by Bonita Zorrilla (she/her)

This year, on March 9, the drama students were able to take a field trip to Hartford, Connecticut to have dinner at the Marriott Hotel and then watch the Broadway Production of Hadestown. Hadestown is an award winning musical that retells the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.  

After asking some of the other students that went on the trip what they thought about it, it was clear that it was one of the best field trips that we’ve been allowed to go on.

What was your favorite part about going to see Hadestown? Favorite memory?:

“Hadestown was such a fun experience. I loved getting to go on a trip. I enjoyed being with my friends and getting to travel outside of the school with people who have the same interests as me. The set was amazing as well as the songs.” - Abigail Griswold, grade 10

“The whole thing was an amazing experience but my absolute favorite was the swinging lights during ‘Wait for me’ and when the set split apart to reveal the industrial lights and pipes!” - Oliver Boyer, grade 9

“Seeing Hadestown was a great experience; the best part was definitely hanging out with my friends and the amazing music!” - Taylor Grace, grade 9

“The group we went with was amazing and I knew it would be my favorite trip after the delicious dinner, but the show was so entrancing that the only thing going through my head on the way back was beautiful music that played when Hades and Persephone danced.” - Remi Jacques, grade 11

“I loved being able to see an alumni performing and having fun with the people who went.” - Jenna Wheeler, grade 12

“I loved the actual show most of all. It was amazing in every way and I was just in awe. Though, I did love spending time with the theater crew and more just as much. It was a fun group. Everyone was excited and had high energy. It was an amazing experience with an amazing group.” - Jax Dunn, grade 11

“Hanging out with my friends during dinner and seeing a new show that I am now obsessed with.” - Molly Heath, grade 10

Going to see Hadestown was a great opportunity for the drama club and everyone had a fun time!

by Bonita Zorrilla (she/her)

“Letting go isn’t about forgetting. It’s balancing moving forward with life, and looking back from time to time, remembering the people in it.” This is a quote from the book You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao. I got it recently because the reviews were good and described it as a very sad book. But I learned after I finished the book that the reviews don’t even begin to describe how heart-wrenching the story is. 

The book starts off with 17 year old Julie Clarke replaying past memories of her boyfriend, Sam Obayashi. This happens throughout the story and is a coping mechanism for Julie to make it seem like Sam is still with her. Sam died in a car accident a week prior to the beginning of the story. Julie’s whole world is shattered and she loses herself to depression. She pushes her friends away, stops going to school and doesn’t go to Sam’s funeral. Stuck at rock bottom, Julie knows that the only person that can truly help her get through this is Sam. And so she calls him. And he answers. Throughout the weeks, Julie calls Sam and he helps her get back to her old self and even opens her up to new experiences. But what happens when their calls start to go static and Sam starts leaving cryptic messages. When Julie’s friends start to suspect that she’s keeping a secret? Will Julie be able to let Sam go again? More importantly, can she find a way to live without him? 

This book was a beautiful and sad coming of age story. The characters, like Julie and her friends, go through a lot of growth throughout the story. Julie also strengthens her connection with Sam while also moving on and learning to let go of him. There are some small plot twists in the story but it’s relatively slow paced and goes through the whole school year after Sam dies. The fact that the story moves at a slow pace is one of the only things that I don’t really like about the book but that’s just because I usually read drama books. I would rate this book about a 7/10 and I think that I’ll definitely read it again someday!

Overall, I definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes to cry after reading a book! Because it’s almost guaranteed after reading this great story. You can find You’ve Reached Sam and other titles by Dustin Thao here!

by Makenna Ellis (she/her)

One of the most thrilling occasions at KRHS is Winter Carnival week. Every grade competes to win by showing school spirit and participating in some fun activities.  At the end of the week, the winning grade is determined by adding up the participation points, tallying the number of people that dressed up, and other factors. This year, the dress up days included School Colors Day (Blue and Gold), Heat Wave/Cold Front, In Your 80’s/In the 80’s, Twin/Triplet Day, and Class Color Day (Freshman-Purple, Sophomore-Orange, Juniors-Red, and Seniors-Green). 

