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OPINIONS
Appleton, Wisconsin June 2017 Volume XXII
Issue VIII Page 4
Noctiluca
Mission
Statement
The Noctiluca and north
noct.com are the student-run
news sources of Appleton North
High School. Noctiluca and
northnoct.com are designated
public forums for student ex-
pression. Student editors make
all content decisions.
Noctiluca’s mission is to
publish information relevant to
its readers and its community.
Its goal is to maintain high ethi-
cal standards and provide a des-
ignated public forum for free
and responsible expression of
views.
Appleton North High School
5000 N. Ballard Road
Appleton, WI 54913
Phone: (920) 832-4300
Mr. Ramponi, staff advisor,
at: ramponiaaron@aasd.k12.
wi.us.
Editorial Staff
Senior Editor-In-Chief
Nora Ptacek
Junior Editor-In-Chief
Jake Zajkowski
Managing Editor
Kate Bennett
News Editor
Ally Price
Opinions Editor
Maeve Salm
Features Editor
Henry Ptacek
Centerspread Editor
Salma Abdel-Azim
Culture Editor
Maddy Schilling
Sports Editor
Maddie Clark
Photography Editor
Olivia Molter
Copy Editor
Fatima Ali
Advertising/Social Media
Rachel Sina
Graphics Editor
Henry Ptacek
Online Editor
Kate Bennett
Investigative Editor
Erik Bakken
Advisor
Mr. Ramponi
Contributors
Salma Abdel-Azim
Fatima Ali
Erik Bakken
Maddie Clark
Sky Iwanski
Sophie Plzak
Ally Price
Henry Ptacek
Nora Ptacek
Maeve Salm
Maddy Schilling
Jake Zajkowski
The importance of true activism in initiating change
Standing on College Avenue
with a sign clenched in my
mitted hands, my face almost
covered by my hat and scarf,
while battling 30 mile per hour
winds wasn’t very glamorous. It
wasn’t what my mom expected
me to be doing on a Wednes-
day after school in the middle
of March. But I wanted to be at
the Women’s March, because
just holding my beliefs wasn’t
enough anymore. I knew that in
order to initiate change, I had to
take responsibility for a cause,
and subsequently, take the re-
quired steps to make that change
a reality. So there I was, freez-
ing, in the middle of Downtown
Appleton, standing up for what
I believed in.
For the longest time, my idea
of what it took to represent my
opinions in a just light was very
simple. If I spoke up in con-
versations and posted articles
online, that was enough, right?
That’s what I was supposed to
be doing. But, during my junior
year, I did things that challenged
my beliefs on what good activ-
ismwas. The first time I brought
my habits under scrutiny was
when I sold Chex Mix during
school lunches for Lovestruck
Week. The Gender Equality
Club had decided that in order to
bring awareness to the wage gap
and start a dialogue in school,
they would sell the mixes for 75
cents to women, and a dollar to
men. I ran the booth every day
during 5th hour for that entire
week, and held many interesting
conversations with skeptics and
allies alike. I managed to even
sway a few students towards my
ultimate goal of accepting and
understanding that the wage gap
was not a myth. Through my
conversations, and the aggres-
siveness of how I was confront-
ed with several differing views,
I came to understand where the
line between pseudo-activism
and real activism lies.
To really represent a cause,
you must take action, real ac-
tion. My habits of posting on
social media and calling out
some ignorant person in the
middle of a class weren’t things
that would make a difference.
Only when I took real steps to
initiate change could I justify
my views and criticisms. It sud-
denly seemed very hypocritical
to take a very firm stance on a
cause, shun those who saw dif-
ferently and do nothing more.
So, I decided to do more. I be-
came one of the leaders of Gen-
der Equality Club and began to
organize projects and events. I
started the Appleton chapter of
Days For Girls, an organiza-
tion that crafts and distributes
reusable pads and other hygiene
products to women in parts of
Africa and third world coun-
tries around the world. My team
raised money and are currently
in the process of sewing these
kits to the standards requested
on the national organization’s
website. During the same time
as DFG was getting off its feet,
I helped organize a march for
International Women’s Day in
Appleton. This brought to light
a lot of feelings I hadn’t recog-
nized before, pertaining to how I
witness others reacting to injus-
tice. So many people showed up
to the event that I’d never seen
or heard from before. Don’t get
me wrong, plenty of activists
from my community showed
up, but so many people came
who hadn’t been around for the
election, or in the past years.
Sophie Plzak accepts the Democratic Youth Leadership Award
from the Bettin on Blue Bash, held by the Outagamie County
Democratic Party, for her activism in the community.
Photo by
Kate Bennett
By Sophie Plzak
Change requires
more than passive
action
Noctiluca
Editorial
Education: the foundation of success in
modern-day society. It holds the greatest
precedence in preparing individuals for
their future. Yet, education remains one of
many establishments that is immensely un-
dervalued on a national scale.
As Lee Allinger, Sharon Fenlon and Dr.
John Mielke step away from their long-
standing roles in education in the district,
now more than ever, it is apparent that
education requires increasingly greater at-
tention. These three individuals have dedi-
cated immeasurable time and resources to
our community. It is imperative that we
celebrate these advocates of education and
strive to contribute to the ever-dynamic
and ever-prevalent nature of education.
Because without education, society is inca-
pable of progression.
With a combined total of about 92 years
serving in education, Allinger, Fenlon and
Mielke have significantly improved the
AASD through idealistic action and pro-
gressive invention. Mielke has helped es-
tablish the Appleton Education Foundation
and has served on the board of directors
for the Mielke Family Foundation and the
Building for Kids. Similarly, Fenlon, the
president of the AppletonArea School Dis-
trict Board of Education for 23 years, as-
sisted in fostering cultural diversity within
the AASD by promoting awareness of the
Hmong culture residing in Appleton. Ad-
ditionally, she has helped integrate char-
ter schools into the AASD, a project that
ensured charter school students were not
left behind. Finding adequate educational
resources within charter school systems is
difficult in today’s society, but that issue is
uncommon here in Appleton, as a result of
her work. Since the AASD Board of Edu-
cation operates on a service without pay
basis, Fenlon and Mielke have been volun-
teering for decades to improve our educa-
tion.
Similarly, Allinger discussed both the di-
versity and the outreach with the Birth to 5
program, emphasizing that “We want to be
viewed as a school district that helps kids
be connected to what their future could be
beyond high school.”
With the expounding integration of tech-
nology into our society and the greater
prevalence of service-based jobs, educa-
tion serves as the primary vehicle for suc-
cess and progress. Not only does education
provide students with analysis and inno-
vation tools that can be utilized outside of
academia, it supplies individuals with the
means to discover their individuality.
Education allows students to explore po-
tential areas of passion and to develop aspi-
rations for their future. But, of equal impor-
tance, education fosters democracy.
We wholeheartedly thank these three pio-
neers for their service, and call on the next
generation of Allingers, Fenlons and Miel-
kes to continue to carry the torch.
Legacies of education: Society
depends on people like these
Related articles
Lasting Legacies, Page 1
Allinger
Fenlon
Mielke