Issue 5 March 2013

Spring

sports

preview

“You Can’t Take It With You” coming to Norwood

Scheduling can be a

stressful time of the school year, especially with addi-

tional classes to choose from. But there is no need to worry

because the Norwood Mirror

has you covered! The majority of the

class additions for the 2013-2014 school year involve art.

Our art teachers are stepping up their game and creating a

plethora of options to select

from. These options include ceramics III, printmaking,

sculpture, sculpture II and mixed media. While the

classes have not been offi-cially approved, they are

likely to be class options next year.

What exactly do these

classes focus on? Ceramics III is obviously a continuation

from ceramics II. This class will focus more on the sculp-

tural aspect of clay as a me-

dium. Printmaking is a class

which studies the basic of em-boss, collagraph, linoleum, and

silk screen to create a print. Don’t let the fancy artwork terms

be confusing. Emboss is simply

carving or molding a design into a surface and collagraph is ap-

plying materials to a rigid sur-face. Art teacher Suzie Osterman

seems to be most excited by the addition of sculpture I and II.

This class studies the basics of

plaster, wire, casting and found object sculptures. All of these

classes would be taught by Os-terman.

Mixed media’s main purpose is to explore different

types of materials when creating artwork. Art teacher Terri Vil-

trakis says that this class uses

“new techniques people aren’t used to using in the arts.” Mixed

media uses materials such as wax, dyes and even everyday

objects that aren’t normally used

in art. Viltrakis states there will be a multitude of projects

ranging anywhere from photo transfers to collages.

With all of these addi-tions to the art department one

may wonder how these two

teachers can handle all of this added stress. It’s because they

love what they do. Osterman happily states, “I’m excited to

see the new student interests

and creativity. Bringing 3D de-signs to the Norwood students

will be interesting!” Art is not only for creative people. Art

classes are great for any type of person and let’s be honest; most

of the time art is an easy A! So

why not experience these unique classes being offered at

Norwood next year? Osterman and Viltrakis would love to

have you.

You Can’t Take It

with You is a Pulitzer Prize winning comedy that will be featured March 8 and 9 in the Middle School Audito-rium at 7:30 p.m. The tick-ets will be seven dollars.

This year the play is sure to be entertaining to the whole student body. The

play first premiered in De-cember of 1936 at the Booth Theater in New York City and

was written by George S. Kaufman; the following year it won the Pulitzer Prize in drama. It is full of a goofy cast of characters, from the senile old grandpa to the only

normal one in the family, Al-ice. One of the main rea-

sons Norwood’s production of the play sets it apart from all others is the

amount of effort that has been put into making it possible. Each actor in the play has put in countless hours of rehearsals, as well as taking time outside to

memorize lines, some even embarrassing themselves in the shower. According to senior Alex Raleigh, “Being in the play requires the hard work and dedica-

tion of everyone in it to ensure everything is right for when everyone comes to see it.” But let us not forget about the stage crew be-

hind the scenes who work hard to keep the play run-ning smoothly. In addition to ensuring actors are al-ways on cue, they also put in countless hours building

and painting the set and other manual labors. A play with a cast full of colorful characters is sure to have some zany

moments. Without giving away too much, the play has many scenes that are sure to

make anyone laugh. In addi-tion to multiple explosions due to father Paul Sycamore (senior Greg Bauer), junior Lillie Smelcer’s favorite part of the play is when her char-

acter (Gay Wellington), a drunken buffoon, is passed out on the family couch. Be-sides this there is also a game of Forget-Me-Not (a word association game) led by

Maddie Schneider’s character Penny Sycamore which leads to multiple risqué responses from other characters. If not for any of these reasons, then go to increase

your merit with the arts, or just as something to do with all of your friends on a Satur-day night besides sitting around at home. Come out this March 8 or 9 to see the

play and support our school. After all with tickets only be-ing seven dollars what is

there to lose?

