The Hoofbeat@mnhoofbeatnetwork with us:

mnhsonline.com

Millard North High School Issue 2 | October 13, 2015

Come on down, meet the nicest kids in townMN drama department puts on ‘Hairspray’ for the fall musicalAnna BartholetNews Editor

Get ready to run and tell all of your friends that MN is going to be featuring the nicest kids in town. For the fall musi-cal debut on October 29, “Hair-spray” will hit the stage with its critically acclaimed broadway songs and dances. From its re-nowned musical numbers, to the social issues it addresses, most people take something away from “Hairspray” long af-ter the show is over.

When choosing a musical production, there were a vari-ety of options on the table.

“‘Hairspray’ is one of my favorite musicals. I love the music; I think it’s very upbeat. The story line is one that I

think can be told generation to generation,” Musical Director Megan Tantillo said.

“Hairspray’s” story line is one that touches on relevant is-sues from the 1960s regarding civil rights. MN will not be hid-ing these issues when the musi-cal is put on stage.

“I think it’s important that we inform our young people about civil rights,” Tantillo said.

The issues addressed in “Hairspray” are relevant to all generations, and will be exhib-ited to fully during production.

Tantillo does not stand alone in her opinion regarding the necessary discussion that “Hairspray” presents. Junior Olivia Klein, portraying the role of Tracy Turnblad, shares similar views regarding the

presentation of civil rights is-sues highlighted in “Hairspray.”

“Seeing it in a production makes it more real life because we’re acting it and we’re living it. You talk about it in history class but you never get to really experience it,” Klein said.

Since this production dis-cusses what could be described as sensitive racial topics, a strong cast was necessary to ef-fectively portray these issues.

The casting for “Hair-spray” involved a lot of con-sideration. Many students auditioned for a spot in the musical, and many will be fea-tured opening night.

Tantillo described the au-dition process as a tricky one for this musical, especially for the lead roles.

“You really needed to see Tracy and Link together and see how they interact,” Tantillo said.

Link was sought out as a suave character with excep-tional singing and dancing abilities. Junior Evan Wolhers will be performing as Link be-cause of his triple threat audi-tion that scored him the role.

The lead female role, Tracy Turnblad, also required a show-stopping actress to fill her role.

“We needed to find some-body who has it all, and then on top of that, somebody who has a little more than it all. You really need somebody who can

win the audience over as the fun-loving character that she is,” Tantillo said.

Klein accomplished just that in her audition process.

“I’m really excited to put on a show for people because I really like to entertain, make people laugh, and capture at-tention,” Klein said.

Junior Ruchir Khazan-chi, playing Seaweed, is one of the main minority figures in the musical. He contended that he previously held strong opinions regarding civil rights issues before the musical even started.

“Being in the shoes of the role has helped me develop an even further passion for these

issues, and I’ve always been passionate that minorities should have the same rights and shouldn’t be treated any less,” Khazanchi said.

To go along with his strong moral grounding, Khazanchi looks forward to performing in another MN production, and holds a strong passion for go-ing on stage in the shoes of a unique character.

MN is expecting a great turnout, and has a public-ity team in charge of creating posters to send out to nearby high schools. The turnout on opening night is predicted to be large, and the cast and crew are working to ensure that it is a success.

Musical Madness: Junior Houston Wheeler, playing the principal, chews out junior Olivia Klein, playing Tracy, for obstructing the view of the black board with her hair. Photo by Olivia Johannes

Judging Gestures: The Corny Collins council members judge Tracy as she auditions for the Corny Collins show. Photo by Olivia Johannes

Fast Facts

“Hairspray ’s” opening night is October 29th at 7 pm in the a u d i t o r i u m .

Over 100 stu-dents are in-volved in the production of “ H a i r s p r a y ” the Musical.

The actors rehearse ev-eryday after school in or-der to have their best performances up on stage.

Unlike previ-ous years, the set is being built as rotat-ing block for this year’s fall musical p r o d u c t i o n .

