Hannah Habibi Lizano
December 10, 2018
Passion, dedication, and motivation: June Bering brings it all to the court
The gritty concrete court snags the rubber bottom of her shoes. The four o’clock sun beats down on her face. Athletes grunt throughout each swing. The distant hum of the Edens expressway buzz through her ears. On the opposite side of the court – ten feet away – stands a longtime friend. That space has sprawled into miles as the friendship has dissolved into an opponent-against-opponent match. “Watch that backhand,” yelps her coach.
June Bering coached by Andrew Klamm warms up at the tennis court near the south end of the school.
Bering is currently in her senior year of high school playing on girls varsity tennis team. She was introduced to the team through a friend.
“I didn’t know how to play tennis at first,” Bering said. She got into the sport through a friend and decided to try it, so that day she showed up to practice and her passion for the sport began.
She has transitioned to being on the varsity level since sophomore year. She currently has an 11-4 record as of this season.
“For this season she worked really hard this summer and has been one of the most successful players we have,” Coach Klamm said.
When asked about her goals for the season, Bering said, “Hopefully to beat West, and to place in conference… it’s up to New Trier in how good they are this year.”
Bering’s inspiration is tennis player Naomi Osaka. “When she was little she used to look up to Serena Williams… she wrote about Serena Williams about who is her role model and now she beat who her role model [is]… I look up to her a lot,” Bering said.
If you want to see June play in her next match, watch her on Sept. 17 at Niles North against Maine South.
GVB fights childhood cancer on and off court
On Sept. 17, Niles North girls volleyball will take on Niles West in an effort to promote awareness for athletes battling childhood cancer.
Coach Terri VanderJeugdt has motivated the girls to be hardworking athletes because she has seen her own child go through childhood cancer and the struggles that an athlete with cancer faces. With the girls on the team being healthy athletes, she wants them to reach their highest potential both on and off the court.
“I’m really big about character… anyone can be a good player, but can you also have that second part which is the character aspect? Having compassion for others, discipline… this year really for me is discipline, staying motivated, and really having that character of ‘am I a good person’,” VanderJeugdt said.
Girls varsity volleyball has done a great job this season on putting up a fight against teams that might be stronger competitors, but many of them faced their own challenges off the court in dealing with childhood cancer. The team has times where they were the supporter, the sibling, or have dealt with cancer themselves. It has hit close to home with the athletes which makes it easier for them to want to raise awareness and connect to the cause.
When asked about how this upcoming game compares to others, Lauren Hankes said, “My own sister was diagnosed with cancer when she was in eighth grade and it was really tough not only on her but also on my whole family… It is so different because we are playing for these people who have gone through so many hard times and it’s really just to honor them and we try to give it our all.”
At their game against Warren High School, the team put up a fight. Even though they did not leave with a win, they both knew how much work has gone in and that they made sure they didn’t leave with a blowout.
On Monday, Sept. 17 watch the girls go against Niles West on their childhood cancer awareness game. Admission into the game will be $1. All proceeds will be donated to Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer (MACC).
Instant team: Just add water.
The chlorinated aroma surrounds you. Water splashes. Swimmers begin to fill with adrenaline. You can hear the bounce-back of the diving boards. Coaches whistle in the code to swimmers.
The Niles North girls varsity swim team warms up for their home meet against Evanston.
This year the swim team has been rebuilding its team in order to reach their highest potential by senior year.
“I think we’re having a lot of fun it’s been an adjustment to have the seniors graduate last year and we have to rebuild what we had,” TJ Moran, head coach, said.
But putting that behind them Moran has been working on training the current underclassmen to reach their highest potential for their senior year. “Striving to become a little bit better, every day is a different challenge. Sometimes it’s better in the pool sometimes it’s better out of the pool… as long as we’re trying to get better at something we’re gonna get better,” Moran said.
Sophia Keay, senior, brought up the struggles she’s gone through with being on this team. “Freshman year I dealt a lot with more perfectionistic thoughts in my mind and whenever I swim, even if I got a better time I’d still be like ‘no I can do better’.”
But with that, she has had many personal achievements.
“The amount of time I have dropped from freshman year to now, in my 500, I came in with a 6:18 and now I’m at a 5:30.”
This team has brought out the best in Keay and she enjoys all the aspects brought from it. Swimming is something she is passionate about and has changed a lot in her life. “It has been a big part of my life. I plan on continuing in club. It’s really helped me with scheduling and it helped me de-stress a lot”
Along with Keay is Mckenna Douglas, sophomore, who is on her second year with the varsity team. She has been swimming competitively for a while now and has also had swimming make a big impact on her life. “Swimming is a lot like life you’re not always going to see success in everything you do and that really helps a lot when I’m struggling with other things in my life,” Douglas said.