Winter Carnival Week is a great way to break up the monotony of a cold and dreary February. But don’t just take my word for it! I asked a few students about their experience with Winter Carnival Week. Perry Brooks - a senior - said that even though she didn’t participate in the activities,  a highlight of the week for her was “the outfits and just the overall energy of the week... I loved watching my grade come together.” According to Perry, one thing she would change would be the dodgeball reffing, so let’s try and step it up next year! 

Juliet Faria - a freshman- had some thoughts on Winter Carnival as well. What surprised Juliet was “how all in everyone went on dressing up, the freshman really crushed the dress up days.” I agree Juliet, we did really crush though dress up days! I didn’t have much hope for us, but we really came through in the end. Juliet participated in Dizzy Izzy - which was her favorite , Tug of War, and Dodgeball. When I asked Juliet what she would change she said, “I can't think of anything I would want to change besides getting more students involved in making the hallway and wall. It was a lot of work for a very small group of freshmen and would've been much easier if more kids helped out.” Hopefully we’re able to get more students together next year!

I also decided to ask Taylor Grace - President of the Freshman Class - what her opinions were on Winter Carnival Week. “I [she] participated in a few of the activities, but as a first year member of student government at the high school, I felt it would be better to focus more on uniting everyone, getting them excited, and creating teams.” Taylor’s highlight of the week was “beating the seniors in tug-of-war”, and that “We were so  united. I have never seen our class come together so well.” Thank you so much to Taylor, the rest of the student council, and everyone else who helped unite our Freshman class. 

In the end, the Juniors earned the most points during the Winter Carnival.  They really did show a lot of excitement and effort throughout the week. Congrats to each and every class for contributing to the fun and competition of Winter Carnival!

by Makenna Ellis (she/her)

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is one of the world's most renowned books, selling more than three million copies, and being a popular choice for English teachers in high school. The Bell Jar was first published on January 14th, 1963, and under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas.

The Bell Jar shows the protagonist Esther Greenwood, a college student, who recently won a contest to become a guest editor at a magazine in New York, Ladies’ Day. However, Esther suffers from mental illness, and is constantly faced with the societal pressures against women in the 1950’s, making it hard for her to be successful at her summer experience. Esther continuously tries to write a novel throughout the story, but she grows more discouraged with each attempt.

     Esther’s mental illness is quite similar to Sylvia Plath’s own experience with mental illness. During Plath’s time of writing The Bell Jar, many of Esther’s experiences throughout the book were based on her own life, like when Esther was institutionalized. Sylvia and Esther both share experiences in life, apart from mental illness. For example, they both worked at a magazine company, and dreamed of being a writer, specifically a poet. 

Sylvia Plath was a huge success. While she typically wrote only poems, with “Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus” being the most well known,  The Bell Jar was her one and only novel. Plath went on to win the Glascock Prize and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

In 1956, Sylvia married Ted Hughes - an English poet -  and they later had 2 children. However, in 1962 Ted had an affair, and the couple separated. Sadly, in 1963, a month after the publication of The Bell Jar,  the beloved writer took her own life while her children slept nearby. It wasn't until after her death, that The Bell Jar was known to be written by Sylvia Plath. Her legacy would continue on, as The Bell Jar is still one of the most popular books in the literary world, selling millions of copies. 

by Emilia Ciesla (she/her)

April is designated as National Poetry Month each year as a time to honor poets and their work. Throughout the month, the Academy of American Poets and other poetry groups host a variety of activities in order to celebrate. The history behind this month’s special poetry theme is that the Academy of American Poets designated April as National Poetry Month in order to draw attention to the literary form of poetry. They were inspired by Black History Month as well as celebrating Women in the March time. Since April 1966, we have honored the poets, however, it is not only meant to celebrate the amazing, passionate work of poets, it also can encourage us, high school students, to read more poetry or even find ourselves expressing our ideas or feelings in the form of a poem. 

