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PANTHERN A T I O N

DecemberSpotlights

Vol. Two • Issue Three

Senior Brandon Griffin

Senior Ashley McCarthy

Teacher: Ms. Bourque

Freshman: Elizabeth LoPorto

Panthers Ball Up

Pep Rally 2015

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PANTHERN A T I O N

Table of Contents

Letter from the Principal

School News“Next Year’s Schedule: A Done Deal,” Hunter Lundin“Pep-Pep-Hooray: Pep Rally 2015,” Abby Bu- rdick“It’s Beginning to Sound a lot like Christmas,” Shelby Wargat“NHS Brings Santa to Plainfield,” Abby Burdick“Tons of Talent,” Kaitlyn Lent

Local News“Drug Bust in Moosup,” Mat Laskarzewski

Sport News“Guarding the Winter,” Mat Laskarzewski“Running to Victory,” Ryan Shippee“The Ball Up Squad,” Nick Burlingame“Panthers Ball Up,” Colby Greenhalgh“Props to Second in Dancing,” Kaitlyn Lent

Feature“Teen Dating Violence,” Adreanna Hannan

Columns“Senior Spotlight: Griffin 29y,” Ryan Shippee“Senior Spotlight: Ashley McCarthy,” Shelby Wargat“Freshman Spotlight: The Lovely Liz,” Mat Laskarzewski“Teacher Spotlight: Borque Around the World,” Adreanna Hannan“On the Big Screen,” Colby Greenhalgh“Club Spotlight: Dungeons and Dragons,” Hunter Lundin

Editorials“Does Christmas Start Too Early,” Jason Sweet“Say ‘Gross’ to Ugly Sweaters,” Kaitlyn Lent

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Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

This will be the final issue of Pan-ther Nation for the fall semester. You shouldn’t expect to see another until late February or early March.

I would like to express how proud I am of my staff this semester. They have grown as journalists in many

ways. It has truly been an honor working with them and guiding them to explore the news worthy events and people in our Plainfield High School community.

This course is a chance for any upper classmen to express their school spirit through their school work. If you are a student who enjoys being involved and celebrating the successes of your peers, then Journalism may be the per-fect elective to add to your schedule next year. The primary skills that we focus on are writing, photography, graphic design, research, self-discipline, and interpersonal commu-nication.

Happy Holidays,

Mrs. MaherJournalism/English TeacherYearbook Club Advisor

December Rotary Student of the Month

Yvonne Laporte is the daughter of Justin Laporte and Shirley & Jason Bandieramonte. On top of being in

the top 3 of her class for the duration of her time in high school, Yvonne works part-time at New York Pizza, dances and competes with the Senior Repertory Company at Dance-works Dance Centre, and volunteers her time to various or-ganizations with the PHS National Honor Society. In her free time, she enjoys reading, dancing, singing, and hiking. Yvonne plans on attending a four-year university with a ma-jor in Psychology and continuing her education to eventual-ly stay and practice in the psychology field.

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One of the most anticipated and controversial deci-sions of the school year has been the idea of revising and changing Plainfield High School’s schedule for the 2016-17 school year. The Board of Education, led by chairman Douglas Smith, met on Wednesday, Decem-ber 9 to decide on what the schedule would be for the upcoming year. The new schedule will be an eight period rotat-ing schedule, dropping two blocks at the end of the day. For example, one day the schedule would have periods one through six, and the next day would begin with pe-riods seven and eight, ending with period four. Classes would be approximately fifty-five minutes long, roughly half an hour shorter than the length of classes and meet four times a week Lunch would be during fourth period and would be longer to fit in three lunch waves, simi-lar to third block in the current schedule. Some classes would have double periods such as Advanced Place-ment (AP) classes and Advanced Foods. Principal James Worth and the entire staff of PHS worked incredibly hard to come up with a sched-ule that would, as Mr. Worth describes, “promote a con-tinuous flow and should get students from point A to point B fairly easily and effectively.” It is believed by a majority of the faculty that this schedule will be benefi-cial to the students and will be more effective than the four block schedule currently used. The Board unanimously passed the schedule, officially enforcing it for the next school year. At the Board of Education meeting, Principal Worth stated that the schedule is supported by “91% of the faculty, 100% of the administration, and 100% of the superin-

tendent,” to which Superintendent DiPietro humorous-ly replied, “All of one.” This schedule change has received criticism from students because they believe changing to a new system will be inconvenient and unnecessary. The same eight classes a year may be tiresome and redundant after having some diversity between semesters in the current schedule. The “easy semester” will not exist anymore, so study halls could turn into essential period-fillers for some students with large work loads. However, short-ened class times and opportunities to have an extra day of rest from one class could prove to be popular with the students. Time will tell whether the new schedule is effective or causes more problems than it intended to.

