issue 10

v41.1018111 Cumberland Rd. Noblesville IN, 46060

2010-2011Mill Stream Staff

Matt Loriaeditor-in-chief

Katie Soudersproduction editor

Jayde Klavephotography editorcirculation manager

Sidney Huberbusiness manager

Jace Hodsonfeatures editor

Jenna Larsonopinions editor

Brittany Burkhaltersports editor

Kendra FoleySunni LeMadi McNewphotographers

Abraham EcharryQuinn ReiffNavar Watsonartists/cartoonists

Alejandra CoarAinee JeongCarlie JordanAnna KreutzDrew MusselmanAustin Northwriters

Krista Shieldsadviser

mill streamwww.mill-stream.org

05.13.2011

Photo by B. Burkhalter

Mother Nature strikes the

westPg 5

Teachers plan for retirement

Pg 8

In the head of the editor-in-chief

Pg 2

Senior pranks through the

yearsPg 7

The Millers’ softball team doesn’t pull punches. Just ask one of the several opponents they’ve beaten this year, carrying them to a very impressive record of 14 wins and two losses. Their overall success shows that the team is well rounded as a whole, but just like any other great team, they believe there are areas in which they truly excel.

“I think our biggest strength is definitely hitting, and our defense is definitely getting better,” Junior Marissa Hine said. Working through adver-sity, however, has also been a major factor in the this year’s success.

Softball team slams through opponentsAustin [email protected]

Story continued on page 10

Sophomore Hannah DeSalvo rips a hit into the outfield during the game against and at Kokomo on Thursday May 5. The girls fell short in the final inning with a 7-6 loss.

Mill Stream is published by Block 5 journalism students and distributed free of charge. The staff will publish 13 issues during the 2010-2011 school year.

Mill Stream is a student newspaper, run for students, by students. We provide a public forum to serve as an outlet for student ideas and opinions; we work as an agent for change and provide credible, objective reporting to inform, entertain, educate the reader and better serve the reader.

We welcome both signed letters to the editor and guest columns, which cannot exceed 350 words in length.

Mill Stream reserves the right to correct grammatical errors and ask for the au-thor’s assistance in editing. Mill Stream will not print letters that attack individuals or that contain obscene language. Letters may be submitted to room 137, the Mill Stream mailbox located in the commons or via www.mill-stream.org.

The staff reserves the right to reject advertisements that are political in nature, false, promote illegal substances to minors, misleading, harmful, or not in the best interest of its readers.

Mill Stream is a member of the Indiana High School Press Association.

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18111 Cumberland Rd. Noblesville IN, 46060

2 opinion Mill Stream05.13.2011

[the way we see it] Mill Stream staff editorial

Throughout life, things are always changing. We change our hairstyle or make new friends; almost nothing stays constant. Whether you like it or not, change is all around us. And it’s not going away anytime soon.

We’re going through our own personal adjustments every day, especially in high school. High school is one of our main places of change because high school shapes us into adults and helps us to find out where we’re going to go in life. It’s where we realize that we’re going to have to grow up sometime, and that we can’t be kids forever.

High school is where we find ourselves, whether it’s through the friends we make or the clubs we join. It’s how we gain our character. It’s where we find our passion. It’s an always-changing place that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.

In our school alone, things are shifting at a quick pace. NHS is getting a new grading scale next year. We’re also adding on to the building. In a few years, our entire school system will probably be different.

Not only is school changing, but the world around us is changing. The latest style, technology, and music changes everyday. Change comes at you from all sides.

Some people strongly dislike change. They even try to deny it. But sitting around in protest isn’t going to do much. The world isn’t going slow down just because a few people don’t like it, and we need to learn to go with it.

Despite the fact that some of us disfavor change, we have to accept the fact that it is inevitable. Not just now, but always. The Mill Stream staff agrees that all students should embrace the changes and make the best out of them.

Seniors especially should follow this piece of advice, considering they are about to endure one of the greatest refinements they have seen yet. Leaving high school is just as big of an innovation as going through the experience of high school.

Senior or not, everyone should still be open to change. Soon we’ll all be in the same place as the seniors, and if we deny the changes occuring now, it’ll cause problems ahead.

Instead of being negative about new happenings, everyone needs to try to be positive. Everything happens for a reason, and in the long run, it’s probably for the better. Having an open outlook on change will benefit us for the rest of our lives.

High school is where we need to get used to this big idea of change. Because in reality, it’s just the begin-ning.

I’m a man (well, almost, June 24. Put my presents in the mail.) of complex thought. I know what you’re thinking, “Yeah, good joke, Matt.” But seriously, I am. Well, kind of. Actually, I hardly ever am. Currently, I am sitting at my home computer, struggling to come up with an idea for a column, which happens to be due tomorrow. Senioritis much? A thought struck me, no more than two minutes and forty-three seconds ago, for said column. So now I’m going to share it with all of the high school student body.

This column is going to be composed of my thoughts, the random junk that swirls in my head and occasionally falls from my lips at a completely inappropriate moment.

In this column, I’m going to present my thoughts as I search Facebook and listen to the background noise in my home at this very given moment, which happens to be 9:53 p.m. on Tuesday night. None of this is pre-thought, so here’s a look inside the Ed-itor-in-Chief’s head (that’s me!). Note: All of my thoughts will be presented in italics.

Time to open Google Chrome. Okay opened. Well, hello Mr. Face-book bookmark. It’s news feed time. Only three notifications? Lame. Poke my girlfriend via Facebook app. Poking engaged. Absent-mindedly click on random Facebook links and profiles.

