All Orange County schools will operate on a two-hour delay schedule tomorrow due to inclement weather. Students will still take exams, although the length of the testing period for teacher-made and CTE exams will be reduced. Here is the altered schedule:
- Carson Reagan and Nina Daye won for America Monday.
- Melinda Pickard, Becca Shinnick, Josie Smith, Laura Holmes, and Pam Saunders won for Twin Tuesday.
- Devon Chamberlain and Alia Granger won for Country Club vs. Country Day.
- Andrew Sperling and Justin Webb won for Athlete vs. Mathlete Day.
- Megan Joyner won the Most Spirited Student Award.
- Andrew Sperling won the Best Overall Costume Award.
Winners can pick up their prizes from John Stevens' room, Room 126.
The tradition of Spirit Week is often held in October during football season but this year a mini one is occurring in the Spring. This is due to the multiple sports ending this week. Women's soccer will be having senior night Wednesday, May 7 against Cedar Ridge. Both softball and baseball will have their seniors nights Friday, May 9.The days for Mini-Spirit Week are...
Prep Day- Wednesday, May 7
-Make sure to wear your polos, khakis, pearls, bows, monograms, Vineyard Vines, and Lilly Pulitzer for this day.
School Color Day- Thursday, May 8
-Layer on all the black, orange, and white that you can find in your closet.
Aloha Day - Friday, May 9
- Anything you own with a hibiscus flower print on it will be perfect. Bright flower prints in general will work too.
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Prom. When the major event in high school is reminisced about, we all think back to the cheesy movies, where the only worries in the world are who's going to win Prom King or Queen, and the dresses. Orange had its 51st annual prom, and this year’s theme was "A Gatsby Affair." The Durham Hilton was filled with gold and black balloons, while the ballroom had a DJ, as well as different multi-color lights, with lighted mini palm trees illuminating the tables.
Students danced the night away with a variety of songs, including "Timber," "Cotton-Eyed Joe," and "All of Me." Students also gathered together for group songs, like the "Cupid Shuffle" and "Wobble." Prom ended at midnight with "Let it Go" from Disney’s hit film Frozen.
Students enjoyed a wide assortment of food provided by the Durham Hilton. Of course, there would be no prom without chaperones, which was the Orange High Staff, who all looked quite dapper.
When asked how she would describe her prom experience from this year, senior Brianna Hales said, “Prom was so much fun! I love seeing all my friend dressed up, they look so dapper.” Also, sophomore Jared Riley said, “It was pretty fun, the DJ did a good job of keeping us students pumped up and dancing. My favorite thing would probably be just hanging out with my friends and having a great night.”
Though prom started at 8:00 pm on Saturday, most students didn’t make their grand arrivals until 8:45 pm or later.
Of course, one of the most important factors is the attire! Each and every girl had a dress a little different from the rest, with popular colors from the night ranging from mint green to orange. Just like the night, the decorations, and the theme itself, each and every dress had class, mixed with pizzazz and flare.
For next year’s theme, junior Megan Joyner hopes “the theme next year is something exotic and exciting.” While Maddie Norwood, also a junior, hopes that next year’s theme “is a masquerade, because I think that would be really neat.”
“I think the prom was a lot of fun. I loved the decorations -- even though they didn't really seem to be Gatsby-themed, they were still amazing and gave prom a much more sophisticated atmosphere than at other dances. The music was pretty good and I loved the food, especially the punch fountain,” said Norwood.
National Library Week, April 14-18, is being celebrated by Orange High School. This week is a time to show your support for your school or public library. The Learning Commons has given students a wonderful opportunity to enter contests, volunteer to help shelve books, and have fun doing it. The theme this year for National Library Week is “Lives Change @ Your Library.” This week is important for the millions of the people who utilize the availability of libraries. Shea Mustian, the librarian, said, “I love National Library Week because I see it as a week of fun.” She also talked about how it can bring in many new students wanting to read and how surprising it is how many kids know the answers to the weekly contests.
