Spring 2011 Page 1

Spring 2011 Issue

The Falcon Chronicle

Marching band shows Mr. President

their swagger By Jessica Torres

On May 28th, Bow High

School's marching band and color

guard will head down to the District

of Columbia to represent the state of

New Hampshire in the Memorial

Day Parade.

Michelle Jacques says she is

"excited for the opportunity for

students to experience being part of

a nationally- televised event."

Jacques and the students

will be in D.C. for three days.

Before they perform, the band will

visit the Mall, tour a few memorials,

including Arlington National

Cemetary, and explore the capitol’s

famous museums. The band is also

excited to see the National

Symphony Orchestra perform, said

drum majors Rachel Gottlieb and

Willie McKernon

The songs the band and

color guard will be entertaining with

are: "America on Parade" and

"Patriotic Parade Sequence."

Sophomore Julia Gunnison

said she is "excited to be with all of

[her] friends and play [her]

instrument in the streets of D.C."

The band has collected

money for the trip from their annual

citrus sales. They also hosted a

Swing Into Spring Jazz concert on

March 17th to help raise funds for

their trip.

Sophomore Audrey Zecha

summarizes her enthusiasm for the

trip with "it's going to be a party!”

“Everyone is really, really,

really excited,” added McKernon.

“People have been bouncing off the

walls about this since last year when

we found out about it.”

“It’s super excit ing!”

Gottlieb said. “It’s gonna be

awesome!”

As of the homecoming

dance this fall, there has been some

controversy regarding the dancing

going on at school dances.

Sophomore Class Officer

Rebecca Lefebvre summed up the

school dance situation. Lefebvre said

that, “if the dances aren’t cleaned up

then there won’t be any more

chaperones, meaning no more

dances.”

Students were separated by

grade and gender, and spoken to by

their class officers on February 1st at

break.

“I think the talk with the

grade helped students realize that the

dances can still be fun even if the

dancing is more appropriate,”

Lefebvre said. “Sure, some students

might not come because of it, but I

think the students know that the

dances can be fun without dancing

inappropriately and once talking

about it with the whole grade; they

realize that something needs to

c h a n g e . ”

“It didn’t suddenly start this

way…there was a lot of outcry from

teachers and several different

parents from different families

contacted the school,” Mr. House-

Myers said, regarding the cause of

t h e i s s u e .

After the grade wide talks in

February there hasn’t been a school

dance, however a few have been

scheduled, but later were cancelled

due to inclement weather. Signs

have been posted in classrooms

about dance guidelines, and include

rules such as “Respect Yourself” and

“Respect Your Dance Partner.”

“It didn’t get this way

overnight, and we’re not going to

change it overnight,” House-Myers

said. “I think we can figure this

out.”

Ms. Longnecker and Mr. House-Myers disco it up at the pep rally.

A few weeks into June,

everybody seems to end up in

Guidance wanting to discuss their

next year’s schedule. Getting antsy

about the year to come, everyone

wants to work out the glitches to

have their ideal schedule to start off

the new school year right. So how

are the classes selected to satisfy

each individuals needs? In our

technology evolving world, it’s no

surprise that the computer picks. But

don’t think twice that this process is

a simple task.

After the sheets are handed

into Martha Rae in the Guidance

room she takes each individual

sheet, totaling about 600, and one by

one puts them into the computer—a

tedious task. The computer and class

selection committee then starts with

the raw classes required for each

grade; Humanities, IST, American

Studies, World Studies and BEST, to

name a few.

Before putting students into

their desired classes, the committee

decides how many sections of the

class will be available based on the

number of students that signed up,

and which teachers would be

available, given that each is allowed

a maximum of five classes. The

computer can then pick each

student’s electives. Seniority does

have effect on what classes each

grade level has the chance to partake

in, but everyone usually gets what

they want.

After the computer has built

each student schedules, the

committee and the guidance

department then work backwards to

balance and clear it up so they have

limited problems when they are sent

out.

