The HHS STEM Fair: a battle of smarts and mastery of the properties of science, technology, engineering and math.

This year at the fair participants were scarce but the work was immense. Fresh foods versus frozen foods: who will come out on top? The Peppermint Effect: I don’t even know how this dope-ish idea works, but hell, it’s science. Hungry Venus fly traps: how do they eat? These were just some of the projects that students created and presented at HHS’ fair on Feb. 11

Ever have a tummy ache from too much scientific process? Well, junior Jill Drummy has the answer on which antacid is going to help you most.  Her project found that Tagamet  is the most potent and effective antacid because it comes in various forms: pill, liquid, and injection. It is also a prescription antacid which is why it is so powerful. So if your gourd’s in a knot, pop a couple of Tagament and you’ll feel as good as new. The worst, or least effective, antacid Drummy found is Rolaids. In addition to not doing the job, the brand has been recalled multiple times due to quality control, most recently in 2010. So don’t buy them basically.

The Peppermint Effect, a project by freshmen Michaela Murphy and Yasmina Burkat, tested human reaction time when smelling peppermint, with the theory being that people can react faster when they’re exposed to minty goodness. Freshman Sierra Little-Gill conducted an experiment on composting with worms, and junior Annika Rowland tested musicians’ perception of music.

Murphy, Burkat, Little-Gill and Rowland may advance to the regional round of the science fair, according to Ms. Emerson, anatomy and biology teacher and coordinator of the fair.

Besides dissecting animals, Ms. Emerson is also very good at dissecting my questions and giving me answers! Ms. Emerson thought the fair went very well, although she would have loved if more people participated (hint, hint). She loved the amount of support that the fair received from the community as well. Her favorite project was one on the Venus fly trap, which described how the carnivorous plant digests along with its other functions.

The HHS Robotics Club is going to be competing in the Botball New England regional competition at UMass Lowell on March 28. This year will mark our second year of participating in this particular competition. The goal of the competition is to use a standard robot kit in order to complete challenges that change every year. The hard part is that team members are not allowed to remotely control the robot in any way; the program has to be entirely autonomous. Speaking from personal experience, that task is just about as hard as it sounds. But it’s ultimately rewarding in the end.

Last year was a learning experience for Hanover’s nascent robotics team. We were only able to successfully complete a few of the many challenges that the competition required. Even without taking home a first place trophy, we were able to learn enough about how the competition worked to be able to be competitive this year.

This year, the robot has to complete a series of tasks that involve moving objects around a court made of PVC piping. It’s roughly the size of four classroom desks. The robot pushes around several colored pom poms and also has to move ping pong balls into a basket that is about a foot and a half off of the ground. As I’m sure you can imagine, the robot becomes very complex very quickly. Yet, there is no feeling like the feeling you get when it all finally works.

Now since competition season is upon us, Robotics Club is looking for new members to join. You don’t need to have any prior experience with robotics at all and we will show you everything that you need to know. Talk to Mrs. Borgeson in Room 116 or just show up to our meetings every week after school on Tuesdays. We’ll be meeting more often now that the competition season has begun.

Hope to see you there!

Who are the debaters? What do they do? Do we really care? After this article I can assure you that you will . . . maybe, sort of . . .I don’t know . . . just care, alright!

The debate team is an elite society of talkers, speakers and thinkers who specialize in systematically tearing apart other people’s opinions in favor of their own. While that may be a bit dramatized, it’s essentially what they do. The team is given one topic throughout the season to research, discuss, and eventually debate with other teams. This year’s topic is whether or not the U.S. government should increase its non-military exploration or development of the Earth’s oceans. There are two-person teams, one being the affirmative side, and the other being the negative side. The affirmative presents a plan that relates to the topic and argues why it’s a good idea. The plans can be as varied as arguing  we should explore the ocean to find organisms that might cure cancer or that development must stop because of overfishing or pollution. The negative side, which has no idea before the debate what the opponent’s specific plan will be, uses the research they’ve done to argue the plan is a terrible idea. Then once all the teams have had their chance to speak, they can cross-examine each other and offer a rebuttal. Basically the rebuttal is a chance for the team to counter any criticisms its opponent has raised.