Next Year’s Schedule:

a Done Deal

Photo and Article by Hunter Lundin

The Board of Education meeting on various topics, including the school schedule

SCHOOL NEWS

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PLAINFIELD-November 25, 2015-PHS students flooded the gym to get hyped for the annual Plainfield versus Griswold Thanksgiving football game. Chatter filled the room accompanied by instruments and excitement. Each class took their corners, while the football team, band, and cheerleaders joined together in the center set of bleachers. The event began by the sound of hosts, Sandor Lorange and Irinel Fishlock, welcoming students to this year’s school spirit extravaganza. Sandor exclaims, “It was a wicked fun experience. It was wicked cool to see everyone’s school spirit. There were some sound issues and other minor glitches, but we thought on our feet and it all worked out alright.” First, class attendance was taken. Irinel shouted, “Let’s hear it freshmen.” There was little response; their pep rally inex-perience was revealed. The sophomores’ claps and screams were then outdid by the juniors. The seniors, whose volume usually tops all was hurt by students that faced the wall in silence when it was their turn. It was in protest to this year’s hosts being juniors rath-er than seniors. Liam Jacobs, senior, explains:“The seniors have hosted every pep rally ever! I don’t even see that as a real pep rally.”

This year’s pep rally was almost a no-go due to disor-ganization in the beginning of the school year, so the students of Broadcasting with Mr. Nichols took over the event. Hosts were presented at a news desk, like in morning announce-ments. Lorange put the team on his back and wrote the script and kept the rally rolling. The event was also produced by Mrs. Noble, Mrs. Voland, Ryan Burns, Irinel Fishlock, Ra-chel Patterson, Emma Beaver, and the PHS cheer coaches. After the juniors took the “W” for being the loudest, the Chamber Choir took the cheerleading mat center court to sing the national anthem. This was followed by the honoring of seniors participating in fall athletics and arts including: football, volley-ball, soccer, cross country, cheer, color guard, and marching band. The wave took over the crowd to transition into a live lip sync battle. Every friday on the morning announcements, teach-ers compete in a prerecorded battle broadcasted to PHS students. The student body then votes for the winner to compete the fol-

lowing week. The live lip sync battle incorporated both students and faculty at our school. Freshmen battled sophomores, while juniors battled seniors. Winners from those battle then compet-ed against each other in order to compete against the teachers. Freshmen, Kat Lorange led her group with series of whipping and bobbing to “Watch Me” by Silentó. Soph-omores came out on top in the first round with a rendition of “Bye Bye Bye” by ‘Nsync complete with an aerial from Kyle Vallee. Sophomores beat the Freshmen by a mere four points. Juniors were faced with technical sound issues but they powered through. Dancing and lip syncing to “Umbrella” by Rihanna, Irinel Fishlock became a star on the mat, while Jack Gobel threw in a roll for style points. Seniors were happy to perform “Hello” by Adele. Maddy came out in a fur coat over her sweats. Xavier Gonzales, Hunter Lundin, and Lorange beat the juniors by 11 points with their emotional performance. The annual football cheerleading broke up the battle. This year’s playlist was a pile up of “Barbie Girl”, “Dear Future Husband”, and “Single Ladies”. They did a routine filled with cart-wheels, basket tosses, and couples’ dancing. The PHS cheer team after assisting the football players, performed their own cheer and dance routine. Both routines were entertaining for the au-dience, although the practice behind the girls’ shined through. Seniors with the highest score competed against the faculty. This performance was to “Eye of the Tiger” by Survi-vor. Faculty took the mat from all different directions to lip sync “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. Students were amused by Mr. Farrish’s dance moves and enthused by Mrs. Carignan’s backflip. Despite their impressive showing, seniors took all the marbles. The pep rally was then abruptly cut off due to dismissal. Being the first production put on by Block 2 Broadcasting, the organization and timing was flawed. The rally was supposed to also feature a comedy segment by Lorange and PHS journalism pieing Mr. Worth in the face for winning this year’s door decorat-ing contest. Although not seen this Wednesday afternoon, the pie being smacked in Mr. Worth’s face was recorded and broadcasted on announcements the following week. Senior, Mackenzie Pom-peii said “I thought it was pretty boring because we didn’t do any-thing exciting. The audience wasn’t involved as much as in pre-vious pep rallies.” Though some students criticized the pep rally, it was nevertheless a successful learning experience for next year.

