P.O.W.E.R.

By M. Holden

Power also known as Peoples Organization for Women’s Equal Rights is a club at Hopkinton High School that has a very influential message. Power is dedicated to promoting and expressing women’s equal rights. Maddie Cairns, a senior at HHS, is the group creator and has many things to bring to the table. “ I have a lot of ideas for Power and I can’t wait to share them with the community” Cairns says.

Ms. Walton, One of HHS’s English Teachers is the clubs adviser. Power meets every Tuesday morning in room 206.

“ I believe what power has to offer should be presented in every high school across the country” says senior Claire Nee. “ Our rights as women are still not equal and we need to strive for equality.”

If you would like to join power contact either Maddie Cairns or Ms. Walton.

Schoolhouse Cafe

By: DSeabury
Since August everyone has been talking about the new Schoolhouse Cafe in Warner. Rumors of its amazing food, good prices, and sweet waitresses, have been going around our small town.

Open 6am to 2pm Tuesday-Sunday customers can sit down in their cozy cafe and enjoy many meals cooked by Kathy. Caleen who customers see regularly waits on customers. Caleen co-owns with her sister Kathy.

Take out is from 2pm to 6pm Tuesday-Friday. The food is amazing, service is great, and the atmosphere is warm and inviting. For those with children who can't cook meals every night, take out from the cafe is the way to go.

The Schoolhouse Cafe was once a single room schoolhouse. Later it became a family home for several years. In resent history it was a car dealership, until Tobby bought it and leased it to Kathy and Caleen.

Both Kathy and Caleen put many hours into fixing up the place to make it ready for the public. They wanted to keep the old feel of the building and its atmosphere for those who are older and once went to, or know someone who has been in the Schoolhouse before. The smells hit you as soon as you walk in the door. Everything that has been ordered has been liked by the customers.

Both Kathy and Caleen stated that "We wanted to start this business because we love it. We love the people and the Schoolhouse was the perfect place to fulfill our dreams of opening a restaurant." Many of their friends helped to build the restaurant.

The Schoolhouse has also made another menu for those who want food for the holidays. They are also having a pet-drive to support animal shelters or people who need extra help with their pets.

Batman Sets Flight in New W.B. Video Game.

By Zach C.

Batman Arkham City is a third person video game. This is more open to the players because they are seeing everything in the city and the gamer is trying to thwart the Jokers and a scientist Hugo Strange. The game debuted on October 18^th 2011. It has gotten 10 out of 10 star review. There are a lot of plots and subplots in this game.

Batman Arkham City video game is rated T for teens. This game isn’t violent at all it just has a lot of fighting and it has a little bit of swearing. The Warner Bros. partnered with several retailers and companies globally and the companies were Best Buy, Amazon.com, GameStop, Game, Gamestation, Tesco, and Asda.

When I had rented it at Blockbuster the guy that worked the front desk said he already beat the game I had asked how was it and he said it was easy and difficult at the same time. image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/popculturegeek/5822689440/

Rally to "turn the hatred into love"

by Rachel Sawyer

Concord residents gathered at the State House on Wednesday September 28th at noon for the Love Your Neighbors rally. A group of around 250 people united in response to recent hate crimes against refugees living in Concord. The graffiti scrawled on African refugees' homes classified these people as "subhuman," "mud people," and ventured to say that refugees are "destroying our towns."

These hateful words incited protest from many Concord residents. Lyn Betz, who helped organize the event, was pleased by the vast diversity of people who attended. "I was also moved by how it brought people together who would normally be arguing about the finer points of what it means to love your neighbor," Betz said. Indeed, the rally brought together people from many different countries and religions. Suraj Budathoki, a refugee from Bhutan, said he looks forward "to living in a society where love and compassion and equality shall be the guiding forces." Betz believes that the presence of many high schoolers and young adults indicates that this "vision of a country where racism and xenophobia become rare aberrations" may soon be achievable.

