NOCTILUCA October 2016

Appleton, Wisconsin

October 2016

Vol. XXII

Issue II

The results of a school-wide

survey pertaining to student

satisfaction with Appleton

North show that the majority

of students have a positive

view of the school and the

people in it.

The survey was conducted

in November 2015. 891 male

and female students repre-

senting all four grade levels

participated in the survey,

titled “How I Feel About My

School,” which was sent as a

Google Form to all students

in the building. Participants

in the survey were asked to

strongly agree, agree, dis-

agree or strongly disagree

with six statements relating

to Appleton North, such as

“I am treated with respect by

other students at my school”

and “I like my school.” The

responses to all six state-

ments were strongly posi-

tive, with students agreeing

or strongly agreeing with

each statement between

84.9% and 93.2% of the time.

Students responded most pos-

itively to the statements of “I

am treated with respect by

adults at my school,” “I like

my school,” and “I feel like I

belong at my school.”

The survey was offered

across the district in order

to assess student satisfaction

with individual schools. Much

like the Youth Risk Behavior

Survey, offered to freshmen

and juniors each year, the

survey sought to provide data

about whether students were

forming positive connections

with peers and with adults at

North.

The administration at North

views the survey as a positive

baseline for students’ satisfac-

tion with their school, and at-

tributes the positive results to

a number of changes that have

taken place in the building

over the past years, including

the introduction of freshmen

teams. “Freshmen teams have

helped to encourage freshmen

to have a positive experience

at North, since teams help

freshmen get to know each

other and to develop positive

relationships with their core

teachers,” said Mr. Huggins,

principal at Appleton North.

The high participation in

the survey can be attributed

to more recent changes such

as the addition of IE time to

the daily schedule and the

introduction of Chrome-

books. “Allotting time in IE

for students to take the sur-

vey de

nitely increased the

amount of responses that we

received,” Mr. Huggins said.

“Also, because the survey

was formatted as a Google

Form that went out to all stu-

dents’ Chromebooks, it was

very accessible.”

Although survey results

were primarily positive

across all statements, up-

wards of 100 surveyed stu-

dents responded negatively

to statements such as “There

is at least one adult in this

school that I can talk to if I

have a problem” and “I am

treated with respect by oth-

er students at my school.”

Even though this portion of

responders are in the minor-

ity, administration plans to

continue to monitor student

satisfaction at North in order

to examine trends of how stu-

dents feel about their school.

By Erik Bakken

North drama club members set to Dismember

By Ally Price

School-wide survey shows overall satisfaction with Appleton North

Survey results show that about 90% of students say they like

Appleton North.

Graphic by Ally Price

People from all over the Fox

Cities will come to Appleton

North at the end of the month

for spooks, scares, and frights.

This month,

Appleton

North’s Drama Club will be-

gin preparing for “A Night to

Dismember XVII.” “A Night

to Dismember” is a haunted

house that is put on each year

by over 100 students from

North’s theatre department.

The event is one of the

rst

functions put on by the Drama

Club and serves as a fundraiser

for future productions as well

as a chance for new and old

members alike to get involved.

“The haunted house is a

very good opportunity to get

involved and meet people in

Drama Club,” said Tyler Ske-

nandore, a junior and second-

year member of the Appleton

North theatre program. “When

I transferred [from Seymour]

last year, it helped me meet so

many more people.”

This year’s haunted house

will take place in the after-

noon and evening of Oct. 28

and 29. Each year, the house

consists of 15 or so different

rooms. They are set up by stu-

dents starting a week before

they open. Guests start off in

the auditorium then are able

to walk through the rooms,

which go through the south

side of the school and stop

in places like the commons,

stage, scene shop, green room,

and music hallway.

“A Night to Dismember”

can provide many scares to

those looking for a frightful

evening, but the event also

offers more family-friendly

options and options for the

faint-of-heart. Flashlight tours

are available for people who

are still interested in walking

through the haunted house but

not wanting to experience all

of the jump-scares involved.

Additionally, there will be

other activities in the com-

mons such as a mini in

atable

haunted house for children,

games, and a bake sale. All

proceeds from these go di-

rectly to the theatre program

and help to fund other theatre

productions like One Act, the

musical, and the straight show.

“You should go to the North

haunted house to support the

theatre department and have

a good time with friends and

family,” said Skenandore. “It’s

safe for all ages because of the

ashlight tours available.”

There are many different

ways that Drama Club stu-

dents get involved with the

haunted house. Each member

is required to put in six hours

of tech work, which can in-

clude building sets, doing the

actors’ makeup, setting up the

sound system, and prepar-

ing the rooms. On top of this,

any student who put in their

six hours can be characters

in the rooms, which change

every year but generally in-

clude creatures like zombies,

clowns, and weeping angels.

“The haunted house is a great

experience that allows strang-

ers and friends alike to par-

ticipate in a unique experience

that you can’t

nd anywhere

else,” said Drama Club mem-

ber Oscar Brautigam, a senior

at Appleton North. Because of

the amount of time put in, most

students involved tend to

that the experience helps them

grow closer to other members

of the theatre department.

93.2% of students feel

that they are treated

with respect by adults

at Appleton North, and

86.1% feel respected

by other students.

Tickets are available at the door, and are $7 per

person and $5 per person for children under the

age of 12 or groups of more than 10 people.

Related article

Culture: The return

of One and and ‘A

Night to Dismember’,

page 9

Appleton North Drama Club members Libby Kapocius, Sophie Plzak, and Ali Basham are seen

participating in last year’s haunted house.

Photo by Catherine McKenzie

Theater department

prepares for annual

haunted house