Acceptance. Achievement.
Character. Compassion. Ex-
cellence. Integrity. Persever-
ance. Respect. Responsibil-
ity.
These traits represent the
North Nine, the set of charac-
ter traits that Appleton North
students are expected to ex-
hibit, both at school and in all
aspects of their lives.
Since 2013,
Appleton
North has recognized stu-
dents who portray these traits
through the monthly North
Stars nominations program.
Each month is assigned to a
different trait, and staff nomi-
nate students who they be-
lieve exemplify that month’s
characteristic.
Now, a second branch of
the North Stars program has
been created. This program
works in the same way except
that students nominate teach-
ers who they think exhibit the
month’s North Nine trait. In
February, Appleton North
science teacher Mr. Steve Su-
grue was chosen as the first
North Stars staff winner for
representing integrity.
“It’s a good feeling to know
that my students feel that I
treat them with respect and
that they feel like when they
need help, I am available for
them,” said Mr. Sugrue about
being recognized.
The program, which is run
by Mr. Curt Salm along with
other North teachers, aims to
create more awareness of the
North Nine throughout the
school. Each month, students
will be emailed a Google
Form that details the trait of
the month and allows them to
vote for a staff member who
they think best represents that
trait.
In February, the program
received 149 nominations for
40 different North teachers
who show integrity. Besides
being asked which teacher
they think best exemplifies
the trait, students are also
asked to describe how that
staff member shows the trait.
“Students did a very nice
job of using integrity as a
part of the reason why they
nominated the staff member
that they did,” said Mr. Salm.
Students who nominated Mr.
Sugrue gave reasons such as
“he is always patient with his
students, willing to help, and
is a great teacher” and “he is
always willing to help and
By Ally Price
North shines at Pulse’s Future 15 Awards
North Stars includes staff members for nomination
Sugrue honored
with February
Integrity award
Sophomore Henry Ptacek at Future 15 award ceremony
. Photo used with permission by Trove Photography
See
Price
, page 2
Immigration
protests spark
conversation
Recently, in Houdini Pla-
za, a protest in opposition of
Trump’s immigration signing
took place, causing students
in the community to stand up
against these policies. These
are interviews that took place
on that day:
Rachel Geiger, Lawrence
University Freshman:
What brings you out here to-
night?
“I’m out here because I think
it’s important to know there
are people, in this primarily
red state of Wisconsin, that
think these issues are impor-
tant, and that there are people
out there who are backing up
those affected by these issues.
I went to the D.C. March,
and I want to continue activ-
ism through grassroots move-
ments, as those are very im-
portant to spark change in
our society. For example, the
Women’s March only started
with a few women upset about
an idea/policy, and they started
something huge out of it. It’s
also important to get involved,
such as calling senators as
these get people ready to do
things outside of protests.”
Have you been affected by
these policies or do you know
someone who has been affect-
ed?
“One of my closest friends
from back home, she was a
green card holder, and when
Trump’s immigration ban first
was in order, even green-card
holders were not allowed to
come back. Which was diffi-
cult for her as she was consid-
ering visiting family outside of
the country, but now couldn’t.”
Has this changed your per-
spective of the community?
“It made me recognize that
there is a large community
there for you, especially at
By Mariya Todorova
Mr. Sugrue teaches physical science to Gold team freshman.
Photo by Jake Zajkowski
Ptacek and Lucas recognized by Fox Cities for community involvement
The Future 15 competition
was designed to highlight
various young professionals
in the community and shine
a light on the good work they
do for the Fox Cities. It’s a
fairly new program; the first
Future 15 awards were seven
years ago in 2010. This year’s
event was held on March 2,
and Appleton North had two
of its own represented that
night: art teacher Elyse Lucas
and sophomore Henry Ptacek,
owner and proprietor of Hen-
ry’s Buff and Shine.
“It’s extremely humbling,”
Ptacek said. “The only reason
I’m in the position that I’m at
is because of the support the
community has offered me.
The Fox Cities is one of the
most accepting communities
and I’m glad to be a part of
it.”
Henry’s Buff and Shine has
been up and running since
Ptacek was an eighth grad-
er, learning the shoe shin-
ing art from his grandfather.
He works out of the Zuelke
building downtown on Thurs-
day and Saturday afternoons
and has most notably shined
the shoes of John Bergstrom,
owner of the Bergstrom car
franchise.
By Ndemazea Fonkem
Lawrence students
explain experiences
during protest
See
Fonkem
, page 2
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to the Editor at
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