Five days a week we go to school and unless it’s a half day or field trip, we’re counting down the seconds til we get out. Even when we’re in school, we’re groaning and bashing our heads against the desk over how boring it is. But there are girls out there that only
wish they have the education we’re offered. Before winter break, the senior class had to watch a documentary called Girl Rising by Richard E. Robins. Before, the only positive thought I had about watching this film was that I got to get out of class. But after watching, I felt incredibly guilty. Being a girl especially, it was heartbreaking to watch. Women are completely undermined in many parts of the world; we’re viewed as being below men. Sixty-six million girls are out of school and 33 million fewer girls than boys are in primary school. Sadly, we didn’t watch the full film, what we watched the stories of three.

The first girl was Wadley, 7 years old, from Haiti. She loved going to school, then a chaotic earthquake struck her home and school. She ended up having to live in a refugee camp with her mother who was desperately trying to make money to support her. Wadley’s spirit was instantly lifted when her school was about to reopen. Unfortunately, her mother couldn’t afford to pay for school so when Wadley tried to stay in class, she was asked to leave. But that wasn’t the end for Wadley: she kept going back to the school and being asked to leave. This went on for days, until one day when the teacher asked Wadley to leave again, she refused. She said she would keep coming back every day, and finally the teacher gave in and let her stay.

I thought the second girl had the most powerful story. Her name is Amina from Afghanistan. When she was born, her mother cried not because of how beautiful she was, but because she wished she would’ve given birth to a son instead. In Afghan society, Amina is confined by her gender and expected only to serve men. She was only allowed to go to school for a few years. Amina was then forced into a marriage, a cousin that her parents choose for her when she was only 13 years old. She gave birth a year later.  She is now restricted to wear clothing that reveals only her eyes. Amina is fed up with this lifestyle; she knows there is more to life than serving men. Amina demands change and encourages others in her society to be that change like she will be.

The last girl is Senna from Peru. Living in a bleak Peruvian mining town, poverty is extremely rampant. Her father encouraged Senna to be a success in life and insisted that she went to school. While at school, she discovered the power of poetry. She loved to write
and recite poems, they made her feel powerful. She even won a poetry contest. Senna also had a job and could add the earnings in her head faster than a calculator. Senna realized that the fortune her father always talked about was buried inside her all along, just like
the gold inside the mines. Today, Senna is now in secondary school and is the Treasurer Brigadier of her class.

Girls deserve an education just as much as boys. Educating girls is one of the highest returns on investment available in the developing world. When girls are educated, they get married later, have healthier children and will value educating their own children. A girl
with even one extra year of education can earn 20 percent more as an adult. Educating girls is the fastest way to end generational poverty and help grow communities. But sadly, because of many countries being in a state of poverty and school not being free, families generally only have enough money to send one child to school. The parents always choose to send the boy over the girl.

As I said earlier, after watching the film I felt incredibly guilty. We complain about going to school on a daily basis, while these girls are desperate and eager to go to school. School is also free here. Women can have a big impact on society just as much as men. Women are men are equal, because we’re all human.

Sadly, the end of the holidays means the beginning of winter — real winter, that is. There are no more festive lights to illuminate the long, cold nights, no weekend parties to liven up the bleak weeks. Winter is a great excuse to curl up with a good book, however, or do the next best thing . . . Netflix. With so many anticipated movies and albums debuting in 2015, I’m pretty sure that stack of books by my bad will be untouched until spring. So here we go, grab a mug of hot chocolate and settle in for some great new flicks!

Movies

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron: America’s favorites are at it again including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Captain America (Chris Evans) battling with the evil robot Ultron (voiced by James Spader) for, you know, the entire world. The movie premieres on May 1st and, based on the preview, will most likely be awesome.

2. St. James Place: Steven Spielberg directs and Tom Hanks stars in this cold war thriller that involves a lawyer tasked with negotiating the release of a pilot shot down over the Soviet Union. Due out in early October, this project by two Hollywood veterans is sure to be a good pastime on a rainy day.

3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2: Katniss, played by the flawless Jennifer Lawrence, is out of the arena and into the fire. The district’s champion must lead her underdog army against the all-powerful Capitol and its villainous ruler President Snow (Donald Sutherland).  The sequel opens in theaters on November 20th. If the second part is even half as good as the first, this movie will definitely be worth the wait.