Douglas has been injured during her swim season and she’s still recovering from that. But her accomplishments overcome the struggles that she has had. “I went a sub 1:10 in my 100 fly in our second meet.”
TJ Moran has made significant effects on how the Niles North swim team runs and the new program it brings to the school. “When I first started coaching at North we were in the small pool … the ceiling was leaky, [but] we had fun and worked hard. But we got this brand new facility.”
With the new facility, the team was able to expand on how many girls can come in and make it a no-cuts team. “We’re able to accommodate anybody that wants to be on the team and we’re gonna find a place for them, as long as they have the commitment level, and as long as they show up every day,” Moran said.
If you want to see more of the Niles North swim team come to their next meet against Niles West this Friday, Sept. 28 in the Aquatics Center.
Viking Football photo gallery
Halloween howls as Hannah Lizano brings these ghoulish looks to life
If you’re having trouble figuring out what you want to be for Halloween, well you’re in luck. I have three face paint Halloween costumes that can be paired with any outfit: A spooky skull, a classic cat, and a creepy clown.
To create the skull you will need face paint in white, blue, and pink along with any dark blue eyeshadow and black eyeshadow. Products that were used specifically were the Snazaroo face paint in white, blue, and pink along with the Morphe vault palette in dark magic.
The classic cat face paint can be easily completed using a light concealer shade, contour powder and brown, burnt orange, white and black eyeshadow, also using black and white face paint. The products I used were the Kat Von D shade and light eye contour palette, Ulta contour palette, NYX HD concealer, and the Snazaroo face paint in white and black.
To create the clown simple clown look it can be achieved with white and black face paint, brown, burnt orange, white and black eyeshadow, and red lipstick. The specific products were Snazaroo face paint in white and black, Kat Von D shade and light eye contour palette, and NARS Velvet matte lipstick pencil in Dragon Girl- siren red.
Halloween is a great opportunity to show your creative side. As a reminder, keep in mind the Niles North Halloween Costume Expectations as defined by our deans:
1) NO MASKS OR FULL FACE PAINT- We need to be able to see your face and identify you.
2) NO PROPS OR COSTUMES THAT ARE MEANT TO SIMULATE A WEAPON OR PROMOTE ACTS OF VIOLENCE
3) NO COSTUMES THAT REPRESENT DRUGS OR ALCOHOL
4) NO BARE MIDRIFFS OR REVEALING CLOTHING. APPROPRIATE SHOES MUST BE WORN.
5) NO COSTUMES MISAPPROPRIATING OTHER RACES, CULTURES, RELIGIONS, AND/OR GENDERS
6) HATS ARE ONLY ALLOWED AS PART OF A COSTUME. THEY CAN NOT BE YOUR COSTUME
*Faculty and staff are permitted to modify your costume or ask you to change if they feel the costume is a distraction to the learning environment or is a violation of our dress code policy. As always, feel free to contact the Deans or Security should an issue arise.
If you want to create this look follow the tutorial linked above and enjoy a spooktacular Halloween.
When I first started North Star I was not aware that the school even had an online newspaper. Walking into the class I was confused first of all because it was a class of four and second, that I didn’t realize what I had signed up for. Even with the amount of confusion I endured, I was still able to find a topic of journalism that continues to intrigue me till this day. I wrote my first story on the Niles North Varsity football team. I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I began my interviews because I didn’t know what my end goal for the story was. I interviewed so many players and coaches for the story which would’ve been great if I wasn’t writing a brief. Now that I’ve spent about 4 months I feel confident in the work I’ve produced and I can efficiently write stories and briefs without being overwhelmed. You can see the progression within my work from the writing to the photo galleries I made. My favorite story I created was the Fall Sports Overview because even though it caused me a lot of stress from not getting the proper responses I was able to put it together and make a piece that both athletes and coaches can look back on to remember that season. I believe that these skills I’ve gained in News Production have and will help me in my future endeavors. I hope to use what I’ve learned in news production in college. Even though I won’t be studying journalism I hope to get involved with a club or something in the broadcasting area to continue this passion of mine. My goal at the end of my college education is to hopefully come back to Niles North and be able to participate in North Star and help Silverberg and the program because of how much of a positive impact the program has had on my life.
