2019 October – The Mirror

Students Continue Halloween Tradition at Northwood

October 30, 2019 by Aimee Headland

The trees have lost their leaves and the temperatures are getting colder. Snow is in the forecast. Fall is coming to an end at Northwood and it is time for the tradition of celebrating Halloween.

Halloween began as a Celtic festival Samhain, an event for people to dress up and light bonfires in hopes to scare away ghosts. Over time, some of these traditions were integrated into All Saints Day, November 1st, which slowly evolved into Halloween. Through the years, Halloween in America has become an entire day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating treats.

Scenes from a recent Halloween at Northwood School. (Photo: Northwood School Facebook)

Northwood students look forward to celebrating Halloween. “I mainly like Halloween for the movies and the good food around this time of the year,” said Michael Leone ‘21.

Celebrating big holidays while being away from home can be a challenging time for Northwood students, but the school organizes many fun activities. From the start of breakfast, students will attend classes and walk the campus dress in all types of costumes. Then, during community time, there is a costume contest with the following categories: Funniest, Scariest, Most Creative, Best Duo/Trio, and Best Group.

When the sun goes down, the lights come up, and the fists start pumping, The Halloween disco features the funky beats of DJ Hilaire. Northwood’s newest hockey coach and math/robotics teacher, Mr. Keanu Hilaire, will get the school dancing.

Another Halloween tradition is CandyGrams. Northwood’s community service organization CARE offers the opportunity for students to send each other small bags of candy with personalized messages. The fundraiser raises hundreds of dollars for worthy causes each year.

Not everyone enjoys the Halloween tradition at Northwood. Daniel Colabufo ‘20 said “ I don’t like it because I don’t see it as a real holiday as I don’t see a real meaning behind it. It’s a way for little kids to get candy.” Despite Colabufo’s skepticism, the tradition continues and Northwood still finds a fun way for all students to enjoy the day.

Celebrating Halloween is a way for the school to come together as a community. For some, it is the scariest time of the year and for others, it is their favorite time of the year.

Details of this year’s festivities were outlined in a recent email from Ms. Mavis Agnew:

From: Mavis Agnew <agnewm@northwoodschool.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 25, 2019 at 12:12 PM
Subject: Halloween
To: FacultyStaff <facultystaff@northwoodschool.com>, students <students@northwoodschool.com>

Students & Faculty:

On Thursday, October 31st we will have a Peak costume contest and runway walk at a special all school meeting during community time at 10:25am. Students are permitted to wear appropriate costumes on Halloween or they may be in class dress. This is not a “dress down day” and students cannot dress as a “yoga instructor” or a “rugby athlete” in order to just wear leggings, or shorts and t-shirts to class. Please have fun, but make costumes both respectful and specific and do not abuse the privilege to wear costumes to class.

Thursday evening we will have a Halloween Dinner. Dress is either costume or class dress:

Rainbow Carrot Slaw
Green Salad
Green Curried Shellfish (shrimp, mussels, clams)
Tri-Colored Tortellini with roasted tomato sauce and fresh basil
Cheddar Stuffed Meatloaf with tomato glaze
Crispy Waffle Fry Poutine
Fresh Tuscan Bread
NY apples with Caramel Fondue
Sundae Bar

Dinner will be followed by a Dance in the rear of the Dining Hall featuring DJ HIlaire

Some Peak Events including a balloon stomp and hide & seek will take place.

The festivities will commence by 8:15 and study hall will resume by 8:30pm.

Please let me know if you have questions. If you have ideas, please reach out to our Halloween Spirit Chairman, Addie Castillo. We will be looking for student volunteers to help with decorations and clean up.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Top Story

Students New To Stage Anticipate Debut in Musical

October 29, 2019 by Hadley Swedlund

Even for a veteran, performing in front of an audience can be very intimidating. The Northwood drama club, which this week will perform its fall musical, The Good Old Days, has a couple of students who have never before performed on stage.

Margot Rouquette ’20 (Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge)

Julia Geraldi ’20 (Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge)

Margot Rouquette ‘20 is a hockey player and golfer from France. She loves to try new things, but she had never tried performing before. So last spring, she auditioned for the school musical. “I wanted to be more involved in the community and to try something new, which is always good,” Rouquette said. She continued, “I’m still not comfortable with singing and dancing. But I have a solo and a couple of dances [in the play].”

Just like Rouquette, Julia Geraldi ‘20 doesn’t have prior experience in drama performance but she auditioned for the school musical. She is primarily known at Northwood as an alpine ski racer.

