Dispatch reporter visits student journalists
By: Emma Garee
NORTHRIDGE - Reporting the news is more than the who, what, when, where, why, how. It’s more than meeting deadlines. It is those things, of course, but it’s also bringing to life the real people behind the headlines. It’s believing, while you write, that someone’s life somewhere might change because of words on a page. That was the message journalists here at NHS heard on the day a real life Columbus Dispatch crime reporter, Holly Zachariah, came for lunch.
Zachariah met with Mr. Nelson’s Journalism class and Mrs. Garee’s newspaper class, the staff of The Viking Vault, on Nov. 19. During her visit, Zachariah shared stories and series she has written for The Dispatch, including her extensive and personal coverage of the Rhoden family murders in Pike County. She covered the basics for any journalist, such as curiosity as listening skills, by describing her own experiences and work. Afterward, the two classes treated her to a potluck lunch.
Alissa Zigo (‘20), who is in her second year writing for the newspaper staff, said, “It was really deep and moving. I learned so much because it was over very real and serious stuff.”
Vault Print Editor-in-Chief Mackenzie Holder (‘19) said the lunch and meeting with Zachariah “made me excited to go into a future of journalism. I already knew journalism is what I wanted to do, but the stories she told and the experiences that she shared really reinforced my commitment to becoming a journalist.”
Along with affirming Holder’s career choice, the session with Zachariah helped improve people's writing skills for their classes. Alyson Quinlan (‘20) is experiencing the world of writing news for the first time in Nelson’s elective and said, “I learned a lot about how to make my own writing better for Journalism and even other English classes.”
“This visit and session represents something I’ve wanted to do for my staff of writers for years,” said Mrs. Garee. “We’ve been to Channel 10 and Channel 6 in recent years to explore the world of broadcast reporting, but we don’t do that here at Northridge. Here, we print a paper online, with an abridged print issue every six weeks or so. That’s what Journalism looks like here, so to get to talk with a print journalist of Ms. Zachariah’s calibre was a wonderful experience we’ll always have with us moving forward. I think it enriched everyone’s perception of the field.”
Mr. Nelson arranged the visit through a family connection with Zachariah.
- Emma Garee (‘20) is the photo editor for The Viking Vault.
By: Emma Garee
NORTHRIDGE - Reporting the news is more than the who, what, when, where, why, how. It’s more than meeting deadlines. It is those things, of course, but it’s also bringing to life the real people behind the headlines. It’s believing, while you write, that someone’s life somewhere might change because of words on a page. That was the message journalists here at NHS heard on the day a real life Columbus Dispatch crime reporter, Holly Zachariah, came for lunch.
Zachariah met with Mr. Nelson’s Journalism class and Mrs. Garee’s newspaper class, the staff of The Viking Vault, on Nov. 19. During her visit, Zachariah shared stories and series she has written for The Dispatch, including her extensive and personal coverage of the Rhoden family murders in Pike County. She covered the basics for any journalist, such as curiosity as listening skills, by describing her own experiences and work. Afterward, the two classes treated her to a potluck lunch.
Alissa Zigo (‘20), who is in her second year writing for the newspaper staff, said, “It was really deep and moving. I learned so much because it was over very real and serious stuff.”
Vault Print Editor-in-Chief Mackenzie Holder (‘19) said the lunch and meeting with Zachariah “made me excited to go into a future of journalism. I already knew journalism is what I wanted to do, but the stories she told and the experiences that she shared really reinforced my commitment to becoming a journalist.”
Along with affirming Holder’s career choice, the session with Zachariah helped improve people's writing skills for their classes. Alyson Quinlan (‘20) is experiencing the world of writing news for the first time in Nelson’s elective and said, “I learned a lot about how to make my own writing better for Journalism and even other English classes.”
