Monthly Archives: December 2011
No power at shen
by Trevor Bobrow, Adam Wallin, Hannah Dunham
At approximately 10:59 a.m. on December 15, 2011, power was lost to all of the Shenendehowa campus except for Acadia and Koda Middle schools.
At the time of the outage, high school students were about to begin their 5th period classes with many still in the hallways. Most rooms and hallways without windows had emergency lights and there was visibility to some degree. Some bathrooms did not have backup lighting.
Junior Kyle Krebs, who was in one of those bathrooms at the time said, “It was actually pretty scary when it turned black. I had to find my way with a cell phone light.”
Ms. Lambalot, a chemistry teacher, said about the outage, “The students were excited at first but then they eventually calmed down.”
The response among students was generally positive.
Junior Marlee Eckert said, “It is pretty cool.”
Junior Luke Buckley said “It’s different.”
Students had their share of complaints, too.
Junior Eric Hurd said that it made it very hard to focus. Other students also said that their teachers made them take tests scheduled for that day and that it was challenging to do so in low-light conditions.
The students weren’t the only ones affected by the power outage. Many faculty and staff were also affected too. When asked how she was affected, Mrs. Lambalot said that she had to modify her lesson to get things done.
Asked if her job was more difficult because of the outage, Department Administrator for English, Mrs. Campe said, “not difficult but different.”
Lunch was also a concern during the outage as food was either getting cold or warm and unable to be prepared without the right appliances.
According to kitchen staff, warm food was being provided by other schools with power. Many students were frustrated with long lines due to non-functioning cash registers and cashiers had to hand write pin numbers and items purchased.
The power came back on at 12:45 greeted by cheers from students and teachers alike. By 1:00 everything seemed back to normal and functioning as it would on a regular day.
According to Mr. Flynt’s 8th period announcement, the power outage was due to a problem off campus. He also thanked the students, faculty and staff for their cooperation in what was surely a difficult situation.
Shen’s got talent
by Alex Gomez, Austin Jensen, Laura Johnson
On Friday, October 9th Shenendehowa High School held “Shen’s Got Talent” with many types of performances. Performances ranged from glow sticks to poetry to guitar shredding. There were a total of 15 incredible acts, Judged by Mr. Merchant, Ms. Demarco, Mr. Hartel, Kevin Orlando and Patrick Grace.
“Working with Kevin is like riding an out of control train in a hurricane in a fire storm while in a burlap sack,” said Grace. Both Orlando and Grace used a lot of improv in between acts to entertain the audience during the set changes and to introduce the next act.
Bobby Van Ness had a Van Halen inspired act of Guitar Shredding. The guitar used was one he made himself in two months with an $80 budget.
Samara Mokaya who sang “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera and Nina Loy who sang an original song on acoustic, were nervous but excited for their performances.
Mokaya said “I felt anticipation at first then nervous because of the “what ifs”.
Kat Moore and Brook Zeller watched the show and said that they were impressed by the performances. They said their favorite was the performance by Matthew Serriani, James Johnson, and Nick Benedetti as they had an interesting yet funny opening act and performed as a band to the song “Dani California” by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
A total of four awards were given: Most Creative, Most Technical, Most Emotional, and Audience Favorite.
The most emotional award was presented to Tanisha Drysdale and Alicia Diodonet for Poetry based on judgment in Spoken Word that was original. Most creative was awarded to Adrianna Ortiz, Nick Wroe, and Ben Felthousen for singing, guitar, drums, and bass. The most technical went to Sabrina Noti for dancing to the song “Dog days are over” by Florence and the Machine, and the Audience Favorite was given to Jessica Kathe for singing and playing the Ukulele.
Although only four awards were given all the acts did a phenomenal job and put forth much effort and came through in showing their talents.
Gaming not just for fun, but for charity
by Cassandra Goldman
With the holidays approaching, many people have begun donating money and other items to less fortunate people in the community. Popular programs such as Toys for Tots and the annual can and coat drives are just a few of the local contributions to these causes.