The first contest that students can compete in is called “Guess the Mystery Passage.” A different passage is read each day over the intercom and students can guess what book the passage is from and enter their submission. All the correctly-guessing students have an equal chance to win after being pulled from a hat. The prize is a sweet treat and bragging rights.
The second contest is checking out a book. Each student who does this gets their name put in a hat and a chance to win at the end of the day Thursday.
The third contest is called “Guess How Many Pages!” Students and teachers can guess how many pages are in a specific book in the Learning Commons. The closest number wins and is announced Thursday afternoon.
The fourth contest is creating a bookmark from paper given by Mustian in the Learning Commons. Students design the bookmark however they wish and the three best will win. The winners will also be announced Thursday afternoon. Good luck to everyone entering!
Photo Credit: The UniBallers Family Photos on Flickr. No edits made. Photo License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/.[/caption]The junior-senior prom at OHS is being held at the Durham Hilton Saturday, April 26. Prom tickets will be sold in Christy Frye’s room, room 126, starting Tuesday, April 8. The tickets will be $35.00 for only three days, April 8-10, then they will be $40 thereafter.
If you are bringing a date to prom who is not from our school please see Marcia Compton in the guidance office. She will put in the prom bid for you. The person you are bringing must be under 21 and they will ask you to provide proof of age.
The theme for the prom this year is “Great Gatsby.” The decorations and senior prom invitations will be modeled after the popular Roaring Twenties based book written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A recent movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio made “The Great Gatsby” very popular with its outrageous, larger-than-life portrayal of the 1920’s time period.
Coach Bobby Shriner with his son Elijah Shriner who is a senior at OHS. Photo Credit: Yearbook Reflections.[/caption]Orange High’s wrestling coach Bobby Shriner won 2013-14 State 3A Coach of the Year. Shriner was very humble when he accepted the award. He said, “I won this award because of how great these kids are. This award is for the whole school, the community, and all of the kids that have wrestled at Orange in the past.”
Each year when Shriner coaches his wrestlers, he focuses on teaching them responsibility, character, respect, accountability of their actions, and always striving for their best. Shriner stated, “I always try to teach my boys that if they live right and do right, then good things will happen.” This also translates into the intense training Coach Shriner puts all the wrestlers through the entire year.
This is a custom for Orange wrestlers who portray commitment, dedication, and above all, respect. Coach Shriner hopes to continue his success here at Orange for many more years.
For the 2014 season they had a conference record 7-0 and an overall record 25-3. Under Coach Shriner they have been state dual champions 5 times in the last 10 years.
Photo Credit: Evelyn Deloatch.[/caption]Thursday, March 13, 20 students from Orange High School went to Alamance Community College to learn about careers in medicine. Students from Orange who went on the field trip possibly want to go into the health profession. Cedar Ridge High School also attended as well as schools from Chapel Hill and Alamance County. Different medical profession representatives were there, like dental assistants and medical office assistants.
CTE, or Career and Technical Education, accrued a grant a few years ago that funds Pathways to Prosperity. One of the pathways it funds is the health science/health pathway, which helps because more people are needed in the health profession.
On the field trip, students went to three different sessions during the day, which included a hands-on session, admissions requirement session, and a business connection session.
“I think that students need to understand that there are other alternatives to going to a four-year college. Community college provides certification to many job fields. You can get your associate’s degree while going to work,” said Evelyn DeLoatch, who works in the Career Center at Orange. “I think that the students need to rethink ways to be successful,” DeLoatch added.
Bracket is from espn.com. Filled out by Jared Riley and Spencer Husen.[/caption]What is the biggest story this year in college basketball? Is it Wichita State’s historic 34-0 season? Doug McDermott eclipsing 3,000 career points to become the fifth-highest scoring college player of all-time? There is no clear answer. But, it is almost concurrent that there is no dominant team this year in college basketball. Florida took the number one overall seed, followed by Arizona, Wichita State, and the ACC Champs, Virginia. There was only one notable exclusion from the tourney, an SMU team that went 25-9 and was ranked in the top 25 in the AP Poll at the end of the season. As for all of the inclusions in this year’s big dance, we will take you through each matchup, game by game, to help you make your picks. Happy picking!