My brother needs to stop taking pictures of himself with his camera. He needs a haircut too. Come to think of it, I need a haircut. After I get my hair cut I’ll tell him he needs one, so I don’t look like a hypocrite. I love that word hypocrite. It reminds me of a hippo.

The hippopotamus is the number one human killer of all the animals. And to think, I just thought that they ate the little white marbles. Speaking of hippos eating, I’m hungry. It’s too late to eat now, though.

The blonde stared at a bottle of orange juice for twenty minutes because it said concentrate.

Where is Nemo? “Ellen” must be on. Who is she talking to? Probably a celebrity. Wow, I’m a smart alec even

in my head. Facebook dings. I’ll get it. Well hello, friend. Type, “You’re now in my column.” Prom

King replies, “Boomskis, what do I do?” I reply, “You already did it.” Glance at news feed and see a funny photo of another friend. Click ‘like’ on the

photo. You deserve a like on that photo just for making that face. That’s great. Argh. My back needs to pop! Stretch out back and do a quick seal stretch. Okay, I’m

back. And don’t you say I’m wack. Oh my goodness, I really need to stop rhyming in my head…and out loud too. But it’s just so much fun. I’m going to go for a run. Okay, okay, I guess I’m….done!

Flip through the calendar next to the computer. Thank goodness for spell-check, calendar is a hard word to spell apparently. Only three Tuesdays of school left. Oh man, I’m not ready to graduate yet. Well, let’s be honest, yes I am, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still anxious about the whole ordeal.

Back to Facebook. I need to get off this stupid website. But it’s just so addicting. I wonder if rehab has been established for this site yet. If so, they should pull out an advertise-ment on the sidebar. I’d click ‘like’ on it. Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I forgot! Mrs. Steele said she put an extra credit opportunity on here for English. Frantically click through pages and find the NHS AP Comp/Lit page. Oh cool, I can do that.

I can’t believe I just semi-flipped out about that. I can be such a nerd sometimes…or all the time. One last thought.

This is my last work for the newspaper, ever. What a depressing thought. I’ve done this for three years now, and I never once thought about it ending. I feel like I haven’t done enough. Like somehow I could’ve done more to make the paper better but just didn’t have enough time. Oh well, it’s been a good year. No, it’s been a great year. One of the best. If you read this far, all I have to say is, thank you, and it’s been fun NHS.

Delving into the mind of Loria

Matt [email protected]

For a novel that tackles such heavy issues as cutting, transgenderism, fleeing one’s home life, loss, and denial, Cris Beam’s I Am J is a surpris-ingly believable read.

“J” (born Jenifer) lives his life cloaked in a shroud of confusion. He dresses and acts like a boy, but his friends and family are in a state of denial and cannot see that he is transgender. Unsure of how to live his life, J retreats into isolationism, skipping school and filling his days with his art and eventually even running away. Unfortunately, this proves to worsen J’s issues.

Away from the comforts of home, J realizes he can’t live in the real world without money, and retreats to what he hopes will be the sanc-tuary of a shelter for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) teens. While attending a school with those that he lives with, he realizes that through all his striving to change his female body, what really matters is how he perceives himself on the inside.

Beam shows the world through the eyes of a transgendered teen in a way that provokes compassion and caring from the reader, but in some areas seems to gloss over major points. For example, the self-mutilation of J’s best friend Melissa is hardly even mentioned. The novel is so cen-tered around J that Melissa’s problems go unexplored, even though the author has the potential to provide J with some insight to his own situa-tion of self-loathing and further advance his character.

I Am J was an absolutely memorable novel. It seems to be one of the few that can openly deal with deep issues without those issues overbur-dening the book. The author seamlessly intertwines scenes of emotional intensity with lighthearted comedic relief, insight to America’s transgen-der counterculture, and lessons on taking chances and where they will get you.

When picking up I Am J, I had no other thought in my mind than “Hey, my name starts with J.... so why not read this?” However, I was immediately immersed in a whole other world that I hardly ever consid-ered. If you’ve ever harbored any sort of curiosity towards transgendered people or the counterculture as a whole, this book would definitely be a decent place to start.

On April 29, high school memories were made at prom. I’m not just referring to what was hap-pening in downtown Indy, but also in Nobles-ville.

Prom, the Disney film, highlights every aspect of why so many smile at the mention of the word, “prom.”

Some friends and I had The Great Escape to ourselves and danced along with Taio Cruz’s “Higher,” all the while, imagining it really was prom.

The movie is centered around the perfect se-nior prom- decorations, dates and all. Just watch-ing the movie made you believe you could have been at the dance.

Nova puts all of her time and heart into the decorations of the grand event, only for one mis-hap to seemingly end the dance all together.

Even with her only help in the final weeks be-fore prom being her arch enemy, Jesse. Nova will not let one incident ruin her spirit.

Through endless fails at finding a date, prom will be perfect for the “invisible” kid, the jock

will get his shot at prom king, and for one night, every girl in the room will feel beautiful. If Nova accomplishes all of this, she will have almost suc-ceeded.

It seems that far too often that people who live to please every-one else have a hard time letting themselves experience their own happiness. Nova lives to please.

As the storyline of the film unfolds you’ll see how a people-pleaser will succeed with making fairy-tales come true, including her own.

The movie follows the typical boy-girl love story seen in most Disney classics. However, this one is definitely aimed toward high school students.

Who knew Disney could use crude humor?

I would recommend this movie to other students to relive the memories of their own prom night.

If you weren’t able to enjoy the real prom, it’d be a good idea to

see Disney’s idea of what prom is and why it is a tradition worth taking part in. Whether it be the movie or the night of, be sure not to miss out on the epic memories that come with prom.