This year, a new event will occur. Reed D’Agostino, a junior, has organized Gaming for Charity, an event where students and adults can enter a video game tournament and the proceeds go to a charity of the winner’s choice. The video game will be Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
D’Agostino first thought of the program as an after school activity where students could play video games with each other. The idea grew into a promising event that received a lot of support from students and teachers. Supporters include the Respect Club run by Ms. Buono, Mr. Miesenholder, and Ms. Hume. The event will be sponsored by Brookstone Pizza.
The tournament is scheduled for December 16th in the cafeteria from 4:00 to 6:00. There are only 64 spots available for players.
There will be a raffle at the event to win $20 to Regal Cinemas. The winner will also receive a $60 gift certificate to Gamestop, and $20 of Microsoft points or Wii points, or a $20 PSN gift card.
Gaming for Charity is a new, competitive, and fun way to help others and is expected to be a great success this year and hopefully for years to come.
Fantasy takes place at shen
by Joe Daly and John Nestor
In the United States, and especially at Shenendehowa, sports are an important aspect of our culture. Not only real sports, but fantasy sports as well. There are many different types of fantasy sports, teams, and leagues.
These are games where people act as owners to build a team that competes against other fantasy users. They are based on statistics produced by the real individual players or teams of a professional sport, where they play either for fun or for money. There are many students and staff at Shenendehowa who are familiar with fantasy leagues and their many different forms.
When Dominic Scaringe, a junior at Shen, was asked what fantasy sports he partakes in, he replied “Football and basketball.” Of the people interviewed, the majority of them stated that they participate in the leagues purely for fun and entertainment.
If you’re interested in fantasy leagues, there are many different sports you can choose. Some of these include; football, baseball, hockey, and even golf, nascar, and skateboarding. The most popular fantasy sport at Shen appears to be football.
There are also those select few, like Lerone Lee, who participates in fantasy skateboarding, which has a little bit different setup than football, but is still very similar in concepts. Overall, many attendees of Shen engage in these fantasy sports and leagues with friends, family, and even some strangers.
People enjoy playing in these leagues to have fun, make money, make friends, and to enjoy the pure spirit of competition. People can join or create fantasy leagues for free online with friends or even complete strangers. Dependent on if you play for money or for pure entertainment, you can win anything from bragging rights to a wallop of cash.
The junior citizenship pass
by Cynthia Jacobson
Shenendehowa Juniors have been given the opportunity to obtain more freedoms. Students are now able to apply for a Junior Citizenship Pass, which, upon approval, allows students to travel freely from study hall to a number of locations in the school.
Before the existence of this pass, students were forced to present a previously-signed pass from a teacher in order to travel from study hall. The Citizenship Pass eliminates the often tedious task of getting a pre-signed pass. However, this privilege possesses limitations, making it exclusive.
Though it is open to all for application, certain requirements must be met in order to be eligible. These requirements include maintaining an average of 85% or above in the previous quarter, one’s or two’s in effort and conduct, and zero outstanding library material.
Last month, Shen Junior Kristy Gunsel was qualified to receive this pass but had not yet applied. “I don’t know much about the pass,” she said, continuing to say that the pass lacked sufficient promotion. When asked whether she would apply herself academically, so as to be eligible next quarter, she replied, “No more than usual.” Gunsel’s opinions rang true with many of her peers, who either were unaware of the pass entirely or didn’t feel it was worth applying for.
“I would apply, but I don’t know much about it, or where and how to get it”, said Lauren Casey. Though a few students were unaware of the Junior Citizenship Pass, most if not all Juniors were informed about it at the Juniors assembly at the start of this year.
As the school year has worn on, more and more students have applied for the pass; over one hundred juniors applied and less than thirty were turned down. Students should keep in mind that they must meet the requirements every quarter if they wish to use this pass year-round. If interested in applying, forms and more information can be found on the Shenendehowa High School webpage, at http://www.shenet.org
Mark your calendars for December 7th
by Zack Kimball
On Wednesday, December 7th, at 7:00 PM, there will be an open discussion about underage drinking held in the High School East library. All are invited to participate. The discussion is being presented by the Shenendehowa Community Coalition and the PTA. The night will consist of a short presentation of data collected from a survey recently completed by Shen students during gym classes. There is no need to sign up for anything, just to show up.
