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For some people, arguing
just comes naturally; some of
these people you may know.
Maya Labinski, Zoe Plzak,
Forrest Bomann, and Anant
Kaushika are four students here
at North who are going to be
participating in Debate Nation-
als. They will be competing
alongside other members of the
Appleton North Debate Team.
I asked the two dynamic duos
what kind of work they had to
put in to get to the point where
they are today.
The common theme among
the debaters was research and
a lot of individual work. Plzak
said that it was important to
think about arguments that
no one else necessarily would
have. Kaushika also stated that
he was very conscious about
being a cooperative partner, af-
ter all it is a team activity, he
said. Bomann and Kaushika
have been friends for years and
have grown to be successful
on the debate stage. Bomann
said along with going to de-
bate practices at school, it re-
ally helped him and Kaushika
to attend as many tournaments
as possible. That is how they
gained real experience.
These debaters share a pas-
sion for public speaking and
are generally interested about
many aspects of debate. They
believe that debate sets you up
for your future, they said. La-
binski said one of the reasons
she was interested in debate
was meeting so many new
people.
“The national tournament
allows us debaters to chal-
lenge ourselves on a whole
new level of competition, go-
ing up against debaters from
around the country. It’s a learn-
ing experience and is always
something to look forward to,”
Kaushika said.
FEATURES
Appleton, Wisconsin February 2017 Volume XXIII
Issue IV Page 8
North students Kala Lones
and Milly Figueroa were re-
cently recognized as the Martin
Luther King Jr. Day Celebra-
tion speech contest winners.
While many applicants had
hoped to obtain this honor,
Lones and
F i g u e r o a
had the op-
portunity to
present their
speeches for all of those who
attended the MLK celebration
at the Lawrence Chapel.
Lones focused on her expe-
rience as an African Ameri-
can woman. Creating a very
personal feel to her speech,
she used examples of her con-
fidence and how her race af-
fected the way she thought of
herself.
Figueroa also shared some
experiences she had, provid-
ing some
impac t f u l
e x amp l e s
of the dis-
crimination
she has felt.
She also
relayed her
thoughts for the future, and said
that education and successes
have nothing to do with race.
She stated that she will proceed
to attend a university, and she
will get the job she has worked
hard for.
The MLK day celebration
featured Leonard Pitts as the
keynote speaker, an esteemed
columnist who was able to
see the skill in both Lones
and Figueroa. Both Lones and
Figueroa received a standing
ovation for their speeches.
The Lawrence Chapel was
full despite the icy roads and
rain. Kathy Flores, the woman
behind the curtain, is stepping
down as chair of the celebra-
tion. This past celebration was
the last event that she would be
leading.
Debate
Team heads
to Nationals
Member of North’s Debate team, including from left, Anant
Kaushika, Forrest Bomann, Helen Zhou, and Macalister Bag-
well, qualified for the National Speech and Debate Association
tournament.
Photo courtesy of Forrest Bomann
By Henry Ptacek
Appleton North DECA had
a strong showing in the Wis-
consin DECA District Com-
petition Jan. 14 at Bay Port
High School in Green Bay.
At the District Competition,
students had the opportunity
to compete in a large variety
of events, and medaled in
everything from Accounting
Applications to Quick Serve
Restaurant Management.
Each event is comprised of
different assessments: a writ-
ten exam and two separate
role playing scenarios that are
evaluated by judges.
Levi Werlein, the Wiscon-
sin DECA Vice-President of
Membership Development
individually took First Place
in the Marketing Communi-
cations Event.
All
together,
Appleton
North DECA brought home
54 event medals, had 19 Top
4 finishers, and advanced 8
Automatic State Qualifiers.
All those who advanced
will have the opportunity to
compete at the state level in
March.
DECA ‘shows up,’ brings home
awards at District competition
DECA members pose for a photo after participating in the District Four Competition, where they
brought home 54 event medals, had 19 Top 4 finishers, and advanced 8 Automatic State Quali-
fiers.
Photo by Erik Nelson
By Kate Bennett
Kala Lones reads her essay
for the MLK Celebration.
Photo
by Nora Ptacek
North students
recognized
at MLK Day
Celebration
Noctiluca
newspaper
earns General
Excellence
The Wisconsin Newspaper
Association named the Ap-
pleton North Noctiluca one of
three winners in the state of
the First Place General Excel-
lence Award in the 2016 Bet-
ter Newspaper Contest.
The contest is a statewide
competition in which high
school newspapers submit
to judges three issues from
throughout the year that they
think represent their best
work. There are many differ-
ent categories of awards, but
the top award is the General
ExcellenceAward, which con-
siders multiple factors such as
quality of writing, overall ap-
pearance/design, and use of
photos and artwork. Judges
are professional journalists
working in their fields.
The Noctiluca has won this
award three times in the past
four years, earning the award
in 2013, 2014, and now again
in 2016. The paper won sec-
ond place General Excellence
in 2015.
“I’m really proud of the
Noctiluca staff and all of the
hard work that they put into
our issues because it really
paid off,” said current Senior
Editor-in-Chief Nora Ptacek.
With the General Excel-
lence Award, Noctiluca re-
ceives the $1,000 William
E. Branen Scholarship. The
scholarship is named for the
former publisher and presi-
dent of the Burlington Stan-
dard Press, a newspaper lo-
cated in southeast Wisconsin,
according to an article written
by Julia Hunter, the Member
Services Director at WNA.
In 1953, Branen became the
youngest editor in Wisconsin,
and is also a former president
of the Wisconsin Press Asso-
ciation.
Along with the scholar-
ship,
Noctiluca members
are invited to the Wisconsin
Newspaper Association an-
nual convention on Feb. 24.
In past years, the Nocti-
luca has used the scholarship
to buy a DSLR camera as well
as launch in 2015 the website
northnoct.com.
By Ally Price
By Henry Ptacek