North High students write: February
North High athletes commit to colleges
By Zachary Yeager
Seven North High Senior football players pose with gear representing their future colleges. From left to right: Kehyan Porter, Jaylen Watson, Kawntel Jackson, Omar Brown, Jeremiah Stewart, Izaiah Yeager, and Ar’mon Dalton. Photo courtesy of Carrie Yeager
On Feb. 6, eight North High senior football players signed their letters of intent to continue their athletic and academic careers. The biggest name of the bunch was Omar Brown who signed to play college football at The University of Northern Iowa. Amongst the eight players, three, Jeremiah Stewart, Taquarius Wair and Jaylen Watson, decided to team up and play at Mesabi Range College in Virginia, MN. Another pair of football players decided to play together like they have for the past four years of high school; Armon Dalton and Kehyan Porter will be attending The University of Mary in Bismarck, ND to play for the Marauders. Coach Charles Adams III has had a ton of success in the recent years getting kids to college. One of the biggest names out of Minneapolis North has been Tyler Johnson ‘16 who is now a receiver for the Minnesota Gophers. Polars center, Izaiah Yeager, will be going to Butler Community College in Kansas which has six national championships in football alone. Other players who signed to college include Kawntel Jackson (North Dakota State College of Science), and Daniel Crandall (Minnesota State University Moorhead). Brown said his goals for his freshman year at college include, “Getting bigger, better, stronger and to work hard enough to be able to play my freshman year.” He also said he wants to “get prepared now rather than later and focus on nothing but football. The Polars lost a lot of seniors this past season, but they have good athletes to fill in spots and are expected to make another run at a State Championship this fall.
Celebrating Black History Month
By Timya Carlisle, Amira Ahmed, and Frank Blount
Have you ever wondered how Black History Month (BHM) started? BHM began in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson with help from the Association For the Study of Negro Life and History. It originally started as a week long celebration called Negro History Week. In 1976 it officially became a whole month and each president celebrated it for the full month of February after that.
Courtney Bell, former African American Studies teacher at North High, gave us some insight on how she honors this month. “I believe that African American History is American History and that is made every day. I acknowledge and appreciate the sentiments of Carter G. Woodson and his efforts to have Black History Month...established. To show honor to the contributions of people of African descent in this country and throughout the world, I teach our history to all who will listen.”
Here at North High, we celebrate Black History Month by having an African American Parent Involvement Day where we invited parents and students to watch the performance of “Deep Diaspora” and students performed spoken word and there were performers who danced traditional African dances with the North High drumline.
In classes throughout North High, students have researched prominent African American figures, written essays, made posters, and given presentations on their accomplishments.
Bell, who is getting her PhD has a vision for North High. “I want North High School Scholars to learn African American History in the form of a year-round curriculum that is uplifting and empowering. I want North High Scholars to see themselves mirrored in every curriculum that they learn and to aspire toward the greatness that our ancestors achieved even in the face of oppression and dehumanization.”
How did you celebrate Black History Month?
Prom Part One
By Joy Cunningham and Andrianna Bynum
North High Prom is coming up in May. The theme this year is like going to be “Angelic,” but that theme has not been officially confirmed just yet.
Each year, it is hard for students to find a venue for prom. The price of the venue is challenging for students. The more expensive the venue, the higher the prom ticket price will be. “Tickets will be $40 for an individual or $75 for a couple/pair,” said Jane Steiner. Prom committee is doing fundraisers to help out, to get everything for prom. “One will be at Chipotle in Brooklyn Center another at Buffalo Wild Wing,” said Steiner.
Ticket costs help pay for the venue, the DJ, and the caterer. Students want to do fundraisers, so the prices won’t be so high. Many students are excited about prom and think prom is going to be better than last year’s prom. “ I think it’s going to be lit and more dipped,” said senior Jasmin Green.
This year prom they will have a lot desserts by CRAVE. Many students go all out for prom; it’s a big thing for them. Students love to try to match with whoever they're coming with prom. Some students match their outfits with the cars they come in to prom. Some students spend up to $500 on a dress and then rent cars, limos, a hotel room after prom, and other gear for prom. “Prom committee is working hard to make this prom a special night that will be a highlight of the year,” said Steiner.
Many students spend a lot of money for gear for prom. Many students find this money by working with the jobs they have, or some students like to have fundraisers help pay off the things they are getting for prom.
2019 softball season begins with a brand new coaching staff
By Alanna Smith
The upcoming 2019 North High softball season is starting out with a new coaching staff. Tom Lachermeier is now the head coach and the assistant coaches are Janaye Johnson, Karen Kidd and Samantha Diaz. This upcoming season is “all about having fun” according to Lachermeier.
Lachermeier hopes to introduce newcomers to softball, and he has started Sunday workouts for those returning. “The five goals we have for this year are to: one, show up, two, have fun, three, get better, four, encourage, and five, work hard,” said Lachermeier. He believes that in this season, if there's hard work, the rest will come. His main focus is not winning but improving.
