NORTH POINTEFRIDAY, MAY 22, 2015 GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL

THIS IS WHAT WE DO HERE

S I N C E 1 9 6 8

2 – Friday, May 22, 2015 – North Pointe FRESHMEN

If it’s advice about being a freshman that you’re looking for, look no further because I am one. Yes, me. A freshman. A little tired and behind on homework, but a freshman indeed.

Transitioning into high school is not as big of a deal as you might think. I’m here to debunk all (or most) of the misconcep-tions you may have about going into your first year of high school. I’ve been a ninth grader for over a semester now, so obvi-ously I am an expert.

If you are an avid TV watcher like me, you have probably seen multiple teen dramas centered around the trials and tribulations

of high school students. I have news for you: they are wrong. And ridiculous. And I’m pretty sure no freshman in the history of forever has looked like half of the twenty-something-year-olds playing them (look-ing at you, MTV.)

What I’m trying to communicate to you is that the change really isn’t that dramatic. If you ask any teenager about school, you will most likely be met with a groan and a long list of all the things they hate about it, like setting a 6:30 a.m. alarm and their grue-some, daily workload. Truly, however, there are some pretty cool things about entering this next chapter of your life. It’s not scary.

The large campus and the loads of new people you will meet will shrink after just a little while being here. You may get lost once or twice – and that’s okay. It’s pretty much a freshman rite of passage. You’ll get away with it at the beginning of the year. No one expects a fresh-faced newbie to have the school memorized after just a few weeks.

In terms of classwork, you shouldn’t wor-ry too much. Teachers are understanding of

the fact that you are making the transition and are still getting used to the school. You will be (ever so slightly) nudged into (con-stantly) thinking about the grades that are going on your transcript. As a freshman, you will witness your upperclassman friends get slowly drawn into the tide of preparing for college. You don’t (and really shouldn’t) have to worry about that yet.

You are likely to have a few elective classes and extracurriculars with said up-perclassmen (don’t be shy, now, participate as much as you can.) This is when you will become most familiar with the dynam-ics of the high school hierarchy. Fear not, though, there will always be a few other fellow froshes to accompany you at the bot-tom of the food chain.

Right off the bat you’ll find that students have a bit more freedom. Some perks in-cluded in the High School Experience Pack-age are: more leniency with the use of cell phones (the most life-changing of all privi-leges in my opinion), the ability to listen to music in class (when appropriate), and the

right to sport your backpack wherever you want. Whether you are investing in a new North Face backpack fit for trekking up the mountain-esque staircases or opting for an oversized handbag – it no longer has to sit in your locker all day. Oh, the joys of being a high schooler.

You’re not bound to know everything during your first year here. You’ll learn as you go. We all do. My best piece of advice for newbies is to look both ways before sauntering out into the parking lot – it’s loaded with new drivers.

The only mystery to me still is why there are significantly fewer kids using their lockers. Where is everyone keeping their binders? Their backpacks aren’t full. What is their secret? If you find out before I do, let me know.

Overall, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. In my humble freshman opin-ion, we have an awesome student body (#NorsemenPride) and a dedicated staff. You will have a great time here. Enjoy it.

10 useful tips to surivive

freshman year

Have school spirit.In high school, it’s actually cool to

like your school. Don’t be afraid to go all-out for spirit week or big games. The more elaborate you get, the more fun you will have, and the Instagram pictures turn out better.

Participation in school activities is easy and fun. Many kids attend sporting events to cheer on their classmates, and the student sec-tion is always brimming with energy when the Norsemen are on the f ield.

High school is faster-paced

than middle school, and with seven periods instead of six, the course load is heavier. If you start to let yourself slip, it will be harder to catch up, and your grades can suffer. Know your teachers’ policies on late work because late is always better than never.

Follow the rules. Stay organized, have your materi-

als, and be on time. If you are tardy, you can get caught in a hall sweep and receive a detention. Deten-tions can interfere with sports, and unserved detentions can lead to in-school suspensions, which show up on your transcript, so stay punctual.

Try something new.It sounds cheesy, but it’s important.

Trying new things can help you discover talents or interests you may have. Not only will it help you expand your inter-ests, but getting involved at school is ben-eficial when applying for colleges and is a good way to meet new people. North has a variety of clubs, electives and sports (see Pages 3, 4, 5 and 7 for the complete lists) so there’s options for everyone.