“This visit and session represents something I’ve wanted to do for my staff of writers for years,” said Mrs. Garee. “We’ve been to Channel 10 and Channel 6 in recent years to explore the world of broadcast reporting, but we don’t do that here at Northridge. Here, we print a paper online, with an abridged print issue every six weeks or so. That’s what Journalism looks like here, so to get to talk with a print journalist of Ms. Zachariah’s calibre was a wonderful experience we’ll always have with us moving forward. I think it enriched everyone’s perception of the field.”
Mr. Nelson arranged the visit through a family connection with Zachariah.
- Emma Garee (‘20) is the photo editor for The Viking Vault.
NHS leaves its mark on OMUN
By: Shelby Yorde
NORTHRIDGE - Last week, two of our Ohio Model United Nations (OMUN) teams traveled to their yearly conference in Columbus. One of Northridge’s teams, representing France, made it to top six of 85 teams. Also, our group had several students elected to statewide leadership positions: Luci Holbrook (‘20) and Sydney Smith (‘20) both made council president; Katie Debolt (‘20), Zion Carpenter (‘20) and Isabella Clark (‘20) made council vice-president.
OMUN starts to get together every year around September. They choose their countries, and then the teams research and pick a problem and a solution relating to that country. The number of nations available depends on how many students are participating. There is a maximum of 10 people per country; however, this year we have six for one and five for the other.
Northridge represented France and Fiji at OMUN.
Max Burton (‘21) says he chose France because he thought it would be way more interesting to study. However, Holbrook says she chose Fiji because she specifically wanted to learn about an island country.
Burton and Holbrook both said they were most looking forward to the debate portion of OMUN. “I love seeing all the problems and what creative solutions they come up with to fix it,” says Burton.
Holbrook says, “I just like knowing America isn’t the only country that has problems.”
The convention in downtown Columbus lasted Dec. 2-4. It brings roughly 1,500 kids from around the state and includes a dance, a talent show, game and movie room, and A LOT of debating. There are also many contests that go on. Here are some of our students who competed in those contests: Peace Essay - Clark and Hunter Harris (‘21), World Problem Solving - Smith and Gabe Farthing (‘20); Agenda Issues - Zion Carpenter (‘20) and Christian Best (‘20); World Citizenship - Holbrook and India Allar (‘21); Current Events - Debolt and Allar.
Also, during the entire convention, all the kids will be raising money for the Open Eye project. This project helps people in Nigeria. So far, they were able to build a new school and an outside bathroom with the previous money raised at OMUN. Each school has a few kids to help with the project and our students were Clark and Jason Roser (‘20).
- Shelby Yorde (‘20) is Junior editor for the Viking Vault [email protected]
By: Shelby Yorde
NORTHRIDGE - Last week, two of our Ohio Model United Nations (OMUN) teams traveled to their yearly conference in Columbus. One of Northridge’s teams, representing France, made it to top six of 85 teams. Also, our group had several students elected to statewide leadership positions: Luci Holbrook (‘20) and Sydney Smith (‘20) both made council president; Katie Debolt (‘20), Zion Carpenter (‘20) and Isabella Clark (‘20) made council vice-president.
OMUN starts to get together every year around September. They choose their countries, and then the teams research and pick a problem and a solution relating to that country. The number of nations available depends on how many students are participating. There is a maximum of 10 people per country; however, this year we have six for one and five for the other.
Northridge represented France and Fiji at OMUN.
Max Burton (‘21) says he chose France because he thought it would be way more interesting to study. However, Holbrook says she chose Fiji because she specifically wanted to learn about an island country.
Burton and Holbrook both said they were most looking forward to the debate portion of OMUN. “I love seeing all the problems and what creative solutions they come up with to fix it,” says Burton.
Holbrook says, “I just like knowing America isn’t the only country that has problems.”
The convention in downtown Columbus lasted Dec. 2-4. It brings roughly 1,500 kids from around the state and includes a dance, a talent show, game and movie room, and A LOT of debating. There are also many contests that go on. Here are some of our students who competed in those contests: Peace Essay - Clark and Hunter Harris (‘21), World Problem Solving - Smith and Gabe Farthing (‘20); Agenda Issues - Zion Carpenter (‘20) and Christian Best (‘20); World Citizenship - Holbrook and India Allar (‘21); Current Events - Debolt and Allar.
