Olivia Meyers | Portfolio 2016

I have learned a lot throughout my one year on Northstar. I had the opportunity to work with a variety of media and learn from my teachers and classmates. I explored journalism through writing, photography, and multimedia. When I first started Northstar, I didn’t have much experience with journalistic writing, let alone A.P. style writing. But I’ve learned to view the world from a journalist point of view by capturing highlighting moments, whether it be in my head or with a camera. Having the knowledge I learned from this class can and will be used to my benefit in the future. I plan to study Digital Arts, Communication, and Business, so all these skills will be very useful and necessary.

Calling all dancers: Auroris Dance Company auditions
If you love to dance, joining the Auroris Dance Company is a great opportunity to get involved with others with the same interest. There will be an informational meeting after school next Monday, jazz auditions on Tuesday, and hip hop auditions on Wednesday. That being said, Auroris is made up of two dance styles: jazz and hip hop. Anyone can try out for one or both parts of the company.
“You should try out for Auroris because it’s not labeled as varsity, junior varsity, or freshman. We are all one team, one family. There are no competitions, and we all support each other in what we love to do,” Mi Lee, hip hop Captain, said.
Auroris is a selected group of dancers who practice every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to learn and perfect dances that will be in the Annual Auroris Dance Company showcase. The showcase is usually in late January or early February. Dancers are placed in one of two levels: apprentice or full company, depending on one’s skill level. Apprentice only means that your skill level is a little under those of full company. The only difference of being on either level is that some of the guest choreographed pieces are exclusive to full company members. But regardless of the level, you can be in as many dances as you sign up for and get accepted for by the choreographers.
After the company members are chosen, any of the members are allowed to audition a piece they choreographed for the chance to teach it to dancers of their choice. Dance styles can range anything from ballet to Bollywood. Most of the dances in the showcase are student choreographed. That being said, the company also invites guest choreographers to teach the company dances to be featured in the show. The guest choreographers are always professional dancers themselves and have a lot to teach the company.
If you do not make it in the Spring auditions, there will be another round of auditions in the Fall before everyone starts learning and choreographing dances. If you don’t make it, don’t get discouraged. Take dance classes over the Summer to better prepare for Fall auditions. As Deanna Sortino, Auroris Director, always says, “you only get better after every dance class you take.”

College Preparation: Ways to a brighter future
As the word “college” can bring stress and anxiety to many, it doesn’t have to be that way. There are many ways of preparing for your college path by start researching colleges early. Time, organization, and staying on track with your academic schedule is essential to getting accepted and choosing the right college for you. At Niles North, there are many college guidance resources mainly located in the Information Resource Center (IRC) and College Resource Center (CRC).
One way of finding and looking for potential colleges is going to the college fair in the Fall and/or Spring. Many college representatives come from all around the country and have a booth for their college. You have the opportunity to have any of your questions answered in person. Students find a lot of the colleges they end up attending during the college fair, and it helps them discover the possibilities for their degrees and school.
“During my college search, I was not prepared at all. I didn’t know what I was majoring in and didn’t know where I wanted to go to school. This made it difficult during the college application season. I would advise all underclassmen to start researching colleges earlier than later. It will help them in the long run,” Shelly Her, senior, said.
organization Staying organized is also very important to preparing for college, or your future in general. Some tips to help you stay organized would be to brainstorm ahead of time, keep a folder/binder for all of your pamphlets, and to know your deadlines. Always be on your toes and be open to new ideas, because sometimes the best things are when they are least expected.
The key aspect of getting accepted into the college of your dreams is to stay on top of your academics. Take classes that will impress the universities and maintain good grades. Along with getting good grades, join a club or sport that interests you. A lot of colleges take a wholistic view on each student, and not just at their ACT and gpa.
If you need more information go to the College Resource Center and check out some cool books about college and majors. Good Luck!

D219 Board of Education welcomes aboard new leadership
This Spring, the Board of Education appointed several people new positions in order to continue providing District 219 the best options. Starting March 1, 2016, John Pahlman will take on the responsibilities of the Director of Operations and Amy Walker as Purchasing Agent. Steve Griesbach was also appointed the second Interim Superintendent, as Mark Friedman and Griesbach will be working together to fulfill the duties of a Superintendent, until one is appointed this Summer.
Pahlman has much experience and will bring a wide variety of knowledge to maintain D219’s policies in the most efficient ways. In the past he served as the Director of Maintenance and Operations for School District 62 in Des Plaines. As Director of Operations at D219, Pahlman will have the duties of assisting the Superintendents and the Business of Operations in enforcing the Board of Education’s policies and goals for the district throughout the next few months.
“Illinois Teaches Retirement System rules restrict retired superintendents from working for than 500 hours to 100 days in a given year. Since Fridman has already used some of his time working for other districts earlier in the year, Griesbach’s appointment will allow the district to have someone in the leadership position each day. Friedman will serve as the lead Interim Superintendent,” Jim Szczepaniak, Director of Community Relations, said.
Friedman and Griesbach will be able to accomplish more with the both of them working together as Interim Superintendents. Following graduating from Northwestern, Griesbach taught history and social sciences at Evanston Township High School for a decade. Griesbach wants to grow instructional programs and study more about how students academic performance can improve. Friedman has much experience being Superintendent, therefore he was originally appointed the only Interim Superintendent.
D219 will continue to improve the district’s excellent student performance and create new projects to help everything move smoothly throughout these times of transition.