Art department renovations

By: Hannah Hale

Norwood High School has ma inta ined w inning seasons throughout fall and winter sports- now it’s time for spring sports. The upcoming season will consist of baseball, softball, tennis and track and field. In years past, Norwood’s baseball and softball team have both suffered losing seasons while in the FAVC. The softball team holds the records of (1-13) in 2011 and (1-13) in 2012. The baseball team holds the records of (2-10) in 2011 and (3-11) in 2012. Although the teams have faced difficult adversaries in the past, it is a brand new year. Sen-ior and varsity pitcher, Kristina Wolf exclaims, “Even though we lost some of our team last year, the up-coming freshmen, Hannah Tubbs and Amori Gulley, should be an as-set to our team.” Wolf also explains the team has key returning players including juniors Misty Wolf at short stop and Serenity Rowe at third base. The girls begin their sea-son on April 2 against Withrow High School. The boys also have a num-ber of key returning players, includ-ing senior pitcher Patrick Mattingly. The boys have their first pitch of the season on April 1 against Felicity High School. Be sure to come out and support both teams. Norwood’s Track and Field team has always held a mediocre reputation, with the exception of a handful of students such as Christian Patterson, who qualified for state in 2010. But entering the SBAAC made the stakes a little higher this year. Athletic Director, JD Foust explains, “The athletes in the SBAAC are highly talented. With entering the SBAAC, our perform-ance depends on our numbers.” The team has great expectations for the upcoming season, and encourages anyone to come out and support, or maybe even join the team. The spring sports season is approaching soon, so make sure you come out and support all teams. The 2012-2013 school year has consisted of winning seasons in fall and winter sports, so now it’s time to finish the

year with a bang.

Top from left: Kyle English, Biagia Schirmer, Brooke Helton, Noah

Payne, Jon Dellinger, Greg Bauer, Kiki Allen

Bottom from left: Caleb Schirmer, Lillie Smelcer, Morgan Hodson,

Izaac Rains, Maddie Schneider

By; Chloe Singleton

By: John Bennett

NHS students to have more choices for 13-14 school year

2013-2014 Class Offerings

Printmaking Ceramics III

Sculpture I and II Mixed Media

INDIAN

By: Ashley Couch

In celebration of St.

Patrick’s Day, we thought we would consult our resi-dent expert on all things Irish, math teacher Elizabeth Koller. She was born and raised in Ireland where she

went to high school and at-tended college.

The Irish culture has taken thousands of years to develop, and they celebrate many things different than

Americans, including their holidays and traditions. While Americans are out trick-or-treating on Hallow-een, the Irish are eating col-cannon, an Irish and Scot-

tish dish of cabbage and po-tatoes boiled and pounded. While both the Irish and Americans celebrate St. Pat-rick’s Day by wearing green and sporting the shamrock

symbol, Irishmen and women flock to church for mass as it’s a national church holiday.

For Koller, the best part about this holiday is

meeting with her Irish friends in Dayton. “We all go out to dinner for corned beef and cabbage, sing Irish songs and reminisce.” Two of the most enduring and

internationally famed activi-ties are traditional music

and Irish dancing. According to Koller, the Irish love a good excuse for a party.

Although Koller loves America for many reasons, the main reason she came to the United States was for her late husband who was from Dayton, OH. They met when

they were both volunteer teachers in Kenya. Koller and her husband stayed there for quite some time before mov-ing to Saudi Arabia. A short while after that, her husband

retired and they moved to America.

Koller tries to make it back to Ireland every year to visit her loved ones. She en-joys many things about her

home country, but her favorite part about returning is spend-ing time with friends and fam-ily. She says, “We live near the sea so I love to walk along the beach.”

Ireland is legendary for its festivals and fairs as well as their accent. It is famed all over the world for its romantic and lyrical lilt, but it isn’t until you experi-

ence the dialect firsthand that the variations across the coun-try are clear. Koller, who is distinguishable among other teachers for her accent, says she loves her home place and

still plans to visit every year.

On April 11 the Nor-wood High School Orchestra

is going to Disney World

where they will attend Dis-

ney’s Musicians’ Clinic, end-

ing with a concert in the park.

The orchestra was ac-cepted into the advanced clinic

and performance venue after

sending in an audition tape in

2011. In order to pay for the

trip, they have been fundrais-

ing for the past two years. Jun-

ior Sara Isaac, first chair viola, has fundraised enough money

to pay for her entire trip. “It

was a lot of work but nothing

is better than knowing you get

an excellent experience for

free,” she says. This trip isn’t just about

having fun. Allison Craig, the

orchestra director, hopes stu-

dents will have a fun learning

experience. “I hope the stu-dents learn the value of indi-

vidual dedication and practice

and realize how critical that is

for success,” she says. In an

activity like this, individual

dedication is huge because that is how a student excels at

something.

During this trip, the

students are not going to have

to act professional the entire

time. Everybody is a kid when

they go to Disney World. They will have some free time to

visit all the theme parks at

Walt Disney and soak up some

sun. The free time will be a

reward for all the hard work

the kids have put in to even take this trip. Besides all the

fun they will be having, the

Top of the

mornin’ to ya!

Norwood consults resident ex-

pert on all things Irish.