Also, during the entire convention, all the kids will be raising money for the Open Eye project. This project helps people in Nigeria. So far, they were able to build a new school and an outside bathroom with the previous money raised at OMUN. Each school has a few kids to help with the project and our students were Clark and Jason Roser (‘20).
- Shelby Yorde (‘20) is Junior editor for the Viking Vault [email protected]
Recycling at the Ridge
By: Sarah Phillips
NORTHRIDGE - The environment has been more and more of a pressing issue in our society and, therefore, a topic more of us are discussing at NHS, from “no plastic” to using less paper. So why do most Northridge teachers not have any recycling bins for their students? Our increasing reliance on technology instead of paper helps explains the lack of recycling bins to some extent. However, Mrs. Minck’s special education class is helping Northridge to become more green.
Room 111 collects the recycling every Monday from the classrooms. They collect paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum cans. Mrs. Mincks believes that Northridge should put a high importance on recycling. Currently Licking County is working with the Liberty Township to handle NHS's recycling because when Mrs. Minck’s students take out the recycling, there sometimes isn’t enough room. This forces Mrs. Mincks to take the remaining recycling home. However, she isn’t stopping there. Once we have a bigger area to put the recycling, she wants to provide recycling in both the lunchroom and during sporting events.
Trying to improve recycling involves a lot of factors. At Northridge recycling primarily focuses on paper because, even though there are plastic bottle and can recycling bins in the hallways, “Unfortunately 'trash' of all kinds was thrown into the bins. I think that has been an issue for the paper boxes as well,” Principal Ms. Anderson says.
Some teachers don’t even have recycling for paper. With Google Classroom used for most to all of our assignments and being able just take notes on the computer compared to paper, recycling may seem like it’s really not needed. However, a few pages here and there add to a great amount. Anderson points out, “We do consume less paper because of technology, but recycling is still needed.”
Several students agree that there should be a higher importance put on recycling such as Riley Bunstine (‘20), “We should be doing whatever we can in order to help better our environment, recycling is a great start.”
Another perk of recycling is that it doesn’t even add extra costs, really! Purchasing new bins and dispensers costs money, which Northridge plans to do to make recycling more efficient and easier. However, once they are purchased it just costs the manpower to pick up the recycling like garbage does.
With time, hopefully Northridge can become a more green school even though we are continuing to evolve more and more technology based.
- Sarah Phillips ('20) is an Entertainment Editor for The Viking Vault
By: Sarah Phillips
NORTHRIDGE - The environment has been more and more of a pressing issue in our society and, therefore, a topic more of us are discussing at NHS, from “no plastic” to using less paper. So why do most Northridge teachers not have any recycling bins for their students? Our increasing reliance on technology instead of paper helps explains the lack of recycling bins to some extent. However, Mrs. Minck’s special education class is helping Northridge to become more green.
Room 111 collects the recycling every Monday from the classrooms. They collect paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum cans. Mrs. Mincks believes that Northridge should put a high importance on recycling. Currently Licking County is working with the Liberty Township to handle NHS's recycling because when Mrs. Minck’s students take out the recycling, there sometimes isn’t enough room. This forces Mrs. Mincks to take the remaining recycling home. However, she isn’t stopping there. Once we have a bigger area to put the recycling, she wants to provide recycling in both the lunchroom and during sporting events.
Trying to improve recycling involves a lot of factors. At Northridge recycling primarily focuses on paper because, even though there are plastic bottle and can recycling bins in the hallways, “Unfortunately 'trash' of all kinds was thrown into the bins. I think that has been an issue for the paper boxes as well,” Principal Ms. Anderson says.
Some teachers don’t even have recycling for paper. With Google Classroom used for most to all of our assignments and being able just take notes on the computer compared to paper, recycling may seem like it’s really not needed. However, a few pages here and there add to a great amount. Anderson points out, “We do consume less paper because of technology, but recycling is still needed.”
