December 17, 2014 Volume XXI Hawk Issue 6 Happenings A Publication of Hamburg Area High School, Windsor Street, Hamburg, PA 19526 SOAR students volunteer at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Sierra Schell - 9, Kira Pannepacker - 10, Jocelyn Niewzwiecki - 12, and Michaela Riveria - 12 On November 3, students in the SOAR program at Hamburg area High School went up to Hawk Mountain to volunteer and help with trail maintenance. Students helped with moving rocks onto the sides of the trail to prevent soil erosion. Soil erosion is a naturally occur- ring process that affects all landforms. The Earth crumbles during this process and there are no more trails left to clearly walk on. Students had to manually dig the rocks out of the ground using tools like shovels and picks. Using gloves they had to hand pick them out of the ground from a differ- Students attend annual Christmas Dance ent area near the trail. They carried the rocks, varying in shape and size as small as a soft- ball and some were bigger than a basketball, from an area away from the trail. This task Megan Krick – 9 was not easy since it was in the forest with naturally occurring holes and uneven terrain. The volunteers had to line the rocks on both sides of the approximately 3 foot wide trail The Christmas dance was held at CJ Hummel’s on December 6. 271 students attended and then had to reposition dirt, twigs and leaves to make it look natural once again. in grades 9-12. The dance was sponsored by STUCO. When people got there they started When they were done fixing the trail, students were able to explore the rest of Hawk to take photos with all of their friends. The DJ announced for the winter court to go up to the dance floor, they started to announce the queen and king. The king was Aaron Nelson Mountain sanctuary, walking on other trails to the North and South look out. and the queen was Chyanne Lesher. After they crowned Chyanne the king from last year At the end of the trip, students explored the garden and received seeds and tips for the and Chyanne slow danced. rain garden they will create at Hamburg Area High School. The DJ told everyone to take their seats so they could start to give out the salad and “I never realized how a few students could make such a difference in the environment then dismissed tables to get their food. The food consisted of rolls, corn, ham, baked or other people to enjoy,” said Sierra Schell. chicken, mashed potatoes, and fruit. For the dessert there was cupcakes. They also had “The North lookout was such an extraordinary site; it was so peaceful,” said by Jocelyn a hot chocolate bar where students could add anything into the hot chocolate. When Niedzwiecki. everyone was done eating the dancing started. “I was very impressed by how the students acted and accomplished the task so fast.” said Logan Albrecht and Brooke Bensinger freshman both said “My favorite part of the by Ryan Betz, Hawk Mountain representative. dance was the Shirley temples and the dancing.” Ashley Grim freshman favorite part was the hot chocolate bar and dancing. Mainly everyone was on the dance floor for the music unless they got tired from dancing or didn’t want to dance. Congratulations Kristen Wade! November Student of the Month See the next issue for the feature article about her. Seniors and Teachers - remember you can nominate students for this award. Students Celebrate Winter Spirit See Miss McCarthy for more information. Tara Maloney – 9 This year’s Winter Spirit Week will take place on Wednesday, December 17 to Tuesday, In this issue... In this issue... December 23. There will be a pep rally on Tuesday, December 23 as well. Wednesday - Ugly Sweater Day Math Championship - page 2 LEO Club Trip - page 5 Thursday - Christmas Sock Day Hamburg THON - page 2 Winter - page 5 Friday - Character Day Sports - page 3 Writing Competitition - page 6 Monday - Snuggle Up by the Fire Day (wear lounge pants, sweatpants, fleece pants, Drama Hawks - page 3 Shakespeare Tour - page 6 Pajamas or slippers and yoga pants are NOT okay.) Artist Spotlight - page 3 Spotlights - page 7 Reviews - page 4 Toy guide - page 8 Tuesday - White Out Day Page 2 Hawk Happenings December 17, 2014 Lexi Shuey starts forcing on future Jennifer Hoshauer – 9 Lexi Shuey is a freshman at Hamburg Area High School. She previously attended Blue Mountain High School and she then moved to Shoemakersville to live with her dad. She says, “I like Hamburg better than Blue Mountain because the dress code here is more realistic.” At Blue Mountain the dress code is any colored shirt with a collar and any colored pants that are not