At the Credit for Life Fair, HHS seniors got a taste of the financial decisions — and pitfalls — they will face as adults. After choosing a profession, students were required to visit 15 booths to calculate how much they might spend on everything from rent and insurance to cable and groceries. Students also had to decide how they would pay for it all. After making their choices, students met with a credit counselor to determine whether their budget was sound or left them with a pile of debt. Students who ended with a negative balance had to rethink their choices and try again.

Organized by HHS teachers Stacey Pereira and Brian Ciccolo, the goal of the March 29th event was to expose students to what life will be like after they leave college — and the protective cocoon provided by their parents. The fair encourages students to think about financial goals, weigh needs versus wants, track spending and limit debt, all important factors which will determine whether they will be able to thrive as independent young adults. Many 18- to 34-year-olds struggle with this; in 2015, 34 percent of them still lived at home.

The fair was sponsored by Coastal Heritage Bank, PAR Advisory Group, MA Financial Education Innovation Fund, South Shore Business Checks & Printing, and Winbrook. Many volunteers from the community and school district also supported the event. The keynote speaker was Michelle Kelly, CEO and President of Xpressman Trucking & Courier, who shared her experiences of running a business.

More pictures of the fair

Thousands of students from schools across the country left class at ten in the morning on Wednesday, March 14 to take a stand on gun violence. This national movement was meant to memorialize the 17 victims of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting and advocate for more stringent gun policies. The organization primarily involved in promoting the walkout was EMPOWER, a division of Women’s March run by adolescents. EMPOWER helped students organize walkouts at their schools by offering tool kits with information on the legal rights of students, steps to logistically organize the event, and respectful ways to ask for sanction from administration.

At Hanover High School, seniors Mikaela Murphy and Maddy Carroll took action to organize a walkout for interested high school students. After Mikaela and Maddy sent out information on Facebook and other social media, Mikaela met with Mr. Paquette to discuss her plan to facilitate a walkout for Hanover students. Mr. Paquette helped Mikaela organize the walkout by planning to ring a bell at 10 AM, the time at which students across the country would leave class that Wednesday. Students and teachers interested in memorializing the lives of those lost to gun violence or hoping to advocate for stricter gun control policies would leave the building under the protection of the Hanover police. Those who were not interested in taking part could meet in the gym under additional adult supervision.

Unfortunately, Hanover Public Schools closed on Wednesday, March 14, due to the snowstorm that week. Though invested Hanover students did not have the opportunity to participate in the nationwide walkout, the efforts of the student body and administration to allow Hanover students to participate were truly inspiring. Not all students and staff wished to participate in the walkout or see changes made to gun laws, but those who did were given the chance to express their views democratically. There is also no shortage of footage of walkouts that did take place that day: thousands of students across the country were able to step out of class to protest gun laws or honor students who died in tragedies such as the Parkland shooting. Students in Boston, whose classes were cancelled that day, still convened to march to the State House and voice their concerns. This past Saturday, March 24, students had another opportunity to voice their opinions on the issue of gun control—cities across the country including Boston and Plymouth participated in the “March for Our Lives” rally to protest current gun policies. Though the American public is certainly not in unanimous agreement about this contentious political issue, it is remarkable to see so many individuals standing up to fight for change.

Sources:
Andone, Dakin. “What You Need to Know about the National School Walkout.” CNN, Cable News Network, 12 Mar. 2018, http://www.cnn.com/2018/03/11/us/national-school-walkout-march-14/index.html.
Carissimo, Justin, and Thom Craver. “March for Our Lives 2018 — Live Blog.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 24 Mar. 2018, http://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/march-for-our-lives-2018-03-24-live-stream-updates-today/.
Yee, Vivian, and Alan Blinder. “National School Walkout: Thousands Protest Against Gun Violence Across the U.S.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Mar. 2018, http://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/us/school-walkout.html

Featured photo from the Boston Herald

Partnership in Art students, led by Mrs. Curley, asked the student body and faculty at HHS for help to Spread the Word to End the Word. By signing a chain link, HHS pledged to show respect, value, accept, and include everyone. The links were attached together and hung in the cafeteria March 7 to show how embracing our differences connect us all.

“Hearing the R-Word makes people with intellectual disabilities, and those who love them, feel like less valued members of humanity,” Mrs. Curley said. “Be an advocate for respect and inclusion by joining us in the on-going campaign to stop the use of the R-word and pledge Respect for everyone.”