Several students agree that there should be a higher importance put on recycling such as Riley Bunstine (‘20), “We should be doing whatever we can in order to help better our environment, recycling is a great start.”
Another perk of recycling is that it doesn’t even add extra costs, really! Purchasing new bins and dispensers costs money, which Northridge plans to do to make recycling more efficient and easier. However, once they are purchased it just costs the manpower to pick up the recycling like garbage does.
With time, hopefully Northridge can become a more green school even though we are continuing to evolve more and more technology based.
- Sarah Phillips ('20) is an Entertainment Editor for The Viking Vault
New and improved Spanish Club
By: Megan Payne
NORTHRIDGE- As the school year is almost halfway over, new clubs are popping up all around the school including the new Spanish Club. Ms. Hannah Mitchell decided to start the club after she adjusted to her new position as the high school Spanish teacher.
The club meets after school on every other Tuesday in Ms. Mitchell’s room. The meetings usually last anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes. Previous meetings included activities such as decorating Mitchell’s room for dia de los Muertos, updating her bulletin board for the holiday season, and talking about t-shirt designs for the club members.
The club recently finished celebrating dia de los Muertos, otherwise known as Day of the Dead, and now they are switching their focus to spreading awareness about the club around the school. Members are also starting to organize fundraising events for the “travel experience” that is coming in 2020. This “travel experience” would most likely be a trip to foreign, Spanish-speaking country. Mitchell has recently said that she hopes Costa Rica will be the destination.
Mitchell spent a semester studying abroad in Ecuador in college and she said that she spent time going abroad for some high school trips, too.
She said, “It sounds like you guys haven’t done any trips out of the country so the planning is a little difficult, but those trips are what made my high school Spanish experience so special, which is why I want to do it here.”
Spanish II student Rex Bammerlin (‘20) said, “The trip interests me, and I feel like I have such a better understanding of Spanish this year, so I am thinking about going to some meetings.”
When asked why she started the club Mitchell said, “There wasn’t a Spanish Club at my high school, but I joined a spanish National Honors Society at Ohio University, which I had a lot of fun with and it ended up impacting me so I wanted to try and do something like that for the students here.”
Aidan Isler (‘21) said, “I feel like there is a new outlook on the Spanish class this year, which makes me want be a part of the club. I want to actually learn the language because I think it would be cool to be able to speak two languages well.”
Students do not have to be enrolled in a Spanish class to participate in the club, but Mitchell said, “It would help if you knew some level of Spanish, but anyone is welcome.” Mitchell said that “any student who wants to learn more about the culture is welcome, but the travel experience will most likely be limited to students who are in my Spanish classes.”
If you have any further questions related to the club, Ms. Mitchell will be happy to answer them for you. The next Spanish Club meeting is on Tuesday, December 18th, in Ms. Mitchell’s room.
- Megan Payne (‘20) is the junior web editor of the Viking Vault.
By: Megan Payne
NORTHRIDGE- As the school year is almost halfway over, new clubs are popping up all around the school including the new Spanish Club. Ms. Hannah Mitchell decided to start the club after she adjusted to her new position as the high school Spanish teacher.
The club meets after school on every other Tuesday in Ms. Mitchell’s room. The meetings usually last anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes. Previous meetings included activities such as decorating Mitchell’s room for dia de los Muertos, updating her bulletin board for the holiday season, and talking about t-shirt designs for the club members.
The club recently finished celebrating dia de los Muertos, otherwise known as Day of the Dead, and now they are switching their focus to spreading awareness about the club around the school. Members are also starting to organize fundraising events for the “travel experience” that is coming in 2020. This “travel experience” would most likely be a trip to foreign, Spanish-speaking country. Mitchell has recently said that she hopes Costa Rica will be the destination.
Mitchell spent a semester studying abroad in Ecuador in college and she said that she spent time going abroad for some high school trips, too.
