There are many people that simply do not realize what they have. Complaints are heard in the hallways daily regarding the status of relationships or the immense load of homework that someone has received. These may seem like huge issues for high school students, but the reality of the situation is that there are far greater issues in the world, even in this community.

It seems as though many students are living in this bubble. They think that they are the only concern in the world, and that nothing else matters whatsoever. This is not true at all. The world is facing many issues. One out of eight people don’t have enough clean water to live, and many people consider it a dire situation when they don’t have enough hot water for a 30 minute shower.

In this community there are even issues greater than these trivial daily issues. There are people that struggle to pay for their everyday essentials. Many students do not realize this. They think that just because they are wealthy or fortunate that everything is okay and that their small problems are the end of the world.

I urge you to start being more conscious about this. Try to think about others and their issues before you complain about small issues in the moment.

Take time to volunteer at your church or at a local charity like Prevail or The Humane Society. If you actually experience some of the tough situations and predicaments that some people are in, you will be a better individual, and you will know the major problems that are actually occurring very near to you.

Please be conscious and think about others whether you are at school, home, and especially on the road.

In this annual address, Conner showed that test scores are rising and are among the best in the state and the country. Also, as the school offers more AP and ACP classes, more students are taking advantage of these. Noblesville has been nominated for an All-American city this year, and the schools have played a large part in the nomination. Unfortunately, these are not the only things on the rise.

Each year, class sizes are growing, and currently, there are around 800 first graders. This year’s graduating class is 578 students. The major point she stressed was that the schools we currently have in place will be over their capacities by the year 2012 at best, and that’s only if there is absolutely no population growth in the city over the next few years.

Conner made the upcoming referendum vote a major point as well. She explained how pivotal the vote is for the future of Noblesville Schools.

If the proposed tax increase does not happen, then not only will the schools become grossly overcrowded, but they will also have to fire many teachers, causing class sizes to rise to unprecedented levels.

Conner encouraged all to vote yes for the referendum and “Keep Our Schools Strong.”

The vote for this referendum is Tuesday, May 4, 2010.

Image from http://www.charlottesville.org/modules/showimage.aspx?imageid=3857

Yep, I’m eighteen. And registered. Which means that, as a citizen of the United States of America, I can finally fulfill my patriotic duty and vote. I’m legit.

Yet, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal when I registered back in October. It’s just one vote. No big deal, right?

But on the morning of May 4, the day of local elections AND the first day I could exercise my newly gained right, I was excited. I woke up early and started getting ready at 5:30 – I wanted to beat the lines and vote before going to school. I figured my dad would come with me and vote before he went off to work; he’d be able to show me the ropes. But when I walked downstairs, all ready to go, my dad was sitting at the kitchen table, still in his pajamas.

“I’m going to be late. But you’ll be fine going to vote alone, right?” my dad said, barely looking up from his cappuccino.

“Oh yeah, sure thing Dad.” Um. No!

But I got into my car and headed to the fire station, our designated voting venue. In my supposed rush to beat the lines before school, I pretty much beat everyone. Some business man and I were the only ones at the polling place. I walked in to the station, ID in hand. I marched up to a long table on the other side of the small garage area. A group of people, most likely community volunteers, sat behind the table, staring at me. Various list books and tickets littered the narrow table.

“ID please.”

I handed it over, just as I heard someone mutter from down the table, “Is she even 18?”

I turned and looked at the woman who’d whispered louder than she thought she did, “Yeah, I’m 18. And registered. I think…”

My name was on the list.

“Republican or Democrat?”

I got a red card with a capital ‘R’ on it. Okay, what now? My government teacher brought in a voting machine during a class period last semester. I tried to remember how to use it…

I broke down and confessed my rookie status, “This is my first time voting. What do I do now?”

One of my neighbors, who was working the table, got up and helped me boot up the voting machine.

After pushing a couple of buttons, the machine asked me to confirm my vote. I pushed the big red button and the screen lit up: “Your vote has been cast!” And just like that, my voting experience was complete. It took all of five minutes…

… And yet, I walked out of that fire station feeling a bit more mature than when I walked in just a few minutes before. I felt experienced. It was exciting, I realized, having a vote and a say in the outcome of important decisions. I felt involved, a true citizen of Noblesville, Indiana.