Seems fairly simple, right? Wrong, son! This is debate team. They DON’T play around. Debaters must prove that their plan is relevant, addresses a need for change and solves an existing problem. Most importantly, they must explain why, if their plan is so great, no one has already thought of it. So buckle up your seat belts because it’s going to be a very slow, meticulous ride down research alley. Each debate usually lasts about an hour, and teams will have two contests at every meet.

The HHS debaters are led by word wizard Ms. Pavao and the team features some of the most savage cruel debaters such as Erika Nelson aka “The Iron Lady;” Maggie Fuller, otherwise known as “Deathsinger;” Peter Crowley, or as his slain opponents called him in their last breaths, “The Pistol;”  Abby “Lionheart” Lyons, Ava “Heart of Darkness” McWade, Taylor “Diablo Rojo” Grady,  Mary “Thrill Kill” Nevins, Mary “Walking Apocalypse” Mancini, Nicole “Black widow” Zaccardi, and Kelsey “Machete Fiend” Kosak.  Oh, and of course the “Trifecta of Terror:” Greta Barry, Jessica Gardiner and Courtney Ceurvels.

Erika Nelson says she joined Debate Team because she “enjoys public speaking.” Teamed up with “Thrill Kill” Nevins, Erika argues the affirmative side of their case, which she says requires a lot of preparation and revisions throughout the season.

Ms. Pavao says the team is doing really well in its first year, despite most members having never debated before.  “All of the members’ enthusiasm and talent has been exceptional, and I expect our record to only improve next week at our match at Hingham.”

So there you have it, friends. Debate Team is basically the Rough Riders and Mrs. Pavo is DMX. So if you ever feel the urge to stop, drop, shut em down and open up shop, join Debate Team.

Some of you may know my good friend Lia Ehlers. Ehlers might be part of the class of 2018, but she’s far from being the ordinary freshman. Some of you might know her as the girl who embraced the “freshman yellow” on spirit week by painting her entire face yellow.  Others might know her as the #1 ‘Hanover Superfan’ who would do anything to make sure she’s at every Hanover sporting event. But most of you know her as the girl who handed out a thousand papers with her Snapchat username. Ask yourself this question: “What if you, all by yourself, could make a difference in the lives of nearly every HHS student?” Lia Ehlers is trying to do exactly that.

On November 1, 2014, Ehlers was in gym class when she decided she wanted to meet some new people by getting them to add her on Snapchat. She took over 100 index cards, cut them in half, and wrote “add me on Snapchat @liaehlers” on each card. She handed them out, taped them up in the school, wrote it all over whiteboards, and got the word out about her Snapchat account. Before she knew it, all different people started adding her on Snapchat. Upperclassmen she had never even talked to were looking up her username on the app.

When I sat down with the legend herself for an interview, Lia told me that she has gained over 100 friends on Snapchat due to her advertising. After handing out and hanging up papers at school, Lia decided it was time to take her dream  of being “Snapchat-famous” to the next level.

Lia went to the local Hanover movie theater and made sure an “add me on Snapchat @liaehlers” paper found its way into the candy bar display. People from all over Hanover were seeing this name everywhere!

How could you not add this girl?! Thanks to some of Lia’s friends, papers advertising Lia’s Snapchat were being put up at local coffee shops and hangout spots around Hanover.

People were adding Lia Ehlers on Snapchat faster than you could say “add @liaehlers on Snapchat”! When asked why she ever wanted to start advertising her Snapchat to the whole school, Ehlers replied, “I just always wanted to be famous and I wanted everybody to know who I am.” Although she’s definitely made some progress toward achieving her goal, she hasn’t even gotten started in comparison to what she’ll do next. We can’t wait to see how far she goes!

Waking up to the blaring of your alarm on the first Monday back after winter break is probably one of the five worst sounds on the planet. We grudgingly pull ourselves out of the comfort of our cozy beds, and so ends the cherished vacation, the holiday season, and all of the memories made in 2014. This year, as I woke to the obnoxious strumming of my phone at  6 a.m. sharp on that dark January 5th, I decided not to dread the transition back into the regular swing of things, but rather to embrace it. A new year is a time for new opportunities: traveling to Europe, getting fit, finally writing that paper that’s been hanging over your head for months, or maybe even dying your hair pink. Whatever you decide to do this year make it unforgettable, because the world is certainly gearing up for a memorable 2015!