Page 2: Page 11:

SNEA

KPE

EK Art Club designs mural for the contruction wall

Pages 6 and 7:Freshman cross country runner Alexandra Espinoza outperforms upperclassmen

Student entrepreneurs: MN students expand hobbies into businesses

In the pit: Musicians not under the spotlights“I joined pit or-chestra, because I had already done show choir band and really enjoyed being a part of it. I love it because you get to work with good musi-cians and play lots of fun music.”

“I started doing pit freshman year. I joined pit because they needed an alto saxophone. At first, I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but as time went on, I started enjoying it because I enjoyed the small ensem-ble and music.”

“I do pit orchestra because it’s a great opportunity to ex-perience different types of music. I love being able to rock out on the dance breaks, even though I’m under-neath the stage!”

Junior Whitney Loneman Senior Beth Shavlik Sophomore Daniel Fu

Josh Shaffer--Headline Writing

Issue 3 | November 17, 201510 Hoofbeat Entertainment

Keep Your Eyes on the Pies

Music App Play-by-PlayOlivia JohannesFeature Editor

Pandora20%

M O V I E S

UPCOMING

These days when your fa-vorite artist releases a new track or album, you don’t have to take a trip to the store to buy a CD album. Now we have many more op-tions when it comes to buying or streaming music, and it can be difficult to decipher which website is the best.

Some of the most popular apps are: Spotify, Pandora, and iTunes Radio. All of these apps are in the app store, downloadable free of charge.

These apps let listeners en-joy their favorite songs and al-bums for free but are not with-out limitations.

Each have their upsides and their downfalls. Whether it is the amount of skips you have per hour or day or the variety of music playlists available, all these apps have different offers for music listeners.

A benefit to using these apps is that many music artists use them as a platform to re-

lease their brand new singles and albums. In fact, the music

group O n e D i r e c -tion used Spotify for the release of their new-est singles “Home” and “Infinity.”

H o w e v e r Spotify does have a major flaw: some

artists choose not to have their music on Spotify at all. Artists such as Taylor Swift admit that creat-ing songs and albums

is a lot of hard

wor k and prefer

their music be bought

through mediums like iTunes. Unlike music purchased

through iTunes or the Google Play, when using the free ver-sions of these music apps you are restricted to already created playlists or algorithm based mixes. However you can pur-chase a subscription to these various apps, which increases

music quality and give you more options

as a user.T h e s e

d a y s , when

i t

c o m e s to listen-

ing to music there are a lot

of options. Spotify, iTunes Radio, and

Pandora are just three exam-ples that all have quality music selections for you to listen to for free whenever you want. That is, of course, if you have a good Internet connection.

Which music app do you prefer to use?iTunes Spotify

*based on a survey of 50 students

30%

50%

While at first glance this candy filled temptation may be an exciting choice, the overall effect was very fickle. Presentation for this

thick dessert was wonderful, but the whipped topping was distracting and didn’t quite add all that much

to the pie’s flavor. First impressions are clearly important, and the first taste was incredible.

However, as the participants continued to eat, it made them quite sick. This pie was

much too rich, thick, and sweet for their liking, earning the pie a one-star rating.

Nostalgic memories flooded back as the participants chowed down into this Thanks-

giving classic. The plain and simple presenta-tion lacked whipped topping; the overall taste

could have used some whipped topping as well. While the crust could have been cooked a little longer, the thick, fresh

taste of the pumpkin brought back fond memories of Thanksgivings past. This basic, but not to be counted out, pie earned a three-star rating.