The rally's purpose was to draw attention to hate crimes and show support for Concord's refugees. "We are not here to hate the hatred," Budathoki said, "but to turn the hatred into love and understanding." The speakers focused on helping our neighbors rather than fighting the hatred. Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson spoke, "Tolerance is good, but we are setting our sights too low. Tolerance beats intolerance by a mile, but it's just not enough. We should give our new neighbors a joyful welcome. They deserve it, and we will all be better for it." Many groups, such as Lutheran Social Services, Second Start, Concord Multicultural Coalition, the Sycamore Garden Project, Concord High's Be The Change, and New American Africans, have acknowledged the needs of refugees in Concord and have eased their transitions into a comfortable life here.

The Love Your Neighbor rallies were a positive experience for Concord residents, and many look forward to the next steps in welcoming and understanding our neighbors. "I am not sure I've lived a better moment than standing hand in hand with one of the victims, singing 'We Shall Overcome,'" says Betz.

Bet-head

By PEngland

On September 25, senior Matt Angell lost a bet that the New England Patriots would go undefeated when the Pats lost to the Buffalo Bills 34-31. As payment for the bet, Matt was forced to shave his head. Had Matt’s favorite team finished the year undefeated, Matt stood to win $20 or so. “I was very upset” Angell said. If the Patriots had won, Matt said he would have been “pumped.” When asked for a picture he responded, “Yes, but my head is not shaved much anymore.”

The loss is still the only blemish on the Patriots record. Their next matchup is with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Hopkinton High School Student Wins the Hope Starts Here Scholarship

By Oliver Josephson

Ever heard of the saying “education makes us rise above?” Yes, it does, for those who work hard. The Hope Starts Here Scholarhip is used to help students rise above through education. It is used to award students currently living in New Hampshire who have experienced homelessness during their school career. Students receive this scholarship based on their desire to continue their education beyond high school and have demonstrated academic achievement. In other words, they must have the desire to attend college and receive strong grades that are above average throughout their schooling.

Breanna Ostrander, a senior at Hopkinton High School, won the Hope Starts Here Scholarship this year. Breanna was homeless from November 2010 until January 2011. For a couple of months of that she was couch surfing, sleeping on the couch in the homes of her friend’s homes. She found out about this scholarship one morning during school from one of our school guidance counselors, Mrs. Lajoie. Once Breanna heard about this scholarship, she said, “I knew this would be the perfect scholarship for me.” So, in order to apply, she had to write an essay and ask a teacher for a recommendation, in this case, she asked Ms. Walton, an English teacher at Hopkinton High School. Once the essay and recommendation were complete, she anxiously waited. Ms. Walton has known Breanna since 9^th grade. She even had Breanna live with her for the couple of months she was homeless. “She could not live at home, the state had nothing, no foster homes. She had to have a place to live.”

As a result, Breanna’s hard work and determination paid off. About a week after she sent in her essay and recommendation, a man by the name of Kyle Beallieu from Families In Transition, gave her a phone call to tell her she won the scholarship, which was for $2,175.

Once she won the scholarship, she was invited to recite her essay on the morning of October 24^th, 2011 at the New Hampshire Homeless Providers and Education Liaisons Partnership Conference and was given her certificate from New Hampshire Governor John Lynch. At the convention, there were approximately 500 people. Breanna was the only student in the state who won the scholarship. Breanna said, “A room full of people all listening to me was kind of scary!” Staff from Hopkinton High School, our guidance counselor Mrs. Lajoie, one of social studies teachers Mrs. Sintros, and Ms. Walton, the English teacher who wrote Breanna’s recommendation and had Breanna live with her, got to attend the convention. Ms. Walton was extremely proud of Breanna’s achievement. She said, “I love the title for this scholarship because when I see Breanna I see hope and that there is good in this world being recognized. Breanna is committed and uses her brain to rise above, which this scholarship is all about.”

Now that Breanna has won the scholarship, she plans to use the money to go to college at Montana State University. She has already been partially accepted and plans to study Farm and Ranch Management. “All I need to do is send in my SAT scores and I am one-hundred percent going there.” If you are a student who has experienced homelessness and wants to achieve a higher education, you can apply for the scholarship at, [DOC] NH Coalition to End Homelessness

www.education.nh.gov/.../hopestartshere_application_form_2011.do.