By: Abby Burdick

Pep-Pep-Hooray, Pep Rally 2015

PHS cheerleaders take the mat

Hosts: Sandor Lorange and Irinel Fishlock

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It's Beginning To sound a lot like christmas

Written by: Shelby wargatDuring the Christmas season, the PHS Music Depart-ment enjoys expressing their love of this season by per-forming at the annual Winter Concert and this year singing at the Governor’s Residence in Connecticut. On the morning of the fourth of December, the students in chamber choir and Mr. Stevenson dressed up in black dresses and suits, and took a bus trip to West Hartford, Connecticut to share the joy of song. The Connecticut Governor’s Residence was beautifully decorated with Christmas trees and the visitors were surprised by meet-ing Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and many helpful elves. This annual event encourages all that choose to visit to bring a toy to the residence to be donated to the Toys for Tots program. The Governor’s Residence in Connecti-cut organized this event to be able to give those in need a fun toy just in time for Christmas and for the public to have a great day touring the beautiful Connecticut Governor’s Residence. Hannah St. Jean is a member of the chamber choir and had a great time during the trip, and thought that the Governor’s Residence deco-rations were ¨very festive.¨ A senior, Jackson Carleson, enjoyed singing to the public and seeing “the smiles we put on the faces of children who took the day off of school to tour the mansion.” The chamber choir group was the live entertainment at this event for an hour in the afternoon as the tours of many people walked past. After their time at the Connecticut Governor’s Resi-dence, the students and their teacher went out to eat for lunch at Bertucci’s together. Everyone had a great Fri-day singing to the public at the Governor’s Residence. Almost a week after, the talents of Plainfield High School’s band, concert choir, chorale, chamber choir, and the Griswold High School’s chamber choir were all showcased on the night of December 10. The auditorium was filled with proud parents, families, and peers eager to see and hear the amazing progress of the students on stage. First, the band performed many beautiful melodies and their teamwork was absolute-ly amazing. Everyone in the auditorium could see how much dedication those students put in to perform as well as they did. Carly Sebastian, a band member, loved “being able to show people what we have been working towards everyday for months. I always enjoy the con-certs because we are able to show everyone what we have

accomplished.” At the end of the band’s performance, Mrs. Howard, the band director, proudly stated to the audience ¨I have the best job in the world.¨ She is very proud of her students, and is so thankful to the parents for all of their support. Mr. Stevenson is the choir direc-tor at Plainfield High School and he directed the exqui-site voices of the concert choir, chorale, and chamber choir. These groups performed splendidly on Thursday night and the whole crowd gave a standing ovation to the chamber choir’s rendition of “White Winter Hym-nal.” The chamber choir all moved to the front of the stage, sitting side by side, and excellently sung while at the same time using the method of all body percussion.

Chamber Choir

The wow-factor solos were performed by Alys-sa Wood, Hailey Bingham, Logan Fowler, and Jackson Carleson performed two solos throughout the night. The GHS chamber choir has performed at the Plain-field Winter Concert for eight years now, and at this year’s they impressively performed two songs. Elijah Fontenault exclaimed that “the Winter Concert is a monumental experience for the young member of the music program here at Plainfield High School. It’s a great experience for them crossing between schools, as we welcome Griswold, to come perform with us and for us. That part of the experience breaks the egos of both the young and the veteran music program members.” At the very end, the beautiful song of “Halle-lujah” by Handel was performed by the concert choir, chorale, chamber choir, and the Griswold’s cham-ber choir. After every song, the room was filled with loud clapping, whistling, and proud parents yelling for their children. The Winter Concert was a great experience and all those who attended were incred-ibly proud and awed at the students’ performances.

