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Contact : thenortheaster1@gmai l .com | Editors : Car ly La ird , Wil l iam Yale

THE NORTH EASTER VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

A L L C O U N T Y C H O R U S B Y A L E C F O R N W A L T

All county chorus

Words from the water girl

Cabaret

Marching band

Student spotlight

Fun Fundraisers

Book review

Letters from a scribbler

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I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

In case you haven’t noticed, North

East is full of talented singers. A large

number of our best had the opportunity

to participate at the All-County level

on Thursday Nov. 14.

To get into all county chorus you

have to audition, where they test you

on not only how well you sing but on

your abilities to read music for the first

time.

The concert line-up was six songs

long; including the songs True Light-

(Hampton) and Erev Shel Shoshanin-

(Klebanow). If you’ve never heard of

either song that’s because these are

some complicated chorale arrange-

ments. North East had a large number

of participants including Carly Laird,

Katie O’Brien, Kindall Houston, Andrea

Travis, Tatiana Plourde, Alison Burgess,

Jessica Simonson, Derek Leonard, Ian

Hannon, and Hayden Marshall.

What a great experience for Dr. Fritts,

who was celebrating his last All-County

Chorus concert as Instructional Coordi-

nator, Fine Arts. He has been helping

the musical talents of Cecil County

grow for eighteen years.

W O R D S F R O M T H E W AT E R G I R L B Y A M A N D A L E M A S

A girl writing about football, you

ask? Yes! My passion is football. I

have played it for years. Not only

that, but this fall I was manager of

the junior varsity football team and

have observed a lot of our games up

close and personal.

One question is on your minds and

that is, why have we not won more

games after last year’s five-win

streak? It would be easy to blame the

coach, but no. Coach Russell has

given everything he has this year and

besides, it was his coaching that led

to last years’ wins.

The varsity team has spirit and

sportsmanship and fights hard. They

stood the test in a horrible homecom-

ing game where even the band had to

take shelter from the rain. Sam

Smithmyer made a 17-yard field goal

and put the team in the lead, but in over-

time we made mistakes and had a ton of

rain.

Our junior varsity had a good end to

the season. Against Bo Manor, they put

numbers on the board and came out in a

tie with George Crouse moving the ball

35 yards. Christian Nagovich came in

and ran the ball for a touchdown.

The varsity team has been recognized

for improvement, scoring many points

with team leaders like junior quarter-

back Garren Da-

vidson, who has

had to sacrifice by

throwing intercep-

tions more than

once. Yes, the

loss against Kent

County was a

discouraging end

to the season, but

we see talent training for next year. Our

team for the 2014-2015 season will

have lower expectations and this might

be positive and new players on varsity

might help. Wide receiver/ running back

Brandon Kellenberger will be moving

up as will David Lemas who played

offence, long snapper, defense. Also,

our touchdown man, Christian Nago-

vich will be moving up.

The junior varsity team will hate to

see these players go, but we know that

they will be showing the varsity team

what talents and great coaches do by

performing well.

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THE NORTH EASTER The New Direction for the News

The mission of The North Easter is to provide an up-to-date, interesting, contemporary newspaper for the enjoyment, education, and entertainment of the North East High student body and faculty. The content developed in this news-

paper will never have intentions of being controversial or distracting, but rather be informational and intriguing.

C A B A R ET B Y W I L L I A M Y A L E

On Friday, November 8, the North

East High School Drama Club took to

the stage in the 2nd Annual Drama

Club Dessert Cabaret. This year’s

show was a big deal. It was only the

second one ever held here at North

East, the first being a new idea just last

year. This year’s show did not just

mean income, but continuation, estab-

lishing the Dessert Cabaret as a new

tradition at North East High School.

The Cabaret was a huge success,

bringing in both adults and students

alike. At 7:00 the lights dimmed as

John Gillespie opened the show in his

second consecutive year as emcee. The

show opened with Mama Who Bore

Me sung by Jessica Simonson, Alison

Burgess, and Katie O’Brien. The rest

of the show followed in a succession

of laughter, effected silence, and awed

applause as Hayden Marshall sang and

danced Footloose, and Olivia Oikemus

recited the monologue Ugly.

