By Nick Warner

Graduation is no doubt a huge part of becoming an adult and moving on with your life. Just like anyone else, you want to be recognized during this time of honor. Nothing spoils such an important event like misbehavior that would result in being embarrassed. Here are a few tips for you, your family, or anyone else that will be attending a graduation ceremony.

1.       Refrain from screaming. Everyone, including you and your family, wants to hear your name being called as your receive your high school diploma. By yelling, parents and friends could make another family unable to hear their student’s name being called.

 2.       No blow horns or other noise makers. It is way over the top to bring a blow horn to such a respectful, important ceremony such as graduation. Not only is it disrespectful, but it is an embarrassment to the family, the student, and even the school. Just leave the blow horns at home.

 3.       Try to avoid getting in the way. Especially with such a small place for graduation to take place like at North Scott, this may be extremely difficult. However, do your best to avoid blocking the view of others around you. You would hate to miss your loved one walking and receiving their diploma, so keep that in mind.

 4.       Show respect. During times like the national anthem or any speeches that are given, show the appropriate respect. Once again, you could easily embarrass yourself and your family if you lack respect.

 5.       Keep it positive. Whether your families are tight or absolutely hate each other, don’t boo other students when their name is called. Even if it is just a joke, don’t do it. Everyone deserves their moment of recognition as they become an adult.

 6.       Arrive early. Just like tip #3, if you show up late you are getting in the way and will end up with awful seats. Make sure to arrive roughly 15 minutes before the start of the ceremony.

 7.       Dress formally. Graduation is not the place to show up to wearing holey jeans or paint covered shirts. Even though it is extremely hot at graduation, dress to impress. It is a formal event and your attire should correspond to that.

 8.       Use your electronics appropriately. A bad timed cell phone call or camera flashing could be embarrassing. I’m not saying revert to the stone age but be smart.

An annual Post Prom highlight.

By Kevin Nelson

Post prom 2012 was an overall success. The games and activities were a hit for the students, but there were issues with the way prizes were given. The committee in charge of awarding prizes and gifts to juniors and seniors had a goal to ensure that every upper classmen received a gift.

A member of the committee mentioned that there was over 300 gifts for the students, and somehow there were quite a few students who didn’t receive anything. There were also students who received multiple gifts and some students received more than one large ticket item, myself included.

The system was set up to be error free, and fair for everyone, but as we know, nothing is perfect.

Students that didn’t receive anything wanted to make sure that next year’s committee addressed these issues and included everyone. I thought the system was more efficient than last year, but I believe the way the committee drew names could be more error free and less time consuming.

Don't be denied entry into Prom.

By: Nick Warner

Prom is coming up real quick-like. Being a guy, you can easily forget a few details that could make or break your Prom weekend. Here is a nice little reminder for you:

•    Serve your detentions. Without doing so, you will not be allowed to attend Prom.
•    Make dinner reservations.
•    Purchase your tickets (For you and your date if applicable).
•    Pay your lanyard and all other bills. Making sure these are taken care of makes purchasing your tickets much simpler.
•    Order your flowers. A little flower makes a big difference.
•    Order your tux. If you didn’t order it yet, it’s probably too late.
•    Try to get a nice ride. Borrow one, steal one, do what you gotta do.
•    Keep a fat stack. And by that, I’m referring to the necessity of keeping adequate monetary substance in your possession.
•    Ask your date (if applicable).
•    Control your hygiene and stay fresh. Taking a shower and all that business can add to your already stellar appearance.

What do you Think About the New Schedule?

Steven Marks- “Steven Marks likes the new schedule because you get more sleep.”

Devin Lafoon- “My girl, Ms. Demm-Free is going to miss advisory.”

Jacob Sikorski- I think that we should stay with blocks, but only some classes (like band) would be skinnies.” “Start school later.”

Joey Elliott- “I would love that change as it would allow for more students to get that extra amount of sleep needed.” “Also, the freshman’s blocks would be better for a decent schedule.”

Bret McKinney- “I like it!”

Noah Gumpert- “I am a fan of it because the school days are shorter which means more time to sleep in!”

Justin Kreiter- “It is a good change.”

Brandon Fleetwood- “We will get better grades ‘cause we can sleep longer.”