Romantic comedies usually end up being really bad or really good. There is no in between. While I had hope for Something Borrowed, I was sorely disappointed by the end.

Maybe it’s because I’d rather watch Saw than Valentine’s Day, but Something Borrowed was just too mushy for me to handle.

The movie started off fine enough, while rather unoriginal. The main character Rachel, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, is the soft-spoken brainy girl. Her best friend Darcy, played by Kate Hudson, is

the bossy friend who always gets whatever she wants.

On the eve of her thirtieth birth-day, Rachel sleeps with Darcy’s fian-ce Dex, played by Colin Egglesfield, whom she’s been in love with since law school. The two realize what they’ve done and try to keep the af-fair secretive while struggling with what to do about it.

Amidst a seemingly endless love hexagon with Rachel, Darcy, and Dex, three other distinctive charac-ters provide some comic relief. John Krasinski, who is also Jim from “The Office,” spends most of the movie avoiding an ex-girlfriend he can’t get rid of. Steve Howey also plays

a funny girl chaser who tries to get Rachel the whole movie.

While there were some good funny parts, most of the movie was predictable. The writers tried to mix it up with some twists at the end, but the movie still seemed to drag on uncomfortably long.

On the bright side, Dex is nice to stare at the entire movie with his soft green eyes.

Something Borrowed is a predict-able romantic comedy that left me wishing I had gone to see Thor in-stead. If you still want to check it out for yourself, save some money and wait until it comes out on Red-Box.

?saywhat

Eavesdroppingat its funniest

3reviewsMill Stream05.13.2011

“If I sneeze, half of my eyebrow would come off.”-English Hallway

“Do I have cheese in my beard?”-Soph. Cafeteria

“She slaps that bass like a baby seal.”-Band Room

“Are those ladies sit-ting on his head?”-Jr./Sr. Cafeteria

“He’s been dead for 100 years, of course his voice is going to be creepy.”-English 11 Honors

“I can’t take you seriously when you’re wearing a tiny jacket.”-Jr./Sr. Cafeteria

“Indirectly, it’s your fault that I broke my pants.”-Computer Lab

“That is why butter is a spread, not a dip!”-Jr./Sr. Cafeteria

“Get your head in the game! This isn’t Quidditch!”-Lifetime Fitness

“I hate my mouth!”-Jr./Sr. Cafeteria

Madi [email protected]

Jace [email protected]

Something Borrowed is something predictable

Carlie [email protected]

Photo provided by imdb.comJesse surprises Nova at prom. The two share a compli-cated relationship throughout the film.

Photo provided by cinemovie.tvBest friends Rachel and Darcy showcase their goofy friendship, which almost ends.

I Am J transcends expectations

4 features Mill Stream05.13.2011

New technology enters the classroom

“I use my Elmo every day,” math teacher Mr. Dave Ferris said. This particular class-room tool was introduced to teachers and students this semester, adding to the growing use of technology in schools as a learning device.

The Elmo Teacher’s Tool TT-02RX Document Camera is listed on Google Products with a five-star rating and a value of $547. The website boasts, “Simple and sleek, the TT-02RX is the most advanced affordable document camera available today.”

Among the Elmo’s many uses, Ferris listed showing dice rolls for explaining prob-ability, demonstrating the scoring of AP statistics exams, recording a video of a lesson to show students, and displaying solutions to problem sets in textbooks and worksheets.

Senior Meghan Jones said that although Ferris, her second block pre-calculus teacher, uses the Elmo tool for the aforementioned tasks, he still uses his chalkboard.

Already, students have access to computers, which offer everything from word pro-cessing software to Internet access, a virtual portal to seemingly endless information. Now, the Elmo gives students and teachers a new device to experience and learn with together, though it’s gotten some mixed reviews.

“The chalkboard is still king,” Ferris said. “I wish the screen did not take up so much of the chalkboard space.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum, junior Shannon Collyer said that her seventh block Spanish IV teacher, Mr. Marc Slain, now uses the Elmo as a replacement for older teaching methods.

“He always used to take notes on the chalkboard. I think it’s easier for him now that he has the Elmo,” Collyer said.

Slain agreed with Collyer’s remark. “I can archive notes on paper, and that allows me to interact more with students,” he said.

Jones’ fifth block painting teacher, Mr. Craig Ryan, utilizes the new classroom device as well. “He’ll show us a picture to enlarge it,” Jones said. She said Ryan recently used the Elmo to magnify a picture so that students could trace it before painting the full work on a larger scale.

“Mr. Powers uses it the most, for sure. He uses it for notes every morning,” Jones said of her first block economics teacher. “It works pretty well.”

In addition to using the Elmo for notes and assignments, Mr. Andrew Wilkins, who teaches Algebra I and II and Aerospace Engineering, said he also uses the tool to record lessons. He then posts the videos on the Internet, where students who need to review

something or were absent have easy access and are able to rework problems from their notes.

Wilkins said he sometimes assigns students to watch a video as homework, and then work problem sets pertaining to the lesson during the next class period.

“I think that many of my students like the notes that I put online because they can review them if they are gone, pause and reverse the video if they missed something, and (if they are doing this at home) it is probably less of a strain on the eyes than if they happen to sit in the back of the classroom,” he said.

One slight advantage, as noted by Slain, is that students are now able to save a little money on some projects. An annual Spanish IV project, for example, allows Slain’s stu-dents to create an invention and present it to the class. One of the requirements is a visual representation.

In the past, Slain said, many students have gone out to buy posters on which to draw their inventions. This year, however, students used standard sheets of paper and project-ed the images with the Elmo to make them larger, thus saving them the time and hassle of making a trip to the store, as well as the pocket change to purchase a poster.

