NOCTILUCA Spring 2016 Vol.XXI Issue 11

FEATURES Appleton, Wisconsin Spring 2016 Vol. XXI Page 5 Will Scheffler brings Irish dancing to North By Jacob Zajkowski H umans of n ortH Issue II

“The World Champion- ships is something that Irish dancers always dream of going to, and it is the equivalent of the Olympics to us.”- Will Scheffler over, they invited kids up to the stage to learn an Irish jig, and I loved it,” said Scheffler. “They had a booth in the lob- by that day where you could sign up for a free couple of weeks of classes in Appleton, so I begged my mom to let me try it. She said that I could try it, not thinking that I would still be doing it 9 years later.” Being an Irish dancer has been a great commitment for Scheffler. “I guess the crazi- est thing that I do with Irish dancing is driving to Milwau- makes noise, while the front doesn’t,” Scheffler said. “My family and I went to this concert and the Trinity Irish Dancers were there per- forming. When the concert was

All of the information he receives from the pieces of technology transfer onto his computer, and it describes the temperature, pressure read- ings, and other basic statistics occurring in the atmosphere at that time. Besides using a weather program at home, Mr. Shad- ick’s “closet hobby” involves being a trained weather spot- ter for the National Weather Service. There is a free class offered in the spring every year where people are trained to provide accurate reports that the Na- tional Weather Service can use. “You basically get a spe- cial access number where you can call the National Service and report snowfall totals. They train you how to spot tornadoes, so if you ever see on the news that a trained weather spotter reported this, that’s what that is.” The class is about 3-4 hours long, and Mr. Shadick has taken it in the past. “It’s fun. It’s a relax- ing and different thing for me to do outside my daily norm.” Anyone can take the class, in- cluding high school students. the competitive side of Irish dancing. “Doing well at this com- petition means that you can qualify for the National and World Championships. This “She said that I could try it, not thinking that I would still be doing it 9 years later.”-Will Scheffler past November I placed 4th at the Mid American Champion- ships which qualified me for the National andWorld Cham- pionships. I will be compet- ing in the World Champion- ships this March in Glasgow, Scotland. This will be the second time I have been to the Worlds. The World Cham- pionships is something that Irish dancers always dream of going to, and it is the equiva- lent of the Olympics to us.” Scheffler has seen success in his time as an Irish dancer. He loves doing it and plans on continuing for the foreseeable future.

teacher at Appleton North, has a special interest in me- teorology. Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere, and more specifically, the study of weather patterns and condi- tions. The person on the morn- ing news who describes the weather forecasts for the week is known as a meteorologist. Those people analyze data and try to predict how certain parts of the earth will be af- fected by weather phenomena such as wind currents, storms, and precipitation, among oth- er things. A meteorologist is a fairly general term for anyone who is in the profession of me- teorology, but there are actu- ally many different kinds of meteorologists that focus on specific aspects of the atmo- sphere. Mr. Shadick, although he is not a meteorologist, has had an interest in meteorol- ogy since he was young. His hobby began after he had taken an interest in a spe- cific hurricane that hit Loui- siana and Florida in 1992. “There was a huge hurricane named Hurricane Andrew, “I started when I was five years old,” said freshman Will Scheffler as he explained his experiences as an Irish dancer. Irish dancing is a kind of dance traditional to Ireland and is incredibly athletic. There are two types of shoes that are used for Irish dancing: Soft Shoes and Hard Shoes. “Hard Shoes are the ones that make noise when you dance because they have a resin based bottom. Soft Shoes don’t make noise for the girls, but for the boys the heels have a resin bottom that

Will Scheffler has been an Irish dancer since he was five years old and he competes competitively, having danced at the National and World Champi- onships. Photo by Sofia Voet.

kee at least three days a week after school. Right now we are driving down on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.” Irish dancing is not only fun, it is also very competi- tive. “I go to small competi- tions pretty regularly that are

usually in Milwaukee, Chica- go, or Minneapolis, however in November there is a re- gional competition called the Oireachtas. This is a major competition that draws danc- ers from all over the Mid- west,” Scheffler said about

H umans of n ortH Teacher’s unique hobby sparks interest at North By Rachel Flom Andrew Shadick, a history

Andrew Shadick has had a love for meteorology since he discovered he shared his name with a deadly hurricane. Photo by Mr. Ramponi.

The category 5 hurricane was one of the costliest hurricanes at the time, about fifteen years before Hurricane Katrina tore apart the southern United States in 2006. Hurricane Andrew was what had inspired Mr. Shad- ick to study meteorology as a hobby, and his interest contin- ues today. Although he considers me- teorology to be interesting, his passion for teaching his- tory is stronger than his pas-

sion for meteorology.

which is my full name, that hit the southern coast of Flor- ida, and I thought it was the coolest thing that a storm was named not after me, but had shared the same name as me.” “You can have a pas- sion about something and not have to be a professional for it. I’m not anywhere close to being a professional.” -Mr. Andrew Shadick

In his free time, Mr. Shad- ick reads message boards pro- vided by the National Weath- er Service and has his own personal weather station at home where he can keep track of weather patterns. “I basi- cally have a rain gauge that is digital. I have an anemom- eter, which is a wind sensor, and it sits on my roof, which my neighbors think it’s funny when I climb on my roof to charge it or fix it.”

See Flom , page 9