North Star December 2012

december 12, 2012 volume 27 issue 4

F H N T O D A Y . C O M - F R A N C I S H O W E L L N O R T H H I G H S C H O O L - S T . C H A R L E S , M O .

NORTHSTAR

contents

Junior Brittany Steck is the new Sugar Plum Fairy at Main Street’s Christmas Traditions. It’s an event that started on Nov. 23 and will end on Dec. 24. (alyssia luque)

NORTH STAR / DECEMBER 12, 2012

on the coverThis month, the North Star takes an in-depth look at the possibility of the end of the world, which is feared to happen in the next nine days, and explains some of the theories of the end.

DISTRIBUTED FOR FREE TO FHN BY THE NORTH STAR STAFF / PROVIDING AN OPEN FORUM FOR FHN SINCE 1986

2549 Hackmann Rd. St. Charles, MO 63303

12 30-31 43

PAGE BY AMANDA STALLINGS

OPINIONS

SPORTS30-31 Volunteering Senior Sami Ritter helps with a special needs cheer team.

34 ATHLETIC triple Sophomore Dominique Meyer qualified for state in three different sports.

43 Cursive writing Missouri debates the positives and negatives of teaching this skill in schools.

40 movie review Read reviews about the top-rated popular holiday movies voted on by FHN students.

13 snapchat app Check out this infographic to learn about the new way of photo sharing through social media.

12 sugar glider Senior Kaitlyn Stone has two sugar gliders as pets.

news2 new improvements FHN Drumline kicks off their season with some changes.

3 Accomplishments The journalism program at North was awarded during the JEA Spring nationals.

36 Gymnast passion Michaela Randolph expresses her love of being a gymnast through coaching and training.

4-5 FREE ACT Test The class of 2015 may be given a free of charge ACT test during the 2013-14 school year.

14-15 Holiday time Find creative ways to make your money last with the holidays right around the corner.

FEATURES SPORTS36 wrestler Senior Tyler Smith has been wrestling since he was 10 years old.

8-942 Foreign goods Americans should rely less on imported products and more on themselves.

So far this year, the FHN Quiz Bowl has been to two meets, which consisted of two games each. FHN lost all four games.

During their last two meets, the team has struggled with not having some of their team members present and there were new types of questions such as science computation.

During the meets, teams of four from various schools go through four rounds of question and answer.

“There are pretty difficult questions in any academic subject,” junior Matt Schneider said.

The St. Charles Convention Center will host the fifth annual Helping Hands for the Holidays event on Dec. 17. From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. that evening, less fortunate St. Charles citizens will have the opportunity to go for a holiday buffet, a giveaway of clothing, holiday-themed games for the children and more.

“I’m really happy we’ve helped this event to grow,” Joe Capitanelli, marketing manager of the Convention Center, said. “I’m proud it’s become a great community event.”

St. Charles’ annual Christmas on Main Street began Nov. 23 and will continue until Dec. 24.

There is a chance to meet 35 different Christmas characters who stroll along Main Street. New roles have been added including a gingerbread baker and a candy cane confectioner.

“I love being a part of Christmas traditions,” senior and performer Emily Meyers said. “It brings joy and Christmas spirit to people, they learn about different traditions from all over the world and from the past.”

After a long audition process, seniors Matt Miller and Laura Schulze will be going to the Missouri All-State Choir in January. To qualify for All-State Choir, Miller and Schulze auditioned to be accepted into the District Choir.

Choir teacher Lorraine Smith will be helping Miller and Schulze learn the music they will be expected to sing. Ultimately, Miller and Schulze are among the top 16 high school singers in St. Louis area.

“I’m ready, prepared,” Miller said. “I’m feeling like a champion.”

news

PAGE BY ASHLEY FLERLAGE FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12 01

StuCo’s 2012 Mock Rock was held Friday, Nov. 30 and featured 11 groups. Seniors Zach Ksiazek,

Kailee Schott, Morgan Robben, Catie Blake, Kelly Gannon and Braxton Perry won the $200 cash price for their performance.

“It was really fun, though we were worried we weren’t going to have enough acts and considered cancelling,” StuCo Sponsor Jani Wilkens said.

Despite the outcome and attendance of about 300-350 people, StuCo did look into cutting Mock Rock. Wilkens and StuCo co-sponsor Shelly Parks expressed their concern of the low number of acts to the StuCo cabinet Tuesday morning before Mock Rock and by that afternoon, enough groups signed up to secure 2012 Mock Rock.

“I was thinking people would be so upset,” Hannah Brown, Secretary of StuCo, said. “So we just hustled to get things done.”

Qualifying for state

briefs

Senior Zack Ksiazek dances with his group of five other seniors to a medley of “Hairspray.” There were 11 other acts that also participated in the lip-synching contest. (matt krieg)

Briefs by Jordan Bryson, Ashley Flerlage, and Alexis Tainter

christmas on main

quiz bowlhelping handsFINAL REVIEW SCHEDULE

SCAN HERETo see more photos from the Mock Rock competition.Or use this link: http://goo.gl/OpQ9h

2012 mock rock competition

Wednesday, Dec. 19:1st Hour Exam 2nd Hour Exam7th Hour Exam

Through the Optional Intervention Format, the first exam of the day will begin at 8:20.

“It’s a great resource for students to find additional help with specific difficulties they individually have,” English Teacher Dan Dilber said.

Students will have the option of arriving at the normal time in order to meet with teachers for extra help, or the option of arriving at 8:20.

“I think everyone should come at 7:20 and get a little extra help and their best on finals,” freshman Brendan Simon said. “It’s dumb to miss out on stuff like that.”

Buses will still run on the normal schedule, so any student who plans to arrive at 8:20 must provide their own transportation.

“I’m nervous about finals,” freshman Aaron Moore said. “Finals sound really stressful, but having half days is kind of nice.”

Friday Dec. 21:5th Hour Exam6th Hour Exam

Thursday Dec. 20:3rd Hour Exam 4th Hour Exam

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.12 02 PAGE BY AMANDA STALLINGS

New directors give new direction

This year, Drumline has two new directors, Tommy Roam and Mike Davis. Having new directors is re-freshing for the Line, according to Cernicek.

“It was a lot less organized last year, it was more of a test run,” Roam said. “This year we have more of running start.”

Roam graduated from FHN in 2011. He and Davis both assisted with Drumline last year. This year, due to previous directors leaving, they moved up to Head Directors. Roam feels more prepared this year to take charge and believes the students will be more orga-nized this season.

“I know a lot more when it comes to what I should teach the kids and what I shouldn’t,”

Roam said. “I’m more quali-fied, more experienced.”

Drumline will compete in about four competitions dur-ing their season, though it is subject to change. There is one competition

nearly all of the team looks

BY JASMINE [email protected] | @jwahlbrink forward to the most: The WGI Championships that will

take place April 18-20, 2013 in Dayton, OH.“It is the last competition and the biggest one since

you are competing with drumlines all over the world,” senior Eric Craven said.

Last season, Drumline made it to the finals in two competitions and they have hopes of accomplishing more this year.

“Our last season was better [than previous seasons],” senior Mike Cernicek said. “It was a step in the right direction for sure.”

The team of around 30 students practice for three hours after school and practices take place two to three times a week.

With the time they spend together, the members get a chance to bond. Cernicek’s favorite part is being around the other students.

“I like the bonding experience between all the talented kids,” Cernicek said. “You get all these ambitious kids in one room and it’s kind of a good experience.”

With all the new changes with Drumline this year, the majority is anticipating the season and what is to come.

“I’m looking forward to an awesome season,” Roam said. “I think this season will be one of the best we have ever had.”

Drumline works on their new season with different expectations and leadership

Overall staff awards• Best of Show in Newsmagazine: North Star • Sixth Place in Special Edition Newspaper: North Star • Best of Show in 275-324 Page Yearbook: Excalibur Yearbook

Individual AWARDS• Honorable Mention in Broadcast Sports Story: Jon Doty• Honorable Mention in Computer Design Advertising• Honorable Mention in Computer Design Infographics: Maddie Hiatt• Honorable Mention in Yearbook Copy/Caption for Clubs: Chelsie Hollis• Honorable Mention in Yearbook Copy/Caption for Student Life: Liz Leonard• Honorable Mention Yearbook Sports Photography: Julie Schwartz• Excellent in Broadcast Feature Story: Christina Desalvo• Superior in Newsmagazine Layout: Nick Bussell• Superior in Yearbook Layout Inside Pages: Morgan O’Neill• Third Place in the Multimedia Feature Story of the Year: Paige Yungermann• Fifth Place in the Newspaper Page/Spread category: Kelsey Bell • Third Place in the Infographic Category: Kelsey Bell • First Place in Newsmagazine Cover Design: Kelsey Bell • First Place in Infographics: Kelsey Bell

news

Students from FHN’s journalism program stand with the awards they won at the 2012 Fall National High School Journalism Convention in San Antonio, Texas. At the convention, students attended different classes where they were taught new journalism skills. Nine of the students received an award from their on-the-spot competitions. (Submitted photo)

Competition dates for DrumlineFeb. 9 Competition Location: FHN

Feb. 16Competition Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

March 23Competition Location:Bowling Green, Kentucky

April 18-20Competition Location:Dayton, Ohio(WGI Championships)

Other awards from the year• NSPA 2012 All-American Award: Excalibur Yearbook, 2012• NSPA 2012 All-American Award: North Star, 2011-2012• NSPA 2012 All-American Award: FHNtoday.com, 2012• The Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist: North Star• Quill and Scroll award for distinctive achievements in scholastic journalism: Francis Howell North High School Journalism Program• Rising Star Adviser Award: Beth Phillips

Senior Nick Goatly (sammie savala)

Sixteen FHN students sit together in a con-vention center in San Antonio, surrounded by thousands of other high school journalists repre-senting their publications. They anxiously wait as the Top 10 results for the Best of Show in the newsmagazine category are announced.

10th place is called. It isn’t FHN.Ninth. Eighth. Seventh. Still no. With each

name called the tension grows. Sixth. Fifth. Fourth. Some grow hopeful,

others become discouraged.Third. Second. It’s all or nothing now.Finally, the judges get to first place. Francis

Howell North is announced, and the group ex-plodes with enthusiasm.

“It was really exciting, just being there cheering for your school,” senior and Director of Live Coverage Jon Doty said. “It was a really good time.”

From Nov. 15-18, the Fall National High School Journalism Convention was held in San Antonio. There, students went to journalism workshops and had their school publications

judged and awarded. In addition, they partici-pated in write-offs: on-the-spot individual com-petitions. Nine FHN students placed in their category, including two that received the best ranking, Superior.

These results are consistent with the success that the publications have experienced during the past few years. These have included five Missouri High School Journalists of the Year (and one National one), a National Journalism Teacher of the Year, seven Best of Show awards, two Pacemaker awards and many other group and individual recognitions. This has built up FHN’s reputation nationally as a competitive journalism school.

“[At the conventions] when you mention that you’re from FHN, some people recognize you right away,” senior and Co-Editor in Chief of the North Star Newsmagazine Nick Bussell said. “It says something about us, that we’re a top notch program.”

Many in publications agree that the motiva-tion that comes from going to Nationals is one of the reasons why it is so important.

“[Getting motivated is] an expectation,” As-sistant Publications Advisor Beth Phillips Phil-lips said. “When kids go to the convention and see that status we have, they see what they do is already above what most people are doing, and they want to keep going and keep making that better.”

According to Phillips, whether at home or across the country, the awards represent the ef-fort of the students that won them.

“It shows that just because you’re in high school, it doesn’t mean you can’t be as good as the pros,” Phillips said.

Winter guard returns

There are now 15 girls on the Winter guard team, which is more than they have had during previous seasons. Winter guard member Madeline Corrao, who is a part of the flag sec-tion, is looking forward to building a stronger team.

“As of right now, we’re very unfocused,” Corrao said. “We’re still at basics now but I feel like we’re getting the hang of it and we’re going to have a lot more variety because we have more girls.”

The team participates in many competitions including the Mid Continental Color Guard Association (MCCGA) and Winter guard International (WGI). They have one main goal of placing in the top 15. Williams says his team should be well prepared to reach that goal.

“We will do well because we won’t accept people who don’t have the potential to reach the level of the veterans,” Williams said.

Williams is known for his tough and demanding approach to coaching. He plans on using his team’s performance abil-ity and strong technical aspects. The weakness is the amount of new people, but the girls haven’t let that faze them.

“I believe we can get it done,” junior Catherine House said, “We all know that we share one common goal, and we will work crazy hard to achieve it.”

FHNTODAY.COM 03PAGE BY AMANDA STALLINGS

Want to see your tweet here?Tag tweets about school with

#FHNnews

ns

@_babii_dom_The fact that finals are right around the corner is crazy to me! #fhnnews

Dominique Cutts

@madisongillam Varsity Lady Knights Basketball won 70-10? Um. Heck Yeah We Did!#greatjobladie #fhnnews

Madison Gillam

@JNeinerI’m just ready for Christmas and New Years already #BestTimeOfTheYear

Jake Neiner

@ Samiam035Brought home a 5th place, AND a 1st place trophy! So proud of my girls!! #FHNKnightline #YearOfTheComeback

Sam Immekus

@EmilyGrzybinskiI call my mom to tell her I want a dog for Christmas and she claims her phone service is “breaking up” and hangs up the phone. CoolEmily Grzybinski

@jshollar03Got accepted into MO State and SEMO. Which one to go to though. #ToughThinking

Jake Shollar

@madeleine302Did we just completely skip winter and go straight to spring?