She said, “It sounds like you guys haven’t done any trips out of the country so the planning is a little difficult, but those trips are what made my high school Spanish experience so special, which is why I want to do it here.”
Spanish II student Rex Bammerlin (‘20) said, “The trip interests me, and I feel like I have such a better understanding of Spanish this year, so I am thinking about going to some meetings.”
When asked why she started the club Mitchell said, “There wasn’t a Spanish Club at my high school, but I joined a spanish National Honors Society at Ohio University, which I had a lot of fun with and it ended up impacting me so I wanted to try and do something like that for the students here.”
Aidan Isler (‘21) said, “I feel like there is a new outlook on the Spanish class this year, which makes me want be a part of the club. I want to actually learn the language because I think it would be cool to be able to speak two languages well.”
Students do not have to be enrolled in a Spanish class to participate in the club, but Mitchell said, “It would help if you knew some level of Spanish, but anyone is welcome.” Mitchell said that “any student who wants to learn more about the culture is welcome, but the travel experience will most likely be limited to students who are in my Spanish classes.”
If you have any further questions related to the club, Ms. Mitchell will be happy to answer them for you. The next Spanish Club meeting is on Tuesday, December 18th, in Ms. Mitchell’s room.
- Megan Payne (‘20) is the junior web editor of the Viking Vault.
The facts about Juuling
By Ali Zigo
NORTHRIDGE- This school year, there have been some extreme problems with students juuling. The term juuling refers to vaping flavored, nicotine-laced fluid in a small, USB-sized device.
Students will do it because others are doing it and that’s how juuling spread throughout the school, but many do not know all the risks of juuling. According to some of the staff, there has never been so much juuling and vaping as there has this year. The bathrooms seem to be a favorite location for keeping up with the habit.
Here at NHS, administrators and staff are putting things in place to stop this. According to Northridge High School Principal Amy Anderson, “Typically, if someone is caught, it’s three days in school suspension … That may increase depending on our policy.”
Anderson also explains that they can’t catch everyone, but that suspicion does increase when groups of people continuously end up in the bathrooms at the same time between or even during classes. Anderson also says that “word of mouth” is a big factor is finding out who juuls and when.
An anonymous source shares the reasons they juuled in the past: “I use to go to the bathroom to juul probably every period of the day because I believe that I was actually addicted … I started doing it because everyone else was doing it, even though I knew the risks. Although, I did get caught and had a three day in school suspension.”
Although juuling has been out of control this year, there are still many students who refuse to pick it up. Another anonymous source says, “I do not juul because it seems like a big waste of money, and once you try something for the first time it can become a habit, so if I do not try it, I won’t become addicted. Juuling can always lead to other, more dangerous things as well”.
The same source is also happy with his/her decision not to juul, noting, “People have tried to get me to juul before, but I never took the offer. I am happy with my decision not to juul because I am still happy with my life, and I don’t feel like I need to depend on something to make me feel better. Not that I really think anything bad about those that do juul ... it is their decision and they can do what they want. I just hope they know the dangers of it.”
There are, in fact, many dangers associated with juuling. A big one is that they are addictive. According to “The Medical Minute: Hazards of juuling or vaping”, One juul pod contains as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes. Nicotine is a very addictive toxin. Other dangers include insulin resistance and type two diabetes, which both come from the nicotine exposure, as well. Inhaled nicotine also increases a person's heart rate and blood pressure. This toxin may also impair prefrontal brain development in adolescents, which can lead to attention deficit disorder and poor impulse control. According to studies, many of these health risks are most worrisome in US teenagers where the rates for e-cigarettes are soaring.
Since teenagers are being exposed to juuling at such a young age, many are worried about how nicotine will affect the developing brain as these teens grow up, with some theories supposing the addiction could pre-dispose them to addiction to other drugs.
-Ali Zigo (‘20) is the Junior Print Editor for The Viking Vault.
By Ali Zigo
NORTHRIDGE- This school year, there have been some extreme problems with students juuling. The term juuling refers to vaping flavored, nicotine-laced fluid in a small, USB-sized device.