4. Joy: Jennifer Lawrence (once again!) and David O. Russell pair up for the third time to recreate the life of Joy Mangano, the real-life inventor of the Miracle Mop. The movie is already an Oscar contender, and was released on Christmas day. Let’s be honest, I just really love Jennifer Lawrence, but come on, who doesn’t??

5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: JJ Abrams sets his directing eye on a galaxy far, far away with this movie. The cast includes original stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford alongside new additions John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson. Appearing in the universe this December, the world will witness how Harrison Ford is in his seventies and still kicking butt.

Music

1. Coldplay –A Head Full of Dreams: In late 2015, this British band will release what could be their final album. Speaking to the BBC last month, singer Chris Martin described the new album as their last. “We haven’t told anyone this, but we’re making an album called A Head Full of Dreams. We’re right in the middle of it,” he said. “I have to think of it as the final thing we’re doing. Otherwise we wouldn’t put everything into it.” Don’t be too broken up over this grand finale though. Coldplay will tour their new album for another year.

2. Kanye West: The great Yeezy gave fans a new year’s gift by releasing Only One, the first single from his new album. The track is an ode to his late mother and features Paul McCartney on backing vocals and piano. It is the only clue we have about what to expect from Kanye’s seventh album, which is supposed to be more toned down than 2013’s Yeezus. West’s co-writer, the rapper Malik Yusef, described the songs to Rolling Stone magazine as being “like a pair of Timberlands – like how Timberlands are not quite leather and not quite suede.” Who knows what that means? I’m just hoping he brings baby North on tour.

3. Kendrick Lamar: His second album Good Kids was embraced by everyone from hip-hop fans to hipsters, and Kendrick’s follow-up is the most eagerly awaited rap album of the year. He probably knows this, and he and producer Dr. Dre have been working hard in the studio to record more than 40 songs. People are eagerly awaiting this album, the real question is, Ken he live up to the hype? (lol)

4. Lorde: When she was 16, her hit song Royals invaded every radio station my car can play, and her album Pure Heroine found itself on every 2013 end-of-year album list, even topping The New York Times’ critics picks. As a result, her newest venture is eagerly awaited by millions of fans. Lorde promised something that sounds “totally different.” However it sounds, I bet I will definitely be praising the Lorde when I hear her newest tunes.

Check out some recordings of both the Band and Choral Holiday concerts posted by Mr. Ryerson! https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9CGbyxjnpzeY1o0ZE9ELVcybDg&authuser=0

The first Band concert of the year was Thursday, December 18th, and it also marked Mr. Harden’s debut as Band Director here at HHS. After an awesome marching season, people were excited to hear what the band could produce in a concert setting. The Band certainly did not disappoint! Concert Band, Percussion Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble were the groups to perform that night, each putting their own spin on Christmas music.

Concert Band started off with a medley of famous Christmas carols including Silent Night and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Right after, they played Seal Lullaby, which was meant to be the slow song of the show. Mr. Schnelle was featured on the piano for that song and, for everyone in the audience, it was quite the musical treat. After that, the band played the Nutcracker suite. Any musician would agree that this piece is challenging, but it was quite the feeling to hear the audience raving about the Band’s performance. Finally, Concert Band played Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson. I can guarantee that you have heard this song on the radio. The pressure of everyone knowing the song you are about to play was certainly there but it was amazing to hear how well it came out.

Concert Band has around 60 students and includes freshmen through seniors. One of the awesome things about Concert Band, in my opinion, is that it includes anyone who wants to play. Everyone learns so much about music and it always amazes me how far the Band comes from our first reading of a piece to the final performance during a concert.

Percussion Ensemble also played two songs for the concert. This group meets after school for about an hour once a week and is open to anyone who wants to join. They play drums of all sizes and even mallet instruments. The music they played was truly breathtaking and I really enjoyed it.

Jazz Ensemble ended the concert with some, you guessed it, jazzy Christmas songs. Jazz Ensemble is an audition-based group of about 15 musicians that is meant to emulate a 1930s era big band. They play in concerts and also “gig” at various events in the Hanover area. If you have the opportunity to hear them, they are amazing! Many students had the chance to solo and they all were really good.

Everyone I’ve talked to has raved about the Band’s holiday concert. If you couldn’t make this one, I encourage you to attend the next concert which will feature the songs the Band is going to play during our tour at Williamsburg in the spring. You won’t want to miss it.

