Jacob Slagel

Northwood Robotics Kicks Off 2026 Season at Hudson Valley Regional

April 29, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

Photo provided.

Northwood’s Robotics Team traveled to its first competition of the 2026 season recently, marking the group’s first official event of the year, the Hudson Valley Regional. The competition brought together teams from across the region and gave Northwood students a chance to test their robot after weeks of preparation.

In the lead up to the event, the team had been putting in extra time outside of class to get ready. “Our robot has made a lot of progress. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve had some really productive students coming in… and we’ve been really putting in the hours,” said Orrin Tracy-Deuss ’27. He added that the team focused on “getting the robot systems working, getting the code perfected, and getting our drivers used to the controls.”

Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

Along with building and coding, preparation also involved organizing equipment and planning for anything that could go wrong. “We got to get all of our parts packed… so that if something breaks on the robot while we’re in the competition, we have the equipment to fix it in between matches,” Tracy-Deuss said. He described the process as “a big game of Tetris.”

Going into the competition, there was a mix of excitement and pressure. “I’m very excited for it… there’s a lot of stress and a lot of things to get done,” he said. Still, he emphasized the team’s mindset, “We’re just going out there to have a good time… and hopefully do a good job.”

Looking ahead, the Robotics Team is already preparing for its next competition after April break. With their first event completed, the team now has a better sense of what to expect and what to improve on moving forward.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Sports

Meet Stella: The Newest (and Fluffiest) Member of the Northwood Community

April 24, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

Two Northwood hockey coaches recently welcomed a new puppy named Stella.

Photo: Ms. Franny Gerardi.

Mr. Tommy Spero said he and Ms. Franny Geradi got Stella on a Saturday, a little over a week ago, in early April. Stella is about six months old and is most likely a German shepherd mixed with some lab or retriever. Spero said the name came after going through many options. “We went through like 10 or 15 names, and that one kind of just stuck out the most to us,” he said.

Spero said they had been thinking about getting a dog for a while and wanted a younger one they could raise themselves. He said they decided to take the rescue route and eventually found Stella through the New Rochelle Humane Society. “We met her and couldn’t say no,” Spero said.

So far, Spero said, the first week has gone better than expected. “She’s just catching on to things quickly,” he said, though he added that there is still plenty of work to do. He described Stella as “very mellow, even for a puppy.”

One moment that stood out came when Stella went into her crate by herself for the first time. Spero said that was unexpected, but a good sign. He also said one of the best parts so far has been the company she brings to the table. “It’s just her being around us all the time,” he said.

Students who want to say hi to Stella are welcome to, Spero said, as long as they approach her slowly and let her get comfortable first. Even though she is still settling in, Stella has already become a new part of daily life for the two coaches.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People

First Whitewater Paddle of the Spring

March 18, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

Despite the cold conditions, Northwood’s adventure sports program had the opportunity to get back in the water earlier this week on Wednesday, March 11. With the warmer weather, the snow has started to melt, giving with it the chance for the trip to be possible.

Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

The group traveled to Saranac Lake, where rising water levels from the early March melt created good conditions for whitewater. Although temperatures hovered around 40 degrees, students were eager to return to the river after the winter months.

Marley Tracy-Deuss ‘27, who participates in the adventure sports program, said the outing marked an exciting start to the season.

Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

“It’s early March, and we had our first big melt of the season, and conditions were good enough to go whitewater. It was pretty cold, though. The waters were beautiful and super high. It was great to be back on the water.”

Tracy-Deuss explained that the rapids in Saranac Lake are relatively short but convenient because they are located right in town. He also mentioned that the town plans to expand the whitewater area below the dam in the future, which could create more opportunities for paddlers in the area.

Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

During the outing, students worked with Bobby O’Connor to practice their skills for the upcoming season. Tracy-Deuss said that whitewater kayaking can be challenging at first but becomes more rewarding with time on the water. “It’s a sport with a high learning curve,” he said. “If you want to get into it, you should spend as much time on the water as possible.”

While a cold start to the season, it marked a sign that spring activities are right around the corner for Northwood students.