jeans. The only disappointment in changing schools was that she played volleyball at Blue Mountain, and when she came to Hamburg, there was no volleyball team. However she just recently joined the volleyball club that Mr. Webb is advising. In her free time she likes to go shopping for new clothing just for fun. Her two favorite stores to shop in are American Eagle and Hollister. She also likes to hang out with friends on the weekends, like to go shopping Hamburg Area High School or to the movies. When she moved to Hamburg she found new friends very quickly. When Lexi graduates high school she wants to go to be a Physical Therapist. She wants holds first annual Mini -THON to go to college for this job because she loves to be with people and to work with making them better. A physical therapist is always moving around and never sitting at a desk the Melanie Haas – 11 whole day. On April 18, 2015, Hamburg Area High School will hold its first annual Mini-THON. Mini- THON is a 12 hour activity marathon. There will be a DJ all 12 hours, a different theme The Berks County Interscholastic and chant for every hour, sports tournaments and talent competitions. The event will be open to people of all ages and is not just limited to those who either attend or live in the Mathematics Championship tests Hamburg area. Everyone is welcome to participate in this amazing event. Behind Mini-THON is junior Hannah Schreffler. Hannah learned about Mini-THON when she attended a HOBY (Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership) Conference in Philadelphia students this past spring. Of her experience she said, “While I was there, I met so many kids who aspired to do great things at their schools and in world despite others pushing them down Julian Warner – 12 or telling them they couldn’t do it. One of the panelists at HOBY had been in Penn State’s THON all four years of college and now helps out every year, and as soon as he started The Berks County Interscholastic Mathematics Championship was held on Wednesday, talking about it, I knew this was what I wanted to take back to Hamburg with me.” November 12, at Alvernia University. The three Hamburg Area High School students who Throughout the year leading up to Mini-THON, there will be many fundraising attended the competition were seniors Jordan Wagner, Damian Ulrich, and Julian Warner. opportunities. All the money that the district raises will go directly back to Four Diamonds The high school mathematics teacher, Ms. Caitlin Browne, chaperoned the students on Fund. The Fund is in partnership with Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, where the trip. The team placed third. they donate millions of dollars a year to not only find a cure to cancer, but also for better The students arrived at the university shortly after 8:00 a.m. and the competition began treatment research and to cover a family’s medical expenses that insurance does not shortly afterwards. The 18 schools in attendance each received two team questions which cover. Most families as Penn State Hershey who have a child with cancer never see a all group members worked on, and they were given 30 minutes to complete the problems. medical bill because of Four Diamonds Fund. If anyone is interested in joining Mini-THON or helping out on a committee, should The students then got individual tests that were 18 questions long and were given 90 min- contact Hannah at [email protected], Miss Reimer at MegRei@hasdhawks. utes to work through the problems. The problems required the competitors to use a mix of org or [email protected]. algebraic, trigonometric, higher order thinking, and probability and statistic skills. The tests were then collected and three speakers discussed different ways that math occurs in the real world, such as in music and literature. The one Hamburg competitor, Mini View – What’s your Damian Ulrich, said, “The competition was a chance to, I dunno (sic), use what I have learned in my math classes. The speakers opened my eyes to all the opportunities there are to use math in the real world.” favorite holiday movie? The individual and team sections of the competition were not graded on the site, and the Kyra Neff - 9 results have not yet been determined. The overall victors of the competition will receive Santa a trophy which they may keep for an entire year. The attending students ate a comple- Clause mentary lunch of ziti, salad, bread, and various deserts. The teachers and students then My favorite movie because returned to their schools at the end of the day. is The Nightmare it’s before Christmas, festive because I grew and up watching it.