Maddie Richterkessing

TOP TWEETS

BY JESSICA [email protected]

Senior Megan Hinman and junior Sydney Hardin practice their flag routine. Winter guard is preparing for their first competition that will take place Jan. 26. (dajah lasenberry)

12.12.12

Hard workpays offBY NICK [email protected] | @ngponche

Publications earn awards at the JEA/NSPA National convention

• Honorable Mention in Broadcast Sports Story: Jon Doty• Honorable Mention in Computer Design Advertising• Honorable Mention in Computer Design Infographics: Maddie Hiatt• Honorable Mention in Yearbook Copy/Caption for Clubs: Chelsie Hollis• Honorable Mention in Yearbook Copy/Caption for Student Life: Liz Leonard• Honorable Mention Yearbook Sports Photography: Julie Schwartz• Excellent in Broadcast Feature Story: Christina Desalvo• Superior in Newsmagazine Layout: Nick Bussell• Superior in Yearbook Layout Inside Pages: Morgan O’Neill• Third Place in the Multimedia Feature Story of the Year: Paige Yungermann• Fifth Place in the Newspaper Page/Spread category: Kelsey Bell • Third Place in the Infographic Category: Kelsey Bell • First Place in Newsmagazine Cover Design: Kelsey Bell • First Place in Infographics: Kelsey Bell

Expensesall

policyTo encourage more test taking and college applications, FHSD considers aspects of paying for the ACT for the class of 2015

fhsd

new act

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1204 PAGE BY BRIANNA MORGAN & AMANDA STALLINGS

FHSD is in the process of being approved by the ACT Board to become a testing site for the 2013-14 school year. By becoming a testing site, FHSD would be

able to administer the ACT test themselves at each of the high schools during the school day. If approved, the ACT test will be administered to the whole class of 2015 in March or April of 2014 with all expenses paid for by the District.

The District will only pay for the ACT test once for each student in their junior year in order to ensure that each student has been given the opportunity to take it. Because not all colleges require the writing portion of the test, only the basic portion will be administered. In January, the ACT Board will decide whether or not to approve FHSD as a testing site. The ACT Board looks at location, size, security, accessibility and attendance of a school to make their decision.

“I definitely think it’s a great idea because it’s allowing every student the opportunity to take the ACT without having to worry about paying for it or their mom and dad paying for it,” Math Teacher Greg Brown said.

According to Principal Darlene Jones, the high school principals suggested last year that the District look into becoming a testing site for the ACT.

The Academic Department decided this was something they wanted to support because of the opportunity would provide for students. Another reason is that some neighboring districts, such as Parkway and Rockwood, are already named ACT sites.

“If we get a good response, we’ll see where to take it from there,” Director of Student Learning Chris Greiner said. “Right now we are just dipping our toes in the water. If we get a good response, we’ll adjust our staffing plans to meet the needs. I’m excited about it.”

If approved, the tests will cost the District estimated total of around $60,000. However, the exact amount for the tests will not be known until the spring when the Board of Education discusses how it will fit into the budget.

“We’ve had a vision, or priority, for the District to try to make sure our kids are as college and career ready as possible when they leave high school,” Greiner said. “Part of doing that is taking the ACT.”

A semester-long ACT prep course for half of an elective credit will be available to all high school students in the District beginning next school year regardless of if FHSD becomes an ACT testing site. This is so students who cannot afford or don’t have the time to take a prep class are able to take it during school hours.

“I think students will benefit from this because it will save a lot of money that they could put towards their college fund or anything else they need to pursue their education,” sophomore Blake Barringer said.

Because there will only be two hours available for the course, there will only be BRIANNA MORGAN | [email protected]

Covered:

Above: Sam Foulks Bottom Left: Kelli Baulch On Nov. 15th, students prepare for their ACT test at a Cambridge Review class led by math teacher Patty Bartell. If approved, the 2015 class will receive on free ACT test during the 2013-14 school year. If this process is passed, the District will have to budget out an estimated amount of $60,000 to pay for the tests. (photos by kerry moriarty)

FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12 05PAGE BY BRI MORGAN & AMANDA STALLINGS

60 slots will be available. One quarter will be taught by a math teacher and will focus on math and science topics, such as reading and interpreting graphs and data. Another quarter will be taught by a communication arts teacher where the main focus will be on reading.

“It won’t make a difference to me if the District is approved or not because I take the ACT every year,” sophomore Evan Wilkins said. “But it will give everyone the chance to take the ACT who might not have had the chance to take it otherwise.”

According to Greiner, 80 percent of the class of 2012 took the ACT. Most four year colleges require their students to have taken the ACT test at least once.

In order to try to make college a possibility for all FHSD students, the District decided to make sure that all students have the opportunity to take the ACT at least once and then retake the test on their own time in order to improve their scores.

“50 to 60 percent of our graduates go to a four year school,” Greiner said. “30 to 40

percent go to a twoyear school or tech school. Hopefully, we encourage the other 10 percent to see college as an option for them.”

The ACT will be administered to students much like the PLAN test taken by all sophomores. The ACT will not be mandatory in a sense that

students will be penalized if absent the day the test is taken, but they will most likely have the opportunity to make it up at another time.

“I would take advantage of this because it’s a good opportunity, and I don’t have to pay for it,” sophomore Patti Anderson said. “It gives me a good idea, academically, of where I am now and where I want to be by the time I graduate.”

The District hopes to help students identify their strengths and weaknesses by giving them exposure to the ACT test. This will allow them to plan their future classes accordingly as well as help them when applying for colleges.

“Scientific studies show that students who take rigorous core subject classes are more college-ready,” Greiner said. “So we want our students to take as rigorous a course experience as possible because

that’s what college is. It will better prepare them for college.”

SCAN HERETo read a suggested list of tips while taking the ACT and how to make sure you’re prepared.

OR use this link: http://goo.gl/Hxlhz

FHNTODAY.COM

Original Price of an ACT test: $35

Price of ACT test with late fee: $57

TIME

OUTEXACTLY HOW

MUCH IS A STUDENT SAVING BECAUSE OF THE

FREE TEST?

The students who were surveyed believe the free ACT test will most help them:

• 20 percent: improve their test taking skills

• 28 percent: achieve a higher ACT score

• 26 percent: save money on the test

• 26 percent: prepare for college

A survey was given to 206 students from FHN’s class of 2015. Here are the results.

82%Have never taken the ACT test before.

THE BREAKDOWNWHO IT BENEFITS

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1206 PAGE BY MURPHY RILEY

MOCK rOCK

Senior Tyler Stevenson performs Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” at Mock Rock, held annually in the auditorium. Stevenson placed second in the competition and won $100 for the charity of his choice. (matt krieg)

2012

LEFT: Seniors Zach Ksiasek, Braxton Perry, Drew Landherr and Sam Kuntz perform “Jingle Bell Rock” as performed in “Mean Girls.” The seniors played out the scene down to the dresses, dancing and kicked boom box.(murphy riley) MIDDLE TOP: Emcees John Hallemeier and Liz Condon present all of the participat-ing groups from Mock Rock one final time before the winners are announced.(murphy riley)

ABOVE: Senior Cody Fingers dances to Elvis for his solo perfor-mance this year. Fingers received an honorable mention and a standing ova-tion at the end of the show.(murphy riley) MIDDLE BOTTOM: Six girls and one boy acted out the song “Fabulous” sung by Sharpay from High School Musical 2. The “ladies” dressed up in all pink as an ode to the heir-ess.(matt krieg) LEFT:Matt Miller, Joey Henry, Stone Birkner and Brock Birkner dubbed the “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. (matt krieg)

This year’s Mock Rock exhibited a variety of acts ranging from Elvis and

Queen to Bieber and Mean Girls.

SCAN HERETo see videos of all the performances from Mock Rock.http://goo.gl/0FAjK

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1208 PAGE BY MADDIE HIATT & NICK BUSSELL

Features

When she enters the building behind the railroad tracks on the riverfront, she grabs her tiara from her costume rack and heads to the back. She sits down in front of a mirror, tiara perched on her head, and begins to apply purple and pink

eyeshadow to her face. From the corner of one eye, she sweeps downward and creates a

large purple swirl. From the other eye she moves upward, pink spiraling above her eyebrow. Finally, she adds a line of silver on her eyelids to top off

the effect.Next, she replaces her pajama bottoms with

black leggings and adds a layer of silver on top. 6KH�VOLSV�RQ�KHU�SXUSOH�OD\HUHG�VNLUW�DQG�ÁXIIV�XS�

each layer, making sure it twirls when she spins. Her purple “pirate” jacket, which she laces shut over her silver-gray t-shirt, comes next; followed by her size seven boots. Her shoe size is only four but WKH�VHYHQV�ZHUH�D�SHUIHFW�ORRN�DQG�WKH�FORVHVW�ÀW��VR�

she slips on a pair of regular socks and a pair of thick, wool socks from Bass Pro Shop to keep her feet warm

and prevent her boots from sliding off.Finally, after the morning’s announcements, she grabs her

wings. A lady snaps her wings in place and smiles. Then, the girl dressed head-to-toe in purple heads for the door, ready to

start the day. She grabs her wand, a stack of character cards and heads out the door, leaving the girl who entered behind.

“My favorite part of being the Sugar Plum Fairy is probably spread-ing Christmas cheer to all of the people in St. Charles and seeing all of the kids and dancing with them,” Brittany says.

Where it beganHer journey to becoming the Sugar Plum Fairy starts in the base-

ment of the St. Charles Visitors Bureau. Two ladies listen to Christ-mas music and keep track of the order of auditioners. Brittany Steck, a 16-year-old junior from North, approaches in a black dress with ÁRZHU�LQ�KHU�KDLU��7KH\�LQVWUXFW�KHU�WR�UHWHOO�´7KH�/HJHQG�RI�WKH�Candy Cane” in her own words but keep the same basic information. Brittany sits for 10 minutes, waiting for her turn, jotting notes down and reading the story over and over. Finally, they call her in.´,�IHOW�YHU\�FRQÀGHQW�ZKHQ�,�ZDONHG�LQWR�P\�DXGLWLRQ�EHFDXVH�,�IHOW�

that I had left my house early enough to allow myself enough prep time,” Brittany says. “Honestly, there wasn’t enough time to be scared

fairy on mainJunior takes on a sweet character for Main Street’s Christmas Traditions

BY SOPHIE [email protected] | @sophgordon

Scan for a video on thoughts from Brittany Steck, her family and her supervisor on her new employment.

life in a fairy tale

http://goo.gl/9wY9W

FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12 09PAGE BY MADDIE HIATT & NICK BUSSELL

fairy on mainor nervous because I knew it would show through, and I needed to put my best foot forward. I was auditioning for my dream job. I don’t know why I would be nervous anyways.”

She walks into a room where a group of women wait to see her performance. Among them is Christmas Traditions’ Artistic Director April Mc-Candless, who casts each of the characters. On her mind is the fact that only 30 spots are open, yet more than 100 people are auditioning.

“Are you auditioning for a character or a caroler today?” McCandless asks.

Though Brittany is auditioning for a character, she decides to sing a song in addition to retelling the story because she knows it will give her “extra brownie points.” She waits for the go-ahead, then VSLQV�D�VLOO\�VWRU\�DERXW�WKH�PDQ�ZKR�ÀUVW�SXW�D�candy cane on his Christmas tree. She points ac-cusingly at her audience, pantomimes the creation of the candy cane’s hook and stretches on her tiptoes to hang up the Christmas lights.

Then she starts to sing.“Halfway through her audition [we knew],”

McCandless says. “She sang ‘I Want a Hippo-potamus for Christmas,’ and she was just adorable and so energetic. We had her do some other things to see how her improv skills were, and we asked her some questions. By the time she left, we were pretty sure that if we didn’t see anyone else that was better, she would get the part.”

While auditions continued, no other Sugar Plum Fairies came through the doors.

“I think we had a couple of people that we were like, ‘Well, maybe...’” McCandless says, “but she just stood out above and beyond everyone else. There really wasn’t any decision with her. Sugar Plum Fairy [is] very bouncy and bubbly and FKHHUIXO��%ULWWDQ\�MXVW�DV�%ULWWDQ\�UHDOO\�ÀW�WKDW�mold. I don’t know how we knew she was right. She just was the Sugar Plum Fairy.”

Though a few formalities remained, the role of Sugar Plum Fairy was hers — her biggest role yet.

“I was so proud of her and so excited for her be-cause not only did she make it to do this awesome Christmas Traditions, she actually got a huge part,” mother Cindy Steck says. “I think she’s per-fect for the part. She is always very lively, smiley, jumping around.”

Her sister agreed. “The Sugar Plum Fairy is supposed to be really

energetic and that’s exactly what Brittany is. She always has lots of energy,” Bethany said.

The preparationTo prepare for her role, Brittany enlists the help

of her family. Her grandmother Kathryn Mer-UHOO�FUHDWHV�KHU�FRVWXPH��WKH�HQWLUH�SXUSOH�RXWÀW��Bethany assists in picking out the costume fabric and choosing makeup. Her mother acts as chauf-feur, taking Brittany to each rehearsal, photo shoot DQG�ÀWWLQJ�

Junior Brittany Steck interacts with kids on Main Street.With being the sugar plum fairy Steck greets the people who visit Old Town St.Charles. “It’s really easy to start conversations with people by commenting on their clothes” said Steck. Steck likes to greet everyone she sees, even if they don’t stop to chat. (alyssia luque)

“Santa couldn’t run Christmas all by himself, he needs his elves,” Brittany says. “And in the same way, my family has been like my own little workshop of elves because they’ve helped me get everything from my costume to the tiny details like my makeup. I really appreciate all of the help they’ve given me because this would not have been possible without their help.”