Bow High School offers a

very unique class selection list that

can interest almost anybody. Some

of the most popular classes

throughout the years have been the

engineering classes which on

average get about 65 to 70 kids, all

of the AP classes offered, the

multiple writing classes, the cooking

classes taught by Ben Forbes and

Tracy Berube, and the psychology

classes.

Dean of Students Colleen

Desruisseaux said the most

fascinating class offered at Bow

High School was a semester long

dance class.

“One of the teachers at the

school was a dance instructor and

taught the class for about 5 or 6

years. It was quite a hit to go on for

so long!” Desruisseaux said.

This year there are about 9

new additions on the class selection

sheet, and most of them are

Humanities based, like Shakespeare

and Popular Fiction.

So how do new classes get

added on every year? The classes

offered at Bow High are truly in the

hands of the students. If a student is

interested in a particular class not

offered already, all they have to do

is approach a teacher and let them

know the idea. The teacher would

then go to the class selection

committee and pass on the idea if

they’re willing to teach it. The class

selection committee would confront

the board, and if they approve, we

have a new class.

“Each class is different; they

each have their own personality so

it’s interesting to see how the topics

of classes change as the years go

on.” Desruisseaux said.

So if you have an idea, go

for it and you might be sitting in that

class next fall!

Students should be getting

the rough draft of next year’s

schedule around the 1st week in

June. Remember, don’t all flock to

Guidance at once and if it comes

down to it…blame it on the

computer.

The truth behind class schedules

By Kylie Iasillo

Fixing the dances By Hannah Kearns

Seniors Matt Espinosa (left) and Ryan Meaney compete in the annual seatbelt

challenege; Michael Malanga, Lee Miller, Chris St. Onge, and Brad Clark went

on to win the competition, and will represent Bow at the 18th Annual NH Safety

Belt Challenge on May 3rd. Picture by Jordan Birtz.

Page 2 Spring 2011

On the Spot: What’s the number

one thing on your

bucket list?

Senior Ali Howard said the number

one thing on her bucket list is to

“make a bucket list!”

Emily Rosato, a Junior says that she

wants to “go to Antartica.”

Sophomore Dylan Huddleston said

that he wants to “go to every MLB

baseball park in America.”

Freshman Leah Forrest said, “I want

to hack a computer.”

Just Listen to Your Heart: Lessons We Can Learn from Teen Flicks By Sophia Paslaski

Ms. Coe said, “I want to write a

book!”

Remember “Vote for

Pedro”? The memorable slogan

promoting Mexican exchange

student Pedro Sanchez for class

president also drove one young man

to perform an original dance that

ultimately won Pedro the election.

One young man with an appetite for

Tater Tots, and no shame.

We can all learn a lesson

from Napoleon Dynamite, the star of

the eponymously named 2004 cult

classic. Napoleon, a socially

awkward Idaho teenager pining for

nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills,

computer-hacking skills, and, above

all else, a female companion, is not

only a kind soul, but also possesses

an admirable confidence in who he

is and what he likes. Sure, ligers

and ninjas may not be mainstream at

Preston High School, but does

Napoleon care? Not in the least.

“Just listen to your heart,” he advises

Pedro before the last election

speech. “That's what I do.”

In fact, some of the best teen

flicks are deeper meanings in

disguise. You may not have realized

how these films served as your

guidebook to life when you were

watching them. So take a look now:

The Breakfast Club (1985); a John

Hughes classic about Saturday-

morning detention and 80's fashion.

-What they did: John Bender,

Claire Standish, Brian Johnson,

Andrew Clark, and Allison Reynolds

landed themselves in Saturday-

morning detention. For some, it's a

first; for others, it's a weekly event.

Despite the clear social divides

between the five, they learn to get

along by jointly degrading their

principal (“Does Barry Manilow

know you raid his wardrobe?”) and

bemoaning their parents’ influences

on their lives.

-What we learned: We learned an

amazing 80's rock song that goes

like this: “We are not alone, you find

when your cover's blown, there'll be

somebody there to break your fall;

we are not alone, 'cause when it cuts

down to the bone, we're really not so

different after all!” Also, we learned

a few choice 80's dance moves to

bust on the tables in the library.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986); the

charming tale of Matthew Broderick

in a leopard-print vest.

