Seahawk Scoop 

Yearbook Supplement

By: Patrick Balfour

The Yearbook Supplement is an add-on to the school yearbook. The yearbook is 220 pages along with the supplement. “This year, we included all of the spring sports. The actual yearbook is due March 1st every year…The yearbook supplement was originally 28 pages but I got the approval to add 4 more so I could add a little bit more with prom and more pages to do with Model UN and The Little Mermaid.” Mrs. Schoelkopf, the yearbook teacher, said. “It comes with the yearbook. It's not sold separately. It gets put in with the yearbook and this year's yearbook is 252 pages (including the supplement) which is the biggest book ever produced here.”

The yearbook and the supplement are available on May 23, distribution day.  The yearbook supplement includes (but not limited to) all spring sports (varsity and JV ), prom, The Little Mermaid, Model UN, and four year seniors athletes. 

Overall, the yearbook supplement is a great addition to this years yearbook. “I’m kinda excited to have the largest produced book. There’s a lot of good stuff in the yearbook that documents the 40th Anniversary of our school.”

Nothing Happens Overnight

By: Tristen Simmons

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the world-renowned human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, launched a fundraising campaign to support his charitable work in South Africa.

Tutu, whose work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission helped heal the wounds of apartheid in his homeland, he turned his attention to the critical issues of poverty, health, and education. Ms. Phillips, a teacher at Hilton Head Island High School, heard about“ Tutu Desk fundraiser from the students in Interact. Tutudesk.org raises money to purchase desks for children around the world that may not have places to do their work, such as in conflict zones, refugee camps, and in disaster areas.” She believes it is “a great opportunity to build unity with the surrounding cluster of schools on Hilton Head.” To kick off the campaign, Tutu pledged $100,000 to the Trust, and appealed to individuals, corporations, and organizations around the world to join him in supporting this vital cause. Ms. Phillips knows this will benefit the students ”by being more compassionate and empathetic to others around the world. It [will] help them be internationally minded and develop the IB Learner profile trait of caring.” She is a very caring teacher. She helped with the ideas, posters, news show advertisements, etc. The students are the ones who go out on their own to find this information. Ms. Phillips is just a “facilitator to help them with their goals,” and she is very proud of how hard her students worked. For those who want to make a difference and support the inspirational work of Desmond Tutu, the time is now. Together, let us build a better tomorrow for all. In fact, a quote to remember “ ...first world classroom to their children, the reality is this won’t happen overnight… we cannot afford to miss out on the current generation… Tutu desk is a short term solution to a massive problem.”

Parent Teacher Conferences 

by: Deja Godsun

Parent-Teacher conferences are set up annually by the school but they can be set up by the parent if needed. Ms.Dobbelaere is an art teacher at HHIHS this is her take on parent-teacher conferences. Ms.Dobbelaere said “Conferences are different from Open House...for conferences, Parent(s)/Guardian(s) are able to ask any question about their student's grades, performance, behavior in class. During Open House, we talk about the structure and sequence of the course, the syllabus, and classroom procedures.”

Conferences last anywhere from 10-20 minutes. Sometimes they can be longer.

Teachers can tell a parent both good and bad information. The information told is more personal and relates to the individual student rather than information on the topic or structure of the class a whole.  

As a teacher Ms.v Dobbelaere enjoys parent-teacher conferences. “When a parent comes in for a conference, I am happy for the opportunity to show off all of the student's work.  Most often I find that the parent/guardian has no idea how wonderful of an artist their student is!!  It makes me happy when I see their smile... and sometimes disbelief at the quality of artwork.” These conferences let the teachers focus on a particular student whether it be weaknesses or strengths. 

HHI Sun Inspiring the Next Generation

By: Celia Walter and Lizzy Markowitz 

Mrs. Hummel, the editor of the Hilton Head Sun, came to visit Ms.Spisz’s  Journalism class at Hilton Head Island High School during school on April 4th.

Mrs. Hummel came to give advice to journalists in the class as well as talk about her experiences and career as a journalist and editor, in hopes of inspiring the next generation of journalists.

Kendall Montes, a Journalism student at Hilton Head Island High School stated, “I thought it was amazing, she’s a great speaker. She connected  to the kids and got us to speak.” 

