a skill set
that made me feel that I could do
greater benefit to students and
teachers through work as a princi-
pal. However it is a love for stu-
dents, helping them, and watching
them develop into men and women
that draws my satisfaction for what I
do.
Q. How did you become a princi-pal?
A. I started as a special education and social studies teacher in Vir-
ginia for five years. I continued my
education at Frostburg State Uni-
versity to work on my Master’s De-
gree in Administration and Super-
vision. I was employed at Berlin
Brothersvalley High School as a
social studies teacher and athletic
director for four years. After that I
was an assistant principal at South-
ern Middle School in Oakland, Mar-
yland, for two years before becom-
ing the principal at North Star Mid-
dle School in 2006.
Q. If you didn't become a principal what other plans did you have for
your career?
A. I have always grown up in rural areas and have love for animals. I
think I would have made a good
rancher out west raising cattle.
Our new high school principal, Mr. Kiesnowski continued from p. 10.
Page 21
North Star Chorus Christmas Concert By Andrew Revello
The North Star Chorus will be hold-
ing a Christmas concert on Mon-
day, December 21. The Chorus is
directed Ms. Seymour and will in-
clude four solo songs as well as
four songs done together as a
group. The seniors include Evan
Gerney, Matt Darr, Lindsay Walker,
Grace Rucosky, Sydney Trout, Sier-
ra Mafield and Andrew Revello
(myself). The four songs that we
will be performing together are
Christmas Is, Rocking Christmas Eve,
Deck the Halls By Tiffany Philips.
We hope that you all come out to
support the Chorus, see you all
there!
In December, and Bidi Bom. These
are all great songs and I cannot
wait to perform them.
As for our soloists and their songs
they go as follows: Angels We Have
Heard on High will be a duet sung
by Cooper Tretter and Evan Ger-
ney. Our second and last duet will
be Baby It’s Cold Outside sung by
Tiffany Walker and Evan Gerney.
Lastly we will have two songs that
are purely solo; they are Mary Did
You Know by Cooper Tretter and
Student survey By Austin Lyons
Page 23
With Keystones being re-tested
right now, I decided to ask the stu-
dents of North Star what their plans
were for the study halls.
From the results of the survey, it’s
safe to say that, as students, we
would really rather stay home from
the Keystone re-tests, so the ques-
tion is raised: Why even make them
whole school days? Students miss
out on four periods a day for a
week, which means SCTC students
don’t ever see their teachers and
miss out on their core learning. I
propose that, as a student who is
firmly under the belief that re-
taking the test shouldn’t be inhibit-
ing our learning as a whole, that we
make re-tests happen after school,
on weekends, or at least not during
on mornings that we have to walk
into a ghost town of a school just
because we haven’t taken a certain
required test that we haven’t had
the opportunity to take anyway.
core classes. If we do this, we’ll
have happier teachers, students
will be able to continue learning
while the testing is going on, and
we won’t have to occupy ourselves
What grade are you in?
Freshman: 48 Sophomore: 44 Junior: 1 Senior: 39
Do you come in or stay home on test days?
Come in:48 Stay at home: 0
Come in: 11 Stay at home: 33
Come in: 0 Stay at home: 1
Come in: 7 Stay at home: 32
What do you do in the free time, either in school or at home?
Sleep: 33 Schoolwork: 20
Hang With Friends: 17 Outdoor Activities: 21
Reading/Watching TV: 19 Miscellaneous: 22
A good story is its own reward, an editorial By Megan Friedline
If you know me then you know I’m
practically always reading. If you
don’t know me, well, I’m that kid
you see in the hallway with one to
two books in my hands or arms. I
will advocate reading until I die but
I know not everyone is an avid
reader like me. However, there are
people who make reading to be the
worst thing ever to exist. I don’t
want any excuses, you know who
you. I sometimes think that this hate
for reading stems from our educa-
tion that teaches us to read not for
fun but for comprehension and
“hidden meaning”. (I use quotes
here to show that what you read is
exactly as you interpret it, not how
others do.)
Authors write books not for an in
depth look into the ways of the uni-
casually while talking with
friends. Following that line, read-
ing grants knowledge that you pre-
viously would not have known.
Mario, of Super Mario Bros. fame,
appeared in the 1981 arcade game,
Donkey Kong. His original name
was Jumpman, but was changed to
Mario after Nintendo’s American
landlord, Mario Segale. An exam-
ple of what you can learn by read-
ing.
Therefore, good people, I implore
you not to view reading in a cynical
manner but rather to look at what
you can gain by reading an article
or chapter a day. A good story is its
own reward.
verse or why chickens cross the
road. They write them so the read-
er can enjoy themselves. So you
may ask, what are books good for
besides taking up shelf space?
Glad you asked.
The best use of books or even nice-
ly written articles is probably their
stress reducing factor. A well writ-
ten work immerses the reader in its
story and transports them away
from their everyday lives allowing
them a reprieve from their stressful
lives. Kind of like music but for the
eyes.
Reading increases writing skills
and critical thinking skills that are
very useful in many aspects of life.
It also builds a wide vocabulary set
and understanding of words even if
you can’t put them into a sentence
of our planet is in a perpetual
state of darkness.
A scallop has 35 blue eyes.
Using its web-like skin be-tween its arms, an octopus can
carry up to a dozen crabs back
to its den.
A starfish can turn its stomach inside out.
The biggest starfish is the sun-flower star; it has more than 26
arms.
Sea sponges have no head, mouth, eyes, feelers, bones,
heart, lungs or brain, yet they
are alive.
Sharks do not have a single bone in their bodies. Their
skeletons are made of carti-
lage.
The first tiger shark pup to hatch inside its mother’s womb
devours its unborn siblings un-
til only two pups remain one on
each side of the womb.
The smallest and shallowest ocean in the world is the Arctic
Ocean, located in the Northern
Hemisphere and mostly in the
Arctic North Polar Region.
I hope you enjoyed these interest-
ing facts about the ocean and its
inhabitants. The site is below if
you’re interested on more of these
cool facts.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/
nature-and-environment/nature/fun
-surprising-facts-about-the-
oceans.aspx
Useless information By Izabella Walters
Welcome to the world of useless
information. All the things you did-
n’t need to know about but here it
is anyways. All the facts below are
grouped together by the subject of
the ocean and the creatures that
live in it, enjoy.
For starters, did you know that 94 percent of life on Earth is
aquatic? That makes us land-
dwellers a very small minority.
Fifty percent of the United States lies below the ocean.
Oysters can change from one gender to another and back
again depending on which is
best for mating.
The common goldfish is the only animal that can see both
infra-red and ultra-violet light.
About 70 percent of the planet is ocean, with an average depth
of more than 12,400 feet.
Given that photons (light) can’t penetrate more than 330 feet
below the water’s surface, most
Newspaper Staff
Editor: Lindsay Walker
Co-editors: Andrew Revello, Kira Hieder, and Megan Friedline
Design: Ashley Kelly, Izabella Walters and Mattison Lyons
Austin Lyons Cooper Tretter Lucas Deist
Ben Volk David Miller Michael Sabo
Caleb Hildbold Kaylee Deist Taylor Miller
Casey Ray Kylie Kelly Trinity Romesberg
Photo courtesy of Google.