All photos by Jacob Slagel ’26.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Top Story

Red Moon Over Lake Placid

March 16, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

Early on March 3, a total lunar eclipse gave people in the Adirondack region a glimpse of the red moon. The eclipse took place before sunrise, with the moon low in the sky while Earth’s shadow moved across it. In the Lake Placid area, the eclipse began around 3:44 a.m. The partial phase started at 4:50 a.m., and totality began at 6:04 a.m., just before the moon dropped below the horizon.

Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

What makes lunar eclipses so notable is the Moon’s color. During totality, the moon appears red or reddish-orange instead of white. While the Earth blocks most direct sunlight, some light still passes through the Earth’s atmosphere. That extra light gets distorted, which in turn affects the moon’s color.

Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth moves directly between the sun and the moon. When they line up, Earth will block sunlight from reaching the moon, casting a shadow across its surface. This kind of event can only happen during a full moon, which is why lunar eclipses are uncommon.

Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

However, in the Adirondacks, the timing made the eclipse more challenging to see. By the time the moon turned fully red, it was already low in the sky, making hills, trees, or buildings block the view. The true maximum of the eclipse wasn’t fully visible from the area since the moon set so soon after totality began.

Even so, the eclipse is a reminder that sky events don’t always need fancy equipment or complicated planning to be interesting. For a few minutes on an ordinary March morning, the moon looked completely different from normal, giving anyone awake a view of a familiar object in a new way.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Real World

Humans of Northwood: Jingxi “Willow” Zhao ’26

March 12, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

“I’ve tried a lot of sports throughout my life, like golfing and basketball, but my favorite has always been basketball. I also love Ultimate Frisbee, and I still do it a lot during break when I go home with my friends. I have six cats and a big family since my sister just had a baby.

“My name’s Jingxi, but people call me Willow here. I live in the southwest of China, and my city is called Kunming, Yunnan. People also call it Spring City because it’s very warm and pleasant, unlike here.

“Northwood spring has always been my favorite part of being at school, no matter which year, because spring is so alive. We get to climb again, everything comes back, and there are more activities to do. I still really enjoy winter, too, especially snowboarding, and the Wilmington route on Whiteface is my favorite.

“This is my third year at Northwood. I’m so excited to graduate. I came to Northwood because my brother-in-law graduated here about ten years ago.

“I’m extremely excited about this year because it’s my senior year, and I’m working on an independent Peak Pathway project. I’m building a darkroom at Northwood. At the end of the year, I’m really excited to show everyone what I’ve learned, like developing film and making film strips. I hope to bring a more artsy part to Northwood.”

A told to Jacob Slagel ’26. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, People

ECAC Championships Return to Lake Placid

March 2, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

Lake Placid Olympic Center. Photo by Jacob Slagel.

The ECAC Hockey Championships are coming back to Lake Placid in March, giving Northwood students a chance to watch Division I college hockey in the Olympic Center’s 1980 Herb Brooks Arena. The ECAC is the Eastern College Athletic Conference, and its championship weekends bring the top teams in the league to Lake Placid for semifinal and championship games.

This year, the Women’s ECAC championship weekend will be held March 6th and 7th. Semifinal games are scheduled for 4 pm and 7 pm on Friday, March 6, and the championship game is scheduled for 5 pm Saturday, March 7. The Men’s ECAC championship weekend is scheduled for March 20 and 21, with semifinals at 4 pm and 7 pm Friday, March 20, and the championship game at 5 pm Saturday, March 21.

Students are already making plans to attend, and many said the experience is as much about the atmosphere as it is about the hockey. Harry Vant ’26 said he has gone in previous years and plans to go again. “I had a good time with my friends,” Vant said. “The hockey was good.” For a lot of students, it is an easy weekend activity that still feels like a big event.

Cooper Plotts ’26 also went last year and said the best part was being there with other students. “It was really fun being able to sit with the whole team just kind of watching really good, high level hockey,” Plotts said. He called it “a great thing to do on the weekend,” especially for students who already follow hockey or want to see what playoff level games look like.

For students newer to hockey, the ECAC weekends can be a good way to learn more about the sport. Sasha Luhur ’27 said she did not start watching hockey until she came to Northwood. “Now I’ve been here long enough that I kind of understand it,” Luhur said, “and it’ll be cool to see competitive college level hockey.” She hopes to attend both weekends and is excited that the women’s tournament is included in the Lake Placid lineup.

