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DECA Wins Big
by Amelia Stock
Last December, students from all grades traveled to the Sea Crest Beach Hotel in Falmouth to compete in the DECA competition. DECA is a business club run by Mr.Cowgill and Mrs.Gates that centers on finance, marketing,hospitality and management. At the district competition, students from the south shore compete against each other in their categories. Students specialize in areas from business related categories like food, management, accounting, and financing. Students are given a roleplay scenario and you have a certain amount of time to brainstorm a presentation and you present your ideas on your topic to a judge. Participants were required to dress professionally in business attire. Students who won in their competition will progress onto states later in the year.
The winners of this years district competition were Liv Skeiber & Matt Mcauliffe: Hospitality Team Decision Making, Alexa Lewis: Accounting, Matt Willshire & Colin Murphy: Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making, Katie Jasie: Restaurant and Food Service Management, Grace Torrey: Accounting, Mikayla Horvath:Quickserve Management, Luke Santoro: Principles of Finance, Kevin Murphy: Principles of Finance, Jenna Waterman: Principles of Business Management, and Ryan Milchunes: Business Service Marketing.
Freshman Jenna Waterman who was one of the winners said “ In my experience, I had so much fun. I met friends from other schools and there were fun activities.”
Sophomore Sadie Rizzitano said “ DECA is a fun and amazing experience that gives all students the chance to learn business skills either competitively or just for fun and to meet new people from nearby towns.”
Prior to the competition students sold Hilliards chocolate bars to fundraise for the competition and had a Chipotle night.
Photo courtesy Jenna Waterman
Photos courtesy Elizabeth Goff
Photo courtesy Charlotte O'dette
Photo courtesy Alexa Lewis
Image from Shutterstock
PHS Plagued by WIFI Issues
by Cameron Voelkel & Will McNamara
PHS left without internet for weeks! Right before Thanksgiving, Powerschool shut down…Then the wifi went out on Sunday, November 19. Teachers weren't able to teach at all for a little bit of time. They had to either download slides, docs etc. Or either print papers from home and bring them in. In early December, Principal Talbot said the district started to rebuild servers step by step.
Students were not able to receive any reception on their phones while in school which caused a lot of problems when needing to contact parents or find rides home from school.
Everyday was like a mystery going into school, we would never know what to expect. We would never know if we would have service or if we did, we didn't have long until it was shut down a little after.
Also lunch accounts were frozen when the internet went out. Parents and students had no way of managing the money in their lunch accounts. When the internet came back, many students had negative balances in their accounts.
Mr. Talbot gave the advice to our teachers during this problem: “Try your best to teach how you did before the pandemic without computers.”
He added, “We take it for granted. We rely on the internet for everything.”
Senior Turner Gilmore states, “It was like I was in jail. I had to go to classes with no phone and get fed once a day.”
Senior James Falco agreed, saying, “It ruined my lunch for a whole week because I wasn't able to buy snacks or a double lunch!”
The loss of the internet also stirred up lots of drama. Students and their families were curious, confused, and upset with the situation. Everyone tried to come up with what could have possibly happened and rumors even began to spread. It was believed that our internet may have been hacked and that we were desperately trying to get it back.
PHS went old school! Classes had to make the switch to pen and paper. It was hard for students to make the switch because most of our school work was done on computers. And with the issues of not being able to print, It made some classes feel like study periods because we couldn't do anything!
Mr. Talbot said, "As we continue in our year we have received back wifi on chromebooks and phones, we have also fixed Powerschool and are able to see our grades again. We are still trying to rebuild the servers, but other than that the students and teachers are back up to date!"
Photo of Computer Science Honor Society Club
Photo of all the coats collected by Key Club
Photo by Abby Newman
PHS Holiday Giving
PHS Holiday Giving
by Abby Newman
Throughout the months of November and December there were a number of fundraisers here at PHS.
From December 3 to December 15, the Computer Science Honor Society ran a mitten drive; all mittens, scarves, and hats were donated to the Plymouth Area Coalition. Student Council and staff members worked throughout the month of December to help a number of PHS families during the holiday season. DECA also ran a toy drive; every member brought in a toy to donate. Additionally, Key Club ran a coat drive from November 1 until December 15 collecting adult and children's coats.
Congratulations to all the clubs, students, and staff who participated in these fundraising events!
Photos via @phs_2024_decisions on Instagram
College Commits
College Commits
by Jack Psaros & Turner Gilmore
As the school year is progressing, many seniors have begun hearing back from schools and some have even made up their minds as to where they will be going in 2024. So far, a couple seniors have already made their decision as to where they will be furthering their education.
Senior Pat Norman, had this to say about his commitment to The University of Rochester, “I plan on being a biology major with a minor in psychology, to hopefully one day go to med school and be a pediatrician.” Pat will be studying biology, psychology, and playing football at Rochester.
Bella Diprizio, another senior, said this about her commitment to Plymouth State University, “I am very excited to go, and it is very relieving to be committed. Also, I am looking forward to playing lacrosse for them.” Bella will be studying health sciences and playing Lacrosse at Plymouth State.
Senior Sarah Claflin, committed to The University of Connecticut earlier this year to run track. This is what Sarah had to say about her commitment, “I am super excited to attend UConn next fall, I will be a health science major. My coach, Rooney, was very helpful throughout my recruitment process. I'm very relieved to be done with the process and I'm excited for next year!” Sarah will be studying health sciences as well as running track and field at UConn.
As of right now, many other seniors have been accepted to colleges and are currently making a decision. Good luck to everyone who is currently going through the application process.
Community Service Options
by Rowan Donlon
SENIORS! You cannot graduate unless you have 40 hours of community service! For all of the freshman who don’t know, or seniors slacking on getting those hours, 40 hours of community service is required for everyone planning on graduating Pembroke Highschool! Take a trip to guidance where you can look at a bunch of openings and experiences that’ll give you some time. If you’re not in the mood to trek up the third level stairs, here are some opportunities!
End Hunger New England- An organization in North Pembroke where you can sign up online to pack food for the hungry. This option is great to do with a group of friends, as you can chat while you pack up boxes of dried foods. Each session is normally 2-4 hours, so you can get a good portion of your time done for each session.
Reach out to the Pembroke Public Library! After a short interview and training session, you’ll learn how to organize books or clean up the kids craft room. It’s a good way to connect more with the community while checking off community service from your graduation bucket list.
The Pembroke Council on Aging- looking for student volunteers! Help out your elderly community! If you have any iphone or computer skills, this opportunity is perfect for you!
Photo curtesy: endhungerne.org
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