“It’s made the students’ lives easier,” he said. “Not a lot of people have commented on it, so that usually means it’s working okay for them.”

Ferris shared Slain’s opinion that the devices make some aspects of learning easier on his students.

“It adds a deeper…level of communication, since I can demonstrate things for the whole class that would be otherwise difficult to show,” he said.

However, students and teachers alike agree that there are disadvantages to the tool as well.

“It’s disappointing that teachers were not consulted before this wonderful technol-ogy was installed. The location of the screen and the wires make it difficult to make the best use of my classroom,” Ferris said.

Slain agreed that the placement of the Elmo limits mobility in his room as well.Wilkins noted a few other disadvantages to the technology, though he remains posi-

tive overall about the new tool. “Unreliability of technology makes for difficulties for sure. I also think that if I use it the wrong way, it would be tempting to spend much of my time at my desk instead of around the room helping students,” he said.

Regardless of any drawbacks teachers and students may find with the new Elmo tools, it seems as if the technology is here to stay. Many students just hope it does not go so far as to take over every aspect of education.

“I think textbooks are a really good tool. I like books. Too much technology is a bad thing, in my opinion,” Jones said.

Jenna [email protected]

Above: Seniors Will Grabb, Grace Herron, and Jake Boxberger count the votes for Student Body Positions for next school year. They are ready for graduation, but are sad to leave stu-gov behind.

2011-2012 Junior and Senior Student Government

Student Government prepares for next year

Left: Senior Jake Boxberger counted votes excitedly during AL on Monday. The students were looking forward to an-nouncing next years positons.

Student Body: President: Zach Hopper; Vice President: Luke Vandewater; Secretary: Jennifer Nance; Secretary: Trevor TocashSenior Class: President: Stephanie Schneider; Vice President: Jor-dan Turk; Secretary: Ali Charles; Treasurer: Payton MooreJunior Class: President: Kelsey Sigman; Vice President: Sydney Toschlog; Secretary: Katie Dircksen;Treasurer: Molly Horsfield

Photos by J. Klave

“The building is the skeleton of the school, but Student Government is the vital organs.”-Senior Jake Boxberger

“The NHS student government is a well-oiled machine and I have no doubt that next year’s positions will be fulfilled efficiently.”-Senior Will Grabb of the April 27

OUTBREAK

5featuresMill Stream05.13.2011

College-bound seniors are nearly out the door, and with looming tuition prices, schol-arships can be that sunshine on the horizon, GPA permit-ting. For seniors, this means flaunting their vowels: aca-demics, extracurriculars, and athletics.

“Yeah, I’m pretty smart,” se-nior Daniel Merrell said. “And I’m going to the fine institution of Purdue University.”

Nowadays competition can be deadly. To win a scholar-ship, an award only bestowed to the Hermione Grangers out there, students need to be

‘pretty smart’ and maybe then some charisma.

“I got offered part tuition. Probably because of my in-toxicating charisma,” Merrell said.

Wabash College offered a few scholarships to NHS. Se-nior Zak Cassel was accepted with full tuition.

“I’m going to Wabash. I got a scholarship for being in the top twenty percentile of the class,” senior Ethan Dove said.

Nevertheless, charisma and outstanding intelligence aren’t the only medalists. Scholar-ships are granted to all differ-ent endeavors.

Senior Jamie Heartline was accepted into the University

of Indianapolis with the com-munity service leadership scholarship. To win, Heartline went through a maze of com-petitions.

“I had to write an essay to get entered. Then, I made a powerpoint and presented it to the scholarship board.” Heart-line said. “I have to get good grades and continue commu-nity service throughout college to keep up the scholarship.”

Athletes have a more physi-cally vigorous preparation. With college scouts scrutiniz-ing players, the process can be extra stressful.

“I wasn’t really expecting a scholarship at first,” senior Taylor Clauson said. “But once I knew it was a possibility, I

worked really hard towards it to train for the scouts.”

Clauson is going to the Uni-versity of Evansville for soccer with a discounted tuition and slashed book prices.

“Ashland College, for swim-ming,” senior Ben May said. “It didn’t make sense for me to go anywhere else when they offered me the most cash.”

The University of Cum-berland in Kentucky offered senior Vince Drahman two scholarships.

“I got an academic scholar-ship and then one for golf. It’s exciting,” Drahman said.

The excitement is every-where at NHS, and for seniors that scored scholarships, the triumph is well earned.

Seniors score scholarships Anna [email protected]

Smith’s Jewelers98 N. 9th Street

Noblesville, IN 46060

317-773-3383

www.smiths-onthesquare.com

SEIKOSeikoUSA.com

Alright...who ticked off Mother Nature?

Smithville,Mississippi27 DEAD, 40 INJURED

Tuscaloosa,Alabama36 DEAD, 990 INJURED

32 DEAD

Rainsville,Alabama

71 DEAD

Marian County,Alabama

Major tornadoes of the April 27

OUTBREAK

Four hundred people are dead. The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Ad-ministration recently released that approximately 288 tornadoes are re-sponsible for the deaths of at least 344 American citizens over the course of

April 26-28, 2011, thus making the larg-est tornado outbreak in United States history since 1936.

During the April 14-16 tornado out-break earlier last month, AccuWeather’s official website confirmed 289 tornadoes and 45 deaths. Therefore, nearly 400 people have been killed in the month of April alone, and hundreds of thousands of homes have been destroyed.

Though Indiana has managed to slip by this year without many calamitous storms, this does not mean that Indiana is not an area influenced during the tornado sea-son.

Earth and Space Science teacher Carrie Kauffman explained the im-portance of staying safe during tor-nadic weather, even in Indiana.