SCHOOL NEWS

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NHS Brings Santa to PlainfieldBy: Abby Burdick

PLAINFIELD-December 12, 2015-National Honor So-ciety (NHS) students and advisors, Mrs. Noble and Mr. Digiacomo woke up bright and early Saturday morn-ing to get into the holiday spirit. Members hung Christ-mas lights and garland, while others created center

pieces out of ornaments and beads. Santa’s chair was set up with a tree and presents, along with a white “snow” backdrop. Mr. Clair, PHS Science teacher, slapped on a Santa suit. Breakfast with Santa at PHS was ready. At Breakfast with Santa, families enjoyed pancakes, french toast sticks, sausage, eggs, and homefries. For the kids, a crafts table was set up with coloring and popsicle stick rein-deer making. Kids made their way over to Santa. Clair gave a “Ho Ho Ho” and asked what they wanted for Christmas. A picture was then snapped by Mr. Nichols to either be emailed or printed for purchase. Yvonne Laporte quotes, “It was a re-ally good atmosphere especially for the kids with the decora-tions and music and the turnout was better than expected.” The event was eight dollars for adults and four dol-lars for children under 12. All the proceeds were donated to the community. For example, a portion of the money went to the Toys for Tots Foundation, a Marine Corps non-profit charity to raise money to provide hope for children during the holiday season. The other portion of the money went to a homeless shelter, a charity group NHS donates to annually. Breakfast with Santa was a success. Not only did NHS raise over $1000 to donate to charity, children of the community were able to spend quality time with fam-ily and friends and see Santa. NHS members also had fun wearing reindeer antlers and interacting with people in our community. Seeing local children light up while sitting on Clair’s lap was a reward within itself. Santa quotes, “It was enjoyable to see smiles on the kids’ faces.”

Little Noble and Santa (Mr. Clair)

NHS members smile for the camera

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SCHOOL NEWS

PLAINFIELD -December 4, 2015 Our school had done a coffeehouse last year, however it was just among the students that go here, and it wasn’t for other schools to attend. This year, the people in charge decided to do something different, clearly, and chose to invite multi-ple schools to come and show their students talent to other people and not just the ones they hang out with.Anyone could clearly tell after the coffeehouse that there was tons of talent in the cafeteria. Everyone that participated in the event did extremely well, and it was amazing. There were five different schools that came to show their talent at the ECC coffeehouse on the third of December; and these students did extremely well. The students were from the following schools: Plainfield High School, Norwich Free Academy (NFA), Griswold High School, Woodstock Academy, and lastly Bacon Academy. Even with all of the acts doing fairly well, There were two standout performances. One of them was a poem performed by a student from NFA, and it was an original piece of work. My second favorite was a girl who played ukulele, who was from Bacon Academy. “It was cool that there had been different talents coming together,” says Guanda Mary Benoit. She con-tinues with, “It was great, I liked the other acts.” Benoit did fairly well herself, with a guitar mashup -starting

with the classic ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ and going into multiple songs, and ending with the song she began with. The Coffeehouse was a cool way to have differ-ent talents come together from different places. Most of the acts were musical, with the exception of two po-etry readings. One of the acts said that it’s important to make eye contact with the audience, so they have some sort of connection, so that way it doesn’t feel like they’re just singing and then they’re done without warning. It’s a great idea to have students from different schools come together to show their talents to people they don’t exactly know and to meet new people. With the fact that most people favor athletics and showing off their talent with that, it’s great that this event gave non-athletic students a chance to show what they can do, whether it’s musically, dramatically, or poetically. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with favoring one over the other, it’s just a good idea to show what oth-er students can do with other things besides a football, baseball, etc. Tons of students are super talented, and a large amount of the students that attend PHS don’t know anything about what they can do with that talent. It was a cool experience and they should do something like this next year, just with more acts than they had this year.

