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FEATURES
Appleton, Wisconsin June 2016 Vol. XXI
Issue III
Page 5
North seniors reflect on commencement speeches
By Rachel Flom
With graduation just
around the corner, students
and staff have been doing
some final preparations for
the graduation ceremony that
will take place on June 2. In-
cluded in those preparations
is finalizing the commence-
ment speeches that students
have written for the cere-
mony. Seniors Payton Fors,
Mervin Lumba, and Elise
Painton have provided some
insight about their speeches,
graduation, and hopes for the
future:
The Noctiluca:
Why did
you decide to become a com-
mencement speaker?
Fors:
The decision to
write a graduation speech
wasn’t some last ditch effort
at self-promotion, nor an un-
checked box on a bucket list
of things I wanted to do be-
fore I left high school. I just
had this weird, fervent urge to
say one more thing to a group
of people who would likely
never all come together again
(at least not as the people we
currently are).
Painton:
There’s a lot of
kids at our school that are in
a sport or are really good at
drama, and I thought that if I
just got up there, I would be
speaking not just to kids that
are in a sport or that are good
at drama. I’m not a kid who
takes a million AP classes and
I’m not in a varsity sport and I
think that I have something to
say that could relate to a lot of
people, so that’s why.
Lumba:
Based off of my
experience in high school and
with my time being here, I
figure that I have a message of
value to deliver to the class.
That’s really why I ran to be
a speaker.
N:
Would you be willing
to hint as to what your speech
will be about?
F:
While I do not want
to give too much away, my
speech does involve food, and
does not include the normal
level of sarcasm that graces
my normal conversations.
P:
It’s about fear and how
it really inhibits us from doing
what we want to do. Some-
times I think that I wrote this
speech as a letter to myself
as a way to just say, “It’s all
going to be okay.” It’s about
not being afraid. We live in a
generation where there is a lot
of fear about our future, but
it’s important to realize that
there’s so much that you can’t
control, and the only thing
you really can control is what
you do right now.
L:
It’s a very general mes-
sage that I feel like is ap-
plicable to the entire senior
class. Basically, I am A Bet-
ter Chance student, so I came
here from New York to Ap-
pleton for a better education,
so I’m away from my family
Senior Payton Fors
Senior Mervin Lumba
and I go to school here, and
everything that I’ve gone
through the last four years is
something that a lot of us will
be going through when we all
leave for college.
N:
Did you have difficul-
ties in writing your speech?
F:
I did not know what to
say. In the end, I only knew
three things: I would not act
as if I knew every member
of my class and that we all
shared the same high school
experience, I wanted the
whole audience to understand
that they weren’t just stuck as
who they were at that time in
the gym, and I did not want
my speech to be about me.
P:
I did want the speech
to originally be called “The
Most Important Thing I
Learned in High School Was
How to Center a Ball of Clay,”
but I knew no one would un-
derstand what I was talking
about so I changed it to the
one I have now. It was about
how to center a ball of clay;
you need immense amounts
of patience and you can’t get
worked up over something
that seems easy but isn’t be-
cause not everything’s going
to be easy. I’m going to prac-
tice my speech a lot because I
really don’t want to screw up
in front of everybody.
L:
I knew the message that
I wanted to deliver but I just
had a very difficult time put-
ting it into words.
N:
What do you hope the
senior class takes away from
your speech?
F:
All I hope people take
away from my speech is a
sense of self-worth. Going
forward, this is so important.
P:
Just know to chill out.
We’ve made it this far and it’s
been rough, but we did it. I’ve
had a few regrets, like not
branching out and meeting
new people, and I hope the
speech kind of inspires people
to just go for it.
L:
I don’t want to give too
much away, but just make
sure to stay tuned, don’t fall
asleep, and you’ll definitely
learn something.
Senior Elise Painton
Alliance fights bullying through Words Hurt Week
In April, Appleton North
participated in Words Hurt
Week. It was a week to raise
awareness about bullying and
its effect on the student body
as a whole, as well as on indi-
vidual students.
The event was hosted by
Alliance; its members work-
ing tirelessly to make it as
impactful as possible. Along
with Words Hurt Week, that
Friday was Day of Silence
and Night of Noise. The week
of positive words ended in si-
lence showing how powerful
words can really be.
The club sold products dur-
ing lunch hours in the com-
mons like T-shirts, wristbands
and ribbons, along with infor-
mational sheets about Words
Hurt Week and Day of Silence
for the entire week.
One activity that was very
noticeable was the positive
sticky notes on every locker of
Appleton North. These were
not just limited to student
lockers, however. The Post-its
were put on the doors of all
the faculty members’ offices
and on the bathroom mirrors.
Alliance wanted the positive
messages to be seen by every-
By Jake Zajkowksi
one to show that everyone is
important.
Another thing that was
done for Words Hurt Week
was Students were asked to
write positive messages they
had to say. These were then
placed in the main hallway
near student services. Colored
Post-its were placed with the
student-made Post-its to form
the phrase “Be The Change!”
Posters were also placed
around the school giving ba-
sic information on Words Hurt
Week.
Alliance also plans on put-
ting posters up in teachers’
classrooms about anti bullying
to end bullying in the class-
room, which will be up all
year. Senior Rachel Flom, an
officer of Alliance, explained
the posters were a way to show
that “Bullying doesn’t just end
on a Friday.”
Along with the items being
sold during lunch hours, there
was a pledge to participate in
the Day of Silence. Day of Si-
lence is a day to bring aware-
ness to the effects of verbal
abuse on the LGBTQ+ com-
munity. The pledge taken by
students was an attempt to stay
silent for the entire school day.
This silence represents those
in the LGBTQ+ community
who do not feel like they have
voices because of the effects
of harmful words.
The pledge however is fo-
cused on the attempt to stay
quiet and not a strict rule of si-
lence. “We wanted it to be in-
formal so that everyone could
do it rather than having it be
strict and not get as much sup-
port,” explained Flom.
Later on that Friday was
Night of Noise. This is where
many come together to share
their stories and find friends,
make connections and emo-
tionally recover after Day of
Silence. “It’s a very powerful
event that helps rejuvenate
people after the day,” Flom
said.
Members of the North
Community reflect on their
own experiences with the
week.
Junior Aavid Jahnke said:
“I believe that Words Hurt
Week and Day Of Silence
was a very helpful and very
needed week. So many peo-
ple asked questions and got
to learn about the LGBTQ+
community. I feel like Apple-
ton North definitely benefited
from this week.”
Freshman Adison Cole also
shared her thoughts on the
subject. “I think that the week
went better than I thought it
would.”
Mrs. Strick, the social
worker at Appleton North and
adviser of the Gay-Straight
Alliance, said “I thought that
Words Hurt Week was very
successful. There were tons of
ideas they wanted to do, but
we funneled it down and kept
it simple and positive. That’s
what we really wanted to focus
on since there was so much to
be covered.”
Sofia Voet stated: “I think
events like Words Hurt Week
and Day of Silence are ex-
tremely important in high
school…I think a lot of the
time we just think that bul-
lying ends in high school be-
cause we are more ‘mature’
or we are more aware of what
it is, but people still continue
to use inappropriate words to
describe people who look or
feel ‘different’ from they are.
Sticks and stones may break
bones but words do hurt peo-
ple."
Alliance held their first ever Words Hurt Week in
mid-April.
Photo by Maddie Clark
“Bullying doesn’t just
end on a Friday.”