Don’t be scared of the upperclassmen.“Freshmen Friday” or days when the upperclassmen prank the freshmen do

not exist. If you join a club or sport, you can get to know people from all grades. Other programs like Link Crew and Freshman assist are full of upperclassmen who are invested in your success.

Check Pinnacle. Finding out about missing/late

work is your responsibility, not your teacher’s. If you see something un-usual or have a late assignment, email your teacher. But remember, when emailing a teacher, you should always be sure to use proper gram-mar and manners.

Respect the staff.Having a healthy relationship

with your teacher will make your life a lot easier. It may also help you down the road when you need teacher recommen-dations, as colleges usually re-quire two to three in addition to a counselor recommendation. Participating in class and work-ing hard on assignments are just some of the ways to form a good relationship.

Relax. North might look big and scary, but after

a few days, you’ll get it down to a science. High school is meant to prepare you for college, but there is no need to overstress about your future. Have fun while you’re here, and try to take advantage of every opportunity.

Put in effort.The saying, “freshmen year

doesn’t count” is a myth. Colleges see your full transcript, which includes your grades from semester one and two of all four years in high school and your cumalative GPA, which in-cludes freshman year. It’s better to start strong than on the wrong foot.

Don’t follow the herd. This goes for classes, sports, activities and almost

everything. Find out what your personal passions are and pursue them, instead of doing what all of your friends are. Also, know that a lot of your friends will change over the course of high school, but it’s natural for everyone to grow during these four years. You may lose some friends or gain some, but you will find your group eventually.

By Abby CadieuxINTERN

Learning the ropes

Do not fall behind on work.

3 – Friday, May 22, 2015 – North Pointe

ELECTIVES

Unique classes create fresh opportunities By Emma Brock, Radiance Cooper & Sarah Wietecha

ASSISTANT EDITORS

Some of the most anticipated classes freshmen look forward to aren’t necessarily the academic ones, they’re the subjects that they find the most interesting — electives.

While many classes are semester-based, some students prefer to partici-pate in electives for several school years. Many Norsemen, like sophmore Lolly Duus, have found themselves in tight knit communities as a result of their scheduling decisions.

“There’s so many things that I love about choir, but I just love performing on stage with my friends,” Duus said. “We’re all like a really big family, and we all love each other so much, and singing with other people makes me so happy.”

Throughout the duration of their time at North, students have a variety of elective courses at their disposal.

“Freshmen are eligible to take computer classes, to take TV production, Lifeskills, Pastries, Foods for Fitness I and II,” counselor Barbara Skelly said. “They can take art, they can certainly participate in band, choir and orchestra. There are a lot of options for freshmen.”

Freshmen are required to take a set of mandatory classes in order to graduate as a senior, and many of the requirements can be fulfilled with alternative elective classes.

“There are requirements that can be met through elective choices such as computers, or how you meet your arts requirement,” Skelly said. “(It) could be (Foods for Fitness), it could be band, so kids have options for their gradu-ation requirements.”

Electives are not only exciting to take, but they also can help to guide students in the right direction for their future career choice.

“I get to sing every day after school ... and if I don’t have rehearsal after school (then) I’m not doing anything, so staying in choir helps me stay in shape and rehearse for the career I want to have in musical theatre,” Duus said.

The freshmen can take a wide variety of electives at North, including some that are unique to the school.

“We have Astronomy here, and there aren’t a whole lot of schools that offer Italian, and you have a language requirement but it is your choice as to which one,” Skelly said. “Many kids take foreign languages to meet the requirement, but some kids take more than one foreign language. We have Applied Medical Research that kids can take senior year. That’s a science class.”

Senior Charlie Delaney is in a drawing and painting class this year for her arts credit.

“(My favorite thing about electives is) the fact that there is no require-ment, you just do whatever you want to do,” Delaney said.

Different electives are highly recommended for incoming freshmen to take so they have the opportunity to experiment with their interests.

“I would highly recommend that they take an art class or a choir class because you really get to show your creativity through that,” Duus said. “A lot of times in school you’re thinking logically, you’re not thinking as creatively as you’d like to. So by taking a performing arts class or choir class, you can show your creativity and use it more often than you normally would.”