Ewa Chrusciel, a poetry professor at Colby Sawyer in New London, consented to respond to some inquiries about poetry as part of honoring poets in April: 

Question: What being a poet means to you? 

Ewa: Writing is giving a voice to a voiceless. It is cultivating the woundedness in us. It is being in touch with yourself, others, Universe and Higher Powers.Writing reminds us we are woven out of bewilderment. It makes us discover places in our heart we did not know existed. It teaches us empathy. It reminds us we are humans and pilgrims in this world. For me writing is being always sin touch with beauty and mystery.

Question: How did poetry change/affect your life? 

Ewa: I write in a non-native language. My native language is Polish.

In Lost in Translation, a Life in a New Language,  E. Hoffman claims that we can have a new beginning in a new language. We can be free of constraints and native inhibitions. For me, writing in English was liberating. I remember feeling free of the constraints of my native Polish language and inhibitions; free of fear of making errors. It is fun to experiment with new material.

Question: Why would you encourage others to read or write poetry? 

Ewa: Perhaps writing poems is always an experience of migration, if not exile. It is, after all, a way of being in two places at once. It can be disorienting, sometimes disturbing. Writing paradoxically recognizes the insufficiency of native or second language, the human desire and inability to express the ineffable. It teaches us humbleness, as we – poets – are perpetually in a state of mercy and adaptation, just like migrants or foreigners are. The effect is doubled if you write in a non-native language. Perhaps we should all try to live as a foreigner who cannot take anything for granted. Or, as a stranger, who in the Hebrew Bible, is always mentioned in conjunction with the orphan and the widow.

Overall, these are good plants for first time flower gardeners. Some tips are to plant flowers shortest in the front and tallest in the back, specifically when they are an edging. An example of this is in a garden that goes along a house. For blooming periods, if the flowers only last a month or two, plant some that flower one week, and then more after two weeks, and so on. This will stagger the blooming and allow you to always have some of that kind of flower in bloom. For colors, always keep your surroundings and the color wheel in mind. Another thing to remember is what the purpose of the flowers is. If they are to be cut flowers, plant flowers with different colors and head sizes. If they are for ground cover, what will match the house and other surrounding features best. For window boxes and other containers, choose flowers that will get along with one another. Avoid flowers that will take over the entire pot and kill off the other flowers.

by Amber Houle (she/her)

Every year in the first week of January, our school’s FIRST Robotics Team 1247: Blood, Sweat, and Gears, along with all of the other teams in the world, receives the challenge for the year. This year was called Charged Up, the tasks to be completed were picking up the game pieces: cones and/or overinflated cubes as well as balancing on what was called the “Charging Station”. They met almost every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in order to make a robot that was a maximum of 120 pounds and a maximum of 4.5 feet tall in just two short months. After lots of problem solving and work, the robot was finally complete just in time for the Week 1 competition.

The first competition was supposed to be March 2-4 but due to weather, it was shortened to March 2-3. This competition took place at the Salem High School where our robotics team competed in 8 qualifying matches in order to qualify for the playoff matches later on in the competition. March 2, the team did load in where they unpacked everything and set up the pit with the robot on its cart and all of the tools and materials that might be needed. The next day, the matches began, alliances were randomly assigned and there was much problem solving that was done. After all 39 teams had competed in 8 matches each for a total of 52 matches, it was time for alliance selection. Our team was in 13th place when picking began. The way alliance selection worked was the top eight teams stood on the playing field, and it started with the first place team choosing any team to be on their alliance. If this team was one of the teams in the top eight, then the teams that were a lower rank would move it one place making the 9th place team not the 8th place team. As alliance selections continued, our robotics team ended up as the alliance captains for the 8th seed alliance. 

The second competition was March 24-26 at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). This time, all of the 41 teams competed in 12 qualifying matches each over the course of one and a half days. After the qualifying matches were complete, the robotics team was in 10th place. When alliance selection happened, the team ended up the 6th seed alliance captains. The alliance made it through multiple rounds before being eliminated in the semi-finals.