Technology/Science

1. In March, astronaut Scott Kelly will begin his mission to spend a year in space, the longest time ever for a U.S. astronaut. The data collected will show how humans adapt to life in space and will pave the way for exploration of our solar system. I know I’ll be checking his twitter for updates . . . talk about the best vacation ever!

2. The Internet will get faster on our phones in January. Thanks to a new HTML code, instead of loading large image files regardless of the device you’re using, browsers will adapt downloads based on screen size and signal strength. Reduced size of downloads equals reduced time it takes to view them. So, everyone here at HHS will be able to see the few webpages the school hasn’t blocked in record time!

3. Starbucks will debut its new Duracell Powermat mobile-charging pads in stores nationwide. The pads look like high-tech coasters and are built into tables and counters throughout the store. All phones or devices sitting on top of the pads will be charged — no annoying wires in sight.

4. Samsung will start to incorporate foldable screens into some of its phones and tablets by the end of this summer. The screens are as thin as paper, and could lead to phones that expand into tablets, or even tablets that fold up and fit in your pocket. This only means one thing . . . Netflix viewings will become ten times better, of course.

5. In-flight wireless should become truly usable by the end of 2015. AT&T promises to create a wireless network on planes as speedy as the service you receive on the ground by building an air-to-ground LTE network. You’ll be able to use your own data plan instead of buying a Gogo pass, and since you’re no longer sharing with everyone else, it also means you’ll be able to watch video. Selfies at any elevation! Thanks, technology!

6. Through technology and research, medical science is becoming what was once only imagined in science fiction. New drugs that use the immune system to fight cancers of the bladder, lungs, stomach, and skin are in the works, and organs grown from human tissue will hopefully be ready for use on people in the coming year. Is this Grey’s Anatomy or real life?

Sports

1. By opening day on April 6, Major League Baseball will have installed a series of play-by-play cameras and sensors in all 30 ballparks. This new technology will make the game easier to analyze and allow for measurements such as bat speed, player reaction time, and distance covered to make a catch. Maybe this is the excuse I have been waiting for to start watching baseball!

2.Starting with this year’s College World Series June 13 to 24, the NCAA is making the switch to flat-seam baseballs. These balls travel an average of 20 ft more than the typical raised seam balls. More home runs!

3. Beijing’s famous Bird’s Nest stadium will be used in August for the biggest sporting event in China since the 2008 Summer Olympics, the World Athletics Championships. The event, to be held from August 22-30, will see the world’s best athletes compete with each other. Featured among the contenders is the lightning-fast superhuman sprinter  Usain Bolt. It was in the 2009 championships in Berlin that Bolt set new world records in both the 100m and 200m races.

 Environment/Health

1. In the fall, scientists are expected to release a full report showing that the world’s efforts are working and that the hole in the ozone layer has gotten appreciably smaller. The report will come at a meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (the group of nations that signed the treaty in the 1980s to reduce atmosphere-destroying chemicals that big businesses seem to love). I knew it seemed colder this winter.

2. This summer, Toyota will produce the world’s first fuel-cell car, the FCV, with a charge that lasts for an amazing 310 miles. Though it sounds pretty unlikely, your fully charged FCV could also power the average home for up to a week. So don’t worry guys, if the zombie apocalypse is real, our fancy cars will come to the rescue.

3. Americans are starting to improve their eating habits. Consumption of fresh foods including fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs and other dairy products is on the rise, with fewer microwaveable, processed, ready-to-eat meals being consumed, according to a new study by the NPD Group. The national survey forecasts sales of fresh foods rising 6 percent in 2015. This is the year to actually become the health blog you read!

Over the past few years, interest in the Science Fair at HHS has been dwindling down to nearly nothing. During the 2012-2013 school year, Science Fair meant a packed gym and dozens of students standing proudly before their projects, presenting their information to a slew of classmates as they cycled through the room. Yet flash forward to the next year, and Science Fair consisted of six teams gathered in HHS’s multipurpose room during lunch, reciting their detailed project summaries to a few teacher judges as the period dragged on. Though the school’s overall interest in the Science Fair has diminished, those students who are involved in the science fair are quite dedicated to the promises of their projects.