After some songs and monologues,

the Cabaret had a short intermission

with some audience participation im-

provisation games. Then, after some

cookies and cake, the curtains unfurled

for the skit The Tale of Melissa

McHiney McNormous McWhale per-

formed by Susan Travis, Katie O’Bri-

en, Jessica Simonson, Olivia Oikemus,

Hayden Marshall, and even I had to get

in on the action. The Cabaret then

turned to more songs and monologues

such as I don’t know how to love Him

sung by Carly Laird.

The Drama Club closed out the

show with the popular 1980s song and

dance Thriller by Michael Jackson in

full costume and make up. Overall, the

Drama Club Dessert Cabaret was a

good night, and well-performed.

Next year the Drama Club looks

forward to the 3rd Annual Cabaret, to

be held once again here at North East

High School.

M A R C H I N G B A N D B Y M A R Y F O L E Y

Have you heard the news? Blue

Crew has just wrapped up their 2013-

2014 marching band year. The band

took the field for the November 3 com-

petition at the Naval-Marine Corps

Stadium in Annapolis - scoring

92.174, they made NEHS history re-

ceiving the second highest Blue Crew

score ever.

The band competed against 13 of the

country's top bands from: New Jersey,

Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.

They took third place overall, color

guard finished in the top five, percussion

finished in the top three, and the band

took top honors in the category of Over-

all Effect.

These folks worked really hard to get

to where they are. They make it look

easy, but they put in just as many hours

as any other sport. Perhaps you have

seen the band perform while at a foot-

ball game. Don't they add some pep?

If you see a guy or gal in marching

band or color guard give them a pat on

the back for having such a wonderful

season. With scores that high, they are

surely something to cheer about.

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THE NORTH EASTER

S T U D E N T S P O T L I G H T : B Y M O R G A N W A R F I E L D

mark, they formed a dynamic duo –

speaking German to each other at

school and on the bus home. Results:

two students who really have fun

learning a language and who could

probably pass out of any college re-

quirement. As Jared says, “Learning

and speaking German has given me a

different point of view.”

Jerone Gillespie also took Spanish

because it was a requirement.

“Spanish appeared to be the best

choice” Jerone explains. He assumed

he would take his two years of lan-

guage and then be done. What ended

up being the case was he actually be-

gan to develop an appreciation for

Spanish. “I thought it would be inter-

esting to be able to speak to the teach-

er and none of the students would be

able to understand me.” Jerone start-

ed out without being spectacular but ,

because he began working on Spanish

in his free time and practicing, his

grades went from failing to mostly

A’s. He says he believes Spanish is

Most of us only take a language because

we have to fulfill the requirement, but An-

drew Koenings and Jared Blomquist look

at learning German as a personal project

and have learned far more than they need-

ed to to pass their course. Andrew spent

time in Denmark because his father was

transferred there and he chose German as a

school language because he could use it

more than Danish. When he returned to

North East, he was already speaking fluent

German. Jared Blomquist started German

because his sisters had liked the classes

with Mrs. Soltis- and he began to learn

outside of class, too, until his German was

great. When Andrew returned from Den-

very similar to English which helps his

learning because he can make associa-

tions between the two. Jerone says that

“when it comes down to learning a new

language …it is hard work, consistency

and finding out how one learns” that

helps him better himself. “It didn’t

come easy for me, not even a little bit. I

had to work hard. Hard work pays off;

hard work to accomplish goals is what

breeds excellence”

F U N F U N D R A I S E R S : B Y K A T I E O ’ B R I E N

North East High students know

how to have fun doing good and

how to do good while having fun.

In November, students raised money

for worthy causes while playing bas-

ketball and dodgeball.

The basketball tournament was

organized by the National Honor

Society. Mr. Hadjis quite rightly

advised them to have 3-on-3 teams

and that was the ticket to their suc-

cess. Lots of teams paid to play and

this helped end the event with a prof-

it of $709.00 which will be donated

to Relay for Life. Just think– this

money raised, might just be the con-

tribution that leads to a cure for can-

cer.