South Region:
The South Region contains arguably the most undoubted pick for the Final Four, Florida. The Gators seem poised for a run at the national championship, despite having both Kansas and Syracuse in their region. If the Jayhawks can make it to the Elite 8 to face Florida, they could pose a strong threat, however the Embiid-less Kansas squad faces a hard road without their star freshman center until the Sweet 16. The Orange also have a fighting chance, but have been on a downward spiral of late, losing 5 of their last 7 games. If you're looking for upsets, bet on 12 seed SF Austin to upend 5 seed VCU. Also look for an Elite 8 run from 7 seed New Mexico.
(Winner in ALL CAPS)
Round of 64:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #16 Albany
#8 Colorado vs. #9 PITTSBURGH
#5 Virginia Commonwealth vs. #12 SF AUSTIN
#4 UCLA vs. #13 Tulsa
#6 OHIO STATE vs. #11 Dayton
#3 SYRACUSE vs. #14 Western Michigan
#7 NEW MEXICO vs #10 Stanford
#2 KANSAS vs. #15 Eastern Kentucky
Round of 32:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #9 Pittsburgh
#4 UCLA vs. #12 SF Austin
#3 Syracuse vs. #6 OHIO STATE
#2 Kansas vs. #7 NEW MEXICO
Sweet 16:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #4 University of California - Los Angeles
#6 Ohio State vs. #7 NEW MEXICO
Elite 8:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #7 New Mexico
East Region:
Much like the South region, many people have agreed on the winner of the East. Except it’s not the number 1 seeded ACC Champion Virginia, but 4 seed Michigan State. The Spartans enter the NCAA tournament playing some of their best basketball of the season, while being at full strength for the first time since early December. The region also includes two good teams in Iowa State and North Carolina, plus Cincinnati and Connecticut. The winner of the Cyclones and Tar Heels round of 32 match-up seem suited for an Elite 8 run and match-up, due to the inconsistency and inexperience of the 2 seed Villanova. As for upsets, watch for normal bracket buster 12 seed Harvard to defeat 5 seed Cincinnati, and 7 seed Connecticut to fall to 10 seed St. Joe’s. Look for the 4 seeded Spartans and 6 seed North Carolina to meet in the Elite 8.
(Winner in ALL CAPS)
Round of 64:
#1 VIRGINIA vs. #16 Coastal Carolina
#8 MEMPHIS vs. #9 George Washington
#5 Cincinnati vs. #12 HARVARD
#4 MICHIGAN STATE vs. #13 Delaware
#6 NORTH CAROLINA vs. #11 Providence
#3 IOWA STATE vs. #14 North Carolina Central
#7 Connecticut vs #10 ST. JOSEPH’S
#2 VILLANOVA vs. #15 Milwaukee
Round of 32:
#1 VIRGINIA vs. #8 Memphis
#4 MICHIGAN STATE vs. #12 Harvard
#3 Iowa State vs. #6 NORTH CAROLINA
#2 VILLANOVA vs. #10 St. Joseph’s
Sweet 16:
#1 Virginia vs. #4 MICHIGAN STATE
#2 Villanova vs. #6 NORTH CAROLINA
Elite 8:
#4 MICHIGAN STATE vs. #4 North Carolina
West Region:
Perhaps the least talked-about bracket of the four regions, the west is headlined by Wooden Award frontrunner Doug McDermott, who was led third-seeded Creighton to a 26-7 record, but have lost three of their last six games. Can they knock off the second-seeded Badgers of Wisconsin? This is to be decided.