As many of us know Osama Bin Laden, was shot and killed on Sunday, May first.  The main controversy over this is the release of the pictures of Osama’s dead body.  Many people want to see these released.  People have many reasons for demanding the images; to show we killed a man, who planned and killed thousands, killed a man who planned 9/11, killed a horrible terrorist leader.  This are valid reasons, but it can be see in the wrong light, other countries could see it as being cocky, or parading the image of a dead leader, and this could irritate groups or countries to the point or retaliation.  So if the pictures are released it needs to be done smartly and sensitively, so maybe the way to do it would be to wait a few months to a year.  This will allow for a cool down period for the U.S. and the rest of the world, hopefully in this time people will be less sensitive and less hateful, making the release of his dead body’s picture’s not as big of a deal.

What Do You Think About the 1 to 1 Initiative?

Ms. Nikolopoulos- “I’m very excited because I think it would change how students learn and it will prepare them for the future.”

Steven Marks and Allen Penney- “I don’t like it because freshman shouldn’t get better things then upper classmen.”

Mr. Hawley- “I love it because we live in the age of technology, students are used to technology and their minds work with technology and I embrace that, I also want to level the playing field, what I mean by that is that all students will have access to modern technology.”

Katie Jelinsky- “I think it’s a wonderful idea and I enjoy computers.”

Dalton Neeley- “I think it’ll be great for the students and a better chance to learn.”

Lindsay Blomme “Yes, I think it is a good idea because it can help us learn more and do more projects.”

   The Super Bowl is an American tradition. While some people do watch the game for the football action, most watch it to catch the multi-million dollar commercials and halftime show. Unfortunately, these people were left disappointed this year.

   In the past, viewers would talk about ten to twenty of their favorite advertisements. But after Super Bowl XLV, the reviews have been less than stellar. There really were only one or two commercials that gave people a short chuckle. One would think that ad executives would try harder during the Super Bowl because it is practically the only time that people do not fast forward through the commercials.

   On top of that, the halftime show was a complete let down. Just featuring The Black Eyed Peas, is enough to make some people not watch, but the group’s performance was horrible, and most importantly, Fergie should never have tried to sing like Axel Rose-it sounded like she was getting punched in the throat the entire time.

   And I do not want to even get into the background dancers who looked like sperm just wiggling around the stage.

   So please, NFL pick a better band for next year. (And I mean a band not a group.)

Written by Aislinn Martin

Ah, February 14^th. The day has arrived again and “love” is in the air at North Scott High School. The office is filled with gifts, lockers are decorated, and no one can stop talking about their dates this weekend. If any of those statements made you go “Awww” then you probably might want to stop reading now.

I hate Valentine’s Day. Hate. It. I’m not sentimental or romantic to begin with. Unlike some girls, “The Notebook” doesn’t top my list of favorite movies, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, and PDA makes me nauseous. I am already hardwired to dislike this holiday, but every year V Day gives me more and more reasons to absolutely detest it.

You might think “Oh, she’s just bitter because she’s single.” But that is only the half of it. Take the cheese factor for example. The poems, the hearts, the cards, the chocolate, TEDDY BEARS?! That is far too much cuteness for one day. And all this sappiness comes at a hefty price. The Today show reported that Americans spend $9 billion every year on Valentines Day. Do you know what could be done with $9 billion? Probably something a lot more useful than millions of guys buying their girlfriends $50 bouquets of roses that die after a week.

To be honest, I am a little bitter. I am single, and on top of being cheesy and expensive, it just rubs it in my face that I have no one to celebrate with. Remember in elementary school when everyone made boxes, handed out valentines to their whole classes and had parties with food and games? If it was always like that, I’m sure I wouldn’t mind celebrating Valentines Day single. But unfortunately all that fun ends after 6^th grade.

As cynical as I seem, deep down, I want a reason to not hate this day. Hydrangeas are my favorite flowers. Just throwing it out there…

Every school day during A lunch I see at least three people trying to get into the bagel/salad line from the doors that have two big signs stating “Stop Do Not Enter” and “Please Use the other door”. After I see these people do it I just think to myself are they paying not attention or are they just being lazy and don’t want to use a little bit more energy to go around. Most of the time it is the same person doing it and every time they get denied and have to walk around. Sometimes I just don’t understand what is going through people’s minds. People should learn to pay attention.