Click here to see the program from the concert: HHS Winter Instrumental Concert

Many of us, at one time or another, have wished we could be someone else: someone cooler, smarter, better looking, more popular, whatever. But would we be crazy enough — or, as some people might say, brave enough — to just walk away from everything we know and reinvent ourselves?

After high school junior Christopher Creed disappears, leaving only a cryptic note, the community is left to wonder if he ran away, killed himself or was murdered. Everyone has their own version of what happened. Classmates who saw Chris as an obnoxious weirdo and a target for bullies had no trouble believing he committed suicide even though no body had been found. His parents, certain Chris had been happy and and would never hurt himself or run away, began looking for someone to blame. His neighbor Ali, who saw things from her bedroom window that others didn’t know, wasn’t sure if Chris was dead or alive but was convinced his parents had played a part.

The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci explores not just a teen’s mysterious disappearance but also how one event can ricochet throughout a community. It highlights how gossip, rumors and a belief in reputation over fact can have dangerous consequences. The main character, Torey Adams, is one of the students who paid little attention to Chris Creed — except for the time he punched Chris for touching his guitar (seems most of the boys in Chris’ class have their own memory of punching him). But after Chris disappears, Torey starts to feel guilty about the careless rumors and insensitive jokes of his friends and their parents. With the help of Ali and Bo, a kid from the “wrong side” of town whose police record makes him a suspect in Chris’ disappearance, Torey begins tracking down clues in hopes of solving the mystery. As the belief that Chris may have run away to create a new identity takes hold in Torey’s mind, he comes to the realization that everyone, no matter their reputation or differences, deserves some compassion. The climax in an Indian burial ground is as surprising as it is terrifying, but still leaves more questions than answers.

I recommend this book to mystery lovers, who will enjoy putting the pieces together as they are revealed bit by bit in flashbacks. But I also think all readers can relate to the gossip mill that is high school, and the pressures from parents and peers on teens that don’t fit in. The book is 276 pages long but not a difficult read.

I would say that the best thing about Christmas is all of those beloved Christmas songs you hear every second on every single radio station. But on Thursday, December 11th, the three choirs (Concert Chorus, VOX and Chorale) of HHS made those Christmas songs go from tiresome to delightful once again.

Being a member of concert chorus, I can personally say that the best word for the process of becoming performance ready is this: chaos! We had very little time to prepare and our Chorus director, Mr. John Schnelle, is still a noobie learning the ropes here at HHS.

But despite these setbacks, the concert was amazing.

The evening started off with the tradition of VOX singing “Carol of the Bells,” which always sounds beautiful. Chorale sang alongside Concert Chorus’s traditional Christmas songs such as “Sleigh Ride,” “Do You Hear What I Hear,” “Silver Bells” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Though there were some minor mistakes in “Silver Bells,”,they did not distract from the overall joyous sounds of the carols. As Mr. Schnelle says, “Make lots of mistakes, I’d rather have you make lots of confident mistakes than no sound at all.”

Then VOX stepped away from conventional Christmas songs and sang “A Ceremony of Carols.” This exquisite collection of poems portrays the birth of Jesus. The mood of the carols vary, ranging from the lightheartedness of Mary holding Jesus in her arms to the coldness of God fighting against the dark forces of Satan. The finale ends the way it began, with an overall sense of joyful closure. VOX was able to depict all of these emotions perfectly; fantastic job ladies!

The concert ended with a sing-a-long of “Joy To The World” and “Silent Night.” All members of the audience were encouraged to sing along and sure enough, the performers were not the only ones singing. The tradition of asking the alumni to join the choruses on stage once again added to the spirit of the sing-a-long. As for the grand finale, for the first time in HHS, the tradition of the choruses singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” had a twist. The HHS chamber wind band accompanied the choirs for an extraordinary blend of music. It really gave the powerful sound the “Hallelujah Chorus” demands.

An awesome job all around to everyone in the music department, I can’t wait to attend the band concert — hopefully now, people won’t be moaning about Christmas coming around the corner.

UPDATE: We now have the program from the concert. Click here to see it: HHS Winter Choral Concert.

She’s straightened her hair, she’s moved to Manhattan and she’s released a pop album.  Taylor Swift has changed a lot in the past few years and nothing reflects this more than her new album, 1989.