(Winner in ALL CAPS)
Round of 64:
#1 ARIZONA vs. #16 Weber State
#8 Gonzaga vs. #9 OKLAHOMA STATE
#5 OKLAHOMA vs. #12 North Dakota State
#4 SAN DIEGO STATE vs. #13 New Mexico State
#6 BAYLOR vs. #11 Wisconsin
#3 CREIGHTON vs. #14 Louisiana-Lafayette
#7 OREGON vs #10 Brigham Young University
#2 WISCONSIN vs. #15 American
Round of 32:
#1 ARIZONA vs. #9 Oklahoma State
#4 SAN DIEGO STATE vs. #5 Oklahoma
#3 Creighton vs. #6 BAYLOR
#2 WISCONSIN vs. #7 Oregon
Sweet 16:
#1 ARIZONA vs. #4 San Diego State
#2 WISCONSIN vs. #6 Baylor
Elite 8:
#1 Arizona vs. #2 WISCONSIN
Midwest Region:
Last, but certainly not least, there is the Midwest. Although the Shockers of Wichita State has won all 34 of their regular season and conference tournament games, the NCAA Tournament will be full of whole new ball games, literally. The Midwest is also, debatably, the toughest region, due to the prior dominance of each of the top seeds, Wichita State, Michigan, Duke, and Louisville, in that order. There are three quick potential matchups to look out for, two of them being on upset alert. These games are potential matchups between Wichita State and Kentucky, Michigan and Duke, and a second-round game between play-in winner NC State and St. Louis. Who will prevail? These are our picks for the Midwest (sorry Wichita State).
Round of 64:
#1 WICHITA STATE vs. #16 Cal Poly
#8 KENTUCKY vs. #9 Kansas State
#5 St. Louis vs. #12 NC STATE
#4 LOUISVILLE vs. #13 Manhattan
#6 UMASS vs. #11 Tennessee
#3 DUKE vs. #14 Mercer
#7 TEXAS vs. #10 Arizona State
#2 MICHIGAN vs. #15 Wofford
Round of 32:
#1 Wichita State vs. #8 KENTUCKY
#4 LOUISVILLE vs. #12 NC State
#3 DUKE vs. #6 University of Massachusetts
#2 MICHIGAN vs. #7 Texas
Sweet 16:
#4 LOUISVILLE vs. #8 Kentucky
#2 Michigan vs. #3 DUKE
Elite 8:
#3 Duke vs. #4 LOUISVILLE
FINAL FOUR:
West vs. Midwest:
#2 Wisconsin vs. #4 LOUISVILLE
South vs. East:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #4 Michigan State
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #4 Louisville
Photo credit: Brianna Hales. Application and college papers have been piling up for OHS seniors![/caption]Tuesday, March 19, Orange High was supposed to hold its first annual College and Career Expo for OHS students during lunch in the gym. It would have featured over 30 colleges and local businesses and helped students plan for their futures.
Due to a winter mix that included freezing rain and snow, all Orange County Schools were at first delayed, and then canceled. Evelyn DeLoatch, who is in charge of the Career Center at Orange, said that “there might not be a College and Career Expo this year because teachers are so behind because of all the weather delays and school being canceled.”
It has not yet been decided if there will be a College and Career Expo this year, but stay informed as this story develops.
The chorus concert that had been scheduled for March 6 was cancelled due to inclement weather including sleet and black ice on the roads. The concert is now scheduled to take place on March 27. The preview for the concert seems to be a promising lineup of songs and performances from all three levels of chorus classes.
Photo Credit: Jonah Neville.[/caption]After a very successful season of basketball, Coach Greg Motley has been chosen as the 3A Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year. He started coaching in 1995 and this is one of many playoff seasons he has led the Panthers to. When asked how he felt about winning Coach of the Year, he responded by saying that it was a testament to the kids’ success and how well they played throughout the entire season. With high expectations every year in a tough conference, the Panthers had one of their best seasons, going 26-6 for the year. Expectations for next year will be the same, and although the Panthers will be losing three seniors, they will bring back a good, strong core of guys to compete with next year. With the past couple of years being losing seasons, this was a great bounce-back year for Coach Motley and the basketball team.
When asked about how this year was different than the past few years, Coach Motley said, “We had the same preparation as every year, but this year the team chemistry was better, and we had some guys step up into bigger roles that we didn’t expect them to.” He also said that the fans this year “were very big and very loud, and definitely helped the team pull through some games when they were behind or needed a boost.” It’s no secret that Coach Motley has had much success as the Panthers’ head coach, so when asked who he models his coaching after, he said that it is a combination of coaches he has listened to at college clinics, such as Duke and North Carolina. He also credits Coach Shriner for showing him how a coach should treat the kids the right way. The Panthers had a great season and Coach Motley hopes to continue this year’s success into many more years.