The dodgeball event also had good

participation, with Mr. Miller and

Mr. Burkhardt jumping on to the

court as well as other faculty and

students. The profits for this event

went to Operation Battle Buddies.

Andrew Koenings and Jared Blomquist

Jerone Gillespie

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thenortheaster1@gmail.com

THE NORTH EASTER

Editors: Carly Laird, William Yale

Letters from a Scribbler

B O O K R E V I E W B Y M O R G A N N A G G I E

It seems the holiday season has come

even earlier this year. The very day after

Halloween, stores were already stringing

up the blinding lights and ridiculous

blow-up Santas that we have come to

associate with Christmas. The radios are

singing about reindeer and snow and the

malls are already boasting about special

Christmas deals.

It’s great to be feeling the holi-

days so strongly, but one cannot help

but ask one question: What happened to

Thanksgiving? Sure, everyone has heard

of all the great Black Friday sales, but

what does that even have to do with

being thankful? Are we so busy that we

can’t even take a moment to enjoy the

fall leaves before the white Christmas

snow covers them? Is anyone even

thinking about the smell of turkey with

gravy, or are we all thinking about the

scent of fresh pine on Christmas morn-

ing?

The holidays are supposed to

be a time of family and friends, of peace

and humility. So, why are we all so

quick to rush through them, to get them

all over with? Like always, we’re rush-

ing through life, scribbling down the

simpler picture instead of taking care to

write down every detail. There’s no time

to be nostalgic with the memories of

yesterday or to enjoy the ones of today

because we’re so quick to worry about

what will come to us tomorrow.

Everyone wants a bigger tree

than last year or brighter lights or a bet-

ter ham, but do you know what I want? I

want to watch A Charlie Brown Thanks-

giving on Netflix at midnight on Thanks-

giving Eve. I want to wake up to the

smell of mashed potatoes and cranberry

sauce, and see my family seated together

around a table, remembering what to be

thankful for in this era of so much pain

and misfortune. I want to go for a walk

with my friends and look at the trees, all

dressed in red and orange and yellow,

and hope the snow holds out a little

longer so they don’t turn brown with rot.

Do you really want to be wor-

rying about what gift wrap you’re going

to use this year before you’ve even bast-

ed the turkey? Just forget about shiny

new presents for a moment and remem-

ber your family. Remember being a little

kid and stealing a piece of the pumpkin

pie hidden in the fridge for dessert, or

watching your dad carve the turkey and

wondering why you weren’t allowed to

hold the carving knife for a mere second.

Remember trying everything on the table

except for the cranberry sauce, because

it was purple and shiny and nothing a

person eats should look like that, or fall-

ing asleep in your mom’s lap in the liv-

ing room after dinner as you listen to the

adults slurping their coffee and com-

plaining about what happened on the

news that morning.

Just hold on to family a bit

longer, and be glad you still have over a

month before you have to worry about

how in the world you are going to fit that

dried-up needle-shedding tree through

your small, front door.

Have you ever wanted to read a great

romance book? Don’t read? Well,

listen, I never really liked reading

books until I picked up one by Nicho-

las Sparks. His books are about rela-

tionships, marriage, heartbreaks, cour-

age, trust, honesty, and most of all,

love. I respect and agree with his opin-

ions about love and relationships.

The first book I read by Nicholas

Sparks was A walk to remember and it

was such a great book, I read it twice.

My other top favorite books by him

are The last song, and The longest

ride. Here are some of my favorite

quotes: “Love is like the wind - you

can’t see it, but you can feel it” –A

walk to remember; “If you like her,

if she makes you happy, and if you

feel like you know her, then don't let

her go.” – Message in a bottle. This

quote is a perfect example of what

true love really means. Love is pa-

tient, love is kind. It does not envy, it

does not boast, it is not proud. It

does not dishonor others, it is not

self-seeking, it is not easily angered,

and it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but re-

joices in the truth. It always protects,

always trusts, always hopes, and al-

ways perseveres. It’s also nice to read

a book that doesn’t distort what love,

marriage, and relationships really are.