Peer Resistance Education Program

Feature

By Ashton Wimbury
Husky Herald Reporter

  On Mondays after school, Peer Resistance Education Program (PREP) meets up in Mr. Farnsworth’s room.  It is a club made for the resistance of things teenagers are typically pressured into such as drugs, alcohol, etc.  

  The club takes a stand for what they believe is right  and encourages others to do the same.  The members are people that want to make a change and each year the amount of members greatly increases.

  “We want to make a difference,” Heidi Wilson (‘16) said.

Later in the year, the club goes around to middle schools and inspires 8th graders to help make that difference and continue it to high school. .

“It’s really cool because we get to interact with the 8th graders and educate them on how to avoid the pressure many teenagers experience,” Hailey Anglebrandt (‘16) said.

Together, they make a change that is needed in order to help students.

  Every year the club goes in with the mindset of helping others in our own school, as well as the schools around us.  They do skits, personal testimonies, and just simply talk to the other students.  

  Although they are just students, they make a large impact.  Teaching those other students, unites schools together to make a change.

  “It’s a fun club to be a part of,” Mike Mahaffy (‘16) said.

   The club enjoys performing skits because they get to make the students laugh, while still impacting the students in a positive way.

“The students always end up loving the skits we perform,” Anglebrandt said.

  The members work hard to be that change that schools need.  Many times, teenagers are put under that pressure that can deeply affect them. PREP does their best to help students resist that pressure they may receive.  

  By doing this, the club is truly making a difference. .

  They interact with the students by opening up and sharing their personal experiences and show them that if they are  struggling through something, they aren’t alone.  When the students hear what they’ve experienced, they learn that things happen, but it is possible to get through whatever it is.

  As the years go on, PREP will continue to be that change that schools truly needed in order to have a positive environment.

Wall Building

Feature
By Paige Rodgers
Husky Herald Reporter

  Opposed to float building like most schools participate in for their homecoming activities, Port Huron Northern students go against the grain and build class walls to compete for the barrell; a prize passed down to every winning class of the homecoming games.

  Wall building is an event that takes place over the week prior to homecoming. Student council, ran by Mrs. Tinsley, provides general themes such as decades, cities, movies etc..

  Each grade expands on the general theme provided and creates a wall into something that represents their class. For example, in 2014 the general theme for the walls was decades. The class of 2018  had the 50s, the class of 2017 had the 60s, the class of 2016 had the 20s, and the class of 2015 had the 80s.

  Students from every class paint murals on their respective walls, and create 3D objects that correlate to the theme. This year, for 2015, the general theme was “vacation destination”. The freshmen recreated the strip of  Las Vegas, the sophomores recreated Disney, the juniors recreated a jungle safari, and the seniors created a stroll through Europe.

  The wall has a maximum of a 10 foot depth, meaning the area surrounding the wall cannot expand over ten feet, a maximum width of 25 feet, and  a maximum height to the ceiling of Port Huron Northern’s cafeteria which is 15 feet. “There’s actually a lot of rules and restrictions,” Tinsley said.

  The walls are judged by volunteers. The walls are anonymous as to which grade they belong to. They are graded by the judges in a point system. You can earn points for authenticity, creativity, level of difficulty etc..

  At Port Huron Northern’s homecoming dance, the student council president reports the winners of wall building. For 2015, the seniors came in first, the juniors in second, the sophomores in third and the freshmen in fourth.

  The placement of the walls is directly correlated with how many points each grade earns towards the homecoming barrel.

  Many other factors go into winning the homecoming barrell such as class participation for spirit days, kart races, games assembly and penny jars. However, the class wall is the big turkey that reels in the most points and that defines each class.

PHN Equestrian District Champs 2015

Sports

By Karson Schenk
Husky Herald Reporter

  PHN Equestrian has done it again. Bringing home a district win for the 3rd year in a row. “We were pretty confident in our abilities. At the 4h fair we are able to see where everyone is skill-wise; Everyone did really well, so we became very confident as a team,” Sara Jex (‘17) said.

  In early September Northern’s official season begins, ending with regionals in early October. While their season may seem short, members put in more work than most other sports could imagine.

 “The season is basically all year round. We practice individually, and meet regularly as a team with our coach,” Taryn Frey (‘17) said. Teamwork is crucial for success in equestrian, despite the fact that each member practices on their own time.

   Members practice where their horse is kept, such as local stables in the area or even a stable at their own home. Unlike most other team sports equestrian doesn’t meet as a team each day, however each rider puts in at least one hour of training with their horses daily.  

  Northern Equestrian’s members are proud of the past and excited about the future. “(We can keep our winning streak going) because next year we have members from middle school coming up,” Taryn Frey (‘17) said.

  The local 4h fair in Goodells county park provides younger riders preparation for high school level competition. 4h club serves as a base for most of Northern’s riders, and is a year-round youth group that promotes and prepares youth for success in several animal showing categories including equestrian.  

  Northern’s next goal is states next year, competing with some of the most prestigious equestrian training in Michigan through the AQHA and NBHA. “I hope to go to states next year, like we did my freshman year.” Sara Jex (‘17) said.

  With increasing confidence and a strong future, the odds for reaching states continue to grow for Northern Equestrian.