“Tornadoes are common enough (in Indiana) that warnings should not be taken lightly,” Kauff-man said. “Tornado Alley gets far more tornadoes than we do, but re-gardless of frequency, any tornado is still damaging.”

On March 18, 1925, one single tornado, known at the Great Tri-State Tornado, killed 695 individu-als, injured 2,027, and destroyed over 15,000 homes in three states. One of these states was Indiana (statistics from noaa.gov).

Tornado season has only just be-gun for Indiana. Many more torna-does are bound to occur, and some

of them may be deadly. There-fore, instead of sit-ting on the front porch watching the storm, Kauffman states that the smarter, safer thing to do would be to take cover in-doors.

“Don’t mess around,” Kauffman stressed. “It’s frustrating how many of my friends, family, and students wait around until they see someone else tak-ing cover or wait until they actually see the storm.”

“During a tornado warning, I would take some food or water and head im-mediately to the basement” Junior An-drew Schmidt said.

Several years ago, Schmidt’s cousin was picked up and dropped during the chaos of a tornado, causing immediate skull damage. Schmidt realizes how powerful such weather may be.

Kauffman states that in case one does not have a basement, other areas such as low, interior rooms will likewise do the job of sheltering one from fly-ing debris.

Even though many do not consider Indiana a “dangerous” state, hundreds of residents from the states that were affected this April had felt the same

way. T h i s spring, many died because they were not prepared. They didn’t expect the un-explained wrath of Mother Nature. A stu-dent here at NHS, roam-ing randomly through the halls, said it best when he said, “Some-

body ticked off Mother.”

Navar [email protected]

Photo illustration by N. Watson

Statistics provided by wikipedia.org

Katie Souders, production manager

6 the focus 05.13.2011

Ainee [email protected]

“I remember, in the old school build-ing, people threw papers in the hallways and it was almost knee-deep,” Principal Annetta Petty said. “But then they started throwing firecrackers.”

DO something exciting, but harmless.DON’T throw potentially explosive

objects, especially after strewing the halls with paper.

“I think we had chicks that were let loose another year,” Petty said. “They were dyed different colors...the student body president couldn’t go through commencement.”

DO be nice to baby animals.DON’T dye them and release them in

a place where they could get stepped on. “If it’s something...[that can be seen as] cruel to animals or humans, we’ll intervene,” Petty said.

“About 4 or 5 years ago, there was this one where the the students parked between the islands in the parking lot, so no one could get in,” Petty said. She found that one amusing, because it wasn’t harmful, and students were excused from their tardies.

DO frustrate people rather than hurt them.

DON’T crash your car in the process.

“My freshman year, they had a lightsa-ber fight during passing periods,” senior Miranda Twitty said. “But we were at the freshman campus so we didn’t actually get to see.”

DON’T use a real lightsaber.

“Two years ago, they brought in chickens and they didn’t get in trouble but had to take them home,” senior Taylor Edge said. This time, they weren’t dyed and “a student...actually volunteered to take them home,” according to Petty.

DO volunteer to take live animals home. It’ll keep you on the administration’s good side.

DON’T do pranks with live animals. Please.

Old School Building 2007

2008{

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DO aND DON’T: PasT years Of seNiOr PraNks aT NOblesville

Farewell! Senior send-offIf asked, all staff members would agree that the Mill Stream is more of a family than

a class. It’s unusual for teenage bonding to take place in the company of inky newsprint and stressful deadlines, but it’s done its part to bring everyone closer together, from pho-tographers to writers to editors. As our seniors move on to their respective colleges, their presence will be greatly missed by the remaining staff members. But we wish them the best with their futures, which are sure to be bright, and we hope they’ll remember their Mill Stream days fondly.

Seniors venture out of state borders

Jayde Klave, photo editor

Matt Loria, editor in chief

Austin North, writer

Marley Cripe: Liberty University(Virgina)

“College is just an-other step in life that will help you be suc-

cessful.”

Katie Harrison: University of Arkensas

Sam Smith: University of Nebraska

“ College is going to be a blast, and I’m excited to move on and prepare for adulthood.”

Katie Curtis: Purdue University“I chose Purdue because I knew it

has a great pharmacy program and I liked that it is a big school. It was a school that I could picture myself in.”

Michael Martin: Michigan State University

Jessa McKown: Uni-versity of Kentucky

Jenny Sell: Hawaii Pa-cific University

“They have selected me for their team along with giving me a cheerleading and academic scholarship. I am honored to have been selected.”

Illustration by: A. Echarry N. Watson and K. FoleyQuinn Reiff, writer/cartoonist

the focus 705.13.2011

Students reflect on past and current high school friends

In elementary school, everyone knew who their friends were. It was something of a sacrilege to have multiple “best friendsAs the years stretched on, people have become more aware of what they truly want in a friend, and their list of pals begins to dwindle, leaving those precious enough to keep. For the senior class, the knowledge they have gathered over the years has helped to shape the kinds of friends they choose to have now.

Alejandra [email protected]

“Two years ago, they brought in chickens and they didn’t get in trouble but had to take them home,” senior Taylor Edge said. This time, they weren’t dyed and “a student...actually volunteered to take them home,” according to Petty.

DO volunteer to take live animals home. It’ll keep you on the administration’s good side.

DON’T do pranks with live animals. Please.

“My sophomore year, someone rode their bike through the hallway,” Twitty said. “They couldn’t walk at graduation.”

DO save the earth (and gas) and ride a bike sometimes.

DON’T ride it in school.

“Last year, they slept out on the circle,” Edge said. “But I heard they had permission. However, Mrs. Petty claims this is only half-true. “Yes, they camped out last year,” she said. “But no, they didn’t get permission.”