“As a senior, I wanted to try something new outside of skiing. The school play Anon(ymous) last year encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and try singing,” Geraldi recalled. “I’m very glad I joined the drama program this year. I met people I wouldn’t normally meet or talk to outside of school. I’ve been having a lot of fun, and I’m excited to see how this experience will open up new opportunities for me in the future,” she said.

Performances of The Good Old Days are Tuesday, October 29 and Wednesday, October 30 at 7:00 PM at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. Admission is free.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Top Story

Crew Team Fares Well in Tail Of The Fish

October 29, 2019 by Olivia Paul

Northwood Crew competed in the Tail of the Fish Regatta on the last Saturday of September. Named for its location, Fish Creek in Saratoga Springs, NY, this fall regatta typically attracts 300 boats.

From the 2018 Tail of the Fish regatta (Photo: provided)

Jessica (Su Hae) Jang ‘20, Captain of Northwood Crew, said, “Imani Hawman ‘20 and I only rowed together twice a week because she has skiing dry land the other three days. It was hard for us to train on the same day. But I think we all enjoyed the regatta.”

Jang and Hawman competed in Girls’ Junior Double and placed 17th out of 25 boats. Mr. Howard “H” Runyon, Crew Coach, was very pleased with the results of the first regatta of the fall season. “Because this was a rather small regatta, there was no lightweight double scull event for Jessica and Imani. So they had to race against big girls in the open weight double. Those two girls have never really gone out on a limb and raced hard over the fall distance. This year they made a hard effort all the way down the course.” Coach Runyon said. He added, “They haven’t had enough time on the water together yet this year to have the kind of precision they had in the spring last year. So given these factors, 17th was a good finish.”

Caroline Harrison ‘22 finished 6th out of 8 boats in Girls’ Juniors’ U17 Single. “Those who finished in front of her were from elite programs or were people from who train on Fish Creek every day. She will be doing very well in another year or two,” Coach Runyon said.

The girls’ side of the team is small, but there are a lot of strong returners. Since the old team members have either graduated or moved, the boys’ side of the team has to completely rebuild. However, Runyon sees immense potential within the new members of the team.

The crew team has competed in The Head Of The Fish Regatta this weekend, where Jang and Nora Dawood ‘23 raced in single events. Unfortunately, Harrison could not join them due to an injury. We wish the crew team the best of luck as they continue their season.

Filed Under: Sports

New Class Explores the History of Art in the Adirondacks

October 29, 2019 by Olivia Paul

Earlier this month, the Adirondack Art Exploration class ventured to Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake. While at the museum, students were treated to a private showing of original work by the artists Harold Weston and Rockwell Kent.

Scenes from a recent field trip to the Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake by the new class, Adirondack Art Exploration (Photos provided).

Students in the Art Exploration class not only make art but also learn about artists that have lived and found inspiration in the Adirondacks. Ms. Ingrid Van Slyke, an art teacher, teaches this trimester-long elective. She took her students to the museum to share her passion for art in the hopes that her students gain a deeper appreciation of art. “I hoped that when they saw artworks in real life, they would make a connection to what they were doing in class,” Ms. Van Slyke said.

Prior to the visit to the museum, students watched documentary films about the lives of Weston and Kent, wrote journals on them, and made art in the style of Harold Weston.

A highlight of the trip for VanSlyke and her students was that they got to go see a part of the museum that the public doesn’t usually see. They went into the inners of the museum, down into a faculty area where the museum staff pulled out paintings from the vault that weren’t out on display at the time, so everyone got to see the real work that they had been learning about. It made an impression on the students. “Seeing Weston’s paintings in real [was a highlight] because it’s not the same as seeing it online. You could see the texture and it was really cool,” said Ryan Combe ‘20, a student in the class.

Adirondack Art Exploration is a first trimester fine arts elective and will likely be offered again first trimester next year.

Filed Under: Northwood Life

Humans Of Northwood: Arnezha Astwood ‘21

October 24, 2019 by Olivia Paul

Arnezha Astwood ’21 (Photo: Michael Aldridge)

“My name is ‘Nezha, I’m 17, and a junior. I’m from the island of Bermuda and I play soccer. I love being on the soccer team: it is like a family. We bump heads but we stick together. I like the people at Northwood and some of the teachers. I like how it’s a no-judge place and you can feel comfortable. One thing I don’t like about Northwood is the cold. My future plan is to go to a great athletic university where I can step closer to my dream of becoming a professional soccer player and or an accountant. In my free time, I usually play pool. You can find me most of the time down in the student center, I also like to play video games with my mates.”