Coming up soon is the New England District Championship for which our robotics team qualified as they were 86th out of 185 teams. The top 90 teams in the district are invited to compete at this four day competition that spans April 5-8 and will take place at Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts. The team will be leaving the afternoon of Wednesday, April 5. They will be staying overnight at a hotel for the competition, and they will return Saturday, April 8.

by Meghan Blood (she/her)

Mrs. Hemingway has been the Extended Learning Opportunity coordinator for a couple of years now, and so far she has made a great impact on students. She runs numerous ELOs including “Therapeutic Horsemanship”, “LNA Course and KRHS”, “Emergency Medical Responder at KRHS”, “Market Gardening and Sustainable Agriculture”, “Leaders in Advocacy”, and “American Sign Language”.  

ELOs usually are just one semester long, and you get a credit for it. The credit type can vary based on what you are taking. There are two types of ELOs, one on one ELOs, and group ELOs. For one on one ELOs you can talk to Mrs. Hemingway, the ELO coordinator, about something you are interested in and find a way to explore it. This can even be an internship. Typically, for group ELOs you go on trips, see presentations, and get to try new things. You can talk to and meet professionals, all the while exploring career possibilities without it taking up a lot of your time.

Coming into high school I was unsure of what field I wanted to go into. Would I want to do something in the medical field, or would it be better to go into art and conservation? I wasn’t aware of ELOs until my junior year, but once I found them I got to learn and experience a lot of new things. One of the best ones I have taken is “The Road Not Taken”. We got to visit museums and historical sites in NH, meet experts in different fields and cultures, and learned a lot about the history of art and specifically art in NH. We read the book Voices by David Elliot, an author who lives right in Warner, NH. Afterwards he came into the school to give us a talk about his life and career. Afterwards we wrote a reflection about it; typically after each exploration you write a one page reflection on it. What did you like, learn, dislike, etc. We were hoping to get to visit the Robert Frost Farm, but this visit sadly fell through. This was the third ELO I did in my junior year, and I took it in the second semester. 

Before this, I took the Leaders in Advocacy and Monadnock Community Health Science Careers ELOs in tandem with one another my first semester of junior year. For the MCHSC ELO we had to complete an online course, and we got to meet health professionals working in different facets of this profession. For Leaders in Advocacy we got to go to Concord and meet with representatives, a group who works in advocacy, and learn more about how NH’s government works. We were taught skills and strategies for how to advocate for ourselves and what we believe in, as well as how our state website works and how to navigate it so that we can stay up to date on information about potential bills. 

None of these had a particularly heavy workload, and all of them were fun ways to get to learn more about what I was interested in. Currently, I am part of the American Sign Language and STEM group ELOs. For the ASL ELO we are learning through an online course that is comprehensive and easy to understand. It takes not only about the language, but aspects of the deaf community that are important to know. Mr. Baker, a local who is part of the deaf community, comes in once a month to teach us about deaf culture and the language. He clarifies any questions we might have, and is a great teacher. 

The STEM ELO has been one of my favorites that I have done. We have visited many different places that specialize in STEM. This ELO is definitely one of the things that has sold me on going into the engineering field. After each visit we write the usual one page reflection and that helps me remember what the place we visited does. If you miss a field trip, there is always an online makeup assignment to do in its place which is just as informative as an in person visit. The makeup assignment is usually going to the place's website and reading about what they do or make, and then writing about it. 

Overall I have had a very good experience with ELOs and Mrs. Hemingway. She is encouraging and understanding, and makes sure we get all that we can out of our experiences. She has worked with many students in and past, and continues to reach out to students via emails to encourage them to enroll. There is an ELO for everyone, and if you don’t see one that you are interested in, but want to explore a career possibility, Mrs. Hemingway will work with you to create a personalized ELO. I have heard that one on one ELOs are more intense than group ones, but don’t let that deter you. If you are unsure of what you want to do after high school, or just want to explore something for fun, ELOs are for you! 

by Megan Lizotte (she/her)

I had been waiting for the Carter Notch trip for a long time now. The only thing I didn’t like was the amount of people coming. The meeting after school on March 7 said otherwise. Many people had dipped because of nordic, so we ended up having twelve children and four adults. Unusual for a two night trip. It was a small crowd and that made me happy. The best part about this was that none of us except the adults had been to the Carter notch hut before. Me and one other had gone to Hadestown the night before and came back at one in the morning so we were tired. But we knew it would be worth the exhaustion.