DO go camping on the circle.DON’T build a campfire.

TBA. Nothing has been done yet, but there are sure to be many possible prank ideas in the seniors’ minds. “I can’t wait to see what’s in store for this year,” Twitty said.

Nonetheless, the potential dangers of a prank should be considered. The seniors received letters from Mrs. Petty that states, “disruptive or des-respectful behavior by seniors...prior to commencement will not be tol-erated. Seniors...may be excluded from the commencement ceremony or required to return to summer school.” So...

DO graduate.DON’T have this special event taken away by a prank. “People need

to be aware of whether the joy of the prank outweighs the pain of not go-ing through commencement,” Petty said.

DO make the prank harmlessly memorable, in a good way.

2009

2010

2011

{

{

DO aND DON’T: PasT years Of seNiOr PraNks aT NOblesville

“I believe that you find your true friends after you graduate.”

Shelby Flora, senior

I have a lot of friends that are in a lot of places. Every-one has changed so much and my friends how are re-ally diverse.”

Cydney Huntzinger, senior

“I really wish I knew the friends I have now a long time ago. I’m a little worried that we won’t remain close throughout college, though.”

“Over the years I’ve found friends that I really want to keep after high school. People who actually have my back.”

Lindsey Mattick, senior

Robert Boland, junior

“My friends haven’t really changed, but I’ve gotten a lot more involved with the friends I have now.”

Madison Poynter, junior

“Some of my friends found their own ways to be unique...everyone else just followed.”

Stephanie Owen, senior

“I still have a lot of the same friends, but they have all become more mature.”

Clint Simpson, senior

Photos by S. Huber

Seniors venture out of state borders

Marley Cripe: Liberty University(Virgina)

“College is just an-other step in life that will help you be suc-

cessful.”

Michael Martin: Michigan State University

Jessa McKown: Uni-versity of Kentucky

Illustration by: A. Echarry N. Watson and K. Foley

8 features Mill Stream05.13.2011

Currently, at the end of the 2010-2011 school year, NHS is losing seven staff members from all different departments; Math, English, Social Studies, Foreign Language, Business, Guidance, and the office.

These teachers include Mrs. Balsley, Mrs. Bailey, Mr. Hitchcock, Ms. Kellet, Mrs. Mosbaugh, Mrs. Plecker, and Mr. Wittstein. All of whom are retiring, with the exception of Mr. Hitchcock.

Mr. Hitchcock retired two years ago, but came back to NHS as a partime teacher. He was, and remains, the only teacher with the credentials to teach ACP Government and Politics. His class will be nonexistent after this school year comes to a close.

With the teacher cuts that the school faced last year, class sizes grew larger than preferred, primarily in the art de-partment. This following year, however, all teachers will be replaced (with the exception of Mr. Hitchcock.)

Retirement marks the end of an accustomed life and sparks the beginning of a new one. The reasons for retire-ment range from every side of the spectrum.

“I’ve been teaching for 37 years. It was just time,” Span-

ish teacher Mrs. Janet Balsley said. “I want to take care of my family and myself better,” Balsley said.

“My husband’s retired, and I look forward to traveling with him, especially traveling to see my granddaughter more,” math teacher Mrs. Kathy Mosbaugh said.

With retirement comes adjustment to a new lifestyle.“I’ve been in school for 54 years of my life, so I think the

adjustment is going to be huge,” English teacher Mrs. Judy Kellet said.

“My days have always been planned for me, now I will have all that time to fill myself,” Mosbaugh said.

Each teacher will not have to spend seven hours each week day at school plus numerous other hours doing re-lated school work, so how will they spend all their extra time?

“(Ponders for a moment)...I don’t know. I’m going to work in the yard, cook more, basically become a housewife for the first time,” Balsley said.

“I have no idea. There’s a list of things I want to do. I don’t want another career. I want to learn how to knit and cook. I want to travel, join a bible study group. Hopefully, my house will sell so we can build our new one. Also, I want a part-time job for a few nights a week,” Mrs. Kellet said.

“There are all kinds of things I love to do that I never have time to do. I love to read, travel, jazzercise, garden, decorate, and visit with my friends,” Mosbaugh said. “I will probably tutor as well.”

Change is potential, and as far as leaving the school, teachers will have an endless amount of things to look for-ward to; but of course, there are going to be things missed as well.

“There will be things I’m going to miss, not grading pa-pers though,” Balsley said.

“I’m going to really miss the kids. I love working with teenagers. Also all of my friends on the staff. We have be-come a family; I’m with them more than I am with my real family. I’m not going to miss grading research papers,” Kel-let said.

“I’ve always really liked teaching and being bale to ex-plain difficult concepts to students so they can understand it. I’m going to miss my colleagues, friends, and of course the students,” Mosbaugh said.

Retiring will not only affect the teacher, but the school as a whole. It’s definitely a life modification.

“I feel like it is happening to somebody else, and I’m just watching it,” Balsley said.

Katie [email protected]

Brittany [email protected]

Jazz band sees younger faces

With the end of the school year quickly approaching, many clubs and sports are coming to a close. Some students are getting ready for a sectional game, and others are preparing for their last club meeting. However, the All-District Jazz band is just getting started on what they hope will be an experience they will not forget.

The All-District Jazz band is directed by Bethany Robinson and consists of students in grades seven all the way up to grades twelve. The students learned notes, rhythms and techniques of jazz music and will be participating in a concert at Mayfest.

“It’s fun to mentor the younger kids, and most of them are pretty cool,” sophomore Trevor Neuzeling said.

Like Neuzeling, junior Michael Borders enjoys helping the younger students but also wants them to enjoy jazz music like he does.

