by James Rand (he/him)

Our Chorus was finally able to enact a normal Chorus Day once again; although there was no concert, the High School and Middle School were able to conjoin for a day of music! 

Mr. Harrington was more than ecstatic with the event: “It was incredibly gratifying to be able to collaborate with our Middle School friends again! All of the students sang beautifully, and our audience was respectful and appreciative of the experience. I wish to thank Mrs. Duval, as well as the Middle School/High School administration and staff for supporting and allowing the event to take place in these still unprecedented times. Special mention should be made of contributions by our superb intern Logan Cormier (Plymouth State University), as well as the "World Premiere" of an original piece entitled "This Is No Fairytale" composed by Kearsarge senior Mak Eldridge.” 

Mak themself says they “think it went very well” and noted that, although the song wasn’t “inspired by anything particular”, they “thought it would sound cool as a choral piece”. Safe to say they were correct: the song's lyrics and harmonies filled the room vibrantly. Hopefully next year Chorus Day will be able to be followed by a proper concert as well!

A link to watch the performance is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y8ZjnsPQd2n71oV_S8oeYGXxK0eqHo23/view 

by Ava Stillman (she/her)

Title: The Ritual

Author: Adam Nevill

My rating: ★★★★☆

This story is about a group of four old friends that had been closely connected (more or less) since their university days — Hutch, Luke, Phil, and Dom. One evening, sitting amidst many younger folks in their favorite local pub, Luke proposed a mountaineering expedition in the Scandinavian wilderness as a sort of “bonding” experience. It was a spur of the moment thought, but he did genuinely feel as if middle age was not treating any of his pals well, and especially disliked all of their wives. Of all places to go hiking, it was not something that Phil and Dom were particularly excited about… Why, of all places, would Luke want to go there? Surprisingly, however, all of the boys somewhat quickly agreed to go, since they all subconsciously hoped that the joys of their juvenile days might finally be revived with the trip.

After a long trip and beginning their journey, the quartet reached the halfway point of the trail. With Hutch and Luke essentially dragging Phil and Dom along, their only motivation at that point was the view of the lodge on the horizon. Still being so many miles away, though, things began to go downhill from there. A twisted ankle, a badly bruised knee, hurtful words being thrown around to no avail are only a handful of the initial atrocities. Because of this, in another not-so-well-thought-out spur of the moment decision, the group decided to take a shortcut through the dark, endless, and seemingly alive woods to their left. “A small, little shortcut” is what Hutch called it. But oh, was he so completely wrong…

Witchcraft, cultists, strange statues, winding paths between the trees that lead to nowhere, and so many other horrible things play out in barely 400 pages. There are a good amount of genuinely unsettling, spine-tingling moments in the book; for example, when the men explore an empty house in the woods, along with their experience at the lonesome church built atop piles of human remains. There are also numerous chilling nightmare sequences including the story’s main antagonist (whom I will not be revealing!), which at times feel almost like Nevill is speaking to you from within your own head. The experience leaves the reader jumpy but exhausted — similar to Nevill’s intricately crafted characters by the middle of the story — and the film adaptation is exhilaratingly nerve-wracking in even more varied ways.

Adam thrusts you firmly into the story and holds you there with sharp dialogue and vivid imagery. I would absolutely recommend this book to any horror or thriller fan, or somebody who just wants a good scare that will keep them safely indoors at night for a week or so…

by Charlie Pike (he/him)

Track and field is an outdoor sport. It has many events such as the High jump, Triple jump, Pole vault, Shot put , Discus , Hammer throw, And Javelin throw. Track and field  season lasts from March to June. There are 6-11 meets in a season. Track and field events and meets take place outside. The most popular track event is the 800 meter sprint. It is an event where  you run two laps around the track. 

by Kayla Wimer (she/her)

When you check how much your phone is charged, and you see it’s at 75%, you probably wouldn’t give it a second thought. 75%, ¾, three quarters, well over half; any way you want to put it, that’s a pretty large percentage. And that’s how far we are into this school year. While that may make you utter a sigh of relief, or if you’re a senior, cause a thread of anxiety to wind through your stomach, it’s still an uncompromising fact. The third quarter is coming to a very quick end, and the prospect of summer vacation is beginning to rise over the horizon. This doesn’t mean we get to relax quite yet, but I figured everyone would appreciate a reminder and a congratulations: You’ve made it this far, and that’s well over the majority of the school year. You’ve got these last couple months in the bag!

by Ophelia Hill (she/her)

The most recent production for Kearsarge High School’s Drama department was the spring production of “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,” directed by Mr. Sweatt,  written by Clark Gesnar and John Gordon. The play was originally written in 1967 and is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Clark Gesnar. It originally opened in New York City on March 7, 1967 and played for 1,597 performances at the theater 80 St. Marks. The play then went on to be revised on Broadway in 1971 and played for 32 performances at the John Golden Theater. Its current version “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown '' was presented on Broadway in 1999 and played for 149 performances at the Ambassador Theatre, with Tony Award winning performances by Roger Bart as Snoopy and Kristin Chenweth as Sally.  The play was based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz and his comic “Peanuts.” The play follows Charlie Brown and explores life through the eyes of his friends from the Peanut gang, as well as his own. Our cast from the High school combined the joy of a good musical while yet being covid safe, with spaced out seating arrangements, allowing individual parties to sit together. 

After speaking with others who attended the play it was agreed that one of the many highlights of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown would be the magical performances such as Suppertime, by Mak Eldridge as Snoopy and My New Philosophy, by Kayla Wimer as Sally. Since it was a comedy, throughout the evening many crowd members could be heard laughing as they enjoyed the comical gold that is the life of Charlie Brown, played by Daniel Courtine. 

As a bonus during intermission, the freshman class had some snacks and beverages for sale, some of our baking classes had even made cookies for the freshman class to use for fundraising. Attendance at the play supported our drama department, our class of 2025, as well as entertained many. Personally I will definitely be attending the next play the department produces and would highly encourage others to do so as well!

To Seniors,

You’re almost done! 13 years of school— from kindergarten to 12th grade. You’ve come from winter activities, through the DC trip, through the pandemic, to now: the final quarter. All the hard work, time, effort, and memories of high school are coming to an end. Whether you’ve been in KRSD the whole time or joined us along your journey: you’re ending with us. Together we wrap up a whole section of our life. A section that most people regard as the biggest and most important time of their lives. One more quarter!

To Seniors,

You’ve just begun. One more quarter and you’re off to fly, or swim, or climb your way into your own adult lives. Whether you’re going to college, a career, a break, or something entirely different, you’re about to begin the eternal journey of finding yourself. Without the constraints of being a child; without the constraints of high school; without the constraints of your parents. Oh, what to do with such freedom!

To Seniors, 

Congratulation! ... I’ll miss you. ... Good luck out there.

From, 

Anonymous