FairylandBrittany keeps her family in mind as she

prances up and down the sidewalk, running from “horseless carriages.” A group of children ap-proach and she grins, greeting them with a wave of her wand. She asks if anyone knows some new GDQFHV�WR�XVH�LQ�WKH�/DQG�RI�WKH�6ZHHWV�WR�FUHDWH�candy. When none of the kids answer, she takes it XSRQ�KHUVHOI�WR�WHDFK�WKHP�WKH�´/ROOLSRS�7ZLVW�µ

She begins the lesson by placing “ribbons of sugar” on her hands and feet and encourages the children to do so as well. Once the ribbons are in place, she tells them to reach from the tips of their toes to above their heads twice. She pauses the second time their hands swing above their heads and asks a gentleman in the crowd to be her “sparkle conductor.” When the man agrees, she hands him her wand and instructs him to wave it around as she and the kids twirl, creating

lollipops of their own. The process ends when the everyone throws their hands in the air and shouts “Merry Christmas!” as the sparkle conductor “sparkles” the group.

The rest of the day, she stops to talk with chil-GUHQ��WHDFKLQJ�WKHP�WKH�´7RRWVLH�5ROO�µ�´/ROOLSRS�Twist,” or “Twizzler” dances, and hands them her character card, one of 35 kids can collect. She’s number 14. She smiles and wishes them a “wan-derful Christmas and a sparkling new year.”

“She gave me high expectations, but I think she has risen to that and even a little bit beyond,” McCandless says. “I see her out there with little kids, teaching them how to dance, and spreading joy. She’s doing a great job out there. I’m pretty sure at the end she’s going to be everyone’s favorite.”

At six, the Sugar Plum Fairy heads back to the building where her day began. She immediately asks someone to “de-wing” her before moving to the back room to change. She shrugs out of her jacket, sets her wings safely in the corner of the room and changes back into her pajama pants. Then she sits in front of the mirror and takes her makeup off, revealing the face of a girl worn from a long day. Finally, she places her tiara and wand back on her costume rack, where they will sit until the Sugar Plum Fairy returns.

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1210 PAGE BY MADDIE HIATT & NICK WYER

FEATURES ashionfPHOTOS BY ANNE REINER, CAMERON MCCARTY & JULIE SCHWARTZ

styleTacky

Eri

c

FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12 11PAGE BY MADDIE HIATT & NICK WYER

find your styleon pinterest

Scan here to get to a Pin Board on Pinterest and see some tacky clothing examples from tacky holiday outfits or if you just wants to be a little silly during the week.

scan here

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PHOTOS BY ANNE REINER, CAMERON MCCARTY & JULIE SCHWARTZ

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR SWEAT-ERS?“Goodwill, Avalon Exchange, and old folk.”

“They’re so comfy and different, they’re abnormal, people who don’t know me come up to me and call me the sweater guy.”

WHY DO YOU WEAR SWEATERS?

“I’ve had people come up to me and call me an idiot, I just laugh, I don’t care what other people think.”

ARE THERE ANY NEGATIVES TO WEARING SWEATERS?

“Around 12, including sweater vests.”

HOW MANY SWEATERS DO YOU HAVE?

I’ve never found one that’s alike, they’re kinda like people, you never know what you’re going to get.”

WHAT MAKES SWEATERS UNIQUE TO YOU?

“I only wear them when I want some laughs or when family comes to visit.”

WHY DO YOU WEAR TACKY SOCKS?

Joel

Skylar

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“The Goodwill on Harvester.”

WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR TIES FROM?

“They were cool, so we bought them, you gotta stand out from the pack.”

WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR WEARING TACKY TIES

“My wolf tie, because I’m the alpha male and I should wear a wolf tie.”

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TIE?

“Sweet tie, or cool tie man, or anything else that involves complimenting my excellent taste.”

WHAT ARE SOME PEOPLE’S REACTIONS

“Not really, or unless I just don’t notice them.”

DO YOU GET ANY WEIRD LOOKS WHEN YOU WEAR YOUR TIES?

WHEN DO YOU WEAR YOUR TIES?“I only wear them to homecoming, because it’s pretty much the only time I wear a tie.”

Features

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1212

Features

Part of the familyAn only child and her family finds companionship with their two exotic sugar gliders, Lilo and Leilani

PAGE BY BRITTANY STECK

BY AURORA BLANCHARD

Senior Kaitlyn Stone, owner of sugar gliders Lilo and Leilani, sits in the room where she keeps her pets. Stone also keeps lizards, hamsters and snakes in the special animal room. Stone takes the sugar gliders everywhere with her; excluding school. (photos by murphy riley)

[email protected] BY CARLY VOSSMEYER

Senior Ben Oar’s 1997 Ca-maro Z28, decked out with a new clean paint job of white with or-ange stripes, is a work-in-prog-ress. He continues to work on the interior, pulling out the current motor and putting a different mo-tor with a forced induction.

“I think it’s really cool what he’s done to it, and that he does it with his own money,” senior Jus-tin Arle said.

Oar isn’t the only person in his family that has a passion for Camaros. His brother, Nick, and his dad, David, also have Cama-ros. David would fix up and sell Camaros when he was in high school, just as Oar does now.

“I think it’s awesome my dad and brother both have Camaros,” Oar’s brother Nick said. “My first car, which I still have, was a 1991 Camaro. The cars are a way for us to bond to our dad and each other. ”

The Camaro is a project Oar is working on to make it a 30th anniversary SS clone. Oar is rec-reating a replica of the special edition Camaro. He enters it into car cruises and shows, and even occasionally drives it himself on weekends.

“It stands out,” Oar said. “A lot of car owners don’t take care of [their cars]. I’ve babied mine.”

Senior Ben Oar loves working on a car he has grown up around his whole life

Lilo and Leilani leap from Kaitlyn’s hand to her shoulder, crawl down her back and glide to the nearest available surface.

They are soon to be one-year-old sugar gliders. It’s their nature to be spontaneous.Ever since she was little, 17-year-

old senior Kaitlyn Stone has loved animals. Growing up with animal-loving parents, there were always pets in the house. The Stone family currently owns four dogs, two sugar gliders, two hamsters, two cats, two bearded dragons and one snake. The animals keep the mood light accord-ing to Kaitlyn’s mom, Tammie Stone.

“It’s funny to watch my husband walk around with a purse with little sugar gliders in them,” Tammie said.

When Kaitlyn knew she was mature enough to care for a sugar glider last year, she found a private breeder in Columbia, MO.

“We always say ‘No more animals’ but she is really good,” Tammie said. “One time she wrote a persuasive essay and made a power point.”

Tammie remembers Kaitlyn’s excitement the first time the three of them took home Lilo and

Leilani for Kaitlyn’s birthday Feb. 2012.“She was so giddy,” Tammie said. “It reminded

me of a little kid at Christmas -- the excitement level. She was nervous and excited all at the same time, not knowing what to expect.”

Kaitlyn focused a lot on bonding with her sug-ar gliders. It took about two weeks to bond with Leilani and two and a half months to bond with

Lilo. “She really only likes me, and

she likes to be in her cage and stay there because she feels safe in there,” Kaitlyn said, describing Lilo. “She’s more calm than Leilani.”

Kaitlyn devotes a lot of energy to her pets, but still has time for Student Council and her boyfriend, senior Ryan Sebacher.

“She really cares about them,” Ryan said. “I would never want to

have them because they would make me too ner-vous. She’s really good at taking care of them though.”

Kaitlyn sees Lilo and Leilani as a source of love that have helped her be an only child.

“I’ve always loved animals and taking care of them,” Kaitlyn said. “And I guess I’m an only child, so I needed something to love and take care of.”

[email protected] | @aurorabee

Ride OF THE MONTH

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This app allows you to control how long your friends can view a picture you take by setting the timer. You can set the timer from one second up to ten seconds then send it. The person who gets your picture must have their finger on the screen to view the photo.

On The RiseJuly 2011Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

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Snapchat currently has taken FHN by storm. “As of Dec. 6, 2012 Snapchat is number 2 on iTunes’ Top Free Apps chart. Using Snapchat is super easy to operate. Step one to opening Snapchat is downloading it. Snapchat is available for iPhone and Android. Once you download it, you can create

a username and password to log in. You can then find friends by typing in their username or you can find them through Facebook. You can create groups of your friends so you can send one picture to multiple people.

Next, take a photo of yourself or of someone else by using the blue camera button.

Then, to write on the photo you can tap on the photo and a

keyboard will appear. Then you can type the message for your friends to see.

Also, you could draw of the picture by tapping the pencil button in

the top right corner of the screnn then choose the color you want and begin your drawing.

Now you are ready to set the timer. Tap the clock button in

the bottom left side of the screen and you can choose how long your friend will see it.

Snapchat’s so-called mascot is this ghost. The ghost represent the pictures that shows up and then disappears. You can never get the picture back.

snapchatnow you see it, now you don’t

opening up snapchat

Since its release, Snapchat has steadily grown. According to techcrunch.com, as of the week of October 22, the average number of weekly users appoached 600,000. The app is free for iPhone and Android.

Average Weekly Users

Something people might not know about Snapchat is that if someone takes a screen shot of a photo, it will alert the user right away.

After the timer is set, tap the send button in the bottom left in the

screen, choose your friends’ username and your snapchat is ready to go.

PAGE BY MADDIE HIATT FHNTODAY.COM 1312.12.12

Snapchat was released on July 13, 2011.

“It’s entretaining and it got popular so fast because everyone wanted to try it.” Emma Cleaveland, 10

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“Snapchat is fun because I can make ugly faces with my friends all day long.” Paige Martinez, 11

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FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1214 PAGE BY NICK BUSSELL & JASMINE WAHLBRINK

FEATURES

[email protected] CYNTHIA CAHALL

Arlene Kearns, the secretary for Associate Principal Jack Ameis and Assistant Principal Nancy Wade, has been working at North for 13 years. What few people know about her is that she keeps a collection of jolly saints that started about 20 years ago.

“Most people think its pretty cool, and who doesn’t like San-ta?” Kearns said.

Not all of her figurines are the standard Santa, though. Some are based on different themes like golfing and NASCAR.

“I have one that’s probably 2 1/2 feet tall,” Kearns said. “He’s just cute.”

Kearns has spent under $200 on her collection of about 20 Santas which are mostly gifts that come up from the basement at Christ-mas time to be displayed.

“[My favorite part is] her dis-play of all her Santas in one spot and the balance she displays,” Kearns’ husband Rick Kearns said.

The collection keeps growing, especially with the secret Santa that takes place in the main office each winter. Kearns once received a crystal Santa snow globe from Secretary Elaine Downs.

“I think it’s a great collection,” Downs said, “I was happy to know what to get her for Christ-mas. It made shopping really easy.”

Kearns’ collection of St. Nicks creates cozy Christmas atmosphere

deck the hallsSommer and her family take Christmas decorating to the extreme with unconventional decorations

It’s Thanksgiving night and out of the frosty dark-ness the spirit of Christmas already lingers in the air. Several houses are decorated neatly in twinkling lights and traditional wreaths. Then all of the sudden, another house illuminates the winter evening. The house has a degree of brightness that almost rivals that of the Griswolds. Colorful inflatables dot the yard and a carousel full of Christmas animals spins around slowly. Santa even waves from the upper window to the onlookers and children below. It’s not the North Pole, but the closest thing in Saint Charles: the Sommer house.

Each Christmas, sophomore Brittany Sommer and her family transform their front yard into a Christmas extravaganza featuring a plethora of inflat-ables and lights. While traditional decorations such as bush lights and wreaths are included in the Sommer’s yard, they incorporate a few nontraditional elements. The yard features a light up giraffe, elephant, and seal, along with a twelve foot inflatable hot air balloon with Santa riding in it.

“When I was little, we didn’t have a lot of lights,” Brittany said. “Every year [the decorations] kept grow-ing because we’re crazy Christmas people. If we didn’t decorate it would be unlike us.”

After decorating for a total of 18 years, the Sommers have developed a process to the decorating. Decorat-ing usually begins between the weeks before and after

Thanksgiving, depending on the weather. The decorating process begins with Britta-ny’s older sister and FHN graduate, Brooke Sommer planning out where the major in-flatables belong.

“Brooke has strong feelings about where everything goes,” Brittany’s mother, Chris Sommer said. “Sometimes she would get home and say ‘I don’t like it,’ and we would have to move everything.”

After the layout of the decorations is set up, it’s a parade of decorations from their storage place: the attic, better known as the “cemetery of old deco-rations.” From there, the whole family works to bring the decorations into the garage for a warmer assembly away from the cold. After that, it’s a matter of string-ing lights onto the bushes and trees and hooking up the extension cords.

“The most challenging part is the power outlets,”

BY LAUREN PIKE

SCAN HERETo see a gallery of these extreme Christmas decorations.

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Santa FIGURINES

COLLECTOR OF THE MONTH

PAGE BY NICK BUSSELL & JASMINE WAHLBRINK

deck the halls

FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12 15PAGE BY JASMINE WAHLBRINK & NICK BUSSELL

Chris said. “If you have too much power, you’ll blow the circuit. When the lights are on, we can’t plug in hair dryers or vacuums. If a little bit of water gets on the cords, it will short out.”