Tons Of TalentWritten By: Kaitlyn Lent

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1. teacher of the year

2. football rival

4. name of the school newspaper

7. teaches digital design and media

8. debate team adviser

9. shape of most desks

10. what plays have we done so far

11. Natalia Rickey's Nickname

12. what some seniors get

Across

3. panther_____

5. school mascot

6. computers on wheels

13. senior class president

14. hello

Name:

Panther Nation CrosswordComplete the crossword below

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Created on TheTeachersCorner.net Crossword Maker

By:RyanShippee

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SPORT NEWS

As a non-profit youth organization, Winter Guard Internation-al serves as the leading body of the indoor Winter Guard, Percussion and Winds activities. It is called the Sport of the Arts because it brings music to life through performance in a competitive format. According to WGI.org “the Winter Guard is now entering its 39th year in 2016, the sport continues to evolve and grow. There were more than 36,000 participants at the regional level, and more than 12,000 participants at the Sport of the Arts World Championships this past April.”Winter Guard is a form of entertainment similar to dance theater. Winter Guard is found in most high schools. Winter Guard uses props, along with movement, to express dynam-ic passages in the music Chosen by the Winter Guard mem-bers. At competitions the Winter Guard is judged in a cate-gory called Visual Performance. Mr.Nichols reports “ I love seeing the team win, but I also enjoy seeing the progression of the team and how far they have come.”Winter Guard International provides a venue for young peo-ple to achieve the extraordinary through performance and competition. WGI was founded in 1977 to draw together the growing winter guard activity, standardize rules, and provide leadership and guidance. Teacher and coach of the Color

Guard and the Winter Guard, Mr. Nichols, reports that “this year is going to go very well for Winter Guard.” Winter guard is an indoor sport where the guard performs unaccompanied by the Marching Band, but instead to a piece of pre-record-ed music. The Winter Guard will go to indoor competitions where they are scored on their performance by judges. The purpose of the Winter Guard is to interpret the music that has been chosen by the Winter Guard members is playing by using flags, sabres and through dance. The Winter Guard uses different colors and styles of flags all to enhance the visual performance of the show. There are many different types of spins and tosses that can be done with the flag. Each spin or toss creates a different illusion and can be used for differ-ent tempos. Flags often can be different sizes and textures. The Winter Guard will often put small weights on the flags to make them a bit heavier, this will make it easier for the people in the Winter Guard to throw and spin the flags. This year should be one of the best years yet for the Plainfield High School Winter Guard.

Photo By Chestnut Hill Studios

Photo By Chestnut Hills Studios

Guarding

The Winter

Down

1. teacher of the year

2. football rival

4. name of the school newspaper

7. teaches digital design and media

8. debate team adviser

9. shape of most desks

10. what plays have we done so far

11. Natalia Rickey's Nickname

12. what some seniors get

Across

3. panther_____

5. school mascot

6. computers on wheels

13. senior class president

14. hello

Name:

Panther Nation CrosswordComplete the crossword below

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Created on TheTeachersCorner.net Crossword Maker

By:RyanShippee

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SPORT NEWS

Indoortrackandfieldseasonhasstarted!Ifyouarenotenrolledinasportatthistimeitisn'ttoolatetojoin.Indoortrackhasmanyeventsfromsprintingwhichcanhavehurdlestomiddledistanceandlongdistance,butifyouarenotarunnerthereareothereventssuchasthelongjump,highjump,polevaultingaswellasshotputsothereisprettymuchsomethingforevery-one.Thisyearweshoulddoprettygood just likewehaddoneinthepastyearandalmostwonbutcameinsecond.SomeofourstandoutrunnersareTylerballardandXavierGonzalezaswellasBrookeBrouillardandIsiahFortwhowillbetryingtodoastheyhaveinthe

pastyearshelpingtheteamout. Theweight room is always open afterpracticesoaftertherunningworkoutswegetinthegymandstartournextworkoutforourday.Indoortrackisagreatwaytostayactiveandgetfasteraswellasmakesomegreatfriendsandworktogethertogetfitandingoodshape.Nowforthebetterathletes,keepinmindthat theymighthavehadmoreexperienceorpracticethan you, so don't be discouraged if they outrun youorarestrongerthanyou,becauseinafewweeksyoucouldoutrunthembybeingintrackandfield.Finally,rememberthattheremaybeotherpeoplewholookatyouasabetterathletethanthemandthatcanmostcer-tainlyboostyourconfidence,right?Ihopeyou join indoor trackandfield. It'sa fantasticsporttobein. ShouldIdotrack?Ifyoureallywanttotrytrackthenjustjoinitanddon'tworryaboutwhatotherpeo-

