The new year has started and so has the musical practices. This year, Beaver Local is taking on the longest running Broadway show, the mother of all musicals, the one and only, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. Casting is complete and the amount of talent is unbelievable. With over 30 students cut, this 60 person production will be one for the books. You will be seeing some familiar faces such as Christine Daae the shy yet talented argenue who will be played by Madeleine Schreffler with Andrea Trotter as the understudy. (Previously known as Sandy and Jan from last years production of Grease) The Phantom will be played by the talented Jeremy Balmenti who will be debuting his deep astounding vocal abilities. Raoul will also bring a new face, Roc Worth, who will play the love-stricken man who fights for Christine’s love till the end. Carlotta, the dramatic, loud, operatic prima donna will be played by Abigail Monte who was previously known as Cha Cha from last years Grease and her funny clumsy yet talented love, Piangi, will be played by Grant Hall or previously known as Johnny Cassino From Grease. These are just a few of the talented parts of the production. Alexa Schwerha, our student director, is Hamilton and Gabbert’s right hand and will be working around the clock to make sure that the Phantoms mic is on, down to the last candle has been lit. Details are the key in this production and every member must put in 100% to make sure the production is perfect. The dates of this show are Friday, March 16th at 7pm, Saturday the 17th at 7pm, and Sunday the 18th at 2pm. pre-sale tickets will go on sale before we know it. We hope to see you there!
Category Archives: General Information
Lady Beavers Defeat Edison Wildcats
Last night the Lady Beavers took on the Edison Wildcats. Due to injuries on Edisons team, the junior varsity game was shortened to just two quarters. With that being said, the JV won their game 14-6. The varsity team also took home a win with a score of 51-40. Overall, it was a good game and both teams came out with a win. The varsity squad now moves on to a record of 4-2, and 3-1 in in the Buckeye 8 North Division. The next time the lady Beavers take the court will be on Thursday at East Liverpool. Go Beavers!
Holiday Happenings at BLHS
The holidays are right around the corner and I could not be more excited, and as of today, Christmas is in 47 days! I mean, I’m sure we all know how it usually goes, once Halloween is over we skip Thanksgiving and boom! Cue those classic holiday tunes! I have to admit that I am one of those people and I’m not ashamed about my over-the-top Christmas spirit. With the holidays quickly approaching, Beaver Local is preparing for the festive season.
Here are a few of the upcoming events that we have on our radar for the holidays:
NOVEMBER 2017
Friday, November 17 : the Masquer’s Club play “The Great High School Whodunnit” @ 7:00pm
Wednesday, November 22– Monday, November 27: THANKSGIVING BREAK
Wednesday, November 29: First Day of The Phantom of the Opera Auditions
Thursday, November 30: Second Day of The Phantom of the Opera Auditions
DECEMBER 2017
Saturday, December 2: NHS’ “Breakfast with Santa” @ 8:00am
Saturday, December 9: Show Choir’s Fundraiser “A Bit of Holiday Cheer” @ 2:00pm
Tuesday, December 12: High School Choir Holiday Concert @ 6:30pm
Friday, December 15: Ugly Sweater Day!
Sunday, December 17: Winter Band Concert @ 1:00pm
Thursday, December 21 – Tuesday, January 2, 2018: CHRISTMAS BREAK
McDonald’s
McDonald’s
In recent events, the McDonald’s in Calcutta has been torn down because they are getting a new building. The new building is estimated to be finished in 2-3 months. Hopefully, they have a fully operational ice cream machine! The old building was torn down 3 days ago. As we’ve seen with new buildings in Calcutta this new McDonald’s should be promising!
Beaver Local Board And Community Come Together To Finish Baseball & Softball Fields
Beaver Local Schools has been working on making new baseball and softball fields for three years, and the community has stepped in to help them. The community scheduled board meetings and raised thousands of dollars to buy the materials needed to finish the field. The school board hired an external company to replace the infield dirt with new and put down sod for a grass infield.
The community said that they want to ensure safety for the athletes that play on the fields, and are supportive of the field being fixed and finished. The infield dirt has to be removed and replaced because it had crushed brick and stones all throughout the infield and outfield and posed a safety concern for the players. The community would like to see the field be playable for this season, but say that safety is their main concern.
