Harry Potter club born from a spur of the moment idea

In Mrs. Sarah Dunn’s 3rd block English 11 Honors class, they were discussing Huckleberry Finn and the idea of adventure stories came up. Junior Megan Jackson, along with a few fellow students, formed the idea of starting a Harry Potter club here at NHS.

“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.

Photo club clicks into existence

A new club is beginning to take root, drawing interested artists with the lure of the camera. The Photography Club gives young photographers the chance to capture pictures in an artistic way.

“This is an opportunity for students to enhance their creative side through the camera,” art teacher and club sponsor Craig Helming said.

Members of the club attend bi-monthly meetings, display their work each semester, participate in photo contests, attend discussions held by guest speakers, and tap into their creativity through photographic mediums.

A 15 dollar fee is charged to cover the cost of supplies such as matte board and photo paper and to cover the cost of displaying the finished work. This  yearly fee per person allows the group to stay up and running.

However, not all students are eligible. To join, a student must have taken Photo 1 class and maintained a B average, have their own digital camera, and actively attend meetings and display their work.

According to Helming, this is to ensure that they have a basic knowledge of photography first, and since there has been an increase in photography class enrollment, more people can participate in the club.

“There are about twelve people in the club so far, with several more showing interest,” Mr. Helming said.

The club began with an idea brought to Mr. Helming by junior Jennifer Hensel. She came to him earlier this school year and offered him the suggestion.

“A friend and I—a foreign exchange student—were talking about how she couldn’t take Photography as a class, and we had the idea. Why isn’t there a photography club?” Hensel said.

With the club now in motion, ideas are abundantly blooming. Some include a seasonal change pictorial, themed grouping collages, and photographic mosaics, which create one large image from multiple smaller ones.

Not only is the club a group for enhancing photography, it is also involved in deeper subject matter. Members take part in activities involving philanthropy as well.

The photography club is a way to improve camera skills, but mostly it tries to teach a new way of looking at the world through a camera lens and developing innovative thought process pertaining to art

Fit for the Future offers chance to lose weight, stay in shape

Weight machines squeak along to the sound of upbeat music as both students and teachers work out along each other. It’s Fit for the Future, a club that’s in its second year, providing students and teachers the opportunity to exercise for an hour after school four days a week. The club is the brainchild of Dee Fowler, aerobics and physical education teacher at the main campus. Meeting Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the freshman campus weight room and cardio room, Fit for the Future offers the chance to get stronger, lose weight, or just stay in shape.

Fowler’s passion is physical education. By creating the club, she hopes to help students make better choices in order to live longer and have a better quality of life. The hour provides time to work on strength and cardiovascular training in a nonthreatening atmosphere.

“I’m not like Jillian on the Biggest Loser,” Fowler said. “I don’t yell and scream.”

According to Fowler, the workouts are as individual as the student makes them. Each member utilizes an “Aerobic Lifting Journal” each day, writing down the number of repetitions on each machine.

“The workout plan is what you want to do, but if you need to help figuring out a plan, I’m more than willing to help,” Fowler said to the group that gathered for its  workout.

Freshman Brittany Baldwin and Barbie Perkins both joined Fit for the Future as a way to lose weight and grow stronger. Neither have a background in sports, but they hope that the club will help them meet their goals and give good habits to continue later in life.

“I want to get fit and stay fit,” Perkins said.

While the club is aimed at non-student athletes in order to give them a place to get in shape, off-season athletes also participate. Juniors Matt Werkley and Kaitlyn Flak both play sports in the spring but are using the hour as a way to get in shape for their seasons.

“Last year I just sat on my butt during this time [fall], but this year I was more assertive and joined to get in shape for lacrosse,” Werkley said.

Flak regularly runs on her own, but the cold weather keeps her inside.

“I like to run outside, but I needed a way to keep my heart rate up and stay in shape when it’s cold,” Flak said. “Plus, I wanted to take advantage of the new weight room.”

Fowler and Spanish teacher Marc Slain began the club during second semester last year, but the workouts only continued for a few months until summer vacation. According to Fowler, there were only about five or six really faithful members, and she hopes to improve on that number this year.

“With about 40 pieces [of equipment], I’d like to see it [the weight room] filled,” Fowler said.