Photo credit: Brianna Hales. Colleges will be handing out pamphlets for students with a lot of important information.[/caption]The Career and College Expo is being held on Tuesday, March 18 during the school day. It will feature over thirty representatives from local businesses and universities. Students and staff will be able to ask the representatives different questions. Schools and local businesses include:
Colleges: Wake Tech Community College Durham Tech Community College UNC-Chapel Hill NCCU UNC-Greensboro Johnson and Wales High Point University Louisburg College Alamance Community College Appalachian State University Johnson C. Smith NC Wesleyan College St. Augustine's College Lees-McRae College Living Arts College Livingstone College Careers: Research/Science: Duke University Research/Science: UNC-Chapel Hill Aveda Institute Huntington Bank Human Resources: EEOC Piedmont Electric Pharmacy Design & Engineering: Summit Sports Endeavors North Carolina Forest Service Orange County Health Department Orange County Emergency Medical Services Hillsborough Fire Department Apprenticeship and Training Bureau: NCDOL Weaver Street Market Construction (Cranes & Rigging) : Buckner Companies Aquatic Management Group, Inc. Army Marines/National Guard Navy |
Orange High School had the privilege of meeting a Kindertransport member by the name of Henry Landsberger Thursday, February 20. He is a part of the Chapel Hill-Durham Holocaust Speakers Bureau. Landsberger was born in Germany and lived there with his mother and father until he was 12 years old. When Hitler came into power, he began the removal of all Jews with the help of his followers, who were part of the National Socialist German Workers Party, otherwise known as Nazis.
The Kindertransport system was for the safety of the young children in Germany whose parents were of Jewish faith. Children were sent away on a train and they went to the United Kingdom to find families that could provide for them. Without this system, millions more children would have died in the tragedy known as the Holocaust. Landsberger was on one of these trains and left Germany when we was 12, he was sent away by his own parents who cared deeply about his safety.
Landsberger was sent to England to an empty summer camp building in the middle of winter. The living conditions weren’t well equipped to handle all the needs of a person in the cold. From there, he and a group of other children were shipped to an orphanage to be picked by other family members that they would go to live with. He was not adopted as quickly as some of the other kids, seeing as most of the family members wanted a little girl, but eventually he was chosen by an English family, and he stayed with them until he was old enough to go to college.
After the “Kindertransport era” was over and it was safe for people of Jewish faith to go out and do regular activities, his father came to visit him in America at least twice and his mother only once. Landsberger came to America when he was 23 and by then he knew several different languages such as German, English, and others. He eventually went on to become a professor at a university, and then married his wife who recently passed away after 61 ½ years.
Starting on Monday, February 24, at 5:30 pm, Orange High School welcomed all community members to come witness the ribbon cutting of the new Learning Commons, also known as the remodeled media center or library. The Orange County school board, superintendent, OHS principal, OHS associate principals, and those who helped personally with the creation of the Learning Commons attended the event.
Some of the people who were lead facilitators for this project were Shea Mustian, the OHS media specialist, and Tina Walker, the OHS technology facilitator. They both put a lot of time and effort into making the Learning Commons a place that students would love to visit.
The ceremony began at the doors to the new Learning Commons with numerous board members, OCS Superintendent Gerri Martin, OHS Principal Jason Johnson, and Mustian speaking on behalf of those involved in the “exciting project,” as Mustian called it. After everyone had said their part and given their views on the new area, School Media Assistants Emily Cecil and Trinity Graves cut the ribbon so everyone could enter.
Inside, everyone was welcomed to mingle and take a look around at the new bright decor. Old friends caught up and OHS Associate Principal Judith Brantley cut a celebratory cake that was soon enjoyed by everyone.