For many years we have known Taylor as the sweet, emotional, country girl whose album covers featured her flowing curls and innocent face. Much like the girl, the music on those albums was also sweet, emotional and country.  The songs had many singer/songwriter melodies with a banjo, and truck references thrown in to emphasize the whole country aspect of her albums. However, after the first record, each became increasingly more pop. Her penultimate album, Red, stretched so far into pop territory that it featured mellow dub-step influences.  Yet, it was still performed at country music award shows and followed by Luke Bryan songs on various radio stations.  Now, eight years since Taylor took over the radio and earned the worship of millions of girls, she has made the bold move to completely abandon any country ties with 1989.

The album is entitled 1989 for two reasons.  The first being that it was the year its creator was born.  Second, the music is said to be inspired by a various ’80s icons, such as David Bowie and Madonna. In fact,the album cover was made to emulate one of Bowie’s.  To the majority of her listeners that were born in the ’90s, the music sounds like the indie style pop music of today.  Songs like Out of The Woods  and Wish You Would sound remarkably similar to current pop band The Bleachers.  Also, songs like Bad Blood clearly are influenced by Taylor’s good friend Lorde. But her ability to combine these influences with her own personal voice makes these songs unique.

1989 differs not only in style, but subject matter as well.  Swift is well-known for her songs about relationships that spur fans to sing their hearts out after a successful first date or a devastating last date.  These songs have been criticized as melodramatic, far too emotional and immature.  Perhaps as a demonstration as her developed maturity, Taylor strays away from this subject.  There are still several love-sick songs, but they are much less “why me”  and more “this is the way it is.”  This is shown through the lyrics in Blank Space: “So it’s gonna be forever, or we’re gonna go down in flames. You can tell me when it’s over, if the  high was worth the pain.”  She also explores more themes of self development and the excitements that her new life offers.  The songs reflect a far more independent and, I think, better role model than before.

There is one feature of 1989 that strongly relates to her previous albums.  All of them provide a clear picture of their lyricist.  Taylor writes as though she is within the privacy of her own diary  and, because of that, she has never lost the deeply personal voice that touches millions. I can’t wait to hear what else that voice has to say.

Check out her latest video.

Sixteen-year-old Lydia Lee appears to have it all. She spends hours on the phone each evening, talking to friends. She dives into advanced science classes in the hopes of one day becoming a doctor. She’s polite to her parents, agreeing to their every request without so much as a grumble or complaint.

But, as her family is soon to find out, picture-perfect Lydia is only an illusion. When she goes missing and is found dead, drowned in a local lake, her family struggles to understand what happened. They eventually realize that everything they thought they knew about Lydia was wrong.

In Everything I Never Told You, author Celeste Ng explores what it’s like to be a minority. Lydia’s father was the only Chinese-American student in all of his schools growing up. Her white mother was the sole woman pursuing a medical degree in a time most people thought women went to college only to catch a husband. Their biracial marriage in the 1950s was rare, and in some states, illegal. In the town where Lydia grew up in the 1970s, there is no one outside of her family who looks like her. In all of their experiences, being the minority meant facing taunts, isolation and limited opportunities.

Those limited opportunities haunted Lydia’s parents, who transferred all of their hopes and dreams onto her. Lydia struggled under the weight of their expectations, creating a public face that masked her unhappiness and insecurity. While readers are shown what is going through each character’s mind — during the current investigation into Lydia’s death and in the decades before — it is clear that the family members never shared their experiences and feelings with one another. If they had, maybe they could have helped one another. Or maybe they would have been further weighed down with guilt and shame. We’ll never know. And while readers learn what Lydia was thinking the night she died, her parents and siblings never do. They are left with countless questions that they will never be able to answer.

This is not a happy book, but it is an interesting one. Reading about the experiences of Lydia and her family through their eyes brought home the challenges faced by anyone who feels isolated or unaccepted because of their race, religion or sexual orientation. Some of us will never experience this firsthand. Books like this help us better understand what others may be going through.

Another plus is that the book is written like a mystery, with the opening line telling us “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” Pieces of the puzzle are slowly revealed as the author alternates between present time and the past.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic fiction about families or mysteries that aren’t necessarily about detectives and crimes. Fans of Ellen Hopkins’ books may also like this. Even though it is not written in verse, it is the same kind of story of dysfunctional families and survivors of tragedy that Hopkins often writes about.

As the cold weather approaches, I know I find myself anywhere but outside when it comes to staying warm! Don’t get me wrong, I love the winter, but without the beach, the pool, or even the backyard to chill out, I grow bored with my surroundings. Where does one go for excitement during such a cold season?!

