NOCTILUCA February 2017

FEATURES Appleton, Wisconsin February 2017 Volume XXIII

Issue IV Page 8

North students Kala Lones and Milly Figueroa were re- cently recognized as the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebra- tion speech contest winners. While many applicants had hoped to obtain this honor, North students recognized at MLK Day Celebration speeches for all of those who attended the MLK celebration at the Lawrence Chapel. Lones focused on her expe- rience as an African Ameri- can woman. Creating a very personal feel to her speech, she used examples of her con- fidence and how her race af- fected the way she thought of herself. Figueroa also shared some experiences she had, provid- thoughts for the future, and said that education and successes have nothing to do with race. She stated that she will proceed to attend a university, and she will get the job she has worked hard for. The MLK day celebration featured Leonard Pitts as the keynote speaker, an esteemed columnist who was able to see the skill in both Lones and Figueroa. Both Lones and Figueroa received a standing ovation for their speeches. The Lawrence Chapel was full despite the icy roads and rain. Kathy Flores, the woman behind the curtain, is stepping down as chair of the celebra- tion. This past celebration was the last event that she would be leading. By Henry Ptacek Lones and F i g u e r o a had the op- portunity to present their ing some impac t f u l e x amp l e s of the dis- crimination she has felt. She also relayed her

Noctiluca newspaper earns General Excellence The Wisconsin Newspaper Association named the Ap- pleton North Noctiluca one of three winners in the state of the First Place General Excel- lence Award in the 2016 Bet- ter Newspaper Contest. The contest is a statewide competition in which high school newspapers submit to judges three issues from throughout the year that they think represent their best work. There are many differ- ent categories of awards, but the top award is the General ExcellenceAward, which con- siders multiple factors such as quality of writing, overall ap- pearance/design, and use of photos and artwork. Judges are professional journalists working in their fields. The Noctiluca has won this award three times in the past four years, earning the award in 2013, 2014, and now again in 2016. The paper won sec- ond place General Excellence in 2015. “I’m really proud of the Noctiluca staff and all of the hard work that they put into our issues because it really paid off,” said current Senior Editor-in-Chief Nora Ptacek. With the General Excel- lence Award, Noctiluca re- ceives the $1,000 William E. Branen Scholarship. The scholarship is named for the former publisher and presi- dent of the Burlington Stan- dard Press, a newspaper lo- cated in southeast Wisconsin, according to an article written by Julia Hunter, the Member Services Director at WNA. In 1953, Branen became the youngest editor in Wisconsin, and is also a former president of the Wisconsin Press Asso- ciation. Along with the scholar- ship, Noctiluca members are invited to the Wisconsin Newspaper Association an- nual convention on Feb. 24. In past years, the Nocti- luca has used the scholarship to buy a DSLR camera as well as launch in 2015 the website northnoct.com. By Ally Price

DECA ‘shows up,’ brings home awards at District competition DECA members pose for a photo after participating in the District Four Competition, where they brought home 54 event medals, had 19 Top 4 finishers, and advanced 8 Automatic State Quali- fiers. Photo by Erik Nelson

By Kate Bennett

Applications to Quick Serve Restaurant Management. Each event is comprised of different assessments: a writ- ten exam and two separate role playing scenarios that are evaluated by judges. Levi Werlein, the Wiscon- sin DECA Vice-President of Membership Development individually took First Place

in the Marketing Communi- cations Event. All together, Appleton North DECA brought home 54 event medals, had 19 Top 4 finishers, and advanced 8 Automatic State Qualifiers. All those who advanced will have the opportunity to compete at the state level in March.

For some people, arguing just comes naturally; some of these people you may know. Maya Labinski, Zoe Plzak, Forrest Bomann, and Anant Kaushika are four students here at North who are going to be participating in Debate Nation- als. They will be competing alongside other members of the Appleton North Debate Team. I asked the two dynamic duos what kind of work they had to put in to get to the point where they are today. The common theme among the debaters was research and a lot of individual work. Plzak said that it was important to think about arguments that no one else necessarily would have. Kaushika also stated that he was very conscious about being a cooperative partner, af- ter all it is a team activity, he said. Bomann and Kaushika have been friends for years and have grown to be successful Debate Team heads to Nationals At the District Competition, students had the opportunity to compete in a large variety of events, and medaled in everything from Accounting By Henry Ptacek Appleton North DECA had a strong showing in the Wis- consin DECA District Com- petition Jan. 14 at Bay Port High School in Green Bay.

Member of North’s Debate team, including from left, Anant Kaushika, Forrest Bomann, Helen Zhou, and Macalister Bag- well, qualified for the National Speech and Debate Association tournament. Photo courtesy of Forrest Bomann

on the debate stage. Bomann said along with going to de- bate practices at school, it re- ally helped him and Kaushika to attend as many tournaments as possible. That is how they gained real experience. These debaters share a pas- sion for public speaking and are generally interested about many aspects of debate. They believe that debate sets you up for your future, they said. La-

binski said one of the reasons she was interested in debate was meeting so many new people. “The national tournament allows us debaters to chal- lenge ourselves on a whole new level of competition, go- ing up against debaters from around the country. It’s a learn- ing experience and is always something to look forward to,” Kaushika said.

Kala Lones reads her essay for the MLK Celebration. Photo by Nora Ptacek