“I hope that the younger kids will have an appreciation for jazz [music],” Borders said.Jazz music, often compared with concert band music, is a more complicated style of mu-

sic according to junior Robby Boland.

“It is just a higher level of music,” Boland said.Neuzeling feels the two are not comparable while Borders feels the different music the-

ory jazz music follows and the different rhythms makes jazz music more complicated than concert band music.

While some of the All-District band members feel the music is harder than concert band music, they also feel it is less formal.

“It is just a more laid back atmosphere than in concert band,” Neuzeling said.Borders, who is already in the NHS Jazz band, and Boland say they would join the All-

District Jazz band again if given the opportunity, but Neuzeling says he would probably just join the school’s jazz band instead.

“I mainly want to improve on my sight reading during my time in the band,” Neuzeling said.While Neuzeling is hoping to improve on his playing abilities, Boland hopes to experi-ence as much as possible while participating in the band.

“My favorite part is experiencing different student musicians,” Boland said.The All-District Jazz band will be performing the songs, “Tiger of San Pedro” and “Meet

the Flintstones,” in the Commons during Mayfest on May 14.

Teachers go their own way

Illistration by Q. Reiff

The average high school English teacher is a magnet for bad grammar. They spend their days and nights pouring over essays done the night before and homework finished by students on the morning bus.

However, NHS English teacher Ms. Kristin Katsu has more on her mind than comma placement and passive voice. Lately, Katsu has been setting her focus on theatre and, more specifically, the NHS speech team until she was accepted into a Theatre Directing program at Western Il-linois University.

Before becoming a teacher at NHS, Katsu majored in theatrical studies at Anderson University, worked with the Bonderman Symposium at the Indiana Reportory Theatre, Wisdom Tooth Productions, and The Theatre Within.

When Principal Annetta Petty asked Katsu to restart the NHS speech team, there were no members, but it has risen to thirty-five members over the past four years.

As head of the speech team, Katsu sets up speech meets, generally organiz-es everything, and is an encouragement and teacher as she helps each student improve their acting and performing abilities.

“ She [Katsu] was a great coach and a great role model,” said junior Aly Briggs.

Katsu is continuing her career in theatre at Western Illinois University, where she will be doing a number of different things.

“I will be taking classes on directing, acting, and script analysis. I will also be in rehearsals as a stage manager, assis-tant director, and director.

In addition to my course work, I’ll teach an undergraduate level study skills course, advise undergraduate the-

atre majors with their courses, and help out in any way I can with the Theatre and Dance department. I’ll be very busy!” said Katsu.

After finishing her program at WIU, Katsu plans to go into college teaching or theatre directing in Illinois or In-diana.

Principal Annetta Petty is searching for a replacement head of the speech team for the 2011-2012 school year so the activity can continue.

Ms. Katsu, in addition, has been training speech team members so that they will be able to take more of a leader-ship role, allowing the change to be more smooth.

Briggs feels that it will be difficult to replace Katsu, be-cause it’s a specific job that requires a certain kind of teach-er.

“We’re like a family, and she’s like our mother, so it’ll be a big loss, and we’re all really going to miss her,” junior Stephanie Uggen, a paticipate on the speech team, said.

A day in the life of:Ms. KatsuDrew [email protected]

Photo by K. Foley

9advertisementMill Stream05.13.2011

10 sports

Softball team slams through opponents(Continued from cover)“We’ve worked really hard knowing that

we lost a couple of good people last year, so we know we have to work even harder to im-prove on our performance from last year,” Senior Ellen Forkner said. These losses dur-ing the off season seem to have had little ef-fect on their performance.

In the infinitely wise words of one Allen Iverson, however, “We’re talkin’ about prac-tice.”

For the softball team, that’s where prog-ress starts and ends. “This year we’ve worked really hard in the cages, getting as many cuts in as possible. We’ve also worked hard on fixing small mechanics that lead to errors in our defense.”

Just by looking at their record, it seems to have payed off.

Perhaps the hardest part about dealing with success, however, is keeping it going.

“As long as we focus and all play our very best game, there’s nothing that can stop us from winning. There’s so much talent throughout this entire team,” Senior Syd-ney White said. Forkner seemed to concur, adding that the team needed to keep up the determination in practice and to keep giving their best effort.

As the team has continued to remain suc-cessful, pressure on both the team and in-

dividuals hasn’t exactly come for a premium. Confidence seems to be a major reason for the team’s triumphs, but that’s not to say that there isn’t a large amount added pressure that comes with all the winning.

“There’s a lot of pressure, espe-cially when they release the rank-ings,” White said. “Coach Ramsey always taught us to use the pressure to make us better and use it to our advantage, which is the best strat-egy to take. As long as we focus and we all play our very best game, there’s nothing that can stop us from winning. There’s so much tal-ent throughout the entire team.”

The Millers obviously haven’t looked at the pressure with negativ-ity, though; they use it for motiva-tion. They started the season with 10 wins in a row, only losing twice since then. However, even their losses have allowed them to prog-ress and grow as a team.

“I’m actually kind of happy that we’ve lost, because it kind of hum-bles us,” Hine said. “If we were un-defeated there [would be] so much pressure, even with the littlest games that we would just have to beat them. It just humbles us and keeps us on our toes.”

Austin [email protected]

Photo by B. BurkhalterJunior Taylor Thompson (front) and freshman Stephanie Ramsey (back) played de-fense in the infield against Kokomo on Thursday, May 5. They gave up seven points in their loss.

Mill Stream05.13.2011

“This year we have two boys out of 48 trying out so it will be interesting to see the outcome of that,” Coach Melissa Kikta said.