Next up, each inflatable is tied and with the use of 10-foot bike chains, chained to the ground. After an incident where someone stole decorations, the Som-mers decided to use chains to stop the thieves. From then on, when the chains came out, Chris started call-ing her family “the Chain Gang.” According to her the whole decorating process takes around three hours.

“The best part is seeing the overall product and how it’s all together and lit up and spending time with my family,” Brittany said. “I feel so accomplished when it’s all done.”

Although decorating is typically a tradition shared between their immediate family, Chris has been known to recruit anyone willing to help decorate.

“We’ve recruited other family members and even past boyfriends,” Chris said. “We’ll take anyone with time on their hands.”

Now that Brittany and Brooke are older, decorat-ing the house has become more about bringing the Christmas spirit to younger children in the neighbor-hood. The tradition of decorating has become a typi-cal sight for these younger children during the Christ-mas season.

“The kids are excited,” Brittany said. “We have a Santa in the window waving at them and they wave back.”

The neighborhood kids are not the only ones who enjoy the light and decoration display. According to Chris, people have personally thanked her for the fes-tive decorating. She has even had someone thank her with a box of chocolates and a note.

“We just love everything Christmas and like to show it off,” Chris said.

Dominant: Brittany Sommer has several large inflatables and moving ornaments for the Christ-mas holidays. Far left: The polar bear is part of the few items that is LED lit. Left: The Ferris wheel has animals in each seat. Right: Brittany Sommer kneels in front of one of her favorite, the carousel. Far right: The penguins are one of the oldest inflatables in the yard. (kendrick gaussoin)

check ‘em outon a penny budget have an extra buckor

Hot Chocolate

Ice Skating

Lights

Sledding

The Rec-Plex

The Zoo

Blanchette Park Art Hill

Jellystone Park

Steinberg Skating Rink

Picasso’sSt. Charles CoffeehouseHot chocolate, along with an array of other drinks, is what this quaint coffeehouse has to order. Grab some friends and enjoy a cup.Price: 16 oz., $2.50

Visit Santa’s Magical Kingdom this winter in this 35 acre park. You’ll spend a little more on gas, but for more than two million lights to see, you won’t regret it. Price: $19 per car

Wild Lights at the St. Louis Zoo is fun for friends and family. See the penguins and puffins while you’re there too.Price: $4 for Zoo members, $5 for non-members

If you’re willing to go the distance, Steinberg is in Forest Park. It’ll cost around $6 in gas, but for the largest ice rink in the Midwest it may just be worth it.Price: $6 admission, $4 skate rental

It might not have the tra-ditional outdoor setting, but the rink is always in pristine condition. The Rec-Plex is also an easy access located right off of Mexico Rd. Price: $5.25 admission, $3 skate rental

For a small amount more, you can not only enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, but you can take a chilly stroll down decorated Main Street. Price: Small cup, $3

This approximately 200- foot hill is located in the rear of the park. When not looking for a long trek, bundle up for this mini adventure.

Located outside the St. Louis Art Museum, this approximately 400-foot hill provides a steep thrill ride for friends and family to enjoy.

JUST PLAIN FREE

Winter

mustsWHETHER YOU’RE

ScanHERE

For a google map showing the location of all the “Winter Musts” and the distance from each other.

OR use this link: http://goo.gl/jQ6zn

Features


Features

Soaped up ridesA local business helps out FHN by employing students and giving them a safe and fun place to work

PAGE BY CYNTHIA CAHALL

BY MADDIE HIATT

Junior Kyle Pratt working his shift at the Country Club Car Wash drying cars as part of completing a full service wash. Rain or shine, their job involves drying, vacuming, and waxing cars that come in through out the day. As of now, Kyle has been working at the car wash for well over a year. (photo by cameron mccarty)

[email protected] | @littlemsbrittBY BRITTANY STECK

Cold dough is rolled out on the countertop where it is molded into a cylinder shape and twisted and turned at the command of senior Alec Kilb. The smell of cheese and other sauces pull shoppers in from all corners of the mall. Being a worker at Aun-tie Anne’s Pretzel Shop may seem easy, but so much more than pret-zel-making goes into a shift.

“You basically just have to know how to deal with the dough,” Kilb said. “And know how to work the oven and deal with customers.”

Since Nov. 2010, Kilb has been flipping pretzels, pouring drinks, and cleaning the kitchen at Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Stop at the Mid Rivers Mall. Kilb was ref-erenced for the job by his grand-mother, who has been working there for three years. Kilb works about 20-30 hours a week along with being enrolled in school and the work program.

“It’s pretty awesome that he can balance it all out,” girlfriend and junior Olivia Olson said. “I’m really proud of him.”

A typical work day at Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Shop holds more than pretzels and cheese

The hot wax is bubbling, the vacuums are rev-ving up to go and FHN students are ready for their shift. Country Club Car Wash currently employs about 30 FHN students. Some were hired from the work program, but it’s a common place among stu-dents to work because of the laid-back atmosphere.

Senior Allie Lukefahr was hired two years ago. She enjoys her job for many reasons.

“You get paid more there than most teenagers,” Allie said. “It’s not minimum wage and we get tips. I like that it’s really laid-back, and you can make a lot of money.”

One thing FHN workers enjoy is that there are a lot of fellow students that work at Country Club. Because of this, junior Krista Burris, who was hired in April 2012, says enjoys the time she gets to work with some of her friends.

“I like it because then you don’t have that awk-ward getting-to-know-people period,” Krista said. “You know everyone pretty much and a lot of my friends work there too, so it’s fun.”

The managers, Tim Kummer and Steve Biele, may help make the job fun, but there is a down-fall. It’s not always the most weather friendly job. Country Club Car Wash is opened daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and during the summer and winter,

there can be extreme weather. It’s the cold that Al-lie is not fond of.

“You feel like you can never put enough layers on to get warm,” Allie said. “We complain when it’s hot and when it’s cold. There is never a happy medium.”

While Allie may not like the weather, Kummer likes the relief the car wash gets when students in the work program come in. If participating in the work program, each student has to complete either 10 hours week to earn one credit for the semester or 20 hours a week to earn two credits.

“They really help me out,” Kummer said. “Since they come in at 12, they give me added re-lief, and they are a big help.”

The managers like to have fun with their em-ployees on a regular basis. Krista once asked off work to go hunting and Kummer, who is not a fan of hunting, wrote “deer slayer” next to Krista’s name on the schedule.

“The managers know everybody,” Krista said. “Even though so many people work there, they know everyone’s name.”

According to Krista and Allie, the practical jokes and funny managers create a positive overall feeling at Country Club Car Wash.

“The job is so laid back and it’s fun,” Krista said. “You’re not like always stressed out. I think it’s a really good first job.”

[email protected] | @maddiehiatt

SCAN HERETo watch a video about Alec and his pretzel.OR use this link: goo.gl/yXLiR

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theend Calendar

The mysterious calendar ends on Dec. 21, stirring end of the world fears and ideas

The Mayans were known for being great astronomers and predicting things before they happen, such as the destruction of their own kingdom. So, when their 5,000 year calendar abruptly ends on Dec. 21, it isn’t very surprising that many people might believe that is when the world ends.

“People love end of the world stories,” Mayan Expert Mark Van Stone said. “It turns from a scholarly specu-lation to a popular idea.”

The end of the world idea originated from scholars who were looking at the Mayan calendar and noticed it goes from 3100 to 0. To them, this meant that it would stop or restart leading to a disaster or event. This idea spread to the public and became the phenomenon it is today.

“When someone is mysteri-ous like the Mayan, people like to make up things, creating these modern fantasies,” Van Stone said.

The Mayans knew a lot, they had in-depth knowledge of the solar system. On Dec. 21, the sun will line up with the Galactic equator, causing the Galactic Align-ment. According to FHN Earth Science teacher Joe Breen, the Mayans believed humans were born out of it and they’d go back on that day, hence the end of their calendar.

“I think the Mayan calendar is accurate,” sophomore Ariel Kirkpatrick said. “But, I know they’re wrong sometimes.”

The calendar itself consists of three calendars con-nected within each other, the Tzolk’in, the Haab and the Long Count. It works by a combination of the three, where each cycle plays a role in the forecast of the day.

“They had so much in depth knowledge about the universe and how it works,” Breen said. “Everyone thought that their calendar ended because they knew something.”

Public concern of the Mayans predicting the end of the world is so high that NASA created a section about it on its website. Having already predicted the existence and flaring of a black hole at the center of the Milky Way, the end of the world is just another one of the things the Mayans “predicted.” Accurate or not, it’s on their list of predictions.

“I think I might go to sleep that night thinking that this could be it,” sophomore Madison Kelly said.

BY BRENDA [email protected]

The Mayan

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1218 PAGE BY MORGAN O’NEILL

is nearThe North Star takes an in-

depth look at the theories of the end of the world and the coming zombie apocalypse

Photo Illustrations by Murphy Riley and Cameron McCarty

Zombies become a legitimate threat in New Age apocalyptic theories

Ever since George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” back in 1968, zombies have been an icon of our culture. Since then movies, games, books and television shows have been released with the theme of a world filled with the undead and how the characters survive.

In the last few years, things have escalated. What had once been just a genre became a full-blown phenomenon, with people becom-ing seriously concerned about a zombie apocalypse. Fans have gone from enjoying the films to coming up with strategies if the dead actually rose.

“People always come up with zombie survival tactics,” junior Jessica Stelzer said. “They think the world is going to end, and they are paranoid about it.”

The old theory goes that a horde of mind-less cannibals would destroy civilization as we know it. Although this usually represents a deeper fear or concern, people have gone as far to find real world theories on how an actual apocalypse could occur. The fascina-tion with the idea of mind-altering parasites and hysteria-inducing drugs almost blurs the line between game and legitimate fear of an undead attack.

“The gore, the weird stuff; it’s unnatural,” freshman Alyssa Savage said. “It’s not normal to see people with blood all over their face.”

The general consensus is often that the people would panic. However, fans of the genre often come up with plans on how to survive. Acquiring a form of self-defense and fortifying a well supplied area such as a mall or supermarket is one of the most common tactics. However, many writers of modern zombie fiction have other theories and sce-narios of how to deal with different situations.

According to Jonathan Maberry, writer of the “Rot and Ruin” series, people staying informed and staying together would keep people safe and prevent the spread of the dis-ease, ultimately letting humanity win against the zombie uprising.

“They need to keep a line of communica-tion,” Maberry said. “There will always be hope and promise that help was coming.”

natural disasters extremeThe movie “2012” sparks ideas of the world ending

Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Earthquakes. Some see them as exciting additions to their days while others think of them as an annoyance that disrupts their day. In 2012, it is believed that these exciting disruptions will cause an end to Earth all together.

“I think the world could end by natural disasters,” sophomore Madison Kelly said. “Especially tornadoes, floods, icing of the flood or all three at once.”

The movie “2012” depicts the end of the world by catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis, followed by a polar shift in the Earth’s core. In the movie, New York becomes flooded in October, causing the start of the end of the world. Ironically, Hurricane Sandy mirrored the events in the movie this October.

“I think that tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanos erupting and other natural disasters at once could destroy buildings and kill many people,” sophomore Elizabeth Scanlon said

KSDK Meteorologist Bree Smith theorizes that the end would be caused by a series of events. Earth’s weather is caused by a surplus of heat at the equator moving to the polls called the oceanic circulation. For the world to end, the oceanic circulation would have to stop transferring adequate heat. This would decrease the amount of oxygen in the ocean. It would affect the marine life and, in turn, humanity.

“People are concerned with storms increasing,” Smith said “We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen.”

The power of nuclear weapons could be enough to end all life

A total of 210,000 died from the nuclear bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945, according to the Huffington Post. Some believe that if a full-scale nuclear war occured, it would be the end of humanity.

“I’ve seen clips of the bombing,” sophomore Timmy Xiang said. “The aftermath boggles my mind.”

According to the Southeastern Penn-sylvania Cold War History Society (SPCWHS), the USA and Soviet Union came close to nuclear war. The American government even had a plan during the Cold War to fly the president in the Air Force One during any nuclear attack.

Even though the standoff be-tween the two countries is over, the threat has not disappeared.

“I don’t think the U.S. or Russia ever wanted to annihilate the rest of the world,” SPCWHS member Eleanor O’Rangers said. “I’m more concerned with countries with less than rational leaders.”

According to O’Rangers, the Cold War didn’t escalate due to neither country wanting to start a war. However, countries such as North Korea are testing weapons and have made threats of attacks.

“They are a government that may need to prove their superior-ity” Government Teacher Chip Crow said. “They may do so with military presence.”

If these countries ever managed to spark a worldwide nuclear war, many fear that it would be an extinction-level event.

“All the mass destruction could wipe out most, if not all species,” sophomore Zach Beckmann said.

to the

BY BRENDA [email protected]

the war to end all wars

BY AUSTIN [email protected]

BY AUSTIN [email protected]

PAGE BY MORGAN O’NEILL 12.12.12 FHNTODAY.COM 19

nightmareA REAL LIFE

they're here

With the support of teachers and students in the community,

Republican Spencer runs against


A NIGHTMARE

COMES TO LIFE Often the subject of science fiction movies, zombies are also something scientists are looking into to see what’s possible and if they’re a threat

With the end of the world supposedly near, some apocalyptic ideas have been spreading and causing all kinds of reactions. Zombies are often

grouped with these “seemingly crazy” ideas, but some people are wondering if zombies may be more realistic than people think. Matt Mogk, the author of “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Zombies” and head of the Zombie Research Society based in Los Angeles, and other organizations are looking into whether or not zombies are something to worry about.