Students will do it because others are doing it and that’s how juuling spread throughout the school, but many do not know all the risks of juuling. According to some of the staff, there has never been so much juuling and vaping as there has this year. The bathrooms seem to be a favorite location for keeping up with the habit.
Here at NHS, administrators and staff are putting things in place to stop this. According to Northridge High School Principal Amy Anderson, “Typically, if someone is caught, it’s three days in school suspension … That may increase depending on our policy.”
Anderson also explains that they can’t catch everyone, but that suspicion does increase when groups of people continuously end up in the bathrooms at the same time between or even during classes. Anderson also says that “word of mouth” is a big factor is finding out who juuls and when.
An anonymous source shares the reasons they juuled in the past: “I use to go to the bathroom to juul probably every period of the day because I believe that I was actually addicted … I started doing it because everyone else was doing it, even though I knew the risks. Although, I did get caught and had a three day in school suspension.”
Although juuling has been out of control this year, there are still many students who refuse to pick it up. Another anonymous source says, “I do not juul because it seems like a big waste of money, and once you try something for the first time it can become a habit, so if I do not try it, I won’t become addicted. Juuling can always lead to other, more dangerous things as well”.
The same source is also happy with his/her decision not to juul, noting, “People have tried to get me to juul before, but I never took the offer. I am happy with my decision not to juul because I am still happy with my life, and I don’t feel like I need to depend on something to make me feel better. Not that I really think anything bad about those that do juul ... it is their decision and they can do what they want. I just hope they know the dangers of it.”
There are, in fact, many dangers associated with juuling. A big one is that they are addictive. According to “The Medical Minute: Hazards of juuling or vaping”, One juul pod contains as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes. Nicotine is a very addictive toxin. Other dangers include insulin resistance and type two diabetes, which both come from the nicotine exposure, as well. Inhaled nicotine also increases a person's heart rate and blood pressure. This toxin may also impair prefrontal brain development in adolescents, which can lead to attention deficit disorder and poor impulse control. According to studies, many of these health risks are most worrisome in US teenagers where the rates for e-cigarettes are soaring.
Since teenagers are being exposed to juuling at such a young age, many are worried about how nicotine will affect the developing brain as these teens grow up, with some theories supposing the addiction could pre-dispose them to addiction to other drugs.
-Ali Zigo (‘20) is the Junior Print Editor for The Viking Vault.
It’s a jungle on NHS’s stage
Disney’s The Lion King coming this spring
By: Mackenzie Holder
No sooner had the middle school musical cleaned up the pom poms from their High School Musical production this fall than posters began popping up around the school for the actual Northridge High School spring show: The Lion King. In no time at all, the hallways were filled with the “AH ZABENYA” tune.
The show will be staged March 8-10 in the auditorium, but work has already begun.
Before official auditions, there were workshops that students could go to where they would learn all of the material needed to audition. The directors had a total of about 53 kids come to try out and they are excited to start practicing and getting this musical started.
With December came the start of practices, where cast members have begun working on learning the lyrics to the songs. Audrey Holt (19’) states, “This is my first musical and I am really excited about how it will turn out. I have seen the Broadway show, and it is similar to that. I think it will look pretty cool once we have costumes and props.”
The Lion King on Broadway has been to every continent except for Antarctica, so it is amazing to see our school pursuing such a musical. When it was first performed on November 13, 1997, in Johannesburg, South Africa, it featured 53 artists of whom were all South African. This month The Lion King will play its 8,000th Broadway performance.
Comparing our musical to the original Lion King, we have a total of 53 kids involved, which is the exact same number as the original cast. Some of the leads include Jason Roser (20’) as Simba, Katie Debolt (20’) as Nala, Devonte Adams (19’) as Mufasa, Chris Curran (20’) as Scar, Wyatt Thomspon (19') as Timone and Aidan Cupp (20') as Pumba.