This “just like mom used to make,” timeless, traditional treat was a hit with the participants of the pie tasting. Village Inn is highly re-garded for their fruit pies, and this one is no exception. Along with a five-star pre-sentation, the crust, filling, and fresh fruit com-bined effortlessly to bombard the participant with a combination of fruity, flaky, and sweet flavors. The incred-ible presentation and flavor earned this classic a four-star rating.

strawberry-rhubarb pieThis fruity arrangement was an overall favorite with the pie tast-ing participants. The first impression through the pre-sentation seemed to be unprofessional and dent-ed, but it’s what’s on the inside that matters. The flaky, crumbly crust was a tad un-dercooked, but the superb quality and freshness of the filling compensated for it and created a four-star rating.

apple pie

reese’s peanut butter pie

pumpkin pie

Hoofbeat staff members participated in reviewing four pies from Village Inn in anticipation of Thanksgiving: Strawberry-Rhubarb, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Pumpkin, and Apple.

Tyler Collins--Headlines

Issue 4 | December 15, 20158 Hoofbeat Features

Paleontology Rocks:Junior leads fossil finding expeditionsJosh Shaffer

Media Editor

Haley Elder

Staff Writer

Dig This:

After Juras-sic Park’s

debut in 1993,

interest in paleontol-

ogy soared.

Bones are divided into

four main categories:

Pha-nerozoic,

Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Ceno-

zoic.

The most famous

paleontolo-gist Jack

Horner was the first to prove how dinosaurs cared for

their young.

For many high school students, the thought of get-ting a summer job haunt their thoughts. Some work at a gro-cery store, some work in fast food, and some even go to Montana to lead dangerous paleontologi-cal digs. Well, maybe that last one isn’t very com-mon, but it still holds true for sophomore, Will Solberg.

For the last 12 summers, Solberg and his family have been leading college students on expeditions to discover fos-sils in Hell Creek, Montana.

However, it was connec-tions over in Fargo, North Da-kota, that got Solberg his posi-tion on the expedition team. Fargo, is the home of Concor-dia College, the college that leads the expeditions.

Because of a family con-nection to the Concordia Col-lege through Solberg’s grandfa-ther, who was on the board of directors, Solberg was able to get involved with the digs.

Eventually Solberg gained the experience necessary to al-

low himself to lead other to the findings of more fascinating fossils.

“My parents have been leading the digs for 12 years and they have owned their

cattle ranch for 12 years. I was taught by them how to lead the digs,”`

Solberg received three cows as a gift, and through the miracle of life, three cows be-came thirty. Even though he owns cows, his involvement goes deeper.

“I also own stock in the company,” Solberg said.

It takes a well trained eye and preparation to be able to point out these prehistoric wonders. This process is actu-ally quite simple with Solberg’s expertise at hand.

“Typically we would load up into vans and head out about five miles into Hell Creek

and search for sites with lots of smaller bones and search for larger bones sticking out of cliff sides,” Solberg said.

The most fascinating dis-coveries are ones that would make anyone’s jaw drop.

Among the most breath-taking finds include a baby triceratops frill, a horn of a tric-eratops, and t-rex teeth. These rare finds are inexplicably frag-ile and must be cared for under the proper techniques.

“You start by scouting the areas around the fossils. Then you dig a big ring around a bone and chip away the dirt and stone,” Solberg explained.

While this process may seem tedious, they are all nec-essary steps to ensure the frag-ile artifacts are preserved.

“After encasing the bone in vinac, a bone plaster, you use a plastic wrap around the bone. One time we had to carry a 90 pound bone back to the ranch,” Solberg said.

The incredible experience of being apart of a paleonto-logical dig, much less guiding the dig, is truly overwhelming. Some may think that Solberg isn’t quite qualified, but he was

The best finds we’ve discovered include a horn of a Triceratops and T-rex teeth.“

Will Solberg 10

indeed taught by the best.“My parents have been

leading the digs for 12 years and they have owned their cattle ranch for 12 years. I was taught by them,”

Although the experience is incredible for the students, there is quite a bit of danger in-volved in these digs than what meets the eye.