TBH? Social Media App takes Beaver Local by Storm
There is a new app that is going around school: the TBH app. TBH stands for “To be Honest”. The app itself allows students to select things like school, gender, and grade before allowing them to join. The students can submit poll questions that the app will ask other students with student member’s names for the answers. This is a flashback to the popular app of years past called “After School”.
“After School” is an app where you can join your school and anonymously post things about other people. This app became a bully’s playground, using it to post extremely negative and rude things about other students. This is where the TBH app seems to differ (so far). The polls are all things like “biggest heart” and “best laugh” while also having comedic polls in the mix, such as “knows the difference between angel and angle without googling it”.
Every time you are voted for in a poll, you get a notification that allows you to see what you were voted for, while still not knowing who voted for you other than “a boy in 9th grade” or “a girl in 12th grade”.
I decided to interview some kids from school(between the grades 9-12) to get their opinions on the new, somewhat addicting, app. The questions I asked and the answers I received are as follows:
What do you think of the app?
I really like it because it boosts my ego and stuff. -a boy in 12th grade
How do the poll answers make you feel?
Big(good). -a boy in 12th grade
Is this app better than After School?
No, they are both stupid. -a girl in 10th grade
How did you hear about the app?
I saw it on someone’s Snapchat story. – a girl in 12th grade
Do you think the app will last or burn out quickly?
I think it’ll last, not too long, not too short. Probably about a month or two. – a girl in 12th grade
Do you think this app has a more positive outlook on the student body than After School did?
Yeah. -a girl in 10th grade
Do you feel that the anonymity of the app allows you to choose people as answers that you wouldn’t normally?
I suppose so. -a boy in 9th grade
Could you foresee this app becoming a problem/becoming negative?
If people abused it and asked the wrong questions, yes, but the app reviews questions to make sure they are appropriate. – a girl in 12th grade
Do you think any of these answers have had a negative effect on any student?
Probably not. -a boy in 9th grade
As you can see, the student body is somewhat divided on the new polling app. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see whether it dies down or sticks around!
What can we Learn From the Las Vegas Tragedy?
On Sunday, October 1, Jason Aldean was on tour in Las Vegas, Nevada. As his concert was taking place, a gunman opened fire on the crowd, killing 59 people and wounding over 527. This incident is now being discussed worldwide while innocent families grieve over the deadliest mass shooting in recent American history.
It is now known that the gunman, 64-year-old Stephan Paddock, fired his shots from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. When police found him, he was dead in his hotel room. Along with the gunman, the police also found twenty-three of his guns in the room and another nineteen at his house.
Jason Aldean, who was singing on stage when the gunfire began, posted on Instagram after the chaos, saying “Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still don’t know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew [SIC] are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate” This shooting is being referred to as the “Las Vegas massacre.”
This shooting is being referred to as the “Las Vegas massacre.”
Seeing the hateful crimes that have been committed throughout our country sheds a light on the things that could happen to our school. If a gunman came into Beaver Local Schools, would you know what to do? Beaver Local’s staff was trained in ALICE crisis response which dictates what we would do if there was an active shooter in the building.
ALICE Training Institute teaches people to follow the following certain steps in the event of an active shooter. It may seem that you should follow these steps in order, but as every situation is different, you should think of these as decisions that you may have to make at different times.
Alert
Lockdown
Inform
Counter
Evacuate
Alert means that you should first recognize the danger and respond. Many people may first be in denial or be scared, but ALICE training teaches civilians to first be alert to the dangerous situation. You may learn about the danger in different ways. Maybe you will actually see the threat yourself. You may hear gunshots or even receive a text about the event. If possible, the district will make an announcement to let you know as much information as possible. But, every situation is different.
Evacuate means exactly what you may think it would. If at all possible and safe, you should try to get away from the dangerous situation. We are lucky to have such a large building; If the threat was in another part of the school, you should try to get out of the building and lockdown in a safe place like the stadium or the church just south of the district. If you are unable to safely leave the building, you should go into lockdown.