-What they did: Ferris Bueller

(Broderick) doesn't like school. In

fact he's fairly certain he'd be better

off without it. So instead of

attending class one fine spring

morning, he shows us how to fake a

sick day with clammy hands—“You

fake a stomach cramp, and when

you're bent over, moaning and

wailing, you lick your palms. It's a

little childish and stupid, but then, so

is high school”—and ditches,

dragging his friends with him.

-What we learned: “Life moves

pretty fast. If you don't stop and look

around once in a while, you could

miss it.” Enough said.

High School Musical (2006);

Disney's Zefron-esque depiction of

the struggle to fit in as a popular

basketball player who sings.

-What they did: Got their heads in

the game...or something, I stopped

caring after the opening credits.

-What we learned: Disney doesn't

know about high school.

Carrie (1976); the horrifying and

heart-wrenching story of what goes

on in Stephen King's mind.

-What they did: Carrie (Sissy

Spacek) is a lonely young girl, the

victim of parent-inhibited social

inadequacy, whose only desire is to

fit in. But her certifiably insane

mother has forbidden Carrie to wear

the bell-bottomed jeans and Farrah

Fawcet locks of the times. Her

mother's overbearing religious

beliefs essentially confine Carrie to a

life spent locked in the closet

praying to the Lord Jesus for

redemption of her sins, despite the

lack of actual sins committed.

What's worse, Carrie's resulting

shyness and blatant abnormality in

school makes her an easy target for

bullies. Which, as it turns out, is

quite unfortunate for the bullies, as

Carrie also possesses the power of

telekinesis.

-What we learned: A couple of

things. 1.) Don't cross paths with a

angry telekinetic girl. 2.) Don't pick

on the innocent. Carrie had enough

trouble at home, and the last thing

she needed was trouble at school,

too. And, as is the way with a good

tale of the supernatural, that trouble

was bound to manifest itself in some

lethal way sooner or later.

Footloose (1984); how rock 'n' roll

and Kevin Bacon saved a

Midwestern town from religious

dictatorship.

-What they did: Ren McCormick

(Bacon), the cutting-edge new kid

from Chicago who likes gymnastics,

introduces a town of religiously

oppressed teenagers to sweet dance

moves and the musical stylings of

Kenny Loggins. After dancing out

his feelings and doing some flips in

an abandoned warehouse that just so

happens to have a gymnastics bar

fastened securely to the wall, Ren

persuades the town's reverend to let

him and his friends put on a senior

prom. Finally, aided by the power

of 80's dance beats and a snappy red

tux (complete with velvet bow tie),

Ren and his classmates rock out to

the film's namesake, “Footloose,”

and save the day.

-What we learned: Oh so much: 1.)

Never lose faith in the power of

rock. 2.) Never lose faith in the

power of dance. 3.) All your

personal problems can be solved

with a cassette tape and an empty

warehouse. 4.) Winning Six

Degrees of Kevin Bacon just became

that much easier.

Wayne's World (1992);

-What they did: Though the film's

main characters, Wayne Campbell

(Mike Myers) and Garth Algar

(Dana Carvey) , are of an

undetermined age, their explicitly

teenage behavior makes this stroke

of comedic genius a teen flick.

Having been discovered on local

cable television by producers in

nearby Chicago, Wayne and Garth

finally have the chance to shift

production of their weekly talk show

“Wayne's World” from Wayne's

basement to a professional studio.

Along the way, they head-bang to

“Bohemian Rhapsody” in Garth's car

(“The Mirthmobile”), “party on,”

and...actually, it’s nearly impossible

to summarize this movie, so forget

this.

-What we learned: 1.) On an

insatiable desire for expensive items

(such as a Squier Stratocaster):

“Stop torturing yourself, man, you'll

never afford it! Live in the now!”

2.) On whether you should give in to

your urge to hurl when asking a girl

out: “I say hurl. If you blow chunks

and she comes back, she's yours.

