2022 March – The Mirror

Soccer Team has Sights Set on Showcases

March 3, 2022 by Pablo Obrador

The 2021-22 Soccer Teams. Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge.

The Northwood school U-17 and U-19 boys’ soccer teams are working hard to prepare for the upcoming Dallas Cup, a showcase tournament that has been played since 1980, making it one of the most coveted soccer showcases at the national level. This year, the event will be played from April 9 to April 17.

As a tune-up before Dallas, the Huskies recently played at the Manhattan Showcase and this weekend they will play at Gillette Field in Massachusetts against New England Revolution Academy in preparation for the big championship in Dallas.

Dallas Cup is a very difficult and competitive tournament for which all the teams train hard for a long time to achieve good results. Teams from all over the world come to show that they are the best.

Nearly half of the teams are international, another 40% come all over the United States, and 20% are local teams. In addition, the spectators will exceed 100,000 people during the week of the event.

The coaches of both teams expect very good results from their teams. Coach Moodey will be in charge of taking the U-19 to the top while in the U-17s will be Coach Martínez.

Coach Moodey knows that he has a team with great players, so his expectations are very high and he believes that the Northwood team could be at the top of the Dallas Cup It will not be easy, Moodey said, but they will work hard for the good results.

Before Dallas, the squads head to Las Vegas for week for the Players Showcase, another highlight of the team’s season.

Filed Under: Sports

Masks are Optional After Two Years of Mandate

March 2, 2022 by Mitchell Baker

Angelica Gonzalez ’22 (left), Mitchell Baker ’25, and other journalism students ceremoniously throw away their masks upon hearing news of Northwood going mask-optional (Photo: Mr. John Spear).

For the first time since March of 2020, we can see each other’s faces at Northwood School.

On March 2nd, the mask mandate will no longer be a rule. Students and teachers will not be required to wear a mask. This is a significant day for the Northwood community, the last time students could go with masks was when the school sent everyone home at the start of the pandemic two years ago this month.

Mr. John Spear, Assistant Head for School Life, wrote in a message to the school community, “The CDC and New York State Department of Health have each changed their guidance on indoor masking in schools. Beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, March 2, students, employees, and visitors will no longer be required to wear a mask when indoors at Northwood School.”

Students are excited to get rid of the mask mandate. Sachiel Ming ‘24 said, “I am new this year, so I have never experienced a mask-free Northwood. I am tremendously excited to continue learning without a mask, it has been so annoying and uncomfortable wearing a mask.”

Ming thinks removing masks will bring the community closer together. “I feel without a mask students can interact with each other much easier.”

Although the mask mandate has been lifted, there are still a few rare occasions where students and staff must wear masks. “On the shuttle bus to the Hub and in a limited number of classroom settings. Students have been notified if they are regularly in those settings,” wrote Spear. “Another situation where a mask is required in school is when someone returns from the recently shortened five-day isolation after a positive test; recently recovered students are permitted to return to school on day six, but they must wear a mask on days six through ten,” he added.

It is also important that students know that wearing a mask is optional, not forbidden. If you are feeling sick or don’t feel comfortable without a mask, you should wear a mask.

Spear noted that the CDC and the New York health department allowed us to be mask free due to numerous factors, including:
> a decrease in positive cases
> continuous and sustained downward trend of cases
> 7-day average of positivity going down
> 7-day average cases children 5-18 are at the lowest point since the re-surge of cases
> hospitalizations have trended downward
> pediatric hospitalizations are low
> community immunity and vaccination rates continue to increase.

Spear warned that we may not have seen the last of masks at Northwood. “t’s important to remind everyone that if these metrics trend in the other direction,” he said, “the CDC or the NYS Health Department may revise guidance to again require masks or a future outbreak on campus may warrant requiring masks again.”

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Top Story

New Personal Finance Course Meets Need

March 1, 2022 by Colter Cheney-Seymour

As a new trimester starts at Northwood begins new classes are being introduced to students. One new class being integrated into the Northwood curriculum is Personal Finance. Personal Finance is a course that will focus on teaching students how to make financially smart decisions. The class will specifically look into possible future financial decisions and their outcomes. The course’s objectives are to help students understand career decision making, money management, credit management and the college loan process.

Prior to this course, Northwood students have never had the opportunity to use their Northwood education to look closer into their personal financial decisions. “This class was added due to high demand for basic finance skills from students and parents alike,” said Ms. Noel Carmichael, the Dean of Academic Affairs at Northwood.

Carmichael said she heard from parents during meetings she organized last spring. “During the town halls I hosted with the families last year, this was one of the most common things people asked for. I never had a course like this in high school,” Carmichael said, “and I think it put me at a disadvantage as an adult”.

The new class will help to make sure students have prior knowledge before going to college and making massive financial decisions. If applied correctly, this knowledge will help students save money and understand smart financial decisions which could possibly save them thousands of dollars.

Filed Under: Northwood Life

Humans of Northwood: Karleigh Hollister ’22

March 1, 2022 by Angelica Gonzalez

“I’m originally from Old Forge, New York, but I live in Lake Placid during the academic year. I came to Northwood to ski race and to better my education from my prior school. I live in Lake Placid and it’s easy to commute, even on snowy days. It’s not too unsafe or too far to drive. I love the friendships we all have on the ski team, and the traveling to all these beautiful places like Austria and Colorado along with our races in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. Skiing is an individual sport, so it gives each skier great opportunities to develop skills. We also get to ski in Colorado in November when we’re still waiting for the first snow in the East. I love traveling for the experience of seeing another country and just to have some great training. My plans include going to college, possibly at Castleton University. I plan to major in business as well and racing for the ski team.”

As told to Angelica Gonzalez ’22. Photo by Michael Aldridge

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People

Northwood Marks Women’s History Month

March 1, 2022 by Lily Spiegel

March 1st marks the start of Women’s History Month. For many years the hard work of many brave and brilliant women went unnoticed. So, to shine a light on our accomplishments Women’s History Month was created.

Womens History Month is used to celebrate women and support them on the path to equal rights. It began as a small celebration, Women’s History Week, in Santa Rosa, California. Eventually the small celebration spread throughout America and reached the president at the time.

According to the National Women’s History Museum, “In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8th, 1980 as National Women’s History Week.” This was the first official recognition of women’s history by a president. The preceding presidents followed in Carter’s footsteps until 1987 when Womens History Week was officially changed to Women’s History Month.

To celebrate the women of Northwood School, a few students volunteer to do a presentation at our school meeting. They inform our community of the importance of Women’s History Month and highlight key events of women’s suffrage which are usually explained along with quotes from important and influential women.

2022 also marks 50 years of coeducation at Northwood. Previously, Northwood had been an all-male school for 66 years before women began attending in 1971. The incorporation of women into Northwood school was an impactful step in the school’s history.