“I think they are both a human invention and a legitimate threat,” Mogk said. “There

absolutely could be something like a zombie outbreak. It might not necessarily be like the movies. We’re never really gonna know until it actually happens. I think it’s totally possible.”

In May, an incident involving bath salts, a synthetic cocaine substitute, took place in Miami. Randy Eugene, 31, was shot dead by police while eating the flesh of another man and refusing to stop. He was suspected to be under the influence of bath salts. Other incidents involving drugs and face-eating have occurred in the past. Although these people weren’t actual zombies, the behavior exhibited was zombie-like.

“It seems like bath salts kind of do cause zombie-like behavior,” Mogk said. “The key though is that it’s not infectious. Bath salts may make the person crazy and attack other people, but it won’t make those people start attacking other people.”

Another indication of zombie-like behavior can be seen in the Toxoplasma gondii parasite which causes rats to lose their fear of cats and be eaten by them. Similar fatal diseases are chronic wasting disease, which affects deer, and mad cow disease, which affects cows. In both cases, the brain is eaten away and rotted. This causes the animals to act strangely, losing control over the ability

BY DANIEL [email protected]

“They’re really intense, gruesome creatures. They’re interesting because sometimes they’re missing body parts and eat people.”

Marissa Watkins, 10

“I’ve always wondered what would happen in a zombie apocalypse. With all the TV shows and hype about it now, it’s really interesting.”

Courtney Vishy, 11

the zombie craze

“They’re awesome and make the best movies because they’ve made their own genre just based around zombies.”

Mac Sievert, 11

FHNTODAY.COM 21 12.12.12PAGE BYMORGAN O’NEILL

CAMPAIGN SPENDING

Do you think that political ads are effective or just a waste of money?

“They’re effective for people who don’t look deep into them because I don’t think they ever come close to being true.” -Sam Scopel, 12

“They’re a waste because they [politicians] could use that money to help others in need or something like that.” -Sara Bargen, 9

What’s the craziest political ad you’ve seen this year?

“Dave Spencer’s ‘Job Creator’. It was just so cheesy. I could just see him making up things up as he went along.” -Courtney Nixon, 12

“Claire McCaskill’s ads on youtube. They were annoying and obnoxious because they played after every video I wanted to watch.”- Amber Baker, 10

COMES TO LIFE you might be to do normal things like walking.

In extremely rare cases, mad cow disease is spread to humans and called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. It causes dementia, loss of co-ordination, and eventually death. Some think this disease or mutations of other illnesses could spread to humans and essentially make people into zombies.

“I think that zombies could exist through some type of virus,” senior John Malone, a zombie enthusiast, said. “There’s viruses like mad cow disease that could evolve to humans. Anything is possible. Bacteria and viruses change daily and that’s outside the range of man-made viruses that could be programmed to do anything.”

In New Guinea in the 1950s, an entire tribe caught a fatal disease called kuru that starts with symptoms of unsteady walking, lack of muscle and emotional control, tremors and slurred speech. The disease eventually caused death since it isn’t curable. Although the tribe was infected with the disease because of their cannibalistic traditions, the disease can also be sporadically developed or inherited. Some scientists think that a mutation or merging of diseases could cause the same results.

“I think the best theory would be a virus that activates within a certain period after death,” Biology Teacher Laura Montgomery said. “It would only cause some functions to continue and wouldn’t regenerate or replace tissues, but [the corpse] would have some kind of reawak-ened activity and could be contagious until it

would cease to be after about a year.”Another possible way for zombies to exist

would be through stem cell and neurogenesis (growing brain cells) research. These have given hope to theories that brain cells could be grown, possibly regrown in dead people.

“I certainly think there’s potential there,” Mogk said. “There’s no telling what we’re going to be able to do in the future.”

When it comes to a zombie apocalypse, some think it’s a possibility. As of now, aspects of zombie-ism have been observed but not all in one person at one time.

“There are certain elements of zombie-ism, but they haven’t been put together totally,” Mogk said. “The most likely way is just a dis-ease we already have that continues to adapt and mutate. I think it’s absolutely likely. I can’t say 100 percent but it’s totally possible.”

If an outbreak was to happen, Mogk thinks the problem would not only be getting zom-bies controlled, but to find the source of the infection, which could be difficult. Since an infected person could infect others even with-out actually being a zombie yet, there would be no way of knowing who was infected and who wasn’t.

“It could spread all over the world, espe-cially if the incubation rate were days or weeks before people became zombies. People could be infected and not know it,” Mogk said. “They could get on planes and travel all over the world like in the movie ‘Contagion’. You’ll see outbreaks all over the world.”

a zombie ifYou have a tendency to drool a lot.

You feel that you’re always mov-ing at the same slow, sleepwalk-er-like pace.

You are told you smell bad, or like roadkill.

You are craving other people’s brains.

You have the sudden urge to go to the mall.

You send people running away from you.

You try to speak, and you can’t form words, just groans and moans.

You know or are friends with other zombies.

SCAN HERETo watch how students would defend themselves in a zombie attack or go to http://goo.gl/10g6l

FHNTODAY.COM

“My brother and I have always loved zombies and watched zombie movies.”

Spenser Scopel, 11

“I’ve liked zombies ever since the game ‘Left For Dead’ and I thought it was an interesting concept.”

Ashley Hudspeth, 12

“Zombies actually scare me because I feel like they could actually happen. Scientists could mix up the wrong chemicals at any time and become infected.”

Ariel Kirkpatrick, 10

FHNTODAY.COM 11.05.1224 PAGE BY NICK BUSSELL

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a nationwide government organization, has been issuing tips and guidelines on what to do in case of a zombie apocalypse through their zombie survival guide “Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic.”

“We were doing some social media on what people were preparing for, and we kept getting, zombies, zombies, zombies,” Jason McDonald, media relations for the CDC Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response said. “We put out a preparedness message every year, and it’s usually something bland like, ‘this is how to prepare for a hurricane.’ The year of 2011, we decided to do something more tongue-and-cheek.”

According to McDonald, the idea for the guide was taken from zombie expert Max Brooks, author of “World War Z,” who uses his novels as a way to educating students about things like AIDS. In the CDC’s survival guide, they list steps they believe are essential and necessary in surviving the zombie apocalypse. These steps are also meant to be able to cross over in the cases of emergencies.

“I think it’s unnecessary because the world’s not going to be taken over by zombies,” junior Morgan Stock said. “The government should save their money for something we can actually use.”

Along with the survival guide, the CDC has released public service announcements using the zombie apocalypse to bring awareness upon other serious subjects, such as cardiac arrest and natural disasters.

“I think it’s a good way to get young people involved and shed light on things that are more serious,” junior Casie Sheppard said.

Twist highlights the organization’s 2011 emergency survival guide

cdcBY CARLY [email protected]


anatomy of the beast

SKINRigor mortis, possibly even tinted green or white.

FEETStagger at a pace of about 10 feet per minute.

armsDon’t have too wide of a range of movement

stomachDigests even thetoughest of human innards.

jawConstantly hanging open with drool draping to the side.

earsCan hear humans from miles away, octaves higher than before zom-bification.

eyesAble to see the slight-est sign of their human prey, even in pitch-black environments.

Basically, non functioning after zombification.

1 brains

Not able to form words, but can mutter growls and grunts.

mouth

Biologically enabled to smell the brain of any living Homo sapien.

nose

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Find the guide athttp://goo.gl/0h8iP

FHNTODAY.COM 25 11.05.12PAGE BY NICK BUSSELL

what to bringTo prepare for the impending apocalypse it is important to have adequate supplies available.

what you need


waterAnd lots of it. At least one gallon per person per day. Try bringing a portable hydration pack for rehydrat-ing on the run.

foodBring nonperishable items like energy bars and peanut butter. Minimum of three days supply.

basicsSuch as sanitation items, extra clean clothes, emergency cash, copies of personal documents, cell phone with charger, emergency blanket, sleeping bag, maps, etc.

first aidAt least a week’s supply. Don’t ignore the small things. First a cut, next a zombie meal.

FlashlightFor shining in eyes, lighting paths and locating missing persons.

radioBattery-powered or hand-crank (NOAA Weather Radio, if possible) -for updates on safe zones and outbreaks.

suppliesA wrench, pliers, plastic sheet, duct tape, scis-sors, matches, any of these make for multi-purpose tools for any situation

Assemble a group - This will extend resources and everyone has a talent that could be utilized.Study the books - Read up on what to do in worst-case scenarios, take a look at tips for surviving natural disasters, learn from examples of other survivors.Cut down on luxury items - Now that the world has been overrun by zombies, there won’t be any more coffee, potato chips or protein shakes. Prepare for the basic food items.Stay alert - At the first sign of zombie outbreak, begin contacting group members and discussing plans for evacuation. Keep traveling laws in mind when deciding what to bring. Start building an alibi.Leave urban areas - As safe as it seems, urban areas are the most likely areas for fires, attacks, industrial accidents, etc. Escape to the wilderness.Know your destination - Don’t just jump in the car and head north. Know where you’re going and how far

is it from civilization (threat), water and other natural resources. Check up-to-date maps and know whether the area has any natural defenses. Mountains are a good choice.Plan the route - Make sure airlines are still flying, boats are still sailing, and taxis are still driving before choosing a destination. Moving away to a remote island would be great, but how will you reach it without a plane or boat?Always have a backup plan - Everyone knows that sometimes plans fail. Make sure to have place B, C, D, and E prepared as well.Plan an escape route - If defenses are breached, make sure everyone knows where to go and how to get there. Keep backpacks filled with supplies and drill the plan into everyone’s heads. Be on guard - Keep lookouts posted at all times. Even after everyone has settled in, no one can truly relax.

if you want to survive

what to do To increase chances of survival once the invasion starts.

Information from: http://goo.gl/qwR9b

To see if you could survive the apocalypse take the quiz on fhntoday.com at http://goo.gl/sOCRk

THIS NIGHTMARE IS only a

With Dec. 21 swiftly approaching, people turn to the theory of a zombie invasion that is not scientifically supported

Because of some New Age theories on the end of the world, some believe that a shift in the magnetic poles will bring the world to an end on Dec. 21, nine days from now.

With the fear of an apocalypse, society and the media have portrayed a possibility of a zombie apocalypse. There have been theories that have been said to be true, but some of those are scien-tifically impossible.

NeurotoxinsNeurotoxins have become a popular theory in

support of why a zombie outbreak could take place. However, according to FHN Biology Teacher Laura Montgomery, neurotoxins would never be able to result in zombification because they would not account for the craving of brain tissue and decay. After a person was revived from the trance-like state, they would go back to normal.

ParasitesParasites have also been said to be a theory of a

zombie outbreak. An example of such a parasite is Toxoplasma gondii, which is a single-cell parasite that is mostly found in cats. The parasite alters brain chemistry and can be transmitted to humans through undercooked meat including pig, lamb and venison. This certain parasite can also be transmitted through hand-to-mouth contact of infected raw meat. Some people believe that zombies could be caused by a parasitic organism; however, FHN Biology Teacher Chris Dalton doesn’t agree.

“I, myself, don’t think a parasite could turn a human into a zombie,” Dalton said. “Parasites can affect your mood because they make you sick and ill, but they don’t change who you are physically and genetically.”

This theory of a zombie outbreak has also branched from diseases such as Human African Trypanosomiasis, commonly known as the sleep-ing sickness.

A vector-borne parasitic disease, the sleeping sickness is transmitted to humans by certain species of tsetse fly bites. The flies acquire the infection from humans or animals carrying the parasite. These flies are found in sub-Saharan Africa, and regions that depend on agriculture,

fishing, animal breeding or hunting are the most vulnerable. However, there are regions where the tsetse flies are found, but the sleeping sickness is not.

It’s a disease that neurologically turns healthy human beings into zombie-like confused people. The disease can kill an infected person if left untreated.The disease can develop in areas that have single village or an entire region. Within an infected area, the intensity of the disease can be different from one village to the next.

James Powell is a mathematics and biology professor at Utah State University. He uses the subject of zombie invasion in some of his classes to teach application of mathematics to ecology. Powell has studied what would happen if a zom-bie attack would take place in his own of home-town Logan, Utah. He believes in outbreaks of diseases like rabies, but that a zombie outbreak is very unlikely.

“In the context of stuff that I’ve looked at, it could happen that we have an outbreak of some-thing that kills off, let’s say, 40 to 70 percent of human population,” Powell said. “Something like that really could happen, but I think the idea of real zombies is unlikely.”

The FluPhenomena, rabies, the flu and even the com-

mon cold can usually take someone’s level of energy down. According to Powell, the theory of neurotoxins and parasites causing a zombie outbreak is not possible because if a person gets sick, their speed and stamina will be decreased.

“Zombies seem to have an awful lot of stamina and motivation,” Powell said. “If you take a hu-man body and get it really sick, it’s just not going to keep function very long.”

FHN teacher Matthew Riffee, who has previ-ously taught biology also agrees that theory of a zombie apocalypse has been proven wrong by what is known in science at this point.

“In my opinion, science is always evolving,” Riffee said. “In the future, who knows? Maybe zombies could happen. But based on what we currently know in science, it doesn’t appear as though it could happen. The human body would most likely shut down before it could go through the drastic changes to turn into a zombie.”

top 5movies

BY AMANDA [email protected] | @AStall13

1. 2012 (2009)This film takes place in an apocalyptic world where the Mayan prediction comes true. This action-packed thriller follows a family on their journey towards the only hope for humankind: huge arcs that carry the last survivors on Earth.