ple thinkofyouwhenyoudo itallyoucando is tryyourhardestandimproveandifyouarehappyrunningandliketoimproveonyourspeedandhealththendoitcauseit'syourhappinesstoyouthatmattersalsodon'tget intimidated by better athletes they are all humanandcanbebeaten.Onlydoitifitbenefitsyouandifitimprovesyourhealth,socialabilityandhappinessthen

thereisn'treallyareasonyoushouldn'tdoit. Trackandfieldisagreatsporttobeinandyoucanimproveonanythingyouwouldwanttoandthat'swhatweareallourdoing:tryingtogetbetterandbetter.Weallworktogetherinourworkoutslikeifyoulikedistant running you can go on long runs and you gotogetherasagrouptodifferentplacesinPlainfield.Thesprintersandthrowersprettymuchdothesamerunningworkoutsbutthethrowerswilldoabouthalfofthefullworkout and thenwill go throw and lift.Thefirst themeetsareon:Sat.,12/19VBoysIndoorTrackECCDevelopmentalMeetAway-USCoastGuardAcademytues12/29VBoysIndoorTrackBaconAcademyINviteAway-HillhouseHS

Running to Victoryby Ryan Shippee

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Indoortrackandfieldseasonhasstarted!Ifyouarenotenrolledinasportatthistimeitisn'ttoolatetojoin.Indoortrackhasmanyeventsfromsprintingwhichcanhavehurdlestomiddledistanceandlongdistance,butifyouarenotarunnerthereareothereventssuchasthelongjump,highjump,polevaultingaswellasshotputsothereisprettymuchsomethingforevery-one.Thisyearweshoulddoprettygood just likewehaddoneinthepastyearandalmostwonbutcameinsecond.SomeofourstandoutrunnersareTylerballardandXavierGonzalezaswellasBrookeBrouillardandIsiahFortwhowillbetryingtodoastheyhaveinthe

pastyearshelpingtheteamout. Theweight room is always open afterpracticesoaftertherunningworkoutswegetinthegymandstartournextworkoutforourday.Indoortrackisagreatwaytostayactiveandgetfasteraswellasmakesomegreatfriendsandworktogethertogetfitandingoodshape.Nowforthebetterathletes,keepinmindthat theymighthavehadmoreexperienceorpracticethan you, so don't be discouraged if they outrun youorarestrongerthanyou,becauseinafewweeksyoucouldoutrunthembybeingintrackandfield.Finally,rememberthattheremaybeotherpeoplewholookatyouasabetterathletethanthemandthatcanmostcer-tainlyboostyourconfidence,right?Ihopeyou join indoor trackandfield. It'sa fantasticsporttobein. ShouldIdotrack?Ifyoureallywanttotrytrackthenjustjoinitanddon'tworryaboutwhatotherpeo-

ple thinkofyouwhenyoudo itallyoucando is tryyourhardestandimproveandifyouarehappyrunningandliketoimproveonyourspeedandhealththendoitcauseit'syourhappinesstoyouthatmattersalsodon'tget intimidated by better athletes they are all humanandcanbebeaten.Onlydoitifitbenefitsyouandifitimprovesyourhealth,socialabilityandhappinessthen

thereisn'treallyareasonyoushouldn'tdoit. Trackandfieldisagreatsporttobeinandyoucanimproveonanythingyouwouldwanttoandthat'swhatweareallourdoing:tryingtogetbetterandbetter.Weallworktogetherinourworkoutslikeifyoulikedistant running you can go on long runs and you gotogetherasagrouptodifferentplacesinPlainfield.Thesprintersandthrowersprettymuchdothesamerunningworkoutsbutthethrowerswilldoabouthalfofthefullworkout and thenwill go throw and lift.Thefirst themeetsareon:Sat.,12/19VBoysIndoorTrackECCDevelopmentalMeetAway-USCoastGuardAcademytues12/29VBoysIndoorTrackBaconAcademyINviteAway-HillhouseHS

