Lights Out!

Maggie Dougherty

Staff Writer

The school board of New Hope Solebury High School voted on Monday, Sept. 16 to silence the cheers and turn off the lights for the stadium field. Due to nearby neighbor’s complaints and the issue of field space, the board has decided to cancel night games after the fall season.

  During the vote that confirmed this decision, there were three board members who were not present. President Amanda Elefante had recused herself and Jonathan Adar and Joseph Harraka did not make it to that meeting. Mr. Harraka was surprised by the vote and said it was an “unfortunate decision which I would have adamantly opposed.” The motion to cancel the night games was a surprise because it was not on the agenda or advertised publicly. What was on the agenda was the possible plan to resolve this issue: to build a new stadium named field 13 which would be far enough from neighboring homes to avoid conflict. This would be funded completely by private donations.The next school board meeting is scheduled for October 12th, and it is open to the public. If the decision is made final on this night, 75% of the planned season for this year will have to be rescheduled.   

  The superintendent, Dr. Raymond Boccuti, made the statement “We want to be the best neighbors we can. I’m also interested in whatever is best for the students, and we need more fields. What’s nice is that members of the community are offering to help pay, so no one loses.”

  Not everyone agrees with Dr. Boccuti’s statement. Judy Finn, mother of a freshman football player at New Hope, has created an online petition using Facebook to spread awareness and appeal the decision to turn off the stadium lights. Past New Hope graduates, including former 2013 class president, Zachary Wenz and former 2012 president, Chris Warden, have written letters to the school board expressing their disappointment in the quick decision to cancel night games. Also, many of the students feel that this decision is unjust. Senior Kyle Chapin says “It’s only a few complaining neighbor’s compared to the entire student body, and it’s not fair that they got their way.”

  The school board’s job is to make decisions that will positively affect the student body. Chris Warden reflects the opinion of many students when he writes in his letter to the school board: “Those who matter most to the board--the students--are the ones who you have hurt by your decision to remove the lights and sound ultimately ending night games.”  
  It is anticipated that the anger towards the choice to end the night games will drive many students, parents and others affected to arrive at the next board meeting and let their voices be heard.

Freshman….Do you think you really know them?

Lexi Anderson

Bailey Hendricks

Staff Writers

Freshman year: Everyone was there once...and some of us still are. The middle school teachers prepared us for years, everyone talked it up, but what’s this year really like? We asked around and found out how everyone really feels about the class of 2017. From freshmen to seniors, we all have our opinions. Everyone is looking forward to the year to come, whether it be sports or social events, this year is going to be great!  

 The first day of school was a big day for the freshmen. Besides going to the beach and hanging out with friends, many students spent some time stressing over the year to come. With everything happening, there must have been a lot of emotions and thoughts running through everyone’s heads. On the first day, most of the freshmen said they felt nervous, lost, intimidated, anxious, tired, and even stupid.

 “I was nervous and lost because I didn’t know where any of my classes were the first day” said freshman Matt Firth.

 Everyone was expecting the day to go a lot worse than it did,  one major change between the middle school and the high school is that the classes are completely different. The curriculum’s different and all the teacher’s are people you’ve never met. According to the new freshmen, the classes are good, but a lot more difficult than expected. The teachers are also a lot better.

 “The teachers are really nice, they don’t stress you out.” said freshman Heather Borochaner.  Some of the classes are stressful, but they’re a nice change from the classes in middle school in the way that we’re studying more interesting topics and the classes are taken more seriously.

 Freshman Cassidy Smith says “I feel intimidated and small around them.”The upperclassman are always a reason to feel nervous in the high school. They’re a lot older than freshmen and there are so many of them. This is why many of the freshmen said they didn’t associate themselves with any of the upperclassman yet, and they don’t intend on doing so. The only way freshmen have made friends with them has been through sports and after school activities.

 One of the drags about high school is the amount of homework and classwork. There’s such a big change from middle school that’s almost overwhelming. The students said that there is definitely more homework this year. It’s a lot to handle with sports, it’s bothersome and there’s too much at one time. Although the students don’t like the amount of homework, it is helping them understand the material in class more. Freshman Victoria Kalinovich has a more positive look on things, “All the homework is pretty relevant. There’s more but it serves its purpose and helps me do good on tests.”  

 The freshmen have been in the middle school for three years! Entering the high school is a lot to adjust to. The freshmen said that the high school is much better. You aren’t treated like children and there’s a lot more freedom. Also the teachers aren’t on your case about everything you do.  “I like high school better, there’s more freedom and in general everything’s better.” says freshman Hannah Reszka.

 Finally, we wanted to know what the freshmen are looking forward to this year. There’s so many more events to partake in and people to meet! The freshmen said they’re all looking forward to homecoming, especially the dance. They’re also hoping to make some new friends and to get involved with clubs. Besides homecoming, freshman Elizabeth Both says “I’m looking forward to see how I will change over the course of four years.”

 Of course the Freshman know the freshman, but what about the upperclassmen? From sophomores to seniors we got some very different answers.