NHS Orchestra to perform at Disney World Mythology By: Addy Bryant

What one class can teach you everything you

need to know about ancient people’s thoughts and rea-

soning? That would be my-

thology. Mythology class is a

semester course taught by English teacher Robin

Brewer. The class mainly focuses on Greek mythology

but dwells in Norse and

North American myths. Greek mythology is based on

the ancient teaching in Greece, which today is

known as the religion Hel-lenismos. Norse mythology,

also known as Scandinavian mythology, centers on Norse

Pagan beliefs. North Ameri-

can mythology is much closer to home and consists

on the stories passed down through Native Americans

about the inner workings of the world.

Mythology isn't for

the faint of heart. The mysti-cal, thought provoking and

somewhat disturbing stories discussed are based on how

ancient people thought the world worked at the time.

Junior Meagan Geraci says

the class "gives you an idea of how certain things came

about." Even though the tales were considered myths,

it was the people's religion at the time. The class is basi-

cally a combination of an

English and history course. From watching mov-

ies like Troy and Robin Hood to reading out of the

textbooks, the class brings new life to ancient stories.

So far Geraci says her favor-

ite part of the class is learn-ing about the myths behind

different flowers and their use in medicine. Whether

Beware the ides of March By: David Torres

“Beware the Ides of March”. These are words to live by, at least if you’re star-

ring in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a dramatic re-telling of the Roman dictator’s death. The Ides of March hasn’t always had such a foreboding meaning.

Before the historical assassination of Julius Cae-sar, the Ides of March was a division of the calendar based on the phases of the moon. This varied from the

13-15 depending on the month. The Ides of March however had a more specific meaning; it marked the be-ginning of the consular year.

This is usually when the two annually-elected Roman con-suls took office. A consul

served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic for one year. Today the phrase “Ides of March” is largely associ-ated with the death of Caesar,

who had many accomplish-ments, including taking over most of modern day France, Germany and Britain. The saying originates in the his-toric Shakespeare play Julius

Caesar when it is spoken by a soothsayer foreshadowing the grisly event. If you really want to impress your English teacher warn them of the Ides of March this March 15.

students will also get to ex-

perience the thrill of perform-

ing in front of hundreds of in-dividuals from all around the

world.

For these students, this

Girls basketball makes history

By: Hannah Hale and Chloe Sin-

gleton

The NHS girl’s basketball

team made history when they

synched the sectional title on Feb.

23 against heated rivals Western

Brown.

The Lady Indians suffered

two losses to Western Brown prior

to post game season which cost

them the league title. Most sports

analysts would say it’s difficult to

beat a competitor three times in a

row, and this theory was proved to

be true when the Ladies beat them

by one point

The pressure was put on

the shoulders of freshman Hannah

Tubbs with six seconds on the

clock. Norwood trailed Western

Brown 58-59 when Tubbs was

fouled. After sinking both foul

shots, Norwood clinched a victory

with a final score of 60-59.

The

Lady

Indians

(left)

are all

smiles

after

they

cap-

tured

the sec-

tional

title.

NHS Orchestra (above) performs for the school on a

regular basis. This shot is from one of their past concerts.

By: Matt Brown is a once in a lifetime oppor-

tunity. By fundraising for the

past two years, the whole ex-perience they will have will

be completely worth it.

PRANKED!

Senior Greg Bauer gets

played!

By: Elizabeth Isaac

Imagine opening your

locker only to find your books

and binders trapped behind a

plexiglass wall. On Feb. 27,

Greg Bauer didn’t have to

imagine...it was his reality. A

prank by middle school science

teacher Paul Schember left

Bauer scrambling to follow a

scavenger hunt with clues that

would uncover the key to his

possessions.

INSIDER

GSA: ‘a refuge for LGBT students and our allies’

Math fanatics grab your calcu-

lators and unite, Pi Day will soon be upon us! As of 2009, March 14 has been officially named national Pi Day

by the House of Representatives. What is Pi and why was the

date of March 14 specifically chosen?

Pi is an irrational number (symbol ) that is used in mathematics to represent

a constant- namely the ratio of a the circumference of a circle to its diame-ter. This number is approximately 3.14,

thus the date of March 14 (3/14) was the most suitable option for its celebra-tion.

And celebrate we shall! Math teachers across the nation use Pi Day to

encourage students to get excited about numbers. America is a C student in the global classroom of mathematics while

countries like China are on the honor roll. The National Science Foundation can be likened to a tutor for America

and pushed for a day that would bring kids closer to math. Pi Day is exactly that; a day for students to play number

games, memorize as many digits of p i as possible, learn about circles, and o f

course eat pie. However the most im-portant effect of Pi Day is its ability to foster a fondness for math in the young

generation. For junior Becca Galligan, P i

Day is especially important. Despite

the day being recognized as a time to geek out about math, March 14 is also her birthday. She kills two birds with

one stone and celebrates both days at once; by eating a slice of birthday pie

given to her by her friends each year. The most popular activity on this day is memorizing the various dig-

its of pi. In fact, a Japanese man named Akira Haraguchi learned the first 100,000 numbers of the never-ending

sequence and can recite them at will. For those who don’t have the sharpest

memory there is now an app called Learn Pi available that helps train the user on the numbers of pi. After open-

ing the app the user simply inputs as many numbers of pi as they can. The game resets when a wrong number is

entered, thus giving the incentive to remember the sequence. Grab a fork and dig into some

pie while you memorize pi, Pi Day will only become more prominent holiday

each year until America’s test scores improve.