Together we can create a community of acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities, and for everyone.

Hanover High School drama students shone as they performed and hosted the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild Competition on March 3. Hundreds of students from eight schools converged on HHS for the daylong event, each performing a timed play before a panel of judges. The top three schools moved to the next round and one step closer to the state competition.

HHS students performed A Day in the Garden, written by junior John Salvucci and senior Olivia Norris. It is an original take on the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. While the METG judges did not choose the play for the next round, students Elise Falvey, Fred Trankels and Cole Fitzpatrick all won acting awards.

“There was such an exciting buzz of positivity between hundreds of teenagers who didn’t know each other previously but all shared a passion for theater,” said Humanities Director Dr. Walsh. “Hanover students were respectful and kind and represented our community and school with class.”

Parents, students and teachers volunteered throughout the day to time the plays, serve lunch and dinner, and host a dance that capped off the night.

Photos courtesy of Peggy Linn

Someone in the United States is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds, according to to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), an American organization that works to stop sexual violence (2018). Not only that, the highest percentage of victims of sexual violence are aged 18-34 (RAINN 2018). Therefore, knowing how to defend oneself against sexual assault is not just a helpful precaution, but a skill set that is becoming increasingly important.

In December 2017, Hanover High School piloted a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) Training program to offer female students the opportunity to learn how to defend themselves. Nearly 20 students reported to the gym during school hours for several days to receive training in self-defense from gym teachers and the Hanover Police Department. There will be another training program from March 13th to 15th to offer more students the chance to learn how to protect themselves.

Before bringing the program to Hanover, the HHS PE/ Wellness staff and local resource officer John Voelkel underwent comprehensive training to become certified in female physical defense, according to Mrs Bostwick and Mrs. Della Croce. The objective of the training is “to provide students with self defense knowledge (knowledge is 90% of self defense education) and skills so that if they are ever faced with a situation they will have a variety of escape and counter options at their disposal,” the teachers said. RAD was started at the high school primarily to protect students against sexual attacks. Mrs. Bostwick and Mrs. D added that the program helps bring the community together by involving the Hanover Police Department, and that the training expands the PE/ Wellness curriculum in an important way. Not only does this program prepare women for the future, it is also free of charge.

Though the types of defense strategies are kept confidential to protect the participants of the training, Mrs. Bostwick and Mrs. D. said the defense will help students to feel more capable and ready for whatever might happen in the future. They explained that the training not only teaches physical strategies for protection, but it also grants each participating young women self confidence in knowing that she can protect herself if necessary: “Perhaps one of the best benefits is self-reliance, knowing that you have this inner strength to protect yourself,” the teachers explained.

Kristen Nguyen, an HHS senior who participated in the December RAD training, described how she now feels confident not only in her ability to defend herself while living on a college campus but also in life after graduation. Kristen would recommend the program to other students. “I feel like it’s generally good knowledge to know how to keep yourself safe for college and beyond,” she said. “RAD in general was a welcoming experience to those who might be a bit nervous, and it was fun but also educational.”

In a world where sexual assault statistics are alarmingly high, knowing how to defend oneself provides the confidence and skills to feel safer and more prepared in any situation.

Click here for more information on RAD

People Mourn the Loss of the  Headphone Jack: After Apple removed the headphone jack from its latest iPhone in early 2017, people argued whether it was a beloved, crucial feature or a relic of the past. Many felt that removing it and forcing the use of an adapter was unnecessary, while others were ready to embrace the future of wireless headphones. Overall, it seems the public has adjusted and the headphone jack is on its way out.

Digital Assistants Make Themselves at Home: In 2015, Amazon created the smart speaker with its digital assistant Alexa, and since then, the idea has taken off. The adoption rate of these devices – which stream music, search the Internet, and control other in-home devices with simple voice commands – doubled in 2017 and is increasing steadily into 2018.  Alexa remains the most popular, but other companies are trying to catch up. Google released a miniature version of its Home in October and Apple is going to release its HomePod at some point soon. Overall, it shows how technology is leaving our pockets and making itself at home in our living rooms.

Net Neutrality is No More: Mid-December marked the end for Net Neutrality,  the law that prohibited Internet providers from varying  speeds for different websites. Republicans argued the law limited the  competition which could lead to cheaper Internet plans. Democrats insisted that, without the law,  Internet providers have too much power and could slow down or impose fees on websites.  It’ll be interesting to see how the Internet changes in 2018.