This new experience, for me, is one of many that I’ll encounter in the coming months, especially since I’m a senior, set to graduate in a couple weeks. I’ll be going off to Indiana University in the fall. It’ll be my first time away from home, sharing a room with my friend, doing all my own laundry, feeding myself every night. Experiences that will be both exciting… and really scary, too.

“The idea to change around after Prom was good, but not a lot of people were there.” said senior Nicole Silvernell.

“It was pretty fun- just not as good as last year.” senior Bekah Crouch added.

As would be expected, after Prom included food and raffle prizes. Among the prizes were a TV, an iPod touch, a microwave, and a laptop. Subway sandwiches were provided as well as nachos, hot dogs, and soda.

As a senior, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking ahead as well as looking back. I’ll never forget my first day at NHS. I had just moved to Noblesville from Texas the previous June. My school in Texas was very small, so needless to say, I experienced a real culture shock. I was overwhelmed by the size of the school. I remember being so stressed out that I absentmindedly walked up a staircase that led to some athletic offices. All I was trying to find was my locker. I know that everyone in my grade can remember getting lost countless times their first few days at this big campus. I must say we had it easy compared to the current underclassmen. They had to go to the freshmen campus and didn’t get that year to get used to the main campus.

My memories of my freshman year are not always most pleasant, but I did make some good memories. That’s the year I fell in love with choir, which is where I met all my best friends. My memories of sophomore and junior years are much better. By then I had learned all the ropes. I knew where all the classes were, I knew which teachers were cool and which ones weren’t, and I knew who my friends were.

Now I’m a senior and I can hardly believe it. I have been at this school for a whole four years. Thinking about the future makes me excited. Right now I know I’m either going to Vincennes University or Ivy Tech, but I’m leaning more towards Vincennes. I can hardly wait for college. After four years of the same things over and over again, I’m ready for something new. I want to be on my own. I want to meet new people. I want to try new things. I know every other senior out there knows exactly what I mean.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a four years full of memories. When I think back to the way I was at 14 or 15, I can hardly believe it. I’ve grown up so much since then. I know I will take everything I learned with me as I look forward to the future. I’ve learned where my passions lie and the kind of person I want to be. Honestly, I’ve never felt more ready for college. So for now it’s time to say so long, NHS!

The Millers started the game quick, scoring four runs in the first three innings with junior Ryan Byrne holding Jeff scoreless, but Byrne gave up seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined, and the Millers saw themselves behind 7-5 after the bottom of the fifth.  But, they made a late bottom of the seventh inning rally, scoring three runs, and ended up to top.

Byrne pitched all seven innings, striking out 13 batters, allowing six hits, and only walking one batter.  He gave up seven earned runs.  Seniors Jake Yeary and Kyle Guariello lead the Millers, both scoring two runs; Yeary connected on three hits and Guariello had two.

The varsity Miller baseball team is back in action this Friday May 7 when they travel to Avon to take on the Oriole varsity baseball team at Avon High School.  The game begins at 5:30 pm.

The girls took fourth place out of eight teams, breaking four school records in the process. The 4-by-mile team of freshman Kendra Foley, sophomore Hannah Pimley, senior Megan Bowles, and freshman Renee Studt scored first in the meet and set a new school record. Other school record-breaking events included the distance medley, which consists of 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 meter distances; it was set by the team of sophomore Helen Willman, senior Alex Kacer, Pimley, and Foley. Senior Emily Goggin, sophomore Tori Mumaw, sophomore Liz Potee, and senior Charlie Maxwell set a new record in the shuttle hurdle relay. Senior Isabelle May also set a new record in the discus.

The Lady Millers won six of the fifteen events the meet offered, including the 4-by-mile, long jump, discus, 4-by-800 meters, shuttle hurdle relay, and distance medley.