Debolt/Nala (20’) talks about how she prepared to audition for this role: “I did a lot of practicing in front of my mirror for my audition.” She continued to talk about how she was feeling in regards to the musical. She states “I am really excited for the music, there's a lot of stuff in different African languages. I am also excited to see how we do costumes since there are no human characters.”
Picking this musical was not hard for the music teacher and musical director Mrs. Jody Hepp. She states that “We originally thought this musical was going to be for the middle school, but we quickly figured out that it was too hard of music. All of it is in different languages, and the songs are hard to learn.”
Hepp is excited to see the different kind of costumes come to life when The Lion King comes to Northridge High School in March. Hepp hopes that turnout will be impressive, since people know the story and may bring their families to watch this show.
Middle School knocked HS Musical out of the park
The audience was singing along and dancing in their seats while the middle school students were rocking it out on stage. High School Musical was a very popular movie for all of the students when they were younger so seeing it come to life was a great feeling. Senior Rachel Allen (19’) stated: “ I thought that it was very cute and I loved that there were so many kids involved.” The many middle school students spent hours after school and months preparing to show this musical off to their friends and family. Musical Director Jody Hepp states “We had a great turn out each night. It was great to see all those people come out for these 71 kids.”
-Mackenzie Holder is the Print Editor-in-Chief of The Viking Vault [email protected]
Disney’s The Lion King coming this spring
By: Mackenzie Holder
No sooner had the middle school musical cleaned up the pom poms from their High School Musical production this fall than posters began popping up around the school for the actual Northridge High School spring show: The Lion King. In no time at all, the hallways were filled with the “AH ZABENYA” tune.
The show will be staged March 8-10 in the auditorium, but work has already begun.
Before official auditions, there were workshops that students could go to where they would learn all of the material needed to audition. The directors had a total of about 53 kids come to try out and they are excited to start practicing and getting this musical started.
With December came the start of practices, where cast members have begun working on learning the lyrics to the songs. Audrey Holt (19’) states, “This is my first musical and I am really excited about how it will turn out. I have seen the Broadway show, and it is similar to that. I think it will look pretty cool once we have costumes and props.”
The Lion King on Broadway has been to every continent except for Antarctica, so it is amazing to see our school pursuing such a musical. When it was first performed on November 13, 1997, in Johannesburg, South Africa, it featured 53 artists of whom were all South African. This month The Lion King will play its 8,000th Broadway performance.
Comparing our musical to the original Lion King, we have a total of 53 kids involved, which is the exact same number as the original cast. Some of the leads include Jason Roser (20’) as Simba, Katie Debolt (20’) as Nala, Devonte Adams (19’) as Mufasa, Chris Curran (20’) as Scar, Wyatt Thomspon (19') as Timone and Aidan Cupp (20') as Pumba.
Debolt/Nala (20’) talks about how she prepared to audition for this role: “I did a lot of practicing in front of my mirror for my audition.” She continued to talk about how she was feeling in regards to the musical. She states “I am really excited for the music, there's a lot of stuff in different African languages. I am also excited to see how we do costumes since there are no human characters.”
Picking this musical was not hard for the music teacher and musical director Mrs. Jody Hepp. She states that “We originally thought this musical was going to be for the middle school, but we quickly figured out that it was too hard of music. All of it is in different languages, and the songs are hard to learn.”
Hepp is excited to see the different kind of costumes come to life when The Lion King comes to Northridge High School in March. Hepp hopes that turnout will be impressive, since people know the story and may bring their families to watch this show.
Middle School knocked HS Musical out of the park
The audience was singing along and dancing in their seats while the middle school students were rocking it out on stage. High School Musical was a very popular movie for all of the students when they were younger so seeing it come to life was a great feeling. Senior Rachel Allen (19’) stated: “ I thought that it was very cute and I loved that there were so many kids involved.” The many middle school students spent hours after school and months preparing to show this musical off to their friends and family. Musical Director Jody Hepp states “We had a great turn out each night. It was great to see all those people come out for these 71 kids.”