Junior Nuha Mosa’s interests in business led her to a class called Business Explorations her freshman year. The class prepared her for a possible path in busi-ness.

“We did a lot of group projects in the class, and it helped me develop a lot of my skil ls l ike working in a group, and it helped me to develop my pre-sentation skil ls a lso,” Mosa said. “I just en-joyed it overall because it was a new class to me, and I learned a lot about myself and about business in general.”

Mosa recommends Business Explorations as an elective class for future freshmen be-cause it’s practical.

“It’s something that you wanna be inter-ested in because it’s gonna help you go in that path, if business is that direction you wanna go in l ife.”

An interest in sociology drove junior Maria Familara to take the course. She says that the class gives students a wider perspec-tive on the world.

“I learned about society … in kind of a scientific perspective, I guess. You kind of see how rela-tionships (work) and just the big-ger picture of the world, and you see things not as like an American from Michigan looking into a culture in Africa,” Familara said. “You’re seeing it from a world perspective. You learn to see things as a big picture.”

Familara said teacher Dan Gilleran made So-ciology worthwhile.

“Mr. Gilleran is the best teacher in the world,” she said.“He’s understanding and open-minded. He’s the ad-viser for Diversity Club. He’s really nice,” she said. “He’s a laid-back teacher, but at the same time, he’s got a good bal-ance of strictness and coolness.”

Familara says that Sociology is the perfect class for freshmen who are finding themselves.

“If you’re really interested in people and how the world works, you should take this class.” Familara said.“High school is about finding out what you like and what you don’t like, so experiment as much as you can because life is about experiences.”

After deciding that My-thology would be a fitting elective for her last year of high school, senior Dana De-Buc left with a greater under-standing of the Greek gods.

“It consisted of teaching us how chaos worked, how the world was created in the Greek gods’ minds,” De-Buc said. “It taught us how to form our opinions better about Greek mythology as a whole, and it was a very good class to learn and experience the Greek mythology firsthand.”

DeBuc feels that the class is manageable for stu-dents with a busy schedule.

“The teacher was really nice. He gave us leeway on some of the projects, and there wasn’t a lot of homework to do except vocab. That’s it.”

DeBuc said that it’s important to possess an in-terest in the subject before signing up for the class.

“Other students should take this class if they’re really interested and they’re really fo-cused on Greek mythology,” she said. “Other-wise, you’re not gonna have as much fun as I did in Greek Mythology.”

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6 – North Pointe - Friday, May 22, 2014 MAP

High school survival GUIDE

B BUILDINGSCIENC

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demyst i f ied

High school can be a confusing place, and while we can’t tell you exactly why your friend did that, we can show you what’s what around the school. This map has everything you need to decipher your schedule and put you in the right class on time this fall.

By Audrey Kam & Nathan LonczynskiEDITOR-AT-LARGE & STAFF REPORTER

3

2

1

Northfront of school

South

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You can only get to the library from this staircase on the second

floor of the B building.

To science wing and C building

your locker is here

finding your room

Teacher nameClassAuxiliary uses for room

floorEven-numbered rooms are on the inner side, odd numbered rooms are on the outer side.

Top view: B Building

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A quick front view of North

Language arts classes

Social Studies and Foreign Language classes

Math classesApplied arts, the cafeteria and sports facilities (locker rooms, gymnasium, and access to the turf.

Performing Arts classes (Band, Orchestra, Choir), Planetarium, and access to the PAC (includes Multi Purpose Room and Stage)

Library Access

7 – Friday May 22, 2015– North Pointe

Winter

“I highly recommend playing a high school

sport. It’s a great way to meet upperclassmen and

be a part of something bigger than yourself.”

Natalie BarstysGirls hockey

Boys basketball Boys swimming

Figure Skating

Girls Basketball

Girls Hockey

Gymnastics Synchronized swimming

“Make sure your grades stay on top and you get along with the coaches well, and just have a

good time with it.”

Jordan WhiteBoys basketball

Boys hockey Wrestling

Dance

SPORTS Spring

Baseball Boys golf Boys lacrosse Boys track

Crew

Girls Lacrosse

Girls tennis Girls track Softball

“I suggest to the incom-ing freshmen to try sports because it’s a way to make

new friends. It is a big commitment because you

have it every day after school whether it’s base-ball, basketball, football,

and even on the weekends so you have to be very

committed.”