2. 28 DAYS LATER (2002) This zombie filled movie takes second, for its storyline, graphics, and gore. How could you ever turn down a good old fashioned zombie movie?

3. ZombieLand (2009) This comical, bloody, but lighthearted zombie flick has someone that other zombie movies don’t: Woody Harrelson fighting zombies and searching for Twinkies.

4. Night of the Living Dead (1968) One of the original zombie movies, this film was one of the scariest movies in its day. The story revolves around a group of people who take refuge in a farmhouse in an attempt to survive an attack from the undead.

5. Shaun of the Dead (2004) In this zombie comedy, a man decides to turn his life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend and reconciling with his mother while dealing with a community of zombies.

1. Fallout 32. Metro 20333. Resident Evil4. Call of Duty: Black Ops5. Plants vs. Zombies

video games

Books1. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead - Max Brooks

2. The Magic Island - William B. Seabrook

3. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

4. Rot and Ruin - Jonathan Maberry

5. Day by Day Armageddon - J. L. Bourne


sources for zombie entertainment DAYDREAM


“I’d spend all my money and eat a lot.”

Ami Patel, 11

“If I knew the world was ending, I would go to some shows, eat a lot of food and finish my bucket list with Ike.”

Bailey Smith, 12

“I would stop shaving, dye my hair bright red, get a tattoo of an eye on my face, and I would take over a Taco Bell and have a party.”

Valerie Udovenko, 10

“I would go skydiving because if I die from it, it doesn’t matter anyway. Plus it’s free falling; what’s better than that?”

Evan Miller, 10

the last ten daysStudents express how they would spend their days before the end

“I would go to Six Flags, and go to church more often.”

Mallory Echelmeyer, 11

“I would go hunting and hang out with all my friends and family.”

Jacob Flaherty, 11theend

SCAN HERETo see a video of the official zombie maker Rachel Rotter as she takes on the challenge of zombifying students or go to goo.gl/rPTG2

FHNTODAY.COM

“I would do everything I’ve always wanted to do but couldn’t because I was restricted by laws, good morals and gravity. So pretty much anarchy.”

Lucas Dykes, 9

“I would get my son Charlie whatever he wanted and do what he wanted for our last 10 days.”

Val Vanderbeck, Math

the undeadMac SievertSpenser ScopelAriel KirkpatrickAndrew LeonardCourtney Vishy

Lucas DykesMarissa WatkinsBreanna RellekeAlex HeiglAlyssa Savage

Kaitlin EifertCorey BrunsI’esha BollDrake KruepFionna Cruz

?

DAYDREAM

for more go to fhntoday.com/zombies

www.shirtkong.com

Stevie Snee SCC studentFrancis Howell North alum

SCC makes it happen.

support around every corner at St. Charles Community College.

Take the next step toward success at stchas.edu/future_students.

Success.

so, this is HannahScan here for a video about Hannah Rosen spreading Christmas cheer.

OR use this link: http://goo.gl/FIHZH

she's a helper

Home of the $975 complete overhauled

transmissionCall 636-926-0800

4037 S. Cloverleaf Drive St. Peters, MO 63376

cheeringthrough it all

BY ALEXIS CHRISTO

Senior Sami Ritter shows her passion toward special needs children through volunteering

SPORTS

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1230 PAGE BY ALEXIS CHRISTO

-sami ritter, 12

[email protected] | @alexis_christo

The patients’ faces light up with ex-citement as the first cheerlead-er, Little Lily, does her stunt.

“She’s so pret-ty,” one of the patients whisper.

Behind the scenes, Senior Sami Ritter and her 10-year-old buddy, Gabby, get excited about their upcoming performance. They go over exactly what they need to do so Gabby’s nerves are calmed and she feels prepared.

As the others continue to perform, off to the side, a girl starts to cry. Her buddy picks her up and bounces her around. With the help of anoth-er buddy, they try to make her smile and keep her quiet while the other girls are performing.

After a few more performances, it’s Sami and Gabby’s turn to do their log roll. As do all the buddies, Sami does the stunt first and then their girls follow after them.

The concept of having the buddies go first is it shows the girls what they’re doing and that it’s okay for them to do their stunts.

Adrenaline Explosion Cheer (AEC), a cheer team for kids with special needs, held a performance on Nov. 9 at Ran-ken Hospital to showcase their talents to the young patients and their parents.

Sami volunteers as a buddy, along with three other girls from North, sophomore Bailey Bay, and seniors Haley Stegman and Kelli Balch.

Sami first started volunteering with AEC two years ago when she had to op-portunity to fill in for another volunteer.

“I’ve always liked helping people and had the opportunity to do it,” Sami said. “I didn’t realize I would get anything out of it.”

Sami’s buddy, Gabby, has Down Syndrome. Those with Down Syndrome have poor strength, poor muscle mass and usually have cardiovascular health problems. Despite cer-tain challenges, Gabby is always happy and

her hard-working motives have her loving to learn and try new things, according to Sami.

“We push the girls as far and as com-fortable with what they’re doing,” Sami said. “They seem to be doing really well.”

As a buddy, the volunteers help the girls with stunts such as forward and backwards rolls, cartwheels, builds and pyramids. They also as-sist them with dances and routines they learn.

“I absolutely love doing it because it’s the best hour and a half of my week,” Sami

“we push the girls as far and as comfortable with what they’re doing. They seem to be doing really well.”

Far Left: Sami Ritter helps out her buddy Gabby practice flipping on the mats at their practice facility.Center: A volunteer guides her buddy through flips for their routines and stunts that they perform at competitions.Left: Haley Stegman helps her buddy work on skills on the balance beam during training course at their gym.(Photos by cameron mccarty)

FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12 31PAGE BY ALEXIS CHRISTO

Left: Adrenaline Explosion Cheer poses for a group photo after their performance at Rankin Hospital on Nov. 9. They showcased their talents that they’ve worked on every Sunday prior to the performance. (cameron mccarty)

said. “Seeing the smile on their faces and the enjoyment they get while doing it.”

Kylie, Sami’s younger sister, has Cystic Fi-brosis. Cystic Fibrosis is a disease that causes mucus to build up in the lungs or other areas and can cause delayed growth. Sami’s sis-ter has had a strong effect on the way Sami lives her life and chooses to relate to others.

“I don’t want anyone to treat her differently, even though she doesn’t look different,” Sami said.

Founder of AEC, Sara Von Harz, start-ed the program her sophomore year in high school. There are 15 volunteers, each paired up with a cheerleader who range from five years old to 18 years old.

On top of teaching the girls stunts, once a month they have a sign language session for the girls to learn sign language so they can

communicate with everyone on the team. “I like being able to see the kids’ progress,

see the skills they get and see how happy their parents get when they see their kids do something they would never do,” Sara said.

Along with volunteering, Sami has done mis-sion trips with her church youth group; her most recent trip was over the summer to New York. Her youth group worked with the el-derly special needs called Camp Pioneer and volunteered with the Special Olympics. Work-ing with those groups of people made Sami consider looking into medical field involv-ing careers with people with special needs.

“I’ve gained that you really can’t judge a book by the cover,” Sami said. “You’ve really got to get to know the person and once you do, you find out how amazing people really are. And how much it means to them that you care.”

What’s been your most memorable

time whilevolunteering?

“Most memorable time was at Joplin, Mo when

they took first in the competition.”

Haley Stegman Senior

Time volunteering: 2 years

How have you been affected by

volunteering?

“[I] feel like it’s made me a better person

and more accepting of someone and different

ideas.”

Kelli Balch Senior

Time volunteering: 2 years

Why did you get involved with AEC?“Sami Ritter told me about it and I wanted to do it for a long tme and she got me involved.”

Bailey BaySophomore

Time volunteering:one month

MEETTHE

VOLUNTEERSOther students at FHN are inspired to reach out and help others

The Varsity Hockey team is currently 3-0 in their conference and 3-4 overall. Despite having a 15 player roster and their record, Coach Paul Bruemmer thinks they are a still force to be reckoned with.

“I think we will be very competitive in our division,” Bruemmer said.The team won Gold Cup this year, and now they set their hopes to win

the division and their conference, which is toward the end of January.“I think we have a talented team, and we could upset

anyone,” Varsity forward and sophomore Brycon Johnson said.

Bruemmer thinks they are a very talented and competitive team. Though hockey is not sponsored by the school, they still take pride in calling themselves the Knights. Bruemmer also believes if more student fans come out to see them play, it will motivate them to do even better.

“We need as many fans as possible,” Bruemmer said, “The boys take a lot of pride being named the Knights, we want more people to come and watch.”

Senior Adam Kassly slams his stick down on the ice to prevent the puck from going into the goal. This was one of the many saves Kassly made against FZN. The Knights were victorious with a 4-0 win. (julie schwartz)

The winter sports teams focus on starting the season of strong and keeping the pace

sports

Looks can be deceiving

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1232 PAGE BY RODNEY MALONE

Record- 4 wins, 2 lossesPins- 2

Games Played- 4Points scored- 56Rebounds- 34

Games played- 10Goals- 4Assists- 3

WinterStats

sam ritchie MADISON GILLAM cody Pingelton BASKETBALL HOCKEY

AS OF 12/6/12

BringOn the

As of press time, the Varsity girls Basketball team is 2-2, and Coach Matt Watson hopes to have a better record than the previous season’s record of 9-18 . Varsity Guard, junior Jessica Moceri, believes her team

can pull off a successful season. “We put in a lot of practice, and I feel like it will

pay off,” Moceri said. Varsity point guard and shooting guard freshman Austine Pauley thinks

that the team is capable of winning a lot of games. She aspires for the team to go to State and become State champions.

“I think our team this year can go to State and win it all,” Pauley said.

Junior Annelise Arger sprints down the court on a breakaway after stealing the ball. North de-feated Timberland 43-37 at Timberland on Dec. 4 in their first regular season game. (abigail griffin)

Through their challenging schedule, the Wrestling team is confi-dent about their season.

“I expect them to get better everyday,” Harold Ritchie, head coach of Varsity Wrestling said. ”We have a lot of expe-rienced Varsity guys who are seniors, and I expect a successful season from them.”

Sean Smalls, a Varsity wrestler and senior, expects a lot from him-self and he is confident about his season.

“I’m expecting at least to qualify for State and get a State medal,” Smalls said. “I also want our Varsity lineup to qualify for State.”

Varsity wrestler Jordan Powell takes his opponent to the mat in the Nov. 28 meet at North. The Knights took on the Timberland Wolves for the first meet of the year. (zack eaton)

HOCKEY

GIRLS BASKETBALLWRESTLING

Season Record: 5-4 (as of press time)

Season Record: 2-2(as of press time)


STORIES BY RODNEY MALONE, AUSTIN BARBER, AND ABBY WEST

Ambitious season Intentions moving forward step by step

CLARISSA SANBOTHE WRESTLING

games

FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12

33PAGE BY AUSTIN BARBER

SCAN HERETo find out all of the other personal statistics for players.

FHNTODAY.COM

OR use this link: http://goo.gl/CImgx

[email protected]

BY DRAKE KRUEP

On June 8, I was in a head-to-head collision with another team-mate at football practice and was out for an entire month of July until I was cleared. In week two of the season I was blindsided by an opposing player.

I failed my imPACT tests multiple times and my mother decided I should see a doctor. I was cleared but faced with this tough decision - I could play foot-ball but gamble with my life, or I could quit football forever but be unhappy.

I chose to return to football and finish the season. Most peo-ple would say I am gambling with my life and being reckless. In some ways I am, but football is a sport I can’t live without. Taking football away from me is like tak-ing water from a fish.

Choosing not to do something you love because there’s an out-side chance of something bad coming from it is no way to live your life. While there is danger in the decision I chose, I’m doing everything I can to keep myself safe and limit the dangers that go with my decision. Decisions are tough, but in the end follow your gut and do what you think is best.

After severe injuries, it’s hard to choose between your health and your love for the game

50 Free- 30.06 seconds100 Free- 1 minute 14 seconds

CLARISSA SANBOTHE SWIMMINGGames Played- 2Points- 13

BLAKE SHAMBRO BASKETBALL

During the Girl’s swimming tryouts, the rookie swimmers are coached by head coach Chip Crow. (logan bergman)

The girls Swim team is rebuilding after losing 11 senior swimmers from last year. Only seven of the 20 swimmers on the team are returning from last year. Coach William Crow thinks they will have

to fill holes left from the seniors and focus on becoming a more experienced team.

“I honestly don’t know what this team will look like because there are so many new people,” Crow said.

Crow is looking forward to the unknown factors and thinks the team can have a successful season.

The Knightlne team performed on Dec. 1 at Lindergh. The team preformed their new jazz dance to the song Blow by Kesha. (photo submitted)

Knightline competed in their first competition on Dec. 1 at Lindbergh High School. The team placed first in their kick dance and fifth in their jazz dance.

The team created the new routines for the com-petition. FHHS, FHC and FZE were competitors along with others at Lindbergh.

“Our first place was well de-served,” senior Morgan Robben said. “Our kick dance was very well put together and prepared.”

Knightline’s next competition will be Nationals from Jan. 31-Feb. 4 at Disney World in Florida.

KNIGHTLINE GIRLS SWIMMING

Junior Josh Carpenter defends against a break-away. FHN took on LSHN at the boys basketball tournament on Dec. 3 (megan tanksley)

For the first time in 26 years, the Varsity boys Basketball team started the season with a new coach, Darrell Davis from Fulton High School. The team had to make a quick transition since Da-

vis got the job two weeks before the season started. Davis thinks the team has done a very good

job adjusting to the new system, and coaches.During an SCW game on Dec. 3, Davis suffered

his first setback when senior Kyle Lemons was fouled in the third quarter. Lemons broke his collar bone and will be out for six to eight weeks.

