Inspire from Within teaches athletes to become leaders
When training for a sport,
any athlete knows how impor-
tant it is to train yourself phys-
ically, but what many athletes
neglect is the mental strength
required to succeed. Through
a program called Inspire from
Within, several North students
are learning mental skills to
help them succeed as athletes
and leaders.
“Inspire from Within in-
volves strengthening our men-
tal focus,” said Kylie Beecher,
Appleton North junior and
participant in the program.
“We’ve talked about confi-
dence and victorious moments
in our sporting careers, and
why we play the sports we do.”
The program, which is simi-
lar to what League of Lead-
ers was in the past, is lead by
Lucas Jadin, a teacher at Ka-
leidoscope and cross country
and girls basketball coach at
Appleton North, and Mat-
thew Hechel, an Appleton
North teacher and football,
powerlifting, and track coach.
Through its focus on sports
psychology, brain science,
and student leadership, Inspire
It was a week of cultural
awareness here at Appleton
North, and for one particular
student, Saul Roselaar, Global
Week was an opportunity to
share the numerous lessons he
learned while traveling through
Israel this summer.
Roselaar, now a senior at
North, was selected to be a fel-
low for BYFI, the Bronfman
Youth Fellowship in Israel, an
organization focused around a
five week seminar in Israel con-
necting 26 North American ju-
niors each year. Roselaar spent
his summer studying Jewish
texts, politics, and social issues.
“BYFI is a pluralistic fel-
lowship, the goal of the fel-
lowship is simply to connect
diverse Jewish youth,” said
Roselaar. “There was no intent
to convince the fellows of any
particular view, in fact, many
of the educators fundamen-
tally disagreed with each other.
While some fellows returned
more sure in their faith, others
returned highly cynical of even
the idea of God.” He also had
numerous opportunities to meet
with important Jewish and non-
Jewish leaders, including gov-
ernment officials, authors, and
social activists.
His favorite quote of the sum-
mer was from Rabbi Schlesing-
er, who said, “a lie is a part of
the truth masquerading as the
whole truth.”
“Bold claims are made about
every group” said Roselaar.
“And usually these claims are
true a vast minority of the time,
it is important to see the larger
picture.” He also explained oth-
er ideas he elaborated on during
the presentation, including the
political climate of Israel, the
perceived relationship between
religion and morality, enlight-
enment philosophies impact on
religion, and what could be con-
sidered highly heretical views
on religion. Roselaar’s presenta-
tion, though specific to his own
experience, reached many areas
of culture relevant to students
here at North.
Roselaar’s
presentation
wasn’t the only one to bring
global awareness to North High
School. Exchange student Ai-
nie Tabua presented about her
home country the Philippines.
There were also presentations
on the orchestra trip by Nina
Landowski, Lexi Asare, and
Kate Peregrine, Machu Picchu
by Collin Squier and Senora P.
Meyer, and performances by
By Sophie Plzak
Global Week provides students with
opportunities to learn about culture
Appleton North
students prepare
presentations
Inspire from Within leader Lucas Jadin and student Ari Holzem help mentor students with special needs at an Inspire Event.
Photo by Asher Edwards
See
Plzak
, page 2
When joining Gender
Equality Club, senior Sophie
Plzak never imagined that
she would become part of an-
other organization, one that
would help girls, not just in
America, but also around the
world, especially in under-
privileged countries. After
researching many charities
and talking to the workers
at the Harbor House, Plzak
started generating many
ideas.
“One day, I watched this
video of how homeless wom-
en in inner cities have to
make their own tampons be-
cause the drug store brands
are too expensive for them,
and there aren’t many ways
to obtain free tampons and
pads,” Plzak said.
After looking through the
Days for Girls website, Plzak
found a multitude of resourc-
es, in order to organize an
Appleton North High School
chapter of Days for Girls.
“So many girls through-
out the world have to miss
school, since they physically
don’t have any materials that
can help them deal with the
blood. In this organization,
we help create products that
are reusable and easy for
these women to carry around
in a backpack so we can help
restore a woman’s dignity
and keep them from feel-
ing shame brought on by the
stigma.”
After Plzak presented this
idea at a Gender Equality
Club meeting, many mem-
bers started exploring the
Days for Girls website, so
they could get started on cre-
ating a DFG (Days for Girls)
kit to send to these countries.
The website gives a descrip-
North students raise money to
help females in need through
Days for Girls organization
By Fatima Ali
See
Price
, page 2
Before-school
program
encourages
mental grit
By Ally Price
See
Ali
, page 2
Sophie Plzak, Raven Wilson,
and Yasmeen Ashour are con-
tributors to the Days for Girls
program at Appleton North.
Photo by Brennan Arnold
Saul Roselaar, left, meets with Ali Abu-Awwad, Rabbi Hanan
Schlesinger, and Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld through the Bron-
fman Youth Fellowship in Israel.
Photo by Isaiah Milbauer