Lockdown means you should get to the nearest safe place. If you are already in a classroom and the threat is close by, you should lockdown in that safe place. One thing you could do in a classroom lockdown situation, for example, would be to barricade the doorway of the room you are in. If this were to happen, you would use anything in your classroom to stop someone from being able to enter. In addition, you would want to grab weapons such as scissors, pens, and any other sharp or heavy object in case you need to use them for self-defense if needed.
If you are in a hallway when a school goes into lockdown, you will want to run into the closest classroom, no matter what. Being locked in a classroom would always be safer than being exposed in an empty hallway.
If you happen to be in a restroom in a time of lockdown, and could not make it to a classroom, you would want to try to find the closest shelter. You NEVER want to stand on a toilet or stay in a bathroom stall during a lockdown. If you can get into a closet or a space with a door that can be locked, make your greatest attempt to get there.
Counter means that if you are in a life-or-death situation, you fight for your life. You work together with the people around you and you fight back. ALICE is not encouraging students to run toward danger or confront an attacker unless it is absolutely the last chance you have. The idea of locking down and hiding under desks and tables is an idea which stems from the threat of nuclear attacks in the cold war. As stated before, every situation is different, but ALICE training encourages you to fight back when necessary.
Inform means you should do you everything you can to inform others of the situation. If you are in a classroom situation, you should allow your teacher to do most of the communicating. We don’t want to overload the 911 servers. If you are alone, you need to communicate your location to someone via text or phone call. You need to stay calm and communicate as much information as possible.
Even though this topic is not largely discussed, we, as students, need to know what we should do if this were ever to occur in our school. In our community, no one would want something bad to happen to any student or staff member if this horrible act of violence was ever committed. The idea of training student responses in the event of a catastrophic event is not to scare students, but to help them prepare as much as possible. If you’re thinking about the threat and assessing the danger before an event happens, you will be more likely to respond in a life-saving manner.
In conclusion, the lives that were lost in Las Vegas will always be remembered. We are truly living in difficult and terrifying times. As a country, we should do our best to help the people in need. Donating blood is a good way to help with this tragedy (BLHS’s Blood Drive will be held on November 1st). Also, we need to come together as a school in order to allow everyone to know what they would have to do if this hateful crime were to be committed in our school’s environment.
Remember: love will always overpower hate.
Students Collect for Hurricane Harvey
Jillian O’Hara, Jeremy Balmenti, Alexa Schwerha, Chloe Halfhill are this year’s National Honor Society Officers
With turmoil raging across the devastated cities of Texas, affected by Hurricane Harvey, the students of Beaver Local High School’s chapters of Leo Club and National Honor Society are extending an invitation to the local community to open their hearts and support a collection of items to be sent to the ravaged areas. Beginning its reign as a tropical storm on the east of Lesser Antilles, the hazardous weather conditions induced a state of emergency as it developed into a tropical depression on August 23, advancing across Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Within 56 hours, Harvey had escalated into a category 4 hurricane that was being monitored to make landfall along the Gulf Coast of Texas on August 25th. Calculating winds of 130mph, Harvey interrupts the twelve-year buffer as the first major hurricane (category 3 or higher) to jeopardize the United States since Hurricane Wilma, who disrupted the southern sector of Florida in 2005. The prolonged stretch as Harvey traipsed his disastrous trek continued from August 26 to August 30th, therefore allowing catastrophic flooding to pour an everlasting flow of rain, writing it as the heaviest rainfall of any tropical cyclone in the United States dating back to 1955 with a 3.88 inch increase from 48 inches (recorded in Medina, Texas) to 51.88 inches (Highlands, Texas). Documented as the longest named, landfalling storm in Texas history, expanding a total time of one hundred and seventeen hours, the desolation and havoc being experienced in the southern United States is calamitous, and restoration of both physical and emotional necessities is dependent on the unity of every fellow American.