Running to Victoryby Ryan Shippee

SPORT NEWS

It's going to be a different year for Plainfield, with a height deficit, the Girls Basketball team lost two stellar athletes, Morganne Collins and Adri-enne Lorange.Mackenzie Pompey stated, “Adri-enne could shoot three’s and get rebounds for us and Morganne was a big help on defense and of-fense when we played against taller teams.” there are many great aspects of the team: Julie Jordan, Maddie Lorange, and freshman Madison Kelly. This is a triple threat you have to watch. Jordan knows her position as point guard inside and out. Lorange's hard work and dedication during the off-season will be realized as she shoots lights out. Kelly is working hard as she inches her way into the starting five. This season for Plainfield will have to consist of nothing but the absolute best from these girls. This will mean a low number of mental mistakes and many hours of hard work. After asking Julie Jordan what she expects from this School Basketball season she said “the teams looking pretty good.. we are small this year but that means nothing.. we just have to box out and re-bound. I'm expecting a lot out of this years team.. each and every player has a specific job and if we can all do what we have to do I think we may be able to go on a little run throughout the season.”

There is a constant problem being brought up when I ask and that there aren't really that many big defenders down low so that means the Panthers will have to be tough and not get pushed around by some of the bigger teams. The freshman have to step it up if they want to play even with the small numbers for the girls basketball team. The last thing any of them should dodo is expect a job handed to them. “These upcoming freshman are look-ing good like Madison Kelly who's already in the starting 5 for varsity.” Mackenzie Pompey stated. The Plainfield girls basketball team is very close knit: They do a lot with each other on and off the court. Julie Jordan and Mackenzie Pompey are the closest things to sisters you can get without actually being related. They have been friends since the start of it. Both Julie and Mackenzie played on the same middle school basketball team and have carried that into their high school years.t The team is looking pretty good this year. “We're kind of small but we'll make it work. I expect us to be a good contender in the ECC, it's going to be a fun season. I like how we're all so close and we bond on and off the court. ” Mackenize Pompey stated.

The Ball Up Squad By Nicholas Burlingame

Chestnut Hill Studios. Julie Jordan

Chestnut Hill Studios

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SPORT NEWS

Panthers Ball UpBy: Colby Greenhalgh

Panthers “Orange Team” poses for picture af-ter practice

Panthers Liam Jacobs dunks on a fast break

PLAINFIELD. Dec. 10, 2015. One of the most anticipated sport sea-sons of the year is upon us. Basket-ball season is one of the most hype seasons of the year, between the stu-dent sections and the crazy events that can occur in a game, any game can be one crazy experience. The se-niors this season have been counting down the days for tryouts, and now that it is finally here, senior Liam Jacobs thinks that this year the team “has potential to be great and the sky is the limit as they say.” After losing the last two seasons to Notre-Dame Fairfield in States, the boys look to overcome their history and make it farther than the second game of the state tournament this year. This year the Panthers open up against Ellis Tech on December 19th. The boys look to come out with a win at the Eagles in Danielson to build some momentum before playing against the Whalers of New London in Plainfield’s first home game. The Panthers have a plethora of ex-

perience with eight seniors and six of those seniors are returning Varsity players which is an advantage “because the team chemistry is there” says Dylan Horn a senior point guard. Height is a huge weapon in the game of bas-ketball and the Panthers have maybe the “big-gest in the ECC (Eastern Connecticut Confer-ence)” Jacob says. The boys look to dominate the boards and maybe even make some teams catch some bodies. Jacobs and fellow senior teammates look to make a huge statement in the ECC by bringing home the Medium divi-sion championship. Although the season has been highly anticipated, it will come to an end eventual-ly. The boys look to overcome the challenges that will occur and make this year a memo-rable season. Most teams look at the “Plain-field Panthers” on their schedule and say that the team will be an easy win or a close game but not this year. Jacobs looks to “take care of business” this year and prove all those teams wrong. He will miss “Panther Nation and the experience” as his high school basketball ca-reer comes to an end as will most of his