For the women’s tournament, coach Tommy Spero shared discounted ticket details for the Northwood community. Students can buy a $30 weekend pass that covers all three games, both semifinals and the final, and families will be billed home. Students who want to attend a single game also need to message him directly, but the single game rate was still to be determined at the time of his message. To receive tickets, students must send coach Spero a direct Teams chat before 9 p.m. Sunday, March 1, since he needs a final count on Monday.

With two championship weekends on the schedule, March should feel busy in the best way around campus and around town. Whether students go to watch specific teams, support friends who love hockey, or just be part of a big crowd at the Olympic Center, the ECAC games are an easy way to show school spirit and take advantage of what Lake Placid offers. If you plan to go to the women’s weekend, make sure to message coach Spero before the deadline, and keep an eye out for the school’s announcement on men’s tournament ticket details.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Sports, Top Story

Red Rocks LEAP Trip Moved to Spring Break

February 21, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

Northwood’s rock-climbing LEAP trip in Red Rocks has been moved from late November to spring break, with the new dates expected to run from March 27th to April 2nd. Students who signed up for the course originally planned to travel during the Thanksgiving break. The trip was postponed due to issues with the government shutdown last October.

Red Rocks, Nevada. Photo” Jacob Slagel ’26.

The Red Rock trip is part of Northwood’s LEAP program, which gives students a chance to step out of regular classes and do hands-on learning. In Red Rocks, the focus is on learning the fundamentals of single- and multi-pitch climbing, with an emphasis on skill-building, safety, and decision-making in the outdoors.

Marley Tracy-Deuss ’27, who is signed up for the trip, said the experience is still something he is looking forward to, even with the schedule change. “I thought it was a really great trip to get to just hang out with other climbers and other people from Northwood on a longer form trip,” Tracy-Deuss said. “It was great to be able to go somewhere where it was warmer and with great climbing.”

Red Rocks, Nevada. Photo” Jacob Slagel ’26.

Tracy-Deuss said he was disappointed when he heard the dates were changing, especially after preparing for a Thanksgiving trip, but he still plans to go.

“You know, it was kind of out of our hands,” he said. “I think it’s kind of a bummer, but, you know, we’re still going to get to go, and it’s still going to be just as good.” He added that even though plans changed, he is still excited to return to Nevada.

Red Rocks, Nevada. Photo” Jacob Slagel ’26.

“I was definitely, like, a little disappointed, because I had prepared to go during Thanksgiving,” Tracy-Deuss said. “But, you know, plans change. I’m so looking forward to getting out there.” With the trip now expected to take place during spring break, students will need to plan around travel days on either end of the week, depending on the final itinerary.

Filed Under: Northwood Life

Learning About Artemis Moon Mission

February 10, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

NASA’s Artemis program is NASA’s plan to send astronauts back to the moon and use what they learn there to prepare for future missions deeper into space. On NASA’s Artemis II mission page, NASA states that the mission is planned as a crewed lunar flyby, with four astronauts orbiting the Moon for approximately 10 days, using the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft. The page also lists the launch timing as no earlier than March 2026.

NASA has been running major tests ahead of the mission. In a Feb. 3 update on NASA’s missions blog, NASA said it completed a wet dress rehearsal, a full-fueling test meant to catch problems before launch. In the same set of updates, NASA reported that the test countdown was halted due to a liquid hydrogen leak, and teams worked to save the vehicle and drain the tanks.

Even with a program as large as Artemis, not every student is following the details closely. Cooper Plotts ’26 said he had not heard about the Artemis program before this week. After learning that NASA is preparing to send astronauts back toward the moon, Plotts said it sounds like a rare experience for the crew. “It’d be a pretty cool experience for them to be able to go back up and experience it,” he said.

Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

Plotts said the return to the moon feels exciting, even if it is not something he hears about every day. “It feels exciting but also distant,” he said. Still, Plotts said space exploration matters because there is much humans do not yet know. “There’s still so much we don’t know,” he said.