Trump Embraces Twitter: Throughout President Trump’s first year in office, he’s made consistent – and controversial – use of Twitter. Trump prefers to communicate directly with the people instead of relying on what he calls “fake news.”  It is a huge change for an American president to rely so heavily on social media. Trump supporters love his straight talk, but critics say his unfiltered tweets are a danger, At one point, people even claimed Trump should be banned from Twitter for breaking its terms of service by “bullying.” Twitter responded that banning world leaders would be wrong, since Twitter is a way for them to reach so many people.

Equifax Hack Leaves Millions at Risk: September was not a good month for credit check company Equifax and its customers. Hackers accessed the personal information of 143 million Americans, including names, addresses, and social security numbers. This reminded us that no technology is truly secure –although the head of security at a company safeguarding millions of American’s information probably should have more than a music degree.

 Apple Stumbles Through Battery-Gate: Sneaking into the news in the last week of 2017, it was discovered that Apple was slowing down iPhones that have older batteries. This came after years of talk about Apple and “planned obsolescence.” The company released a statement saying they only slowed down phones with older batteries to prevent the phones from unexpectedly shutting down. They insisted the problem could be fixed by replacing the phone’s battery, and offered to do it at a discount.  If Apple had only been honest from the start, the company would have avoided tons of bad publicity.

Being a magician is not much different from being an entrepreneur, New England Patriots magician John Logan told Hanover High School students in a presentation Dec. 19. Logan, who graduated from Hanover High School in 2012, has since accomplished impressive feats such as earning a degree from Bryant University, publishing a book called “The Perfect Illusion: Life,” and developing his many skills performing magic.

During his time on stage, Logan related the role of the magician to the role that each Hanover student will one day take on– that of thinking like an entrepreneur. Both the magician and the entrepreneur must think of solutions to problems, share their ideas with an audience, and revise their ideas based on feedback. Regardless of the career that students will pursue, Logan explained that all of these skills are important to successful problem solving.
In order to illustrate his point, Logan performed magic tricks demonstrating the steps in the process of developing an idea. By starting with a simple trick and ending with a trick that involved many variables, Logan showed how an idea can be revised and expanded.

One of the first tricks that Logan performed was a card trick, calling a student up to the stage to select a card from a deck and correctly guessing the one card that she had chosen. By the end of the show, Logan’s tricks showed how to both involve the audience and use many different factors to perform an elaborate trick. Logan’s last trick was the most complex, using the input of over five students. First, he called up two students to the stage and asked for a digit in each of their phone passwords. Logan then asked several volunteers in the audience to call out their birth dates. Finally, Logan asked the students on stage to compute the phone digit and birth date numbers in a designated way, resulting finally in the number 121917– the exact day of Logan’s performance on December 19, 2017.

One of the most incredible tricks that Logan performed involved his seemingly magical ability to guess the first word on a random page in a lengthy book. First, Logan asked one student in the audience to take a book of her choice. He then asked another student to randomly select a page number for the first student to flip to in the book. After the first student saw the first word on the selected page, Logan then tried to guess what it could be by observing the first student’s body language. He observed clues such as whether she moved right or left and asked her questions about her various personal preferences, such as her celebrity crush. Miraculously, Logan arrived at the correct word with this information alone.

Like all magicians, John Logan never explained exactly how he was able to perform his tricks. However, throughout his performance Logan stressed one unifying point that holds for magic and life in general. He explained that in order to think creatively, it is important to remind oneself that what seems impossible may well be possible. He expressed that though it may have seemed impossible to know the destination of an airplane flying overhead just 10 years ago, it is now possible to know this information in a matter of seconds with Siri. In the same way, Logan’s tricks may have seemed impossible but are in fact feasible. Both inventions like Siri and convincing magic tricks begin with one idea and are developed step-by-step into something that once seemed unimaginable. Relating magic to entrepreneurship and creative thinking, Logan was able to teach Hanover students about solving future problems of all kinds.

• Peter Bell, Composition
• Dan Butka, Concert Band
• Madison Carroll, Chorus
• Bridget Fairweather, Chorus
• Kyle Knight, Chorus
• Mikenzie Matheson, Chorus
• Joe Mignosa, Composition
• Erica Perry, Concert Band
• Jameson Sheridan, Chorus
• Jake Sledziewski, Concert Band
• Fred Trankels, Chorus