But if you spew and she bolts, then

it was never meant to be.” 3.) On

American champagne versus “real”

French champagne: “Ah yes, it's a

lot like Star Trek: The Next

Generation. In many ways it's

superior, but will never be as

recognized as the original.” 4.) On

how to get assistance in a music

store: “I know! I'll use the 'May I

Help You' riff!” 5.) On playing

“Stairway to Heaven” to test a

guitar: “No 'Stairway?' Denied!”

6.) On marriage: “Garth, marriage is

punishment for shoplifting in some

countries.” 7.) On deciphering the

language of your dog: “What is it,

girl? Wayne's been kidnapped by

aliens! Oh, I misunderstood.

Wayne's outside. Thanks, girl.” 8.)

On love: “I love you, man.” “And I

love you. Because I've learned that

platonic love can exist between two

grown men.”

“It’d be nice if you could pull me into town.” Aaron Ruell (left) and Jon Heder

in the cult classic Napoleon Dynamite.

Spring 2011 Page 3

Bow High School

The Falcon Chronicle

Staff

Editor-in-Chief

Sophia Paslaski

Hannah Kearns

Kylie Iasillo

Jessica Torres

Advisors

Mrs. Gina Aubin

Students play Just Dance 2 at the Pep Rally held Friday, March 18th, that was

sponsored by Peer Outreach. Students also competed at floor hockey, guitar,

and dodgeball, among other activities.

It has come to my attention

over the past few months that at

Bow High School, we’ve had a

general decline in the student

population’s motivation and

enthusiasm. Students don’t support

other programs as much, it’s

difficult to get kids involved, and the

garbage has gotten out of hand.

These challenges are ongoing and

certainly are not unique to Bow, but

they have become increasingly

apparent and difficult to manage.

Garbage is the easiest to

address. Students often leave milk

bottles under benches, sandwich

bags in the hall, and crumpled paper

on the floor. This is ridiculous

considering that you can walk just

fifteen feet to find a garbage can or

recycling bin. Has this generation

really become so lazy as to leave

trash where ever seems most

convenient and hope someone else

will pick up after them? It comes

down to a matter of motivation and

pride. It’s easy to think that someone

else would pick up a stray piece of

paper, but if you wouldn’t do it, why

should anyone else? Students need

to be responsible and take pride in

the state of their environment.

Considering the fact that each

student spends nearly eight hours

(close to ten for athletes) at school

all day, you'd think they might like

to have a respectable place to be

during the day. If students can’t

manage to respect themselves by

taking care of their own garbage,

how can they be expected to respect

other around them and create a

positive learning environment?

Motivation and enthusiasm

have seemed scarce this year, even

in places where they are usually

abundant. Any attendee at a boys’

basketball game would hope to see

the stands absolutely packed full on

a Friday night. Yes, the stands have

been nicely filled, but it seems that a

spark is missing. The cheering is

often negative, as though the fans

can’t think of anything good to say

about their team, so instead they just

rag on the opponents’ team. The

performing arts department has been

suffering terribly from the lack of

support from students and families

alike. The plays and concerts put on

by the department have been poorly

attended. Many students don’t even

know what works have been

performed by the drama kids and the

music students. The high level of

achievement by the band is also

unknown by the student body. Six

musicians from the band will be

performing with the all-state band,

and yet many students have never

seen these musicians in a concert.

The band has hosted the NHMEA

Large Group Festival for many

years, but fewer and fewer students

are involved in the music program.

The image of the music department

was once shining and glimmering,

and though many of the same

students participate in band, not

many new students have involved

themselves. This resulted not from a

decline in the music department

itself—in fact the band has improved

and performed at much higher levels

this year than in years past—but

from a lack of students wishing to be

well rounded and try new things.

It is high time that students

realize that high school is a place to

get involved and try new activities.