By: Kayla Bennett

The Gay-Straight Alliance is a youth organization with a goal to

end harassment and discrimination in schools.

According to gsanetwork.org, the purpose of GSA is to educate the community about the organization,

create safe school environments, and fight discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools. Sophomore Dar-

rick Boston said, “I think the purpose of GSA is too stop hatred against gays and any other groups of peo-

ple.” Norwood High School GSA

meets every week on Wed. at 3:00 in room 420. Social Worker Joann Payne is the leader of the group along

with President Maranda Bodkin.

ophomore Amira Bauer-Hutsell says,

“My favorite part of GSA is the friends I’ve made because of it, and the things we set in place and accom-

plish.” Boston says, “It’s a safe place.” According to Boston, GSA

helps people be confident with their sexuality and enlightens people.

There is a lot more to GSA

than most people realize. The group also plans for nationwide events, such as “No Name Calling Week”

and “National Day of Silence.” No Name Calling Week is an annual week of educational activities in hope

to end name-calling of all kinds, and providing schools with the tools to

eliminate bullying in their commu-nity. National Day of Silence is a stu-dent- led event that brings awareness

to anti-LGBT name calling. NHS is

one of many participants in both o f

these organizations. Are you thinking about joining

GSA, but scared? Even if you’re not an

LGBT student you are more than wel-come to join this group; after all a ma-

jor goal for GSA is to provide a safety net for students in the coming out proc-ess. Boston states, “I was scared at

first, but I want to make a change. We have to go to this school to, so why don’t we try to make it a better place

for future generations. We aren’t the only ones doing this; there are GSA groups all around trying to make a

change. Having one more member is just getting us closer to achieving our

goal.” Bauer-Hutsell added, “Come

sometime………we don’t bite.”

Ask the Ash: Surviving high school The geekiest

day of the year By: Elizabeth Isaac

By: Zach Ashford

Usually every month, I’m

bombarded with questions from trou-bled students such as yourself. But for some reason, I wasn’t asked a

single question this month. I guess my advice works after all. I really am

as perfect as I think I am. But I was a little lonely without all of you… That being said, I thought I’d give some

broad advice that could apply to ab-solutely anyone. I’ve thought about it for literally minutes, and I’ve com-

piled a list of three rules to insure your survival in this crazy place called “high school.”

Be friends with all different types of people. I was always told

that I’d discover who I really am while I was in high school. I think that there’s no better way to find out

who you are, by spending time with all different types of people. You never know what you might find in-

teresting or fun to do, and the only way to find out, is to do it.

Be active in your school. I know that everyone isn’t an athlete, and that’s alright, because I’m not

that great at sports either, if my phy-sique didn’t give that away already. Not everyone is cut out to play bas-

ketball or football, but there are other

things to participate in; after school clubs, academic team, or one of the many sports teams that Norwood of-

fers. You don’t have to be an amaz-ing athlete to apart of something.

Plus, if you’re like me, and don’t have many friends, extra-circular ac-tivities are a great way to get out and

meet people. Find a best friend. We all need someone to turn to when we

need something, to hold us when we’re crying, or to spend every wak-ing moment together… Just kidding,

that’s a little creepy, every needs their space. For me, that’d be Timmy

Peddicord. He and I are pretty much the exact same person… give or take a hundred pounds. High school is a

very volatile place, and we all need someone to help us make it through those four long years, so find your

true friends early. Even though you clearly didn’t

need me this month, I’m still here to bug you with potentially bad advice and crappy jokes. Deep down, you

all need me, just admit it… I’ll al-ways be just a question away if any of you need me. No question is a stu-

pid question, but most questions aren’t school appropriate. Well, I’m

9 out of 10 LGBT Students have reported being bullied

at school in the past

Year.

=

12 Stu-

dents in

NHS GSA

Chapter

28% LGBT Students drop out of

their high school because

of discomfort from verbal/

physical abuse

Hundreds of GLSEN Chapters

nation wide

The Ash provides stellar advice,

ranging from romance to school

work.

getting close to my maximum

amount of words, so it’s time for me to go. See you all in the hallways,

and remember, stay beautiful.