By Calley Madison

Here at HHS, we offer a program called “Virtual High School.” Virtual High School classes are for classes either not offered at HHS, or classes you wish to take in place of classes for school.  There are math, science, English, humanities courses and language courses. There are college level, honors and AP. In the fall, I took a course called “Career Awareness,” which helped me learn about the profession I am interested in, and soon I will be starting “Contemporary Issues in American Law and Justice.”

The class is entirely online and you get one period a day in the library to do the work, but it is not as easy as it sounds. The classes can have a wide variety of work, from barely any to an overwhelming amount, and you need to be very on task and work well with time. You see, each assignment is due by a certain day, and if you post late, points will be deducted. The assignments can be essays, group projects, discussion posts or just word searches but either way, your teachers look for the effort you put in.

If you get behind for some reason, you can let your teacher know — my VHS teacher, Mrs. Allen, gave us her e-mail, cell phone and home phone number — and you can access the course from home. Yes, the VHS website can be accessed from any computer  with just your username and password.

Your classmates are one of the most interesting parts of VHS. Your classmates can be from anywhere all around the world. I have people from Romania, Turkey, England, Washington, Florida and Massachusetts in my class. You can message these people and  learn many things about them, where they live, and how it differs from us here at HHS. You also discuss topics with them and work together on some projects.

I really enjoy taking VHS classes because I am very on-top-of-things and organized, also because it really makes me feel as if I am learning better. The VHS courses are challenging, they expect you to manage your own time, stay organized, and take tests and quizzes like real classes. I would certainly take another VHS class in the future, not because it’s a relaxed atmosphere, but simply because I learn better alone and managing all my own things on my own time.

A VHS class is not for everyone. If you are easily distracted, disorganized, and do not work well with a deadline, you’re going to feel trapped and overwhelmed. In this circumstance, risk is not always the best choice, and you should talk to the librarian, guidance counselor, and parents before trying to enroll in a class.  

One day during senior year, it strikes you — the real world is drawing closer and closer. The past four years of your high school experience and all of the memories that you made throughout begin to flash before your eyes. The college process is here, and it’s time to prepare yourself; it’s application time. These are a few tips that will help you through the process, whether you’re a senior preparing for college or even a freshman who has just started high school. This is Matt’s Declassified College Application Survival Guide.

After completing my own process of sending out a few applications, visiting some colleges, researching majors, and seeking information from other sources, I can safely say that it can all be done without much stress; time management is key. With all of the stressful and time-consuming activities clogging your everyday life, it is hard to put much thought into college until the last possible moment. I understand that everyone, including the seniors, still have time to figure out what they may want their futures to entail. But I highly recommended you start as soon as possible.  My advice to you is to begin researching what you’re interested in. Begin research as early as you can, I began my research when I was a freshman. Find jobs that may interest you when you’re older, jobs that will fit who you are. The better you know yourself and what you like, the easier the college process will be. If you like helping people, you may go into a medical field. For those more sociable, business may be of interest to you. Another thing I would highly recommend is deciding what type of college best fits you. Colleges cover all sorts of different spectrums — large, small, beautiful city, beautiful campus, sports, clubs, etc. You may also want to keep in mind the distance you would be willing to go for college. For me, I wanted to stay in the New England area. Not only did I want to stay around here because it would be cheaper on travel expenses, but I also wanted to stay closer to home because I’m too much of a momma’s boy. But that’s just me, everyone is different and I want to encourage you to chase your personal college dreams.

When the time is approaching for you to begin sending out applications (either fall for early action or winter for early decision of your senior year), there are a few things you need to keep in mind: Deadlines, The Common App, Recommendations, and your college essay. The deadlines may be the most stressful aspect of the applying process, so procrastinators, take note! To find success with applications you must stay on top of deadlines at all times; colleges don’t want slackers! The common application is also very important, it is more or less your whole high school career on one application. This is the part of the applying process where you list your test scores, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, etc. This is what you will be showing colleges what you have accomplished these past few years, so don’t forget anything important! The recommendations are just a way of letting colleges know what sort of student you are from a teacher’s perspective. You have the ability to choose any teacher or coach that you think knows best what kind of student you truly are. I recommend choosing a teacher who you have shown true determination, well-maintained grades, and have participated positively in their class. The last part of the applying process is the college essay. The essay gives students the opportunity to show colleges both their writing skills and what has shaped them into who they are today. If there is a range of topics, be sure to choose one that best fits who you are as a person. Also, try not to stray very far from the topic at hand; keep your essay focused on what you are trying to prove or the change that you are trying to develop. Only add the necessary details, omitting anything that could distract from your overall purpose.

I hope these tips come in handy for anyone looking to manage the stress of applying to college! College is right around the corner for all of us so there is no better time to prepare than now. So what are you waiting for? Go do some research, visit a campus, and find out what interests you!

Leading up to this year’s annual pep rally, rumors ran rampant through the halls of Hanover High School. Students were speculating to each other about the supposed changes made by student council to the yearly rally, which has been infamous for flooding students with spirit and school pride at the end of a long, creative, and colorful spirit week. Some whispered about plans to boycott, and some mumbled about the possibility of not being allowed at the rally unless you played a sport. But regardless of whether every student was in agreement with the new changes, they all managed to give the new rally format a chance. Whether the rally was a success would be left up to the students to decide.

During years past on the day of the rally, students were encouraged to wear their class color to support their grade, and would also be sectioned off in the bleachers to sit with their coordinating classes in the gym at the end of the day. A series of events and activities would follow, participants being volunteers from each grade that would compete against each other.

This year, however, this classic routine was broken and changes were made to certain aspects. For instance, now, instead of being sectioned off by grade, students were allowed to sit wherever they wanted. In addition, the student population was encouraged to wear simply “Hanover” colors and apparel instead of their class colors. And instead of having volunteers from each grade participate in various events, seniors from each fall sports team were required to compete against each other in activities like tug-of-war and basketball knock-out.

Students at first disagreed with these changes, claiming that limiting the activities to only seniors who play fall sports is discriminatory against the students who don’t play sports. However in years past, everyone has always had a chance to participate, and nobody stepped up! Last year, I had the unfortunate experience of trying to convince my classmates to sign up for activities. There were so many spots and so very few students willing to take them! Not all freshmen were brave enough to step up and participate alongside seniors in front of the entire school, and with these new policies, they are spared from doing just that.

Though reactions may have been mixed both in anticipation to these changes and after they had been made, I personally think that these changes were much-needed and beneficial for the high school community as a whole. At the last rally, it took incredible effort on the part of the teachers to coerce the students down from the bleachers to join in the activities. But this year, the whole event went smoothly. The events segued easily one after another, with no awkward pauses in between while teachers rallied to cajole students down from the safety of the bleachers.

After the final shouts and screams as the rally fizzled to an end, students went home either satisfied or displeased with the outcome of the newly changed rally. In my perspective, the whole experience seemed much better in regards to its flow. It certainly did a great job of spreading spirit and pride through the students of HHS, demonstrated, if not by anything else, than by the echoing shouts bouncing off the gym walls as students hollered their excitement and pride for their school. The whole purpose of the rally, after all, is to bring together all of the classes as one and unite Hanover High in all of its diversity. And at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter which class is the loudest and most vicious, nor does it matter which grade wins at tug-of-war. It’s about being brought together in all of Hanover High’s blue, gold, and white glory. And I think the rally truly did accomplish that.