Students must motivate themselves

not only to be responsible, but to

accomplish their goals. It’s simple to

slide through high school passively,

but that is four years of development

and experience wasted. Try a new

sport, pick up an instrument, start a

new hobby. And if you can’t do one

of those, at least support someone

who does. Go see a concert, watch a

ski race, go to a play, help with a

senior project; don’t just try things

for yourself, show others that you

care. Reach out to your friends and

let them know you want to support

them.

To the Editor: Students need enthusiasm

By Anonymous

The Baker Free Library Presents…

Really Awesome Teen Nights

Spring 2011 A Passage to India Friday, May 6th, 7-9 p.m. Bow High senior Pooja Kasireddy will share Indian culture through food, henna painting, sari wrapping, and Bollywood dance moves.

Cooking for College Friday, June 3rd, 6-8 p.m. Bon appetit! Personal food coach, Margaret Angarella, will show us how to cook and eat healthy in a dorm or small apartment setting. Try out appliances and create small meals and snacks that can keep you healthy and energized when away at college. Recipes and food will be provided!

David Robillard plays his way to a win in the guitar competition at the Spring

Pep Rally. Other competitors included Derek Younginger, Connor Morrell, and

Trevor Naughton.

Ms. Longnecker and Mr. House-Myers show their enthusiasm for BHS at the

Pep Rally in the proper way: disco.

Page 4 Spring 2011

Dedication and effort,

according to sophomore Byrie

Forey, are two things the Indoor

Track team certainly did not lack.

With such a small turnout compared

to previous years the team became

very close.

“We had a lot of pasta

parties, team sleepovers, and even a

Valentine’s Day hot tub party! We

were very close and it made the

season even more enjoyable,” Forey

said.

The boys wound up coming

in 7th out of 21 and the girls 16 out

of 21 which is great for a team of

that capacity.

Everyone seemed to put

their best foot forward with Kyle

Moore placing 3rd overall in the

300m dash, Ben Evans coming in

5th overall in the 600m run, Kat

Bemis placed 8th overall in the 55m

dash and 3rd overall in the 300m

dash, Nicole Allison also placing 8th

overall for the long jump and Jono

Vinnenberg placed 3rd overall in the

1500m run in addition to coming in

2nd overall in the 1000m run losing

to the first place winner by .11

seconds.

As for the relay teams, the

boys and girls 4x200m relay both

came in 6th overall while the girls

4x400m relay team placed 6th and

the boys 4x400m relay team placed

7th with an impressive finish by

sophomore Ben Evans who “was

tripped and fell down halfway

through the race but recovered well

and finished the final 250m with a

bleeding knee.”

S o me o f t h e ma j o r

highlights would be Katherine

Bemis getting the school record in

the 55m dash, Jono Vinnenberg, one

of the captains alongside Keelan

Forey, who won “school records for

every single indoor track distance

event and Keelan Forey getting the

school record for the 500m run”

Forey said. Coming from a team that

did not lack dedication, all the

individual and team successes sure

showed in the final results.

Winter Sports Wrap-Up

By Kylie Iasillo, Hannah Kearns, and Jessica Torres

For a team that has made the

playoffs two years in a row, the

varsity girl’s basketball team sure

does have something to be proud of.

“I think our season is going

really well!”said Jill Chergey, a

predominant player throughout the

season. “In the beginning of the

season we didn't really have any true

chemistry as a team. Now that the

season has progressed, we have

really grown together and proved

that we are a team. We have all

stepped up and we all get along

really well.”

Chergey believes the turning

point to their season was the match-

up against Conant where “we really

came together and realized what it is

Bow's Nordic team did a

wonderful job this season with the

help of Coaches Naimie, Doneski,

and Buckley.

This year was the team's

second time sweeping podium, and

the enthusiasm came through with

fierce dedication to the sport.

Sophomore Sophia Gottlieb

said that she liked, "the team and

skiing. We're all really happy and

encouraging. It gives a great

environment."

Sophomore Audrey Zecha

favored "being on a team. Oh, and

the pasta parties."

Bow High's swim team put a

lot of hard work into their laps, and

it certainly showed this season.

Sophomore Katrina Wiesner

broke the school record for the 100

Free, and says that her favorite part

about swim team is, "the people."