-Mackenzie Holder is the Print Editor-in-Chief of The Viking Vault [email protected]
Makerspace at the Ridge
By: Olivia Humes
NORTHRIDGE - This year a brand new aspect for students at the Ridge was added in the Media Center: a Makerspace. When asked to describe a Makerspace, supervisor Mrs. Kelly responded with a quote from Diana Rendina: “A makerspace is a place where students can gather to create, invent, tinker, explore, and discover using a variety of tools and materials.”
There are many benefits for students who participate and become interns, with current interns being Sydney O’Hara (‘19) and Nathan Hewett (‘20).
Kelly explains, “It has the tools and space for students to create products that help them learn and understand their curriculum. These products can be created collaboratively by a group of students or individually. The possibilities are as endless as the mind’s ability to create.”
Mrs. Kelly and Mr. Kruse help the students make use of the tools, give advice, and to help supervise and create activities for the students involved in this internship. They also help acquire the materials that students will need in order to complete their projects.
O’Hara has worked with Photoshop, laser printing, poster printing, and and 3D printing so far during her internship. When asked what her favorite aspect of this environment is, O’Hara explains, “I get an early start on working with technology I hope to use in my future. I am hoping to have a photography career and so with this internship and with photoshop, I’m learning to manipulate and edit photos."
The products that students make can be personalized to fit their classes. For example, Kelly explains, “A social studies class can create documentaries using a green screen, recording equipment, and video editing software. A math class could design tiny houses using geometric shapes and then build a replica using the 3D printer or laser cutter. English students could write a novella or a short story and turn it into a printed book using design software to create the cover.”
Mrs. Kelly also states that her favorite part of Makerspace is, “The opportunity to expand a student’s imagination and creativity and new and productive ways that may impact their future in numerous ways.”
Sydney O’Hara (‘19) comments, “I think it’s a really cool opportunity to work with some of the technology that I’m planning to use in the future and in my future career. I don’t also just use Makerspace for my future. I help make things for students and teachers."
- Olivia Humes is Web-Editor in Chief of the Viking Vault.
By: Olivia Humes
NORTHRIDGE - This year a brand new aspect for students at the Ridge was added in the Media Center: a Makerspace. When asked to describe a Makerspace, supervisor Mrs. Kelly responded with a quote from Diana Rendina: “A makerspace is a place where students can gather to create, invent, tinker, explore, and discover using a variety of tools and materials.”
There are many benefits for students who participate and become interns, with current interns being Sydney O’Hara (‘19) and Nathan Hewett (‘20).
Kelly explains, “It has the tools and space for students to create products that help them learn and understand their curriculum. These products can be created collaboratively by a group of students or individually. The possibilities are as endless as the mind’s ability to create.”
Mrs. Kelly and Mr. Kruse help the students make use of the tools, give advice, and to help supervise and create activities for the students involved in this internship. They also help acquire the materials that students will need in order to complete their projects.
O’Hara has worked with Photoshop, laser printing, poster printing, and and 3D printing so far during her internship. When asked what her favorite aspect of this environment is, O’Hara explains, “I get an early start on working with technology I hope to use in my future. I am hoping to have a photography career and so with this internship and with photoshop, I’m learning to manipulate and edit photos."
The products that students make can be personalized to fit their classes. For example, Kelly explains, “A social studies class can create documentaries using a green screen, recording equipment, and video editing software. A math class could design tiny houses using geometric shapes and then build a replica using the 3D printer or laser cutter. English students could write a novella or a short story and turn it into a printed book using design software to create the cover.”
Mrs. Kelly also states that her favorite part of Makerspace is, “The opportunity to expand a student’s imagination and creativity and new and productive ways that may impact their future in numerous ways.”
Sydney O’Hara (‘19) comments, “I think it’s a really cool opportunity to work with some of the technology that I’m planning to use in the future and in my future career. I don’t also just use Makerspace for my future. I help make things for students and teachers."
- Olivia Humes is Web-Editor in Chief of the Viking Vault.