Westborough Baptist Church

By Adam

Since March second, the Westborough Baptist Church has been attending military funerals chanting phrases such as, “Thank God for dead soldiers” and “Thank God for IEDs.” One of the representatives from the church stated that, “God is punishing us for being to accepting of homosexuals in our country, by killing off our soldiers.”

A group of motorcyclists came to one of the church's protests and revved up their engines so that the people at the funeral wouldn’t have to hear what the protestors were saying. These actions have left many people angered. A teacher at Hopkinton high school says that it is very inappropriate and that they look foolish. Just think about how the families of the deceased veterans feel about these protests. Many people feel that these people are so strong in how they feel, that they will never stop doing things like this.

Market Basket's new chips

By N. Glanville

Two months ago Market Basket released their own new line of potato chips. These potato chips are supposed to have a better flavor and are cheaper than the other leading brands such as Lays, Wise and Cape Cod potato chips. Customers say these new chips have lass salt content. The Glanville family says, “we love these chips! they definitely taste better than Cape Cod or Wise chips. Now we can purchase more of a variety of the new chips, because they are much cheaper than the leading brands and they taste great too”.

Employees are now buying these potato chips off the shelf for a snack during their breaks. They seem to be pleased with the quality of all of the new Market Basket potato chips. This is what most of the employees thought, “the chip itself is very affordable and these chips taste better than the other big brand named chips because these chips don’t taste as salty or greasy.

This is what the consumer is looking for today, a brand that makes affordable chips that have a strong potato flavor without having a greater salt content.

How long will the fans wait?

As the winter months start to approach, the NFL winds down. Then, sports fans start looking at the sport that keeps them busy for the winter months: basketball. It is almost hard to imagine a full winter without any sports to watch. That’s what it might come to if the NBA and the NBA Players Association don’t reach a collective bargaining agreement. NBA commissioner David Stern is already forced to cancel the first two weeks of games because the two sides have failed to reach a deal.

The NBA has now entered day 111 of its lockout after 16 hours of negotiating on Tuesday. They stilled failed to reach a deal. So what’s next for the NBA?

The players have taken the “Hope for the best prepare for the worst attitude.” NBA Star have already set up six exhibition games around the world to try to keep fans interested in the sport. High School basketball player Riley McNicholas says, "The lockout is a joke, and he is already starting to loose interest." NBA stars are playing in charity games around the country all for the fans and trying to keep their interest up while the union and the NBA battle it out. Fans cannot help but think that both sides would want to get a deal done sooner than later, after all the NBA is coming off its highest rating season in history.

Mr. Bickford Works His Mathematical Magic in Calculus Class

By Ziggy Chesley

On September 27th, Mr. Bickford took his Calculus AB class to the skate park, in order to teach his class about tangent lines in a much more unconventional manner. The group of twenty-five sophomores, juniors, and seniors braved the cold, morning air and walked out to the skate park, not sure what to expect.

The lesson started with Mr. Bickford gathering the group around a small ramp. Then, he made each student walk up the small ramp backwards, telling them to “stop moving if your feet start to slip.”

After each student was able to scale the ramp with ease, Mr. Bickford went to a much steeper, curved ramp, asking the students to do the same time. Not one of the students could even make it up a few feet before their feet started to slip out from under them. “It was a lot of fun,” said Susanna Keilig. “It nice to get up and do something active, not the normal sitting and looking at the blackboard stuff.”

The challenge quickly turned into a game, and all the students were having a good time. It wasn't until after the class headed back inside that they realized that they just learned about tangent lines, an abstract idea in calculus that, according to Mr. Bickford “ is really hard for some students to understand.” And, it seemed to have worked! “It helped a ton,” said Lauren Reidy, a senior in the class. “It made something that was a really abstract easier to understand because we had a visual to look at.”

So, with a little effort, Mr. Bickford was able to do the impossible, to not only make math easier to understand, but fun!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, The Fall Drama Production is in Progress!

By Jess Mellen
Photo credit; Lawrence Bickford

“What happens when princesses stop being kind, and start being real?” That is one of the many questions asked in the dialogue of The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon, this year’s fall theater production at the Hopkinton Middle High School. The play touches upon many well-known fairy tales, as well as not so widely known stories. Simple, right? The catch, however, is that all of the stories, 209 of them, in fact, are being combined into a single large ‘super story’. "It's a satire of both the Grimm fairy tales and many aspects of today's society." Ned Yonkers, one of the actors said. "It's hosted by two quirky narrators and performed by a cast of goofy actors."