300,000 people without electric, 69 numbered casualties, 13,000 rescues, 30,000 dispatches, 700 businesses in ruin, 185,000 homes damaged, 9,000 homes demolished. As these statistics continue to rise, it is evident across the nation that action needs to be taken to provide a ray of hope in the lives of those victimized by the storm- and that is exactly what the students of Beaver Local High School intend to accomplish. Taking effect until September 18th, boxes will be placed in the main lobby, directly ahead of the front entrance, and Mrs. Ash’s classroom, in which those willing to donate hygiene and non-perishable food products can place their contribution. Recommended items are, but not limited to, blankets, pillows, bath towels, soap, shampoo, body wash, baby toys, socks, baby formula, diapers, cleaning supplies, and dog food. All of the donations collected at the school will be joined with a larger supply of necessities collected by Tiny Tots of Lisbon, Ohio, in which a truck will be driven to personally deliver the items to the designated towns. Active Leo Club member Kayley Black introduced the idea to the club as a way to unite the student body under a common cause, as well as issue a diligent approach to a national emergency. “I figured if the whole school got involved, then we might collect a good bit of stuff,” stated Black. In addition, Beaver Local’s National Honor Society expressed during the September meeting an interest in aiding those in Texas, as well. Both parties agreed to partake in the proposal as a team. “I loved the idea. It definitely gives us a chance to make an impact on the lives outside our community,” expressed National Honor Society President Jeremy Balmenti, “The goal of both Leo Club and National Honor Society is to give back to the community. We should look to team up with them again in the future”.
2017-2018 Members of The National Honors Society
Preparing For The Concert
Beaver Locals high school and middle school bands are preparing for their concerts. The high school band and the 8th grade will be performing on Monday, May 15th. The middle school band is performing on Tuesday, May 11th. Each band will be playing a number of different pieces of music. It takes work on both the instructor and the students playing the instruments. The high school band has been working on ten different pieces of music. The names of the pieces are the Highlights of Harry Potter, Declaration Overture, Remembering Yesterdays, Tomorrows Yesterdays, Highlights from Star Wars The Force Awakens, Starry Heavens, Whale Warriors, Blue Ridge Real, Sun Dance, and Spaina. Some of these pieces are three pages long, and a lot of them are two pages.
The 8th grade band is also performing on the same date as the high school. The rest of the middle school, fifth through seventh, is performing on a different day. They also have a number of different pieces they are working on. This will be the fifth grades first time performing. Mr. Newman, the high school and middle school band instructor, will help each band perform at their best. Beaver Local has great students who make great things happen. Each band will perform a fantastic show. Hope you can come!
LEO Club Mentoring Program
Leo stands for leadership, experience, opportunity. Leo club is a good way to get community service. There are multiple different programs in this club. At Beaver Local, they have Buddy Beaver Mentoring, and Precious Moments with Seniors. There are many more programs, but Mr. Barnes prefers some people to have a part in a certain program. However, in the elementary section of Beaver Local, they held a book fair for the kindergarteners. These books came from the book dues the Leo’s owed. Each Leo is required to bring at least two books in the beginning of the year.
In the Buddy Beaver Mentoring program you are like a big brother or sister to a kindergartner. “They always look forward to seeing you everyday,” said Bella Sweigard and Kiley Cook, both active members of the Leo Club. According to all the Leo’s that joined the bunt beaver program, it is fun and the kids always want you to come back to visit. Of course, a lot of the Leo’s are involved in other things, such as sports, so they can’t always come more than once a week. You stay after school from 2:30-3:30 and help the student or students. Sometimes you will help the teacher out with other tasks.
When you go to Precious Moments with seniors, you play board games, bingo, and do multiple different activities. Sometimes the seniors will color some pictures, and the Leo Club members will hang them up in the kindergarten section. “The seniors are always happy to see us again,” said Mr. Barnes the leader of the Leo’s. When the Leo’s go, they are socializing with the seniors and some seniors want to do different activities. It all depends on what the seniors want to do. The time for this program is from 1:00-3:00.
Each program is for a good cause. Each Leo who goes gets community service for the time being spent with the kindergartners, and seniors.The Leo’s are always doing good things for the community and to help others. Leo Club is a club in Beaver Local where anyone can join any time. All you have to do is go into the main office and look for a paper on the racks. Then stay after on Tuesday, or anytime that is good for you, and give Mr. Barnes the paper. Then you can start!