Summer school registration begins
Registration will be opened on February 26, 2016. Be sure to start thinking about what courses or summer camps you will be attending this upcoming summer semester. Summer school will be at Niles North and Niles West this year due to the mass enrollment.
Before enrolling in any academic course, it is recommended that you talk to your counselor about level recommendations and what credits you need to fulfill to graduate. Many students take health, consumers education, prerequisite courses, drivers education, and public speaking to help their future fall and spring semester course load less stressful by getting some of the required credits out of the way. On the other-hand, students may be required to enroll in remediation classes if they failed to pass a class.
“I took summer school my sophomore year and it really helped my junior year go more smoothly. I didn’t have to worry as much about having to take so many hard classes because I took one of my social studies credits during the summer,” Juliana Tichota, junior, said.
Summer school attendance is very strict because the curriculum moves at a faster pace than a Fall or Spring semester due to the limited amount of days to cover the same material. Before deciding which dates you want to attend summer school, consider if you will be going on any vacations, or have any events that can’t be changed. In a four-hour class, a student is only allowed to miss one day maximum, on the second day missed, they will be dropped from the class and will not receive credit. In a two-hour class, a student is only allowed to miss two days maximum.
Every year there are two time periods that you can sign up for. The first time period is 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and the second time period is 10:15 a.m. until 12:15 a.m. One year courses occupy both of the time slots with a 15 minute break inbetween.
To register online, go to http://summer.niles219.org/Summer

Kung Fu Panda kicks back in action
The panda kicked back into theaters this February. On Po’s journey of finding his father, they finally met when Li, Po’s birth father, came to the village in search for his son. Po was raised by his adoptive father, a goose named Mr. Ping, and throughout the movie, Po learns that he can have two fathers. Po realized that he still had a lot to practice if he was going to defeat the enemy, Kai, who was from a different universe with superpowers. Many of the smaller lessons in the movie may be hard for younger folks to understand. Kung Fu Panda 3 brushes on issues of adoption, being true to yourself, diversity, and community.
“Po is so cute and makes the movie so loveable. I hope they make a fourth movie because they always make me laugh,” Nicole Aleman, freshman, said.
Po’s birth father takes Po back to his “hometown” where he sees pandas just like him, which is different for him considering he lived with a goose and other pigs, ducks, tigers, etc. for his entire life. I liked when Po realized there were more of his kind, he didn’t get attached to them and act like he only belonged there. He acted like they were anyone else, but the fact that they were the same did give them a connection. He treated them and taught them kung fu as if they were his best friends. This shows the audience that Po has grown up in a diverse culture and learned to be nice to everyone. Po takes the role of being the little pandas teacher, instead of him being the student himself, although he continues to learn from Master Shifu, his master, throughout.
Aside from being “back home,” Po and his friends have to defeat the villain again. I think that the villain in this movie wasn’t as interesting as the first two movies because he has supernatural powers, so it makes us question if traditional martial arts can defeat the new technology. I enjoyed the first two movies where the antagonist had an army and they fought “fairly.” I also think that Po’s fighting friends should have been more prominent in the film because they were always so funny, and brought a kind of life to the movie.
Kung Fu Panda 3 had many appealing visuals and sound effects, from the bright colored backgrounds to the action packed sounds. The rich colors of the film made it much more enjoyable for the audience and also gave the story a theme. The colors that stood out to me were the intense red colors, and the rich navy blues. This is me talking as an artist, but blue and red are primary colors which make the movie flow together all the better.
Overall, Kung Fu Panda 3 is a very fun and action-packed. I don’t think that it lives up to the expectation we all thought, they should have ended Kung Fu Panda after the second one because everyone who grew up with Kung Fu Panda are older now and may not be as interested. I would recommend to see the movie if you want to something to do, but it’s not necessary.

Girls Track Media Package
https://youtu.be/uVYasCRRlNs