 When asked how they feel about the new freshman we got everything from “annoying” from the sophomore guys to one of the most popular answers “ We don’t really know them, but they seem very nice.” from Arian Behpour. So, freshman get out there and get involved. Let everybody know who the Class of 2017 is!

 With one of the biggest grades in New Hope history, there is lots to look forward to. If you haven't seen them on the field, the freshman girls are bringing a lot to the soccer field. Another one to keep an eye out for is the freshman girls coming to the basketball courts this winter. According to the sophomores and juniors the freshman girls will be a big boost to both teams! (Freshman Guys, where are you?)

 What would we do without a little more advice to top of everything we’ve gotten so far? Freshman, listen up because the upperclassmen have some good stuff: Stay on everyone’s good side; don't make any enemies; do all the homework; keep your head up, and according to Aaron Nagg the most important thing to remember is to “Ignore all distractions, especially pressure concerning doing drugs and alcohol.”

 So this is where it all starts for us, The Class of 2017!

Flood Waters Devastate Colorado

Matt Firth

Staff Writer

On September 12, a flood devastated over 2,000 square miles of the Front Range of Colorado. Over eight inches of rain soaked the area. Many have called it a “thousand year event” because of the excessive rain and unprecedented flooding. So far eight people have been found dead, over 100 miles of road damaged, and thousands of homes have been ruined.

 Almost Immediately after the floods, President Obama, as well as Governor John Hickenlooper stepped in. The day after the floods began, Obama gave the Federal Emergency Management Agency permission to begin giving aid to the region. On Sept. 13, Hickenlooper said in the Denver Post, “Each time an issue arises, we’re saying ‘all right, do we need a special session or can we deal with that,’ “ on the topic of convening a special session to assess the damage and decide what to do. The next day he signed for $20 million for disaster relief.

 Everything began on Monday, Sept. 9, as rain began to fall over the Front Range. In just 24 hours almost a year’s worth of rain was dropped on the area. Over 2,000 homes were destroyed by the torrents of water that surged down roads and transformed small creeks into rivers. Roads and bridges were badly damaged and many were destroyed. Along with the eight dead, thousands of people have been evacuated.

 Approximately 14,000 people were evacuated, due in a large part to the National Guard who began to evacuate people on Friday. Three thousand people and 900 pets have been evacuated by helicopter, and hundreds more from “high profile” trucks that “wade” through the water. Of the thousands originally missing, the final six were found alive on Tuesday. There is only one person left unaccounted for, but is believed to be dead.

 Among many activists there has been a severe concern about the multitude of fracking wells in the path of the floods, and recently their worries were confirmed. Many fracking and oil wells were destroyed, releasing chemicals and oil into the water. In Weld County, the site of thousands of fracking wells, many were submerged, and even some tanks containing the waste produced by the fracking were torn away. This connects to people living in Pennsylvania because of the immense amount of fracking going on in the state. Due to the high concern the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took helicopters out to do an aerial survey. They were looking for oil sheens, but were also on the lookout for any signs that an event like the Yellowstone River pipeline rupture of 2011 could happen again.

New Hope is told to ‘Get out! Get up! Go get it!’

Nick Damarodis

Editor-in-Chief

New Hope students were clapping, laughing, and feeling energized when motivational speaker Laymon Hicks came to visit middle and high school students on Sept. 13. An exciting presentation was made to help students become inspired and follow their dreams and passions. His continual motto of the day was “Get out! Get up! Go get it!” and tell all the people who are close to you in life that you love them.

 Laymon Hicks was raised by his grandparents with no main father figure in his life. Hicks told us that after his grandparents divorced, his own life situation started to deteriorate more than it already had been. He ended up around a group of friends who were making poor decisions, and started to follow along to fit in with everyone. It became such a problem that he eventually was kicked out of the National Honor Society after cheating on a test.

 For a time, as Hicks explained to the students, he felt like he did not have any opportunities or options left for him to succeed. After spending some time feeling guilty about all that he had done, he decided that his time to change was the present. He went back to working hard at school and earning good grades. By the time Hicks ended high school, he had a 4.0 GPA and was accepted to Florida State University.

 Hicks was proud of himself, but he wanted even more. He went on to run for and become the Class President at FSU, and attained a master’s degree.  Hicks wanted all of the students to know that they should always be working to earn more, and be more than they ever thought they could be. Of course there will be ups and downs along the way, but Hicks thinks everyone should let themselves know that “failure is not fatal” and they can try and try again to eventually succeed.

 Along with feeling good about yourself, Hicks also tells everyone to let your family members know they are loved. Some of the stories he had were quite depressing, including when siblings were at the same speaking engagements together and would not say I love you to each other. Hicks would not have it though, and forced them to say it. At New Hope-Solebury, one of the students went up to the front stage to call his dad to let him know that he is loved. Everyone was also asked to text one person through their cell phones to tell that person that they love them.

 It was an interactive event, and everyone was asked to cheer, clap, and text together. The environment was positive and uplifting, and at the same time exciting. Hicks did not tell students what to do, but explained his story and told us what he hopes for everyone to learn from it. New Hope-Solebury students are definitely ready to chase their dreams after Laymon Hicks’ presentation.

Laymon Hicks inspires students (photo by Mary Schwander)