From the previous season, the only coach that returned is Janaye Johnson, the catcher coach. For our new coaching staff, “our athletic director approached me about being the softball coach after giving it some thought. got really excited about the opportunity.”, said Lachermeier. Last year most of the players were un-experienced and a lot learn, it was overall fun.
According to Taylor Tidwell-Bennet, who played for the team last year and has decided not to return this year, “Last year’s season went great, but the coaching staff wasn't professional.”
Softball at North can be considered an underrated sport. This year, the team is open and looking for new experienced and inexperienced player to expand everyone's vision and love for the sport. Most spring sports are starting on March 11; decision makers for the softball team are hoping it will start as soon as possible.
If you’re interested in a fun spring sport come out for softball, listen for the announcements around the school to find out the exact date.
Winter wonderland becomes “depressing” and “stressful”
By Taylor Tidwell-Bennett
Minneapolis public schools have been canceled due to the bitter cold weather this winter. In order for Minneapolis Public Schools to close, it has to be -35 degrees windchill or heavy snowfall.
North High’s own English teacher Nafeesah Muhammad spoke about the recent events that have taken place. “It was very difficult for me emotionally when we had a weeks off of school, with the exception to that Friday. It threw me off my routine. I struggled with not knowing day to day what the next day would look like. I also worried about students and their families because their routines were thrown off as well. I think it was a big adjustment for everyone involved.”
MPS had canceled school for six days total and after school activities were canceled for approximately 10 days. North High girls basketball captain Jasmine Jackson said that the experience was “depressing, frustrating, draining, and stressful, because when we miss practices it hurts our team because then we have to play.”
North Minneapolis violence
By Aryy Tylor and Jenelle Robinson
In North Minneapolis, there have been multiple acts of violence recently: shootings, fights, and killings. It has affected many people: parents, students, siblings, and friends.
Bernadette Peters, who works at North High, was sitting at the front desk when bullets came through Door 18. No one was injured, but it was very frightening for Ms. B. Photo by Aryy Taylor
At North High School on Jan. 16 at 12:30pm, gunshots were fired from the sidewalk west of the 15th Ave. and Irving Ave intersection. During the shooting multiple students were in the hallways of school, but none were in the hallway where the bullet came through the front door. This has affected me and many other students in the school because anyone who knows, a bullet doesn’t have a name on it, so it could have hit anyone. Thankfully nobody was injured.
How are we supposed to feel safe if things like this happen? North High Principal Dr. Shawn Harris-Berry said, “It was concerning because it creates a culture of unsafety. ...North High needs to be a safe haven for students, and the fact that that was shaken for the students, it was very disturbing for me as a principal.” Many students and parents thought school should have been canceled the next day, but Harris-Berry and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) made the decision to keep school open.
“We live in a society where there is always something going on in somebody’s life and we can’t get stuck. We have to take care of ourselves, but we still have to push forward. What I know is that when you have your education, you can decide where you go in life and what you do in life, and if we stop everything, everytime there is an incident, we won’t have time for instruction because something in our society is always going on," said Harris-Berry. “If we would have stopped school that would say that the outside forces dictate what happens in here, and the outside forces cannot dictate what happens inside of North High School."
Another violent event was a fight at Edison High School on Dec. 20, 2018. A young man had his head stomped on by more than one person during the fight. Police were called twice that same week for a fight prior to that which was also on the news. The girl that was in the first fight ended up having to go to the hospital from her injuries. Things like this makes us as students worry about what our community has come to. We don’t even feel safe enough to walk to the bus stop alone with having to worry about something happening. When will all the violence stop? When will young teenagers be able to feel safe to walk outside? When will the community come together to stop the violence? We have to think about the younger generation and make sure they grow up into a world full of peace and not violence.
How to support a new student
By Mohamed Mohamed
Junior Said Mohamed came to North High at the beginning of this school year. Here, he works on his history day project. Photo by Frank Blount
Many students transfer to different schools. Some of the hardest parts of transferring to a new school for me were getting to know people and finding my way around the school. Another hard part for new students might be making friends. Some students that transfer schools probably moved to a different state, like myself. Many students also transfer schools because of insufficient grades, parents’ divorce or bullying.
6 out of 14 students in my journalism class have been to only one high school. When I came to this high school it was big compared to the other one I used to go to in Ann Arbor, MI. It was hard to find my way around the school. It was also kind of hard to get to know people which a lot of people struggle with at first. However, it was easy to get used to the schedule because it was similar to my old high school. At North High, we change classes each semester but at my old high school we stayed in the same classes until the next year. Junior Said Mohamed, who is new to North this year, said, “The hardest part of adjusting to the new school was getting to know where the classes were”. Another student named Takyiah said what surprised her was, “I was not expecting the school to be this small.” She also said the hardest part was getting to know people.
People can support new students by showing them around the school the first couple days. People can also support new students by being friendly and helping them during class. What helped me adjust to this school was people helping me find where my classes were and teachers helping during class.
Students go to the Guthrie
North High freshmen went to the Guthrie Theater to see the Shakespeare play As You Like It on Feb. 21. "I learned that everybody can't get what they want but everybody can get something in the end," said freshman Joy Cunningham. Photo by Samuel Wilbur