“You can’t worry with what you don’t have, but with what you do have,” Davis said. “Kyle sup-ports the team, we will take it one game at a time.”

On Dec. 2, Senior Drew Landherr bowls his frame to help his team win a meet against many differant schools from sround the area. (matt krieg)

Every Sunday, the Bowling team faces off against a variety of high school teams in the St. Charles area. There are two teams at FHN right now, and their goal is to make Districts and be-

yond. The Bowling team has a

winning percentage of 71.4 (as of press time) so far this season and would like to continue with the good start and improve their scores. Paaren thinks with a strong finish to the season that they could advance to District and State tournaments in the spring.

“We must adapt to lane conditions, we have to focus and overall practice more,” senior Kyle Paaren said. “We would like to finish first.”

BOWLING BOYS BASKETBALL


Winning Percentage- 71.4 (as of press time)

Season Record: 0-2(as of press time)

Aiming for districts shift in leadership

bringing home a win rebuilding, reloading

Nationals: Jan. 31 to Feb.4

case

SPORTS TALK:

toughchoices

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1234 PAGE BY ABBY WEST

sports

[email protected] BRENDA ALVARADO

Sophomore Dominique Meyer qualifies for State in three different sports

Sophomore Dominique Meyer is no stranger to State competi-tions. Within her freshman and sophomore year, she’s qualified in all the sports she participates in at North; cross country, diving and track.

“To qualify in three sports in high school is difficult,” Cross Country coach Sean Fowler said. “Doing it by your sophomore year is rather impressive.”

To achieve this State streak, Dominique placed in the top 30 at Districts and Sectionals for cross country as well as the top four in track and had a score of at least 110 in diving.

“It didn’t seem like that big of a feat,” Dominique said. “I just focused on one at a time.”

Having already qualified for State this year by scoring a 220 she hopes to it onto the podium this year by placing in the top eight at State.

As for track, she plans to switch from the 4x8 to pole-vault, seeing more of a future for herself there. In cross country, she hopes to break 20 minutes on the 5k State course.

“She can do it,” junior Brandon Rosner said, “if she pushes her-self and runs a smart race.”

playing WITH

MAGIC

backTO

STATE

sports injuriestop 6 most common high school

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, or any injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. Although there may be cuts or bruises on the head or face, there may be no visible signs of a brain injury.

concussions

“I was running at some-one in football and we hit each other,” senior Jonah Elliot said.

“I have bad memory, and I get headaches.”

It’s an injury to one of the ligaments in your ankle. Ligaments are tough bands of tissue that hold your bones together. Although ligaments are flexible, all it takes is a sudden twist for them to stretch too far or snap entirely.You might get a sprain if your foot lands on the ground at an angle, or with too much force.

ANKLE SPRAIN

“I was jumpsetting in volleyball, and I came down on my ankle,” junior Stonyrae Harris said.

Shin splints cause dull, aching pain in the front of the lower leg. Some people feel it only during exercise; others, when they’ve stopped exercising. Sometimes, the pain is con-stant. They can be caused by swollen muscles, stress fractures, or “flat feet”

SHIN SPLINTS

“I got shin splints from not working out my calves enough, junior Alexis Happe said.

“Now I have to wear compression socks.”

Back pain can cause problems anywhere from the neck to the tailbone. The back includes: The bones and joints of the spine. The discs that separate the vertebrae and absorb shock as you move. The muscles and ligaments that hold the spine together.

STRAINED BACK

“I tore muscles in my lower back, because during soccer I jumped and landed on my heels,” senior Andy Bartell said.

“It still hurts if I do any-thing strenuous.”

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four ligaments in the knee that connect the upper and lower leg bones. Injuries range from mild, such as a small tear, to severe, such as when the ligament tears completely or when liga-ments and part of the bone separate.

torn ACL

“It was at soccer practice and I got slide tackled from behind,” senior Allie McDonnell said.

‘Physical therapy sucked but it helped out a lot.”

The knee is the largest joint in the body. The upper and lower bones of the knee are separated by two discs. Leg bones are connected by ligaments, tendons, and muscles. The surface of the bones inside the knee joint which absorb shock, and allow for joint movement. Injuries to any of these structures can cause knee pain.

Knee sprain

I developed tendonitis in both of my knees from play-ing volleyball last year,” senior Mark Reichert said.

With more than 28 different high schools sports being participated in each year, injuries are occuring at rapid rates throughout seasons

stats

stats stats stats

stats

19around

concussions for the fall sports season 18

aroundshin splint cases for the fall sports season 10

aroundankle injuries for the fall sports season

8around

back injuries for the fall sports season 3

aroundtorn ACL’s for the fall sports season 20

aroundknee injuries for the fall sports season

stats

info from www.webmd.comstatistics from trainer Joe Bommerito

Features


BY DAVID MCFEELY

At age 10, senior Tyler Smith began wrestling. He started be-cause it sounded interesting.

“It felt like it was a hard sport when I started,” Smith said. “But getting my first win really made wrestling worth doing.”

His first win came in fourth grade and first high school win came in ninth grade at a Park-way West tournament. He said his biggest victory was in his sophomore year when he de-feated the number one wrestler in Missouri.

“I think he has been getting better at practices and he should place higher than he did last year,” sophomore Zak Davlin said.

Last year, Smith took sixth place at State -- the only FHN wrestler to medal. His success gave him high expectations for this year.

“I think I’ll place in State and might get first because I did re-ally well last year and can only hope to get better,” Smith said.

Smith plans to not wrestle next year because St. Charles Community College, the col-lege he’ll attend, doesn’t have a team.

“I think he is a pretty darn good wrestler and could defi-nitely wrestle in college,” As-sistant coach Chris Brown said.

Through the years, Smith has been dedicated to the sport of wrestling

SPORTS

[email protected] | @abby_west19

BY ABBY WEST

hopes for a bright futureSenior Michaela Randolph spends her time practicing competitive gymnastics as well as coaching others

Senior Michaela Randolph has been doing gymnastics at Flipslide Gymnastics since getting hooked at a young age. Besides practicing to become better individually, Randolph helps other build their skills. Randolph wishes to earn a degree in exercise science to have a career as a coach or trainer. (matt krieg)

PAGE BY DAVID MCFEELY

[email protected]

From the age of 7, Randolph realized she had a passion for gymnastics. It first began with a Girl Scout event where she visited a gym to experience what the life of a gymnast was like, and she was hooked.

“I grew up just me and my mom, so I had to choose one sport,” Randolph said. “I really liked gymnastic classes, so I just stuck with that.”

Gymnastics is different from other sports, according to coach Jessie Baker.

Pre-requisites:Coordination, balance, agility,

physical strength, and flexibility. Randolph currently trains three

nights a week at Flipside Gymnas-tics where she has been training since she began gymnastics. At Flipside there are 10 levels, the more skills that can only be acquired the higher level that is earned. She is currently at a Level 8. Randolph is skilled in several events including bars, vault, beam and floor. Last year she placed at Regionals, taking third in beam and fourth on floor.

“She is really unaware of how talented she actu-ally is,” Baker said. “She is a great role model for

the others.”The other three nights out of her week, when she

is not practicing. Randolph spends her night at the gym coaching younger kids, ranging from ages six to 15. She trains them in various different skills and passes on her knowledge of technique.

“It takes a special person to coach others,” Baker said. “She is good at knowing how to push them and make them feel good when doing it.”

With an average of 30 of hours a week she spends at the gym, Ran-dolph has grown close to many of her teammates. Randolph feels that hav-ing a family-like feel while practicing makes competitions even better.

“We have always just been an extra coach for each other,” teammate Becca Campbell said. “In all honesty she is just a great person all around.”

While continuing to train with her teammates, Randolph is beginning to plan for her future. She hopes to reach as high of a level as she can at Flipside, this coming year. Randolph also wishes to pursue an exercise science degree in college, which she hopes will get her a job in coaching or training. She also wishes to participate in college pole vault.

“Just her commitment level as a gymnast and as a teacher is amazing,” Baker said. “She shows that if you dream big you can accomplish anything.”

SCAN HERETo watch a video to see how Michaela uses her skills at practice

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Make sure to follow @FHNtoday on instagram as we light up your holiday season with weather updates, tacky photos, and that perfect x-pro II filter to really get our message across.

Scan Here ForMore information on FHN Media including sign up dates, applications, and more staff info. Look out for our promotions.

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The zombies are here, taking over the paper, online, and the school. Find them, fear them, scour FHNtoday.com for them. Take the online quiz to see if you’re prepared for the apocolypse, watch how our zombie masterpieces were created, gaze into the photoshoot of the beasts. Find them before they’re all gone.

It’s timeyou seen

did you know

FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12 39PAGE BY NICK BUSSELL

To think about joining the publications

The North Star is a 48 page newsmag-azine that covers local, national, and worldly news.

The Excalibur yearbook is the handheld timelapse of the school year, every week and sport is cap-tured into one book.

FHNtoday TV includes all of the videos pro-duced on the web, in the newspaper, and for FHNtoday podcast.

FHNtoday.com is the prime source for knightly news, updated for the FHN community.

fhntoday

thezombies

is grammin’

The main character in Polar Express was never actually named. He is credited as Hero Boy.

Your omg moment

FHN voted and here are the results, reviewed by Tannyr Seddon

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1240 PAGE BY TANNYR SEDDON

Grow some creepy plants to guard your house. It’s an interest-ing and useless skill, but hey, it’s addicting.

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Practice your aim and zombie fighting skills. Kill virtual zombies so you’re ready for the real deal when it’s time.

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Holiday

1 2

5

This is the movie that makes snuggling up to a fire on a cold, snowy night with a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows sound ideal (and that’s not just because of the song dedicated to the warm beverage). There’s something to be said about a story depicting a boy who finds his childhood once again while helping me rediscover my own along with him. It really makes Christmas seem magical again, like it did when I was a child. This is a movie that just makes it easy to relax as well as get pumped up for snow and the holiday season.

“Elf” defines “modern holiday classic.” It’s a perfect repre-sentation of the innocence of Christmas and believing in Santa Claus. This is easily one of the best movies Will Ferrell has ever acted in as well. The humor is perfect for all ages and it also never fails to get some laughs. It’s one of the few holiday movies that is even quoted in the summer. Good luck going a whole year without hearing “Buddy the Elf. What’s your favorite color?” But of course, that just may be because “Elf” rule number one is to treat every-day like Christmas.

The ending is cute, with a lesson that should be cherished by all: the hol-idays are a time for selfless giving. This is really what makes the movie. The beginning caught my attention with its unique “action” sequence, but toward the middle I lost interest. It became dull. Luckily, it picked up toward the end. The cool thing was that Santa’s family is like any other: easily weighed down by the pressures of the holiday season.

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

3 4This movie is the popular book of our childhoods come to life, which is exactly what I like about it. There’s not much to say about it other than it’s just an adorable, heart-warming movie. I absolutely love the colors and excitement for Christmas in Whoville. Even the hairy, green Grinch is enjoyable to watch despite his attempts to destroy Christmas. It’s probably due to the fact that Jim Carrey does a won-derful job making it believable that he really is as cuddly as a cactus and as charming as an eal as the Grinch.

It’s a series that has pretty much grown up along with me, which is always fun. Tim Allen’s portrayal of a Santa, who is far from perfect, makes Santa Claus seem far more realistic and is one of the best portrayals of the jolly old man. Each movie brings something new to the table as well with new plot and characters. Time doesn’t stand still either. The actors actually age over the years of production, and they’re still the same actors and actresses as in the first movie. It’s nice to have all of these things in a series.

HOW THE GRINCH

zombie

STOLE CHRISTMAS

polarexpress

the santaclause series

elf withwill ferrell

When I picked up “A Certain October” by Angela Johnson, I was looking forward to an inspirational book. The book is full of detail and meaning, like when the main character Scotty gets in a tragic ac-cident that puts her younger brother in bad shape, she blames herself. But I didn’t understand exactly why. I felt like it was lacking something.

I got lost in the demanding, detached writing. I was so overwhelmed with the book’s meaning and became too focused on understanding the book that I didn’t enjoy the potential inspirational story of the book. I feel like spending time on the book was a somewhat a waste of my time.

Ke$ha, the always eccentric glitter queen’s latest album “Warrior” is filled with infectious beats and repetitive lyrics. As usual, Ke$ha still gives me that “this is weird and why am I listening to this” vibe, but it’s done in such a way that I continued listening. I found myself wanting to dance within the first min-ute of the first song. My main gripe about the album has to be the fact that I can’t take Ke$ha seriously. One minute she’ll be singing about her life prior to pop-stardom, then the next she’s singing about par-tying with a ghost, in her track “Supernatural.” She just doesn’t make sense. Other than that, I would say “Warrior” is a pretty solid album from Ke$ha.

[email protected] | @copperwyerBY NICK WYER

BY RODNEY MALONE

“Haunted Encounters” is a wanna-be sci-fi thriller that is basically copying the idea of “Ghost Hunters.”

“Haunted Encounters” is four people trying to find ghosts at certain locations like an old theater, house, or a barn based on people’s claims and suspicions. If the purpose of this show is to prove that ghosts exist, it’s failing.

For instance, they walked passed a bed that was made up in the alleged haunted house. However, when they got back to the room, the bed had handprints on it. It could have been a human who made the prints.