As told to Olivia Paul ‘21

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People

Humans of Northwood: Miranda Bookman ’20

October 24, 2019 by Olivia Paul

“My name is Miranda, but my friends call me Bookie. I’m 18 years old, a 4 year senior and I’m from Syracuse, New York. I am on the Girls Hockey Team. Something I really like about Northwood is the town it’s in, Lake Placid. It is really beautiful and I love living in the heart of the Adirondacks. It’s really pretty. The people here have given me such a good experience here because of the connections I have made with people. I wouldn’t normally get that at a high school back home. I have met people from all over the world and people I wouldn’t expect to, so that’s been a really cool experience. After Northwood, I plan on going to college. I am applying to a couple of schools. Hopefully, I’ll go to Syracuse University by my house, but that’s not set in stone. I don’t know what I want to do yet, but I’m into psychology and criminal justice. When I’m not playing hockey I really like to run a lot, in the summer I love running with my dog and I also love biking.”

-As told to Olivia Paul ‘21

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People

Girls’ Hockey Remains Undefeated and Wins Tournament

October 23, 2019 by Miranda Bookman

The girls’ hockey team returned to Burlington, Vermont last weekend to compete in the Rice Prep Tournament. The girls went 5-0, winning the tournament and extending their historic winning streak to seventeen games.

The Girls’ Hockey Team poses with the championship plaque as winners of the Rice Prep Hockey Tournament in Vermont. The team’s 17-0 start is the best in program history (Photo provided).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Sports, Top Story

Junior Team Splits Home Series with Stanstead College

October 21, 2019 by Luke French

In Family Weekend action at the Lake Placid Olympic Center, Northwood’s Junior hockey team faced off against Stanstead College in a two-game series.

Ray Fust ’21 in action against Stanstead College at the Olympic Center in October 2019 (Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge).

An optional study hall Thursday evening brought out a large crowd of students to support the team in their first game. Getting off to a good start, Northwood would take advantage of their first power play of the weekend with a goal by Ray Fust (2021, Forward). Neither team would score for the rest of the period making the score 1-0 after one. That would be the score until about halfway through the second when Standstead scored a goal of their own to tie the game at one. Both teams would get many scoring opportunities in the final minutes of regulation time, but neither of them could score for the rest of the game or overtime, sending the game to a shootout. As the shootout went on, Northwood could not find the back of the net, and Stanstead took the first game of the weekend, with a final score of 2-1.

The next day, the Huskies were eager to settle the score with Stanstead. The first period was scoreless as the first lead of the game was up for grabs going into the second. Nate Boak (Defensemen, 2020) put Northwood on the board first with a shot from the blue line. That would be the only goal for the rest of the game until Daniel Colabufo (Forward, 2020) put the game away with a one-timer from the slot. With a two-goal lead, just minutes before the game was over, Northwood would shut out Stanstead to take home a win and go 1-1 on the weekend.

Filed Under: Sports

[Takeover] Tuesdays are for the Students

October 21, 2019 by Luke French

Every Tuesday, Northwood students get to live a day in the life of another student. A student takes over Northwood’s Instagram account and posts stories throughout the day “to show what it is like to be a student here at Northwood,” according to Ms. Darcy Norfolk, Northwood’s Marketing and Communications Director.

I participated in Takeover Tuesday two weeks ago. When I first learned that I would have to publicly share what I do on a typical day, I was a little nervous. However, it was actually easy to find things to post. Starting with a post at breakfast with my friend Patrick Doyle ‘20, I uploaded a short video of myself in Journalism and pre-practice preparations with my teammate Nate Boak ‘20.

Takeover Tuesday not only allows current students to get to know their classmates better, but it also gives prospective students an opportunity to experience Northwood life before visiting campus.

With Takeover Tuesday successfully integrated into the school’s social media program, Northwood Marketing now looks forward to introducing another initiative called Faculty Friday. Also, some of the future participants of Takeover Tuesday will be able to go live on Instagram, which will make the program more engaging for the viewers. “We welcome outside feedback on what else people want to see,” said Ms. Norfolk.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People

Humans of Northwood: Andres Guerreiro Del Paso ‘23

October 21, 2019 by Bernardo Simões

My name is Andres, and I am from Mexico. I came to Northwood because I wanted to study in a different country, and after speaking with a parent of another student who already went here, I decided Northwood would be a good fit for me.

Since Northwood is a boarding school, my life here has been different from how it was back in Mexico. The only two things that I don’t like about Northwood are some classes that I don’t find so interesting and my room because it’s so small. But I think the location of Northwood makes living here a really good experience! What I miss the most about Mexico is mostly my family and the food. Our meals back home are really different from our meals here.

After Northwood, there is a small chance that I’ll attend a college in the U.S. I’ll probably go back to Mexico at the end of this school year. I’ll never forget some of the activities I have done here such as rock climbing.

As told to Bernardo Simões ’20