The morning of the trip we met in the brook nook, per usual. Our bags were filled to the top and odd to lug around. I went to visit friends as I made it to school early and then got called back around eight to help pack the group food. It was interesting watching everyone shove as much as they could in their bags. During this time snowshoes, sleeping bags, microspikes, anything that people needed was rented out. And then the bus came. This time it was by the cafe door and not the office. Walking on the bus was a struggle with snowshoes poking out the sides, the packs so heavy to the point where if we leaned back just a little we’d fall over. We had to shove our way through the seats. It was that awkward. We made a stop at the gas station for snacks and the lodge for our last chance at normal bathrooms. Mafia was the only game we did on the bus, we played for the majority of the ride.

Upon arrival it took us about an hour to get everything set, microspikes on, packs filled, and the usual name game. We had our packs on and off the whole time with false starts and “Move to that side of parking lot-” the complete opposite side of where we were to- “Nevermind go back to the other side.” from Carter. Around one was when we managed to set off. At first the hike didn’t seem so bad but roughly half an hour in was when the groups started to form. Prior to this people were throwing snowballs and targeting people, namely me. We had the majority of people in the fast group, myself included, and then the three freshmen boys behind us, and then the few slowest people behind them with three adults. Mr. Keene led the charge up the mountain, and all until lunch time we managed to stick together pretty well. After lunch was when groups really fell behind, we’d used our energy up the first part of the hike and the stop didn’t help, even though it was for food. At this point I decided to stick with the slower group as I didn’t feel like keeping up a pace. Besides, some of my friends were back there anyway. It took us quite a while to get to the top, where we then would descend to the hut. Mr. Keene, as I later found out, abandoned everyone to get the hut. Everyone gave him a hard time as one of the rules he made sure we knew was to never be on your own. It was around six when we all made it to the hut. For whatever reason I’d decided to sign up for dinner crew, fortunately I had one sane senior to help the other two were a freshman and sophomore.

The next day we had to decide what hike to do. Everyone was up around eight and in the lodge. From there adults discussed and by eleven we knew we were going up to Carter Dome. It was noon by the time we were all ready. The hike was uphill the whole way, thankfully we had snowshoes, but for whatever reason I really enjoyed myself. Normally I hate going uphill but I guess my muscles had warmed up enough to be fine with it. Because it was uphill we had to stop several times to wait for the people who had a slower pace. On the way up we had a large group in front, I was part of this, and then two slower groups. There was a point in the hike where we crested a cliff and paused at the breathtaking view. When we reached the top we took a group photo and sat down for lunch, but soon had to leave as we got cold sitting still. I think we made record time going up and down, especially for leaving at noon. Once again I was on dinner crew, pizza was on the menu and nobody else knew how to make pizza. Absolutely astounding. And on top of that I was given a hard time being a vegetarian. Regardless, dinner was successfully made. While the cleanup crew got to work many card games were in play.

We were woken up at 6:30, daylight savings time was last night so we lost an hour of sleep. Breakfast was essentially leftovers. We told the bus driver we’d meet him at 11:30. So we organized into two groups, the slower people would start while everyone else would follow around an hour later. Around half a mile from the bottom the fast group caught up with us. We made it back with a little time to spare. Our bus driver, Fast Frank, was on time. Spot on in fact. We stopped once again at the lodge and then at a grocery store for lunch. Once at the school group food was unpacked and distributed. Containers were cleaned and rentals given back. I was the last to leave as I was cleaning a container. I offered to take the food no one wanted and give it to the pigs at the barn I ride at. And thus the annual Carter Notch trip was concluded.