When three investigators were in the basement of the house, they said they heard ghost footsteps from upstairs, but it could have been the investiga-tor upstairs already that was walking around.

These supernatural investigators said they had evidence based off electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) recordings but the EVPs just sounded like static and weren’t believable.

Watching the show, I came to a conclusion about the investigators: they want to find supernatural things so badly their minds play tricks on them.

I think this show will get taken off the air after the first season if not sooner. This show is a joke and honestly a chore to watch.

FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12 41PAGE BY TANNYR SEDDON

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BY AMANDA STALLINGS [email protected] | @AStall13

[email protected]

A CERTAIN october

Not-so-Haunting encounters

BY JAKE CHIARELLI

Pinterest, the social media gi-ant, capitalizes on individual interests and fads. The site has taken photos, design tips, memes and advice and organized it all in a huge database. I found that it’s very accessible, and the content ranges in variety. For a while, I was afraid to even try Pinterest, because I thought it was a site made for women only. Pinterest scared me, but now I admire it’s creativity and varying content.

There are a few topics on Pin-terest that I think would appeal to male users. The one drawback I found was that most men might not know about the site because it doesn’t appear to market as much to male audiences. Therefore, I find the site to be missing a large target audience by not promoting a more male-friendly presence. However, I think Pinterest is a great site, with a huge amount and variety of content available to anyone. Pinterest proved to break through it’s prenotion of being a feminist website, and now I feel fine with looking at Star Wars memes on Pinterest.

The social media site makes it easy to find and share web content

[email protected] | @ChiaJake

THE WEIRD WARRIOR

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

GOT MYPINTEREST

INTEREST

The United States relies entirely too much on foreign products. Imports have almost become our primary source for manufactured goods. I think this is an unnec-essary loss of American jobs in a time of economic insta-bility. The United States relies on manufactured goods like clothes, electronics and perishables, as well as oil from foreign nations, even though they could produce those things themselves.

They import billions of dollars worth of products every year, which definitely contributes to the world economy, but not their own economy. For example, they spend $13 million per hour on foreign oil because it’s cheaper and easier to use a current source of oil, rather than starting new rigs, and creating a whole new oil source here in the U.S. But I believe that if they started drilling more in Alaska and The Gulf of Mexico, they could become less dependent on foreign oil in the future. I understand that a solution will take time, and the U.S. can’t stop buying the oil right away, but they could take steps to lessen our dependence on it.

I believe we should become extremely less dependent on foreign imports instead of paying for goods that could be produced by men and women who are in need of jobs in the U.S. They need to stop outsourcing jobs because it’s cheaper. That’s one of the reason why the nation has such a high unemployment rate. The U.S. If it could lessen its need for imports, and start creating manufac-turing companies, mirroring those of the 1950’s and 60’s, when everyone had a job that improved the coun-try, the nation could become as strong, and as powerful as it was in those times.

Opinions

ALLIANCEU.S. IMPORTThe United States has to stop unnecessarily relying on importing from other countries

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1242 PAGE BY ELAINA PETERS

[email protected] | @ChiaJakeBY JAKE CHIARELLI

FHN voices their opinions on events happening around

the school, country and world

“I plan on taking advantage of [the free

test], it’ll just give me a better chance.”

“Right now the U.S. is superior as a military power but China is developing quickly.”

Your take

ACT TESTINGADRIENE DAVIS

“Saying ‘Merry Christmas’ isn’t a big deal, but

there’s always going to be people who complain.”

BRIANNA CHANDLERMARK OLWIG SAMANTHA FOULKSUS+China Tensions

Students use cell phones that are most likely imported from foreign countries. (photo illustration by sammie savala)

Holiday greetings

Political correctness shouldn’t matter when it comes to holiday greetingsDon’t be sensitive to celebrations

Winter is the most magical time of year. While not all of us are advocates of the freezing cold weather, the holidays are truly what makes winter a favorite.

We all believe in different things; we all express ourselves differently. Playing it safe is always the ideal thing to do in certain situations and saying “Happy Holidays,” to someone whose religious back-ground you are not familiar with, shouldn’t be one of those situations. In America, we shouldn’t have to play it safe in something as embracing as “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukkah,” thanks to the first amendment. It is a nice gesture to be wished a happy time of year whether it is in your beliefs or not. Com-

munities need to come together, accept each other and not have to worry about greeting each other with a vague, emotionless “Happy Holidays” but instead greet others with whatever they believe in.

America is diverse; the holiday cheer is spread in many different languages. On St. Charles’ Main Street the culture is very diverse. In fact, there are actual Christmas stores. Even though Main Street as a whole decorates in generic winter decorations, they still allow the individual stores greet as they wish, in return making Main Street as welcoming as it is. Respect is all that matters. As long as the words spoken are in good intentions, saying “Hap-py Kwanzaa” to someone who celebrates Christ-mas or Hanukkah, and vise versa, should not be frowned upon in public.

FHNTODAY.COM12.12.12 43PAGE BY ELAINA PETERS

[email protected] | @elaina_petersBY ELAINA PETERS

“It can go either way because it’s Disney.

It can either be really good or really bad.”

“I learned cursive in preschool, but the only thing I use it for now

are signatures.”

“I don’t understand why they have [the new red trays] most people just throw them away

anyways.”

New Star wars films Cursive Handwriting red lunch traysTERESA WOOTEN ROBBIE O’BRIEN

TACKY SWEATERSKAYLEE MCNEVINBRIANNA CHANDLER

“It’s stupid. I just don’t think

it’s funny or cute anymore since

everyone does it.”

[email protected] | @deloris_lampkinBY DELORES LAMPKIN

SAMANTHA FOULKS

Cursive writing is quickly being replaced with technology.(photo illustration by megan tanksley)

[email protected] | @elaina_petersBY ELAINA PETERS

Making decisions is the hardest thing to do. I like to say that I have a phobia of “decision making” even though there isn’t a real diagnosis for it. Luckily, I had someone to guide me through all my decisions, who knew me better than I knew myself. Advice was always 13 steps across the hallway to my brother’s room.

Last year I made the most “self-im-proving” change in my life. I moved 715 miles from my decision-maker. My brother, Corbin, a sophomore at UNC-Charlotte, stayed home in North Carolina while the rest of us headed out here for Dad’s job. Little did I know, I would be making my own friends and own decisions. I’m finally realizing that without this happening I would not have dreamed of doing the things I’ve done in the past year which have made me who I am today. Knowing who I am will prepare me for the bigger decisions I will be making soon.

All this time I have been making my angsty, teenage self miserable by thinking life was unfair when in reality, I’ve just done something that all of us have to eventually do: grow up. I now have to decide which shirt is “cooler” every morning and which classes I will be taking next year on my own. I have to make my own judgments on my peers now without having someone right in my ear, but I feel good making them.

MyselfA cliche, or not-so-cliche, success story about growing up from a real kid

Typing away the curve

Cursive writing is useful for official documents, but at the same time there’s no need for teachers to spend more time than necessary teaching cursive if students are only going to use it for one thing: their signature.

Since November, Missouri has been debating about the posi-tives and negatives of cursive writing in the school system. It was decided in the Baltimore School District in Missouri that cursive was no longer helpful to students due to the 21st century and its technology dependence.

The original purpose of teaching cursive was to speed writing up. But most students can now type faster than they can write.

I agree with the Baltimore School District because we don’t need cursive in our everyday lives.

However, I do agree with FHSD which does believe that cur-sive writing is a good module for students to learn and has plans to keep cursive in the schools.

It’s a good thing, but at the same time, I think students should only learn how to practice the cursive letters for their signature. Since the world is positively evolving, school districts should allow students to evolve with it.

With holiday greetings, people are way too worried about being politically correct rather than they should be.(photo illustration by zack eaton)

ALL BY

The Mayan calendar. A catastrophic flood. The Christian rapture. We’ve heard it all before. Y2K. Solar flares. Technology overtake. The who, what, when, where, why of the world’s end has been predicted thousands of times since the beginning of human existence. But note that word--predicted. They’ve all failed. Everyone is still here. So when Dec. 21 rolls around, people will enjoy their day, go to sleep and enjoy the next day as usual.

The recent craze has been about the Mayan calendar and how it just cuts off on Dec. 21, 2012. The “end of the world” theory gained some ground in the latter part of the 2000s and completely blew up. The movie “2012” was created in its honor, along with the show “Doomsday Preppers” and there is even a WikiHow page titled “How to Overcome a Fear of 2012.” When the Mayan prophecy gained popularity, it seemed many jumped the bandwagon, coincidentally found other 2012 prophecies and did no research on anything they were talking about.

[email protected] | @fhntoday

A look through skeptical eyes at the 2012 end of the world propheciesON BEHALF OF THE EDITORIAL STAFF

Google “2012 end of the world theories.” There are pages upon pages of theories predicting the doom that was supposed to take place this year. Since nothing has happened yet, it’s just to assume all of these predictions will have to take place sometime this month.

Probably the second biggest end of the world prophecy for 2012 is the one from Michel de Nostredame, more commonly known as Nostradamus. According to History.com, he predicted things from the French revolution to the creation of the atomic bomb to the falling of the Twin Towers. In context, reading Nostradamus’ prediction with the event it apparently predicted, it seems to fit perfectly. However, out of context, Nostradamus’ poetic predictions are almost so vague they could be shaped around any happening, and it would make sense.

Then there’s the rumor of a rogue planet on a course to hit the earth. With the technology available today, space administrations would have already known about it for years. The actual fact of the Sun aligning with the center of the Milky Way is also going to take place. However, it too has had the Dec. 21 doomsday theory tacked onto it. Along with the amount of 2012 prophecies there are, there has also been a number of galactic alignments that never resulted in man’s doom. According to NASA, a galactic alignment can’t even be narrowed down to a specific year, much less a specific day.

The most recurring doomsday prophecy in history is the rapture, or the second coming of Christ. This is because interpretation plays such a huge role in the end of the world theories. The most recent failed rapture prediction was set for May 21, 2011. Harold Camping, a Christian radio broadcaster, interpreted the Bible and said the rapture would occur, then following, the universe’s end on Oct. 21, 2011. Predictions of the rapture will never be correct because one is only able to interpret the date of its happening or if it even will take place.

The biggest thing about all of these 2012 prophecies is that people believe them right off the bat. If the theories flying around were questioned before immediately believed, there would be less rumors, less theories and lesser popularity on the predictions already present.

Taking everything for face value is what made one 2012 theory after another come from authors to scientists to researchers. All the while, the original predictions seemed to become more embellished and more popular. In situations such as these, when thousands of people are saying earth’s population is set to expire in just nine days, become a skeptic. When rumors fly around about a civilization that made a calendar in 3114 BC, and it’s set to end with death and destruction in this lifetime, educate yourself. Feeding the 2012 fire with ranting, raving and being naive will only allow it to grow.

FHNTODAY.COM 12.12.1244 PAGE BY DELORES LAMPKIN

north star take:The Mayans started unnecessary mayhem

Even though Disney bought the rights to the Star Wars movies, don’t plan to see Mickey and his pals aboard the Starship or defending the Death Star (images from shutterstock)

(editorial cartoon by jordan bryson)

Sir, we are too late. Earth is overrun by zombies, the Mayan Calendar has ended, the Sun is exploding with solar flares and in about 17 minutes a rogue planet will strike. Let’s skip out of here.

Yes. I heard Neptune is nice this time of millenium.

FHNTODAY.COM 45 12.12.12PAGE BY DELORES LAMPKIN

[email protected] | @teeseddBY TANNYR SEDDON

Recently, the almighty Disney bought out Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. The ruckus caused by this is actually a little ridiculous. As Disney plans to continue the saga in 2015, the “Star Wars” fans are pretty worried about the series becoming just another fairy tale.

It’s in the heads of many people that Princess Leia is now a Disney princess and the fighting will be practically non-existent. This shouldn’t even be a worry.

The branch of Disney that makes the kiddy movies that are filled with happily-ever-afters won’t be the one creating “Star Wars.” Leia won’t be joining Belle and Ariel or turning in her crazy hairstyles and blaster for a shiny, gold crown and a frying pan as if she were in “Tangled.”

Disney also owns Marvel. “The Avengers” earned over $600 million and had movie crit-ics and fans raving about it for months. There was no lack of fighting in that movie. It didn’t degrade the original intent of Stan Lee, and this will be the same for the vision of George Lucas.

The day Black Widow gets the status of Mulan is the day Leia becomes the next Snow White. Disney already has “Star Wars” characters and at-tractions in their theme parks anyway. If she was destined for that title, she’d already have it.

Disney owns seemingly everything. Believe it or not, they own ESPN, ABC networks and Touchstone Pictures, among others. There seem to be few complaints about content from these guys. The new movies may not be exactly what we’re used to, but I have no doubt they’ll turn out to be just as good in many ways.

I expect the new movies to follow the standard of the old ones made by George Lucas’ company. It’s also been said Disney plans to include him in the writing, directing and producing.

The special effects won’t disappoint either. It’s a new day and age, and we have tons of new ways of making lightsabers look realistic. Combine that with one of the top movie making companies there is, and you’ll probably get some great films.

I don’t expect them to be anything less than other movies Disney has made in the past. If the new “Star Wars” are bad, forget their existence and only watch the originals. For now, just hope for the best. Hakuna Matata.

Even though Disney bought the rights to the Star Wars movies, don’t plan to see Mickey and his pals aboard the Starship or defending the Death Star (images from shutterstock)

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