Plotts also has a personal connection to launches from growing up in Florida. He visited Kennedy Space Center on an elementary school field trip and saw a rocket launch that same day. Plotts described how the rocket seemed to move slowly at first, then looked faster as it rose through clouds and disappeared from view. “That was a really cool experience,” he said.

NASA describes Artemis as a long-term exploration campaign focused on returning to the moon for science and technology development while building experience for future missions to Mars, according to NASA’s main Artemis overview page. For Plotts, learning about Artemis made future launches feel more worth following, especially because launches can sometimes be visible from far away in Florida.

Filed Under: Real World

Frigid Temps Hit Lake Placid

February 1, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

Photo of frozen noodles outside campus. Photo by Jacob Slagel ’26.

This week’s cold and storms have made basic routines harder around Northwood and Lake Placid. For some students, the biggest problem has been getting to school safely. For others, it has been the short walks between buildings that suddenly feel longer when the wind picks up.

Luke Monaco ’27 said the roads near school and around Lake Placid have been rough. “It was tough to get to school and back home,” Monaco said. He explained that one night, he chose to stay over rather than drive. “I had to spend the night because the roads were too bad to drive that, and I was worried I wouldn’t get home in one piece,” he said. Monaco described the roads as “unplowed,” with “a lot of ice and snow,” and said they looked “very slippery.” His advice for anyone driving is to be patient. “Drive very slow and stay alert, because it’s really hard to stop and turn,” he said. He also added that day students should not feel pressured to take risks. “If you’re a day student at Northwood, feel free to stay over,” Monaco said.

Marley Tracy-Deuss ’27, also a day student, said the cold has been noticeable even once students make it to campus. “It’s been really cold walking between classes,” he said. His main reminder was basic but honest. “You’ve got to remember to wear a jacket,” he said. He also mentioned layering for anyone who is outside more than a quick walk. “Wear layers,” he said.

The National Weather Service forecast for Lake Placid shows why the week has felt so intense. The forecast included an Extreme Cold Warning for Friday morning, with below-zero temperatures and dangerous wind chills. The same forecast shows the cold continuing through the weekend, with very low overnight temperatures and daytime highs staying near or below freezing.

Looking ahead, the National Weather Service forecast suggests it will remain cold, even if it warms slightly early next week. It won’t be a quick return to normal; it’ll be just a small step up from the worst of it.

For students, the takeaway has been pretty simple. If the roads look bad, take it slow, check the conditions before you leave, and do not force a drive if it does not feel safe. If you are walking between buildings, dress for the cold even if you are only outside for a few minutes. As Tracy-Deuss put it, “wear a jacket,” and do not treat it like a typical winter day.

Filed Under: Northwood Life, Top Story

Another Northern Lights Sighting in Lake Placid

January 26, 2026 by Jacob Slagel

Photo of the northern lights over the school on January 20, 2026, by Jacob Slagel ’26.

A faint glow of the northern lights showed up over Lake Placid recently, giving Northwood students and faculty a rare chance to see the aurora without leaving campus. The lights weren’t super clear for everyone, but enough people noticed and stepped outside, looked from dorm windows, or tried taking a few quick photos.

Max Mortimer ’29 said he mostly saw the lights from the field and from his window. He said it was not a full, bright display, but it was still different from anything he had seen before. “I’ve never really seen anything like that, because, like in the city, that stuff doesn’t really happen,” Mortimer said. He added that if it happens again, people should make the effort to go outside and see it. “If it’s happening, you should probably try to see it,” he said. Mortimer also suggested taking pictures and dressing for the cold, since it was easy to forget the temperature once people started looking up.

Soccer coach Mr. Jose Coss said seeing the northern lights is always exciting, even when conditions are not perfect. He said he saw the northern lights last year as well and thought they were clearer then. Coss explained that light pollution can make the aurora harder to see with your eyes, which is why some people can only pick it up through a phone camera. Still, he said it is worth stepping outside. “It’s a natural phenomenon that you don’t get to see often, and can’t see everywhere in the world,” Coss said.

Coss said he found out about the lights while he was in the fitness center, when someone told him to go outside. He said the sky was also a little cloudy that night, which made viewing harder. Even so, the aurora gave people a reason to stop what they were doing and look up for a few minutes.