Might I suggest . . .  Patriot Cinemas?

For you fellow students who may not know of Patriot Cinemas, it is the Hanover movie theater! I don’t know about you, but I sure remember going to the movies all the time back in middle school. Why not pay them another visit this holiday season? Sometimes it does get a bit cold in the theaters, but throw on a fleece jacket with some fuzzy socks and boots and you’ll be good to go!

Located right behind the Hanover mall at 1775 Washington Street, the theater has all of your ‘need-to-see’ movies for this season. Currently showing “Horrible Bosses 2,” “Penguins of Madagascar” (showing in both 3D and 2D based upon your preference), “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1,” “Dumb and Dumber to” (no, that is not a misspelling of “two”), “Big Hero 6,” and so many other great options! Check out the rest of the shows online at patriotcinemas.com. You can check out the shows coming soon, or you can even buy your tickets right from the website. If only you could buy the popcorn and snacks online too!

Did I mention the beyond affordable cost for the movie tickets???

Adults– $9.50
Children under 12 – $6.50
Seniors (65 & over) – $6.50
Daily Bargain Matinees until 6:00pm– All Seats $6.50
SUPER TUESDAYS !! All Seats for All Shows – $5.00
(3D Movies – $2.50 Premium Fee for all Admissions)

Close your eyes and imagine the smell of buttery popcorn, the sweet flavor of the cherry ice slushies, the delectable taste of cheesy nachos, and the anticipation of the movie you’re about to view. Sounds good to me! Looks like I’m going to be seeing a movie this upcoming Tuesday! How could I skip out on a $5 movie ticket!?!? Now all I need is somebody to go with . . . any takers?

Warning: Contains spoilers if you have not yet seen Mockingjay or read the books.

In the eyes of many, the third installment of The Hunger Games did not disappoint. Theaters everywhere hosted 8 pm, 10 pm and midnight premieres which fans attended, both dressed up as characters and clad in pajamas per usual. For myself, I sported a t-shirt with the widely known symbol of the mockingjay glistening in gold, surrounded by flames. According to online sources, including insidemovies.com, Mockingjay conquered the weekend’s ticket sales, and may possibly be the biggest opening of the year. While being compared to previous films as not grossing enough money in its opening weekend, the film itself was as spectacular as the original Hunger Games and its sequel, Catching Fire.

Mockingjay is emotion-evoking not only because  of the context and plot that dedicated fans will already know (a rebellion against the tyrannical Capitol), but with Katniss’ pleas for peace, humanity, and justice for her fellow victor, Peeta, who was left behind when she was rescued from the Quarter Quell. Even non-readers of the book can have their heartstrings pulled during the powerful District 8 scene, when Katniss visits a hospital of wounded only to see it bombed moments later by Capitol forces. The moment is empowering to Katniss, making it clear to her that she is the one who needs to bring justice to the people, and, more importantly, that she is capable of doing so.

We see a wide variety of both new and old characters in the film, including President Coin, the leader of District 13, who was reluctant to belief Katniss could lead the rebellion, but did not come across as resistant and suspicious as she did in the book. Gale, who was celebrated as a hero for rescuing many people before District 12 was destroyed, was eager to join the fight but still stood in support of a sometimes fragile, traumatized Katniss. A battered Peeta, whose scars from the Capitol’s torture grew worse as the movie went on, was a crushing sight for many fans.

Colleen Dowd, an HHS student in attendance at the Patriot Cinemas 8 pm premiere, has never read the third book of the series but is a “huge fan of the character Finnick.” Devastated that the woman he loves is being held by the Capitol after his escape, Finnick struggles to hold himself together and then delivers a crushing blow to the evil President Snow. (spoiler alert: Mockingjay Part 2 is not going to leave Colleen very happy)

During the highly emotional scenes, it was hard not to hear the intake of breaths from many fans and viewers in the theater. Junior Annika Rowland, a fan of the series and a bibliophile says, “I thought Mockingjay was great, except there was not much action compared to the last two films, in my opinion. I’m looking forward to seeing the second part of Mockingjay.”

Mockingjay followed the recent trend of splitting the final, highly anticipated last film adaptation in a book series into two, such as Harry Potter and Twilight. Viewers are in store for a lot of tears, and a lot of action, when the final installment of the movie premieres next November.