The Hilton Head Island Sun has been partnering with Journalism students at Hilton Head Island High School for three years. Dedicating a section of their newspaper to articles written by students at Hilton Head Island High School. Ms. Spisz, the Journalism teacher at Hilton Head Island High School stated, “During the pandemic they zoomed in and talked to us. This current school year is the first year that they’ve come in person.” As part of her visit, Mrs. Hummel brought the April edition of the Hilton Head Island Sun, which included articles from Journalism students at Hilton Head Island High School. 

Mrs. Hummel has been working as the editor for the Hilton Head Sun for thirteen years and previously worked with nonprofits and the Island Packet. She also has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina and is native to South Carolina. She decided to go into journalism because it was always her dream to write for magazines and wanted to become a journalist. She continues to enjoy her job as an editor and shared her passion for journalism with Hilton Head Island High School students.  

Kendall Montes stated, “She did her job well. She came in, she had a plan, she achieved it, got us to speak about not only journalism but what we achieve in life overall.”

Advice To Incoming Freshman

By: Jessica Staigar and Lexi Milbrandt

The transition from middle school to high school can be very stressful, but it is also exciting. Going to high school means you can make new friends, learn valuable lessons, and gain experience in the world.

One way you can make your high school experience even better is by joining extracurricular activities, like sports or any clubs. Clubs and sports are where you can meet new people and have connections throughout the school. By joining extracurricular activities you can meet some of the teachers you may have and be on good terms, you can also learn more about what goes on in the school and how you can help. Joining these activities also looks amazing on college applications and can give you an upper hand in getting into the college you want.

To help boost your GPA it is important to take harder classes, so your weighted GPA is higher. There are different levels of classes you can take including, CP, Honors, AP, and IB. While you aren’t allowed to take IB classes until your junior year it is important to try and take honors and AP classes. These classes will help to boost your weighted GPA and give you an extra edge into getting into colleges and making your class rank higher. While taking these classes you should make sure to create good study habits, as the test in these classes will be challenging. You can make a schedule of when you will study, or just make sure to study for about an hour every night. 

You also want to make sure you come to school as much as you can, as there is a seat time policy. Seat time is the amount of time you have to be in a class to pass it. During the first semester you only get five absences per class and during the second semester you get ten absences per class. If you go over this limit you will FA, but you can go to Saturday school to make up seat time.

Advice to Students

By: David Morales

High school is a big step from middle school as you are given more responsibility and more work which requires focus and effort in order to pass your classes and complete assignments. Take each class very seriously and don’t get lazy as it could affect you later in your high school career and could overwhelm you because you’re going to end up trying to make-up for all your missing assignments. Taking Honor classes and IB classes will be very helpful on your transcript which gets noticed by many colleges which can help you get accepted into your dream college and help you get scholarships so you would not have to pay too much money for college. It mainly helps you to learn more information and gain knowledge. Your junior year will be the most important year because it’s the year where you have to mature and stay on top of your work. It can either make you or break you but you will be okay as long as you pay attention in class. Classes may be boring sometimes and friends may distract you but always set apart a certain time to do homework and study. Studying before a test will be very helpful as it gives you a preview of the questions and if you study well and practice many times, the test will end up being easy for you. Be organized because it will be a mess if you are not tracking your worksheets and notes, which would make you do them again and I know students wouldn’t enjoy doing that. Good luck! 

NHS Celebrating International Women’s Day

By: Jessica Staigar and Lexi Milbrandt

On Wednesday Mar 8, 2023 International Women’s Day was celebrated globally to empower women. Here at Hilton Head Island High School, one of the clubs, National Honor Society, joined in and had a fundraiser to help celebrate. According to Epifania Francisco, “We had our members make cards to help them get creative and we sold carnation flowers.” The flowers were available at the front door and anyone could buy one for 2 dollars each, any flowers that were not sold were handed out to all female teachers and administrators. The flowers came from “Flowers by Sue” and were each about a dollar. The National Honor Society wanted to “celebrate how far women have come and empower women.” and promote school spirit at the same time.

All the proceeds went to the Women’s Association of Hilton Head, an organization that is made up of over 700 women, whose goals are to promote the natural and cultural beauty of the Island, encourage projects which benefit the community, and facilitate communication among the women of the Lowcountry. Over 100 flowers were sold and helped the Women’s Association of Hilton Head to continue their generosity and sponsorships.