Mr. Patrick Newton, Science Fair adviser for the past few years, has always assisted students in flourishing their scientific hypotheses and developing their ideas into sophisticated experiments that hold immense relevancy in today’s world. Unfortunately, Mr. Newton had to take a step back from his assistance with the Science Fair when his first child was brought into the world, realizing that he could not commit to both a newborn baby and the obligations brought on by the annual Science Fair.

Students walked into the 2014-2015 school year under the impression that Science Fair might not happen this year; dedicated supporters and participants of science fair, myself included, were adamant against the event being terminated. Ally Knight, a junior  and my longtime Science Fair partner, believed that she, along with others, would not go down without a fight. “With Mr. Newton not advising the Science Fair, I was willing to do anything to make it happen,” she said. “I know that everyone involved wouldn’t be able to let it go, and we would go to great lengths to make sure we got our chance to make it to regionals and states.”

But luckily, Science Fair hopefuls won’t be deprived this spring, as Mrs. Emerson has generously taken on the responsibility of becoming this year’s  advisor. This is her very first year becoming involved in the Science Fair and she looks toward it with high hopes for impressive projects and successful students.

Last holiday article guys, then Ms. McHugh can take off my seasonal shackles and I can be a free elf again. Holiday break could not come soon enough (seriously, I struggle to even glance at a pencil right now) and the citizens of HHS are pumped. Imagine almost two weeks free of stress and thoughts of dropping out and becoming a professional hobo . . .  ahhh, pure serenity.  The real question is what are we going to do for those two weeks. Personally I’m using my break to look into my love of gardening. I just can’t get enough hydrangeas or violets . . . they’re just so . . . vibrant.

So I went around spreading holiday bruises and cheers to work some answers out of the students. Some will stay, some may go, but rest assured, all will not be working. Junior Calley Madison is focusing on swim practice all day, every day, and also some school work. I envy Calley’s diligence since I’d rather spontaneously combust than look at school work during vacation.

Senior Amy Leonard (who insisted I put her in the paper again) is going to New York with her family on New Year’s Eve to see Elton John perform. New Year’s Eve and Elton John’s multiple hoop earrings? Count me in.

Sophomore Matt O’Sullivan is once again hunting, but this time his prey is cattle. Junior Scotty O’ Brien will be playing the great sport of ice sticking and snowboarding, while spending time at his New Hampshire house. Senior Jillian Locke will be attending multiple concerts such as Sammy Adams and Hoodie Allen. I hope she also attends a music event that isn’t terrible.

Senior dunkmaster Jack Buckley will be spending time with his friends and family. He will also be “crushing the basketball court fam.” I shall say no more.  Junior Dan McDougall will be “chillaxing,” as he would put it, but I feel he will just binge watch Sex In The City and eat Ben and Jerry’s while crying.

So there you have it people, my last holiday article ever. Until I have to write about them in January.

Every year, Mr. Hopkins issues a challenge to the Senior AP English class (officially called AP English Literature and Composition by the College Board). Of course, it is optional but many students decide to take the plunge anyway. It is simply to go an entire school week without using any form of recreational technology.

Specifically, this means no cell phones, minimal television, and no recreational computer use.  Social media usage is barred during the week as well. The exception to the rule is that you can use technology in order to complete schoolwork or anything related to a job you have. Mr. Hopkins told his two classes that he did not want anyone getting fired over this challenge. If you successfully make it the entire week, you receive extra credit toward your English grade.

When asked why he created this challenge, Mr. Hopkins talked about how much society has changed in recent years. Everyone is instantly connected to the rest of the world through the Internet. For better or for worse, a lot of people get their news through social media. Hopkins admits that his challenge is going to do little to change the habits of his students, but he wants to raise awareness of the deleterious effect too much technology can have on our lives.

Obviously this challenge can be just as hard as it sounds. Cell phones in particular are ingrained in our daily lives. One of the hardest things about the week for me was the fact that I could not be in touch with everyone all the time. It made planning the logistics of events a lot harder than it would be usually.

Many other students in AP English shared the same frustrations I experienced. “The silence, not much music, when you’re  alone there’s no sound at all,” said Joey Pensoneault.

Karen Bernier said the first day of the challenge was the hardest. “It was almost like you were having withdrawal from screen time,” she said. It got a little easier to handle as the week went on.

“It really puts into perspective how much of a time-suck technology is for us as a generation,” Bernier said.