But when the time came for the dance team try-outs on Wednesday May 4, eight of the 48 had already dropped out, includ-ing the boys. Despite that, last year’s try-outs only had 20 girls, and for freshman Audrey Suiters her confidence level was much higher.

“I felt more comfortable with the dance style and I wasn’t so nervous as I was last year,” Suiters said.

Technique is something the coaches stress the dancers about and is an impor-tant key to make the team.

“Requirements to make the team is tech-nique, having a good attitude, and overall their ability to perform,” Kikta said.

She also mentions that the team will practice over the summer and have a tech-nique specialist come in and work with the dancers.

“It’s going to be lots of dancing but also a lot of fun and team building,” Kikta said.

For the try-outs, seniors Katie Curtis and Paige Hernandez, who has been on the team since freshman year choreographed a short hip hop routine for the girls that they had to perform in front of the judges on Friday May 6. The dancers also had to

do a pom routine choreographed by coach Kikta.

For sophomore Andrea Lopez, this was her first time trying out and the difficulty level was a bit too high.

“Both the hip hop routine and the pom dance was kinda hard, but my friend told be to try out with her so I did,” Lopez said.

Last seasons dance team consisted of 12 girls. Kikta had not set any limits for this year, but would determine who cuts the team based on the scores during try-outs.

After a long day of waiting the 2011/2012 dance team was announced on Friday May 6 and now consist of 16 girls.

“I’m looking forward to some team bonding and performing in front of the whole school,” Suiters said who made the team for the second time.

The dance team stretches over two sea-sons, fall and winter, and during this pe-riod of time a lot of performances are put into the schedule, as well as a lot of new choreography.

“This year I want to be able to give the upperclassman more opportunities to cho-reograph, and also vary our uniforms,” Kikta said.

The dance team has a long season ahead and kicks it off with summer practices.

“My advice is to work hard, but have fun!” Kauffmann said.

Sunni [email protected]

(above left) Coach Kikta taught the “pom routine” during the first day of tryouts in the main gym. (above right) Prospective dancers practiced a hip hop routine that was cho-reographed by senior dancers Paige Hernandez and Katie Curtis.

(left) After two days of tryouts, the danc-ers for the 2011-12 NHS Dance Team were announced. The three rising seniors who will lead the new team into the upcoming season, Stephanie Schneider, Claire Towle, and Abby Learned celebrated together with their new teammates for the the first time.

Photos by S. Le

NHS students “shake it” for try-outs

sports 11

Q&A with Q&A

Q&A: You guys are always runningon the track, what areyou really running from?William Grabb: The fear of failure.Q&A: That’s deep.Rachel Mather: Our fears.Logan O’Connor: Bears.

Q&A: Has anyone ever been injuredfrom the javelin? Why or why not?Grabb: Yes, because they didn’t havethe motivation to jump all the waythrough with it. Q&A: What happened?Grabb: They let go of the pole. Neverlet go of the pole.Q&A: Are you talking about javelin?Or pole-vault?Grabb: OH javelin! Yeah I thoughtpole-vaulting because we don’t have javelin. Q&A: Huh. Well never mind then. So this question should be… yeah. Mather: Mmm… almost.Q&A: Why? What did you do?Mather: Because we take the right pre-cautions. Q&A: That’s good. Safety first.

O’Connor: I wish. We don’t have jav- elins.

Q&A: In the Shot-put, where exactlyare you supposed to put the shot?Grabb: Your supposed to put the shotas far away as possible.Mather: On your neck.Q&A: Is it called a shot? The little ball?Mather: Yeah it is.O’Connor: In your hand.

Q&A: Give me your thoughts on Top Gun.Grabb: Top Gun is such a great movie. I really like the volleyball scene.Mather: I don’t know what that is.Q&A: It’s a sad day at the freshmancampus…O’Connor: Worst movie ever. Q&A: What? Why’s that?O’Connor: Tom Cruise is… scientol-ogy.

Q&A: Time for word association…Q&A: Discus.Grabb: Round.Mather: Shot-put.

O’Connor: Disc.

Q&A: Hurdle.Grabb: Tall.Mather: Track.O’Connor: Jump.

Q&A: Turtle.Grabb: Hahahahaha… green.Mather: Frog.O’Connor: Hare.

Q&A: Fertile.Grabb: Women.Mather: Grass.O’Connor: Myrtle.

Q&A: Gerbil.Grabb: Those balls they roll around in.Mather: Hamster.O’Connor: Bad pets.

Racing into your classroom this week is Q&A with the Noblesville Millers Track Team. Student athletes Will Grabb, Rachel Mather, and Logan O’Connor try and defend themselves from the barrage of zany questions we have concocted

this week. Enjoy yourselves with this last Q&A… EVER! Quinn Reiff Austin North

Mill Stream05.13.2011

12 caboose Mill Stream05.13.2011

plan ahead...

cd releases

upcoming events

movie releases

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In Theatres On DVDMay 17

Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides

Midnight in Paris

May 20

12 caboose Mill Stream09.03.2007

12 caboose Mill Stream09.03.2007

12 caboose Mill Stream09.03.2007

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The Rite

The Roommate

I Am Number Four Forget Me Not

Gnomeo and Juliet Bitter/ Sweet

May 24

May 17 May 30 June 1

School Board Meeting Memorial Day (No School) End of 2010-2011 school ear

Cosmic Ocean Ship The Infinite Music of French Horn Mai Doi Todd RebellionMay 17 French Horn Rebellion May 24Born This Way Lady Gaga Codes and Keys May 23 Death Cab for a Cutie May 31Brilliant! Tragic!Art BrutMay 24