“We had one person break their knee in a rock slide, a freak accident where a sinkhole opened up and crushed a girl’s

Mining for Bones: Will Salberg, seated far right, is joined by expedition crew members. Solberg takes several Con-cordia College students on digs every summer. Photo Con-tributed by: Will Solberg

What happens In Poetry Club stays in Poetry Club:Students use personal stories to create art

Stand-up Poet: Tricia Hughes captivates fellow club members while reading a personal poem. Poetry club prepares students to perform their works in competitions across the metro. Photo by: Olivia Johannes

ankle, and even a cliff fell out from under us, but we held on to the ledge and used a rope to climb our way to the top,” Sol-berg said.

Although Solberg is fas-cinated by paleontology, he considers it as a hobby, not a resume builder, and continues to pursue the possibility of get-ting a degree in medicine.

Paralleling Indiana Jones may be temporary, but their memories that will always be recalled.

ter as long as it's passionate,” Lerouge said.

Slam Poetry Club helps students to take the things that they are passionate about, put them into words, and present them in a way to sway the au-dience into being passionate about their topic. When writ-ing a poem, each member has a different technique.

“Sometimes I'll write 10 poems within a week. Some-times I'll go a month or two without even trying too. Some-one once described it to me like a fruit tree. A tree can't con-tinually produce apples. It has a season where it's dormant, a season it grows and gains nu-trients, and then only after that does it actually bear any fruit,” Lerouge said.

Each writer uses their own signature technique in his or her forms of writing. Whether it's the way their poem is listed out or the noises they make on stage, they’ll each take their own route to swaying the audi-ence’s emotions.

“Slam Poetry Club has allowed me to become more descriptive in both my poetry and academic writing,” Whet-stine said.

The main purpose of this club is to prepare writers for the National Slam Poetry com-petition known as Louder Than a Bomb. Louder Than a Bomb (LTAB) is a citywide competi-tion that occurs in late March and early April. This year, the competition will start March

In a room with complete strangers, one can not feel more welcomed than ever be-fore. This is Slam Poetry Club: A handful of kids that meet once a week with three teach-ers from UNO to help them advance in their poetry.

The three teachers, Col-leen O’Doherty, Nick Bell, and Jacob Narofsky, give the four members, Junior Helen Whet-stine, Junior Tricia Hughes, Senior Blake Gilson and Senior Jacques Lerouge, prompts on what to focus their poem on.

Then the members spend a 10 to 20 minute period work-ing to craft an emotional and moving piece. After they are finished, each member is given a chance to share their poem and receive feedback.

This is the time where the teachers show them where there is wiggle room for im-provement.

The pieces that are created here are known as a slam po-ems. Students use these poems as a way to share their emo-tions. The term “slam” comes from the feeling that the poems bring to your gut.

“I feel a good slam poet is somebody who really knows emotions and how to convey them. Whether it's their own, or a generalized feeling, slam poetry is about being passion-ate. Passionately sad or pas-sionately happy, it doesn't mat-

17 and end April 20. LTAB is held in Omaha’s very own Hol-land Arts Center.

“I love performing, I love sharing poems with others and hearing other people perform their art. The only downside is if you stumble, but even then the support from the crowd is astounding,” Gilson said.

Some members of the club, Lerouge and Hughes, have taken what they learned from poetry club and have used it to perform outside of LTAB. A common ground for perform-ing can be found downtown at the Omaha Healing Arts Cen-ter (OM) Center.

Located on 13th street, The OM Center houses a very popular slam once a month. Omaha’s slam poetry team runs the slam. Once a month, numerous strangers, all with different emotions and pasts, will come together to listen to other strangers express them-selves.

Ultimately, creating a bond between the performer and the audience.

“The atmosphere of a slam can make you feel so at home. It is so incredibly open-minded and I come out of every slam knowing more about the world and meeting amazing people,” Hughes said.

With the inspiration from, teachers, listeners, and the world around them, these stu-dents are able to pour out emo-tions and passion to move the world around them.

Constructive Criticism: Poetry club members, Jacques Lerouge and Helen Whetstine, help one another improve their performance skills. Giving advice helps each writer notice their poem’s strengths and weaknesses. Photo by: Olivia Johannes