Jimmy MazzolaBoys baseball

“Try a new sport because the people are really helpful, and the coaches and sophomores will help you out a lot. You

should not be afraid to try a new sport.”

Nadia AnusbigianGirls lacrosse

“ You should try out because it gets you more connected with school, and you meet

a lot more people, and it’s ... really competitive and fun.”

Will CarlsonBoys baseball

Girls Soccer

Sailing

“I highly recommend coming in as a freshman to do sports, because you meet a lot of new people that you haven’t met

before. So coming into school, you already have friends.

Coming from a small school like Star of the Sea, I didn’t

know a lot of the people when I came to North. But since I

did field hockey, I met a lot of new people, so when I walked

into class, I knew people ... from field hockey.”

Sydney MurrayField Hockey

Boys cross country

Boys soccer Boys tennis

Girls cross country

Girls golf Girls swimming Sideline cheer Volleyball

Fall

Field hockeyFootball

PHOTOS TAKEN BY PHOTOJOURNALISM

By Andrea Scapini & Mora DownsEDITORS

Competitive cheer

“I would recommend (playing a sport) be-

cause you get to know people and and the

experience is dif ferent than middle school

sports, it’s more com-petitive in high school

and there’s more of a drive feeling to get

better.”

Zaire SummervilleWrestling

8 – Friday, May 22, 2014 – North Pointe HOMECOMING

Float building and paradeEach of the grades has a float in the parade,

which coordinates with the class’ sub-theme of the school’s homecoming theme. Weeks before the homecoming parade, the students can go to float-building parties, which are located at a student’s home. There, students can help build their class’ float. This is a good opportunity to renew old friendships and make new ones. No art skills are needed. Just bring team spirit.

“It’s fun because I get to walk around with all of my friends. I used those horn things, I blew them, and it was hype,” freshman Jonathan Hawring said.

After school on the Friday before Saturday’s homecoming dance, it’s encouraged that stu-dents march with their class in the float parade.

Students who wish to participate can meet at Monteith Elementary School before the start. Then the colorful procession marches up Cook Road to Morningside Drive to the North football field before the start of the homecoming game.

At the parade, the floats are judged in sev-eral categories. The winning float is announced during the homecoming game.

“We encourage that they wear their shirts and that they support their class and walk with their class and their float,” freshman class ad-viser Wendy Spreder said.

T-shirt do’s and dont’s Pep rallyOn the last school day of spirit week,

classes crowd in the gymnasium for the an-nual homecoming pep rally. Students sit with their grade to cheer, chant and dance, com-peting against the other classes.

“The seniors make notice of themselves by running in with their flag and screaming and yelling. There’s a lot of activity,” Spreder said.

Students don’t want to miss the pep as-sembly’s yearly activities. The boys varsity football team’s choreographed dance and the announcement of the homecoming court winners are yearly traditions. The march-ing band, the step team and the dance team perfom which contributes to the lively atmo-sphere in the gym.

Also during the pep assembly, there are many competitions, such as the student pie-eating contest and games of tug-of-war, which is divided into two rounds. First, the seniors are paired with the freshmen and compete against the junior and sophomore class. The second round is the winning stu-dents against teachers. Students can par-ticipate in the pep assembly by signing up to compete in a game, or simply show their Norsemen pride in the stands.

“It’s just a great afternoon of games,” Spre-der said. “Anyone can be involved.”

The how-to’s of homecoming:

Each fall, students take part in T-shirt making, float building, a school-wide pep rally and a parade leading

up to the annual homecoming dance

DO:- Buy a size larger. Seniors re-wear their past homecoming shirts during their last spirit week. Purchasing a larger size will ensure that the shirt

will still fit during senior year.

- When wearing T-shirts on spirit day, pair it with accessories and other matching spirit wear. Don’t be

afraid to go overboard.

- Be sure to wear spirit shirts on the class’ assigned spirit day, during the pep assembly and at the

homecoming parade.

DON’T: - Avoid cutting shirts too much and make sure to follow dress code regulations. Tank tops are allowed,

but no crop tops.

- Don’t over decorate. A little glitter goes a long way.- Don’t dispose of spirit shirts after homecoming.

By Haley Reid & Lillian RancourtMANAGING EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

MARIA LIDDANE & ALLISON FLY