Not too much will be given away about the production’s plot here, but the story itself is narrated by two very different narrators, played by Maddie Cairns and Yonkers, both seniors this school year. Maddie plays a rather serious narrator who wants to stick to the stories, while Ned is her energetic counterpart who wants everything to be ‘extreme’. They by far have the biggest parts of the play, often in charge of vocal cues that let the other characters know when to come on stage. What's it like playing such a big part? "It seems overwhelming at first, but with practice it gets less stressful." Yonkers explained. Both narrators were requested for interviews, but only Yonkers was available.

The production doesn’t open for its two-night run until November 18^th, but rehearsals are already in full swing. Between twenty and thirty high school students from all four grades practice various roles and scenes nearly every weeknight, whether it be practicing scenes for the first time, reviewing dialogue, or working to improve trouble spots in their acting. The actors also assist parent volunteers and their director, Ms. Amy Beth Gelineau, with set construction and costume assembly.

When the show finally opens, it is sure to be a fun experience for everyone. But be warned, this isn’t a cute Disney movie, so audience members should be aware that there are lines of adult humor throughout the play. If you would like to see the show, it’s on November 18^th and 19^th at 7:00pm in the Hopkinton High School Auditorium. Admission prices are $7 if tickets are bought in advance or $8 at the door. Seniors and children under twelve have a discount of $4 if bought in advance or $5 at the door. Tickets are not yet on sale, but will be sometime in the coming weeks. The show is expected to be at least two hours long, but could be longer.

The final question remaining is, do the actors think they’ll be ready in time? "Only time will tell." Yonkers concluded.

Bruins Raise Cup Banner to Rafters

by Curtis Fraser

The Boston Bruins opened their 88^th NHL season last Thursday, October 6 at Boston’s TD Garden by raising the franchise’s sixth Stanley Cup Championship banner. For the oldest American-based NHL franchise, the raising of a Stanley Cup banner for the first time in 39 years was a spectacle for Bruins fans young and old.

The TD Garden was buzzing from the time the doors opened, up until Captain Zdeno Chara stepped on the ice with the Cup. The Cup was passed among the members of the 2010-11 team, including now-retired winger, Mark Recchi. It was the first time the Stanley Cup had ever been on the ice at TD Garden, since it was won last June in Vancouver. A number of onlookers considered this display a bit over the top. Boston fan and high school student Adam Benincasa believed the Bruins had to “turn the page very [quickly],” and that “having the [Stanley] Cup on display near the Bruins’ bench would have been more appropriate.”

Speeches followed by Bruins owner Charlie Jacobs, Bruins president and former legend Cam Neely, Chara, and defenseman Andrew Ference.

Members of the 1972 Stanley Cup Champion Bruins team, the last to win the Stanley Cup before last season’s team, were on hand to pass over their reign as Bruins legends to the 2011 team. The 1972 team members handed the banner over to members of the Bruins management team and the defending Cup holders, who then raised it to the rafters of the TD Garden.

Overshadowed by the festivities was the game against Philadelphia that followed. The Bruins had swept the Flyers out of the playoffs in the second round on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. The Bruins jumped out to an early lead on a goal halfway through the first from playoff hero Brad Marchand, but couldn’t muster any more offense, eventually losing the game 2-1. After the first period, the Bruins seemed distracted by the ceremonies, as casual Bruins fan Nathan Sweny could tell that the ceremonies “may have negatively affected their play.”

The struggles have continued for the Bruins, as the Stanley Cup hangover that seems to annually plague the defending champions has struck the Bruins early on. The Bruins are 3-5 on the young season but have played very well in their past few games. With a crucial home and home series with struggling rival Montreal opening on Thursday, October 27, the Bruins and their fans are eager to see the team turn the bad start around.

X2 Mania

By J. Jones

It has been available to teachers for roughly five years, but in February of the 2010-2011 school year it was opened up to the public. This year, it has caught on fire and spread throughout the entire Hopkinton High School. It can be used for checking up on how the student is doing with classwork, homework, attendance and overall grades. It has been an extremely useful tool in keeping up to date. But what is it? It’s known as X2.