The boys scored third place out of eight teams. Junior Jake Bates scored second place in the shot put. Sophomore Daniel Purvlicis and junior Leroy Bibbs captured first place in the team pole vaulting event. Christian Bowers got first in the 2 mile run, running a personal best of 9:46.

The girls’ and boys’ next big meet is this coming Friday, May 7 at The Hamilton County Meet, hosted by Carmel.

Photo provided by Will Grabb; Grabb and White used World War II propaganda posters as a theme in their campaign for Student body president and vice president.

It’s the age-old battle of experience versus a fresh new perspective in the presidential race. Both candidates present compelling arguments for why they’d succeed in the position. Junior Will Grabb boasts his experience: “In our class, there’s no one else who’s had the same experience with Student Government that i have over the years. I know what it takes, and I know the seriousness of the position. I figured if anyone can handle the job and all the requirements, it would be me.”

Despite his lack of experience, Junior Nick Coffeen admits, “I’ve always had a thing for leadership and politics.” His dad encouraged him to run, Coffeen said, in order to fuel his interest in political science.

Grabb’s running mate for vice president is junior Sydney White. The team’s stance is centered around voicing the opinions of every person in the school, no matter how small. “Will and I want to help our school out by having people’s opinions voiced. Both of us know how bad it is to sit with a problem you can’t fix, so we want to do anything we can to help out the students at NHS.” The two have been friends for awhile, White said and decided they’d make a good team. Grabb recognized White’s potential as a partner from the get go.

“I chose Sydney because I’ve know [her] for years and I know that i can count on her to do her share of the workload, keep a level head, and stay focused on what needs to be done.”

In order to gain the votes of their classmates, Grabb and White used a variety of advertising techniques to showcase their campaign. Posters and television ads helped them communicate with the student body. The posters were styled after World War II proganda posters because, “first, I love Uncle Sam and second, we were studying WWII at the time,” Grabb said. Keeping with the WWII theme, Grabb even hosted a fireside chat, based loosely on those given by Franklin Roosevelt during his presidency, and aired it on the announcements during the school day. This ad was very successful and it gave Grabb the chance to “introduce [himself] to people he didn’t know in a good light, showing that… he wants next year to be fun,” White said.

Coffeen, with his running mate and vice president Junior Grace Herron, both recognize leadership as their strength.”I am a person who likes leadership roles; I like to be in charge of getting things accomplished,” Herron said.

Their campaign stance focuses on listening to the student body and making their needs a reality.

“I plan to LISTEN”, Coffeen said.

They plan to focus more on fundraisers, such as the blood drive and the canned food drive. Herron and Coffeen both see the potential Noblesville High School has to help alot of different people. “We can help so much more than we think. I want to help NHS realize we play a role in our community.”

Through listening and fundraisers, Herron and Coffen hope they can help improve the school. They used posters, placed on the walls at school and created a Facebook© group where other students could become fans and read up on their campaign.

Students voted for the student body president/vice president on Wednesday, April 28. Results from that should be announced either Friday, April 30 or Monday, May 3.

“It started out as a joke.” said junior Zak Cassel. “But we thought it would be a good idea.”

According to Jackson, the club is just starting to form, but they have a few ideas. Activities will include memorizing every single spell from the Harry Potter series, come up with Harry Potter character alter egos for every member, and even organize a quidditch game (quidditch is a wizard sport that involves flying brooms, for anyone who doesn’t know).

According to junior Tori Lorch, meetings will take place in Mrs. Dunn’s room, which will act as the “rooms of requirements”. In the Harry Potter series, Harry and his friends hold secret meetings in these supposedly very secretive rooms.

Cassel said that to promote the club they plan to send out howlers as a method of recruiting members. In Harry Potter, howlers are literally screaming messages. A young wizard usually receives a howler if he or she has done anything bad.

“I really like Harry Potter.” Lorch said. “we’re starting this club because we all grew up with the books and enjoy the genre.”

“I first read Harry Potter in 3rd grade.” Jackson added. “It helped me learn to love books and learn how to read and write.”

The Harry Potter club was born from a little joking around and a very spur of the moment decision. Anyone who wishes to join can contact Megan Jackson.