The relay team, including

senior Ali Howard and sophomores

Lindsey DeLorie, Katrina Wiesner,

and Annie Kuenning, broke the 200

Freestyle record for the school as

well.

The best part about swim

team for Annie is that "everyone is

j u s t t h e r e t o h a ve f u n . "

Congratulations to the Bow

High School Swim Team for a great

season!

The Girls JV basketball

team ended their season with a

winning record of 11-6.

Freshmen Allie Krause and

Sierra Welch said that the team

dinners really made the season; they

brought the team closer and “served

as a good bonding experience for all

of us.”

Krause enjoyed “making

new friends, which helped us play

more as a team.”

This team spirit came in

handy during the game against

Campbell, after losing to them in the

beginning of the season they came

back with tenacity and it showed

how much they’d improved and

grown as a unit.

The Hockey team finished

strong this season with a record of

10-7-3.

After winning the state title

last year, they had a lot to live up to.

“Everyone really knew that

we had a good chance to make it to

the finals again and the returning

players realized how hard we

worked to get there last year,”

Captain John Fanaras said. “A lot of

the players knew we needed to work

even harder to try and make that

happen.”

Fanaras also commented

that the team had great camaraderie,

and really bonded throughout the

winter.

About the season overall,

Fanaras said, “We had a lot of ups

and downs throughout the winter as

well, but we were able to rebound

and make a great run at another state

championship, we just fell a little

short.”

The wrestling team finished

third overall for division three

wrestling this season.

Senior Jon Lefebvre and

freshman Peter LaRiviere both came

in first at the state meet for their

specific weight class. Cory Berman

and Brandon Sawyer both came in

third for their weight class.

Captain Mitchell Boyd said,

“It was an up and down season at

first, but in the end I think we really

surprised a lot of people, including

ourselves, by placing third.”

The JV boys basketball team

ended the season with an 8-10

record after placing 4th in the

Hopkinton postseason tournament.

“All in all this season was a

sign for improvement and better

things to come in the future,” said

captain Alex Evans, a sophomore.

According to Evans, the

highest point of the season was the

winning streak that the team

maintained for two games, but he

said, “we were able to taste

greatness for a short period of time,

and seeing that a lot of us were

getting to play with each other for

Bow's Alpine team worked

especially hard this year, and it

certainly paid off.

Seniors Cali and Emile

Hatem, Junior David Cummings,

and Sophomore Anders Hanson

made the Eastern team.

Freshman Danielle Gould

said that she liked “being together as

a team," and "being able to train

midweek."

Gould skis slalom, and also

enjoys GS because they're "really

fun."

Congratulations to the

Falcon Alpine team for a great

season.

going to take to win the

championship. We had a huge team

talk and everyone stayed positive

and got pumped.”

With at least one player

from each grade contributing to their

team’s success they have ended the

season with a 13-5 record. Not too

bad for a team with only 2 seniors,

Maggie Crisman and Kendra

Toellner, the captains and leaders of

this tight-knit “family.”

“Personally, I am really

going to miss the seniors when they

leave,” Chergey said. “I have known

Maggie my whole life, and I have

been playing basketball with Kendra

and Maggie since I was in 5th

grade...everyone will miss them.”

the first time, we also were able to

become bet te r f r iends and

t e a m ma t e s a s t h e s e a s o n

progressed.”

Surprisingly for Evans, what

he is going to miss most about the

season are the tough practices the

team faced after weekends and/or

losses.

“Though a lot of guys,

myself including at times, were

dreading them; I felt that they

brought us together as a team as we

had to work harder and run much

more for our careless mistakes.”

Alpine Nordic

Girls Varsity Basketball

Boys JV Basketball

Indoor Track Swimming Girls JV Basketball

Wrestling Hockey

Cali Hatem skis slalom at an alpine race.

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Adonis DNA?

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Chronicle!

The Falcon

Chronicle:

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since 2005.

(The Falcon Chronicle

meets in the Humanities

Rm. Wed. mornings

before school. See Mrs.

Aubin for details)