The name may sound intimidating and something from a futuristic, hi-tech, dorky science fiction movie, but really all it takes is a computer, the internet and this website: https://nh-hopkinton.myfollett.com/aspen/home.do. Every student who attends Hopkinton Middle/High School is issued a username and password to be entered into the homepage. And upon logging in there are a variety of options for any student/parent to explore.

Unlike many other educational learning tools, students tend to love having this site around. Even more astonishing—they use it. When asking passing students in the hallway, all admitted to either using X2 everyday or every once in a while, but no one said that s/he never used the site.

Teacher and parent, Mrs. Reinacher, loves the idea of having X2. “I think it’s really helpful,” she says, “It is so nice for students to look at assignments and realize how not doing homework can affect your grade”. When asked if she could see anything to improve about the site she replied with, “[For parents] it is hard to get used to at first." She explains how upon first usage it could confuse parents and people have to play with it for a little while before completely figuring it out and using it well. Another potential issue mentioned would be if teachers do not keep up with the website. Student, Matt Baronas, agrees with this concern: “Some teachers put the homework on the [separate] homework page; some put it on X2."

But maybe all those confused parents just need to go to their children for computer advise, because for seventh grader, Anthony Bonollo says X2 is “easy to use.” Other middle-schoolers commented with, “I like it” and “It’s really helpful.” According to Liam Flanagan, grade seven, there could be some helpful changes to the site: “I think when it tells you what assignments you have, it should be bigger, more descriptive. On the right side it should show overall grades.” And maybe in the near future it will. But until then, X2 remains as is and readily available to students, parents and teachers to benefit from.

Dance your pants off

By Jessica Marston

In early October the homecoming dance of 2011 took place at the Hopkinton High school gymnasium. Tons of students attended the event on that Saturday night at 7:30 PM. Outside the gymnasium there were sodas being sold for everyone to buy, while people drank them they sat and talked in the mini cafeteria.

Emily Mister and Jack Hasting were voted Homecoming King and Queen of 2011. They ran against three other “couples.” The contest took place a few days before the actual dance and the winners were announced at the Homecoming assembly.

The music that was played was mostly new pop and got everyone in the mood for dancing. To make the dance more exciting there were glow sticks and everyone enjoyed waving them around in the air.

The Varsity Field hockey team came to the dance dressed as cowgirls to show off their team spirit. Amy Bammarito, a junior of the team declared, “It was so much fun; we all stayed together for the entire time and got everyone included in dancing. We also started some line dancing.” The Varsity Field hockey team enjoyed dancing and celebrating their great season so far. Some of the other sports teams came in different outfits for team spirit as well.

Finally at 10:30 PM the dance wrapped up, and everyone went home exhausted from the full night of dancing and not hearing as well because of the loud music.

Hopkinton’s Halloween Hotspots!

By Troy Campbell

It's already that time of year! The children will be dressing up and loading up on candy soon enough. It's never too early to start thinking about Halloween. Whether you’re a big brother, big sister, or just somebody who loves trick or treating, these are some tips for your 2011 Halloween.

According to 12-year-old Emily Campbell from Hopkinton Middle High School, the most popular spot to hit onHalloween night is Hopkins Green. “Kingsize candy bars are the best, my favorite is Snickers” says Emily. Supposedly Hopkins Green houses give out allsorts of king size candy bars.

If you’re looking for some exercise before you chow down on all that candy, Amesbury Park isn’t too far behind Hopkins Green according to the kids of Hopkinton. Amesbury has many houses all throughout the park, but this is the place to go if you want bags of candy.

Last but most definitely not least is Pinewood Drive. This area is packed with houses more then willing to load you up on candy. They aren’t to shy while giving out candy. So if you have that spectacular urge for candy, this is the spot for you.

Criminal Justice Gets A New Techer

By Kendra A

Concord Regional Technical Center, also known as CRTC, has had a lot of things happening within the past year. The state of NH went through a huge budget cut and the budget they were cutting was that of CRTC for funding for students. Last year the CRTC center told the students that the programs that were getting cut for juniors were Criminal Justice and Information Technology.