The new Learning Commons was presented by Mustian as she mentioned the new functional furniture that students can charge their laptops on with retractable plug-ins and the area where “students can work on group projects, and we can have a potential group of students broadcast with,” describing a large new projector screen and software that can edit videos.
Photo credit: Maddie Norwood. Nicholas Mauriello goes all out for the language classes at curriculum night.[/caption]February 20, 2014, rising freshmen were able to come to an orientation that taught them about different classes they could take and visit booths to learn more about those classes.
The booths were set up from the lobby to the back of the Panther’s Den. Many booths were set up in the cafeteria for clubs that would accept freshmen. Some groups sat candy, food, or knickknacks on their booths to attract new possible students. All core classes were also represented in the booths.
Some elective classes that were represented were the languages, the CTE classes, the family/life classes, newspaper/creative writing, and band.
Band had one of the most interesting booths of the night. Band teacher Andy Carter stood at his booth in the Panther’s Den while some band students stood at the entrance playing different pieces of music to attract new students.
OHS clubs were also represented by some booths. Fencing Club and Latin Club were examples of interesting club booths. Fencing sat all of their equipment on their booth and spoke about why they loved to fence. Latin Club had many of the projects they worked on on their table. They had an almost life size TARDIS, an object from the popular show Doctor Who, sitting to the left of their booth while they were all dressed in togas.
Before the students got to look around, they and their parents sat in on a conference that gave them information about OHS and how their lives would be different in high school. They got information on the school and classes. They also learned the different schedules they would have to follow and some rule changes from middle school to high school.
Rising ninth grader Max Norwood commented on the different feelings you get as you grow in high school. “While the prospect of high school seems complex, and indeed intimidating, I do believe it will turn out to be a lot of fun, and an opportunity for growth. From the orientation, I learned about the multitude of clubs, many different classes, and the structure of both the year and each day. While I may be nervous about high school, overall, I can't wait for the experience.”
With Valentine’s Day coming up this week, some Orange High School clubs are showing their spirit and generous sides by selling items and giving to charity.
Starting February 10, the Interact Club will be selling Crush Cans for $1. This is a traditional fundraiser for the week of Valentine’s Day. Students are encouraged to buy a “crush” for their crush. Not only does it get students involved in school activities, but the money from the cans will also benefit a local charity.
The money raised is sent to the Ronald McDonald House in Durham. When Suzanne Lantzy, the mentor of Interact Club, was asked why she chose to put the money towards the Ronald McDonald House, she replied, “Our officers decided in our meetings that they wanted to do more hands-on volunteering and chose to put the money towards the Ronald McDonald House.” They will be selling them through slips at all three lunches.
Another tradition at Orange High School is the journalism class’ love note sales. This started two years ago, and has become a quick favorite among students as they buy a secret love note for their valentine. Starting on February 10 during all three lunches, students are encouraged to come buy a love note for their valentine. When asked what she thinks about it, current journalism student Amanda Tavares said, “I think that it's good that people send love notes to each other and it's also sweet.”
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Photo Credit: waferboard on Flickr. No edits made to photo. License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en[/caption]1 | Russia | 13 | 11 | 9 | 33 |
2 | Norway | 11 | 5 | 10 | 26 |
3 | Canada | 10 | 10 | 5 | 25 |
4 | United States | 9 | 7 | 12 | 28 |
5 | Netherlands | 8 | 7 | 9 | 24 |
6 | Germany | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
7 | Switzerland | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
8 | Belarus | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
9 | Austria | 4 | 8 | 5 | 17 |
10 | France | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 |
Photo Credit: Brianna Hales[/caption]Originally the men's and women's basketball games were scheduled for Tuesday, February 11 but were moved to Monday, February 10. Both JV teams played at 5:30 pm and both varsity teams played at 7 pm. The games were moved because of the speculation of snow for Tuesday night.
The women's game was at home against Northern Vance High School. This was their senior night so thank you to everyone who came out and supported your lady Panthers.
The men's team played away at Oxford Webb High School. Their senior night will be this Friday, on Valentine's Day, against Cedar Ridge High School at 7 pm. The tickets will be $5 and the game will be held in the big gym at OHS.