NOCTILUCA January 2018

FEATURES Appleton, Wisconsin January 2018 Vol. XXIII

Issue III

Page 5

Democratic League spotlight

By Ndemazea Fonkem

Political clubs in high schools often get a bad rap. Most would associate those involved as either hyper- sensitive to the news of the day or in desperate need of an extra club to put on their college applications. But the Democratic League at North, Dem League for short, is something different. Present- ing themselves as a forum for discussion and a jumping-off point for community organi- zations, Dem League likes to prepare their members for the world ahead of them. “We really wanted to make sure Dem League is a positive space for students to grow in their understanding of their views and the views of oth- ers. This year we started to implement monthly discus- sions on topics from gun reg- ulations to media in politics. Now Dem League allows for all students to discuss their views— we’re not just for democrats!” Club President Cece McDermott said. In the age of presidential Twitter beefs, it is easy to merely pick a side and stick to it. We are slowly marching towards the age of division by ways of political party

Youth dancers light up stage at PAC Members of Makaroff Youth Ballet performing “Waltz of The Snow- flakes.” Photo taken by Simon Roselaar

Democratic League meeting in the Northeast stairwell. Photo provided by Jacqueline Nider

and turning up our noses to those who disagree with us. Dem League does not want to do that. Sure, they come together as like-minded in- dividuals to discuss the day’s trending topics, but the club encourages everyone to seek out their news from impartial sources and both sides of the aisle. They promote com- munity events and volunteer opportunities that help to increase awareness on local issues. And every year they team up with the school’s Teenage Republican Club to present the party’s platform to Civics classes. Mrs. Nider, the club’s advisor, strongly

were, she said “[to] keep peo- ple informed, and involved too.” Continuing to say, “Mak- ing sure kids have an outlet if they want to explore the dif- ferent parties, that’s why it’s so cool we have both Dem League and Republican Club.” When the topic of black and white thinking comes to mind, many immediately think of politics. These days it is so common to look the other way and read into your political parties platform. However, in this past Republican Club meeting, member Nathan Sy- ring made a point to the rest of the club, that it is important to look at multiple sources, with bias from all sides of the po- litical spectrum, he continued to say that doing so is the only way to create sound political beliefs. In politics today, black and white thinking is a choice. If one is not willing to look past their party in an effort to understand the “other side,” then our society cannot get past the political divisions that create complications. advocates for all students to get involved in the process. The goal of Dem League is not to convert students into hippie liberals, but to encourage dialogue and con- versation among students. The earlier that we get in- volved in the world around us, the more likely we are to see the problems and change it. That is what progress is. Party-divided contests are the opposite of moving for- ward and the opposite of Dem League’s message. By producing free-thinking citi- zens, we create the future we want to see.

By Maddi Kedrowski Makaroff Youth Ballet de- buted their performance of The Nutcracker December 16th and 17th. The annual event was held at the Fox Cit- ies PAC as a part of the Boldt Arts Alive Series this year, which features other shows such as Broadway’s Next Hit Musical and Joshua Bell with the Fox Valley Symphony. With around 4,000 total au- dience members between the two sold-out shows, the magic of the Nutcracker was spread throughout the com- munity. The classic story of The Nutcracker was told seamlessly through the cho- reography of artistic direc- tor, Jeanette Makaroff, and was brought to life by both the Makaroff School of Bal- let dancers and the members of the Makaroff Youth Ballet Company, or MYB for short. A MYB company member, Maria Tretinyak states that she, along with the other 15 company members, “loved working together in rehears- als”; which for MYB started in early September. During the months leading up to Nut- cracker, MYB dancers were pushed to their limits, having six and a half hours of class a week plus an additional 4 hours of rehearsal added to each Saturday and Sunday. Although having almost 3 ½ months to prepare for the show seems like a long time, Jeanette Makaroff, the Artis- tic Director of MYB and cho- reographer of the Nutcracker, shared with MYB dancers that they had “only hours to prepare for the show, not

months.” These words put things in perspective for the dancers as performing in a space as large as the PAC is something that is usually achieved much later in a ballerina’s career. Trentiyak also shared that “being able to dance in such a big space was an honor” and “prepares MYB dancers for a career in classical ballet.” This year’s performance of The Nutcracker was ex- traordinarily special to MYB dancers; not only were they given the opportunity to dance in such a prestigious place, but that they were also able to perform accompanied by the Fox Valley Symphony and the serene voices of the Appleton Boychoir. This ex- perience is not common for a youth ballet company, as only highly professional bal- let companies are given the opportunity to dance with a live orchestra. To add to the already high standards that were expected of the perfor- mances, two principal danc- ers from the Pacific North- west Ballet, Kyle Davis and Angelica Generosa, were in- corporated to dance the roles of the Cavalier Prince and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Since Davis is an alumni of MYB, he is a prime example of the high caliber of classical bal- let training that dancers of Makaroff receive. Although the Nutcracker season is over for MYB, the dancers are al- ready in preparation for their spring show which will be held at UW Fox Valley Perry Hall on May 18th and 19th.

Republican Club spotlight

Lexi Killian leads January’s Republican Club meeting. Photo taken by Henry Ptacek

By Henry Ptacek

concern to tensions with North Korea, and President Trump’s tweets. They also allowed for other discussion topics to be brought up and examined as they related to the party. In ad- dition to discussion, they set up volunteer hours to help out during Scott Walker’s speech at the Radisson. Trump’s tweets were a point of dis- cussion shared between both Republican Club and Dem League. Lexi Killian, when asked what her goals for the club

Appleton North has two po- litical clubs, Republican Club being one of the obvious two. Republican Club meets once a month, in the room of Mrs. Platten, the advisor. In these meetings, members discuss lo- cal and national political top- ics. The club is led by Alok Ravel and Lexi Killian, both seniors that are involved in Choir and NHS. On January 9th, Republican Club had their January meeting. The main point of discussion was in