Coaching Behavior

Sports

By Curtis Isaacson
Husky Herald Reporter

  Competition often gets the best of people. Players and Coaches alike let their emotion overtake their common sense. This leads to consequences for both, from a minor point deduction, to an outright ejection from the game.

  This year alone, the Port Huron Northern Boys Varsity Soccer team witnessed 2 ejections of coaches, both due to disrespect of the referees.  

  “Its very inappropriate and sad,” says Varsity Team player Colton Fockler (‘16) who was sidelined with a severe knee injury.

  For soccer, if there is a coach that is ejected, and there is nobody to fill the spot, the team is forced to forfeit. That leads to players, not to mention parents, leaving a game disappointed and discouraged for the rest of the season. In addition, it tarnishes the school's record, hurts the referees feelings, and just creates more work for everyone.

  This is in great contrast to other fall sports. “Tennis is very self regulated,” says Junior Varsity Tennis Coach Mrs. Houle, “because of the fact that players themselves judge whether or not the ball went out, there is an honor code between competitors. If a player believes that the other person is judging the line unfairly, then they will just do the same.”

  In the perspective of coaching, it's very hands off . Tennis is not a contact sport, which leads the referees primarily deciding faults and lines, not whether a play is dangerous or not. “Coaches do bend rules. They do small things like give advice when the match is going, instead of waiting until the breaks” says Coach Houle

  There is a noticeable difference between the penalties of contact sports and non contact sports. Generally, in tennis, players just have points deducted, and that solves the problem if the referee’ were to catch a player cheating. However, in contact sports like soccer, people can get seriously injured so referees must take  action in order to keep play safe and friendly.

  Hopefully, in seasons to come, both soccer as well as tennis have uneventful and successful seasons.

Varsity Football Playoffs

Sports

By Katlyn Mathers
Husky Herald Reporter

  All great things must come to an end, but sometimes you get the chance to extend your time. Luckily, captains Mike Mahaffy (‘16), Tyler Westbrook (‘16), Nick Miller (‘16), and Shane Sheridan (‘16) have the chance to lead Port Huron Northern’s varsity football team into playoffs.

  “As of right now, playoffs are very manageable! If we win our last two games, we are in. This has been our goal since day one and we almost have it,” Mahaffy says.

 Out of the last two games Port Huron Northern's varsity team will face, one of them is the team's rival.

  “Our last two games are against Sterling heights on October 16th,2015 and Port Huron High on October, 23rd, 2015. We are very excited for our rival game against Port Huron,” Westbrook said.

  If Northern makes playoffs, it will be exciting since this has not happened in a while.

  “2010 was the last time Northern’s varsity team made playoffs,” Miller said.

  One would expect harsh conditioning, and extended practices, but Northern is going to stick to their roots.

  “Practices will be more intense. I would say they will not be ran different, we just need to keep the intensity up,” Westbrook said.

  With the final games ahead, fans need to cheer louder and show more spirit than previous games.

  “The biggest thing fans can do is get rowdy when we are on defense, especially 3rd and short, and 4th and short,” Mahaffy says.

  The team this year has really stepped up to the plate, and is fighting harder than ever.

  “Seniors are fighting harder than they ever have because it could possibly be our last games. And this year we have more young starters in comparison to years in the past. With no doubt in my mind, next year's team will be just as successful as this year's,” Westbrook said.

  The season is almost over, and the spirit has rose higher than previous years.

  “Overall the season was good. We have done things that have not been done in a while; the last time varsity won 4 straight games was around 1995. And to be the most recent year to complete that at Northern is really amazing,” Westbrook said.

Football Team Wears Jerseys in Support of WWP

Sports

By Chris Baunoch
Husky Herald Reporter

  On October 9th the Port Huron Northern football team wore special jerseys to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.  While the team didn’t get the win that night the jerseys did.

  The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is a military and veterans charity service organization empowering injured and retired veterans and their families. The program was created following the events of September 11th, 2001.

  All of the proceeds that were raised from the jerseys were given as a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project. With the money the WWP helps to pay for veterans medical bills or therapy caused by injuries received in combat.

  The money could also be used to help the veterans get a higher education.  

  The WWP jerseys were designed in the PHN home blue with the numbers and names in camouflage.

  Each player was in charge of finding a sponsor who was a member of some branch of the military whether it was Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, or Air Force. Some of the players had their parent’s name on their jerseys while others had their uncles, grandparents, or friends of their families.

  Many of these jerseys had special meaning for the players wearing them. Mark Robbins (‘17) wore his jersey in honor of his uncle, TSGT Mark Robbins of the United States Navy and Johnny Wurmlinger (‘16) wore his in honor of his grandfather, SGT John Wurmlinger also of the United States Navy.  

  “It felt really good to represent somebody with a name on my jersey,” Robbins said. “Unfortunately I was unable to play due to injury, but it was still an honor.”

  “It was a tremendous honor to wear the jersey. That night I wasn’t only playing for the name on the front of my jersey, but also for the name on the back of it,” said Wurmlinger.

  The game was played against Marine City, unfortunately the Mariners came away with 41-13 win that night.

  While the outcome of the game didn’t go in favor of the Huskies, the game had special meaning for the players and many of the fans in the stands.