Senior students came back expecting to be in class without juniors. However this was not the case and there were juniors in class and the class make-up was different from last year. One of the teachers decided to find a different job. Mrs. Mydrek was the Criminal Justice teacher, She left and was replaced by a man by the name of Jack Ryan. Jack Ryan has had a very colorful career, He was a perfect Criminal Justice teacher. In the beginning of this year he had a cardiac arrest and was told he could not work anymore.

The criminal justice class got a man named Mr. Jim Daley, who is the court liaison of Concord High School. He has been there since the beginning of the school year. The CRTC office started looking for replacements for Jack Ryan’s job. The students volunteered on a hiring committee and got to interview all the candidates for the job. They finally decided on one of the candidates to go in front of the school board.

They hired that candidate his name is Scott Lane; he was the Chief in Pembroke. Now he wants to become a teacher for Criminal Justice to young adults learning the ways in the Criminal Justice system. Sitting down with the teacher right now Mr. Daley told this reporter “I think Scott will be a good fit for the job and give the students a good amount of experience, because he is not just focused on helping the kids that want a police officer job. He can reach out to the students that want different things.” Scott seems like a very good teacher for the job he should excel at this job.

Sprinkled With Joy

By Brian Morgan

    As of September 22nd, Concord has been the home to a brand new cupcakery. There is a lot of buzz about this relatively new business, located at 28 South Main Street. This little cupcakery, called New England Cupcakery is run by Dorothy Hall and her co-owner Steve Masters, with the help of his daughter Sarah. The outside of the building has a rustic look while the inside has the bright, welcoming look of a British tea house. They decided to open up a cupcakery because they felt as though a cupcake place would be a great addition to Concord and they like to bake.

     Four years ago, Dorothy moved to Concord and instantly fell in love with "the friendly people and the old, historic buildings." They open at 11:30 AM and close at 5:00 PM, but will open earlier if there are a group of people waiting to come in and they have cupcakes ready. Also, they will close earlier than five if they run out of cupcakes. Business has been better than they expected. As of October 1st they had sold over 1000 cupcakes. 

    When asked about how they came up with their flavors and how many flavors they had they replied, "We just sat down and came up with a list of flavors we liked and we have about 150 flavors on the drawing board." The most popular flavors are chocolate with chocolate frosting, chocolate with vanilla frosting, and vanilla with chocolate frosting. Maple, peanut butter, and mint cupcakes are also very popular. Masters,his daughter, and Hall are jubilant and sociable. Most people purchase dozen or half dozen orders to go. There is the occasional person that just gets one or two cupcakes and relaxes at  the wonderfully decorated tables, while looking out on Main Street. N. E. Cupcakery also has juice boxes and coffee to enjoy with the cupcakes. Currently the building has no music or wi-fi, but they will obtain these soon.

     Hopefully, this will become the new highlight of Concord for many years to come. Everyone should take a moment or two to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of New England Cupcakery.

Walking for the Cure

By Daniel Fletcher

On the morning of October 2, 2011 people from all over New Hampshire came together in Manchester to walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). The walk began at Fischer Cats Stadium and continued over the bridge, down Elm Street, and back to the stadium. The walk was about 3 miles total.

As people arrived they turned in their donations. Anyone who turned in over $100 received a JDRF T-shirt. After passing in your donations participants could socialize, enjoy free snacks, or purchase raffle tickets for later in the day. At 10:00 the walk began and a large pack of people strolled down the main streets of Manchester. The streets were crowded with avid supporters.

As the people finished the walk and everyone began gathering at the stadium, the raffles and contests began! There were small contests such as “Who brought the largest team?” The team with the most people all got a small prize. One volunteer of 12 years, Taylor Pearson, a 17 year old senior at Hopkinton High School, now hosts his own team and has donated roughly $1500 every year since 1999. He is very passionate about what he does and will not quit until a cure is discovered. “I think we have made much progress and if we continue to show our support and make donations a cure should arise in the future,” said Taylor Pearson.

Walks like the one in Manchester happen all over the country. Thousands of people are making donations. With thousands of volunteers with as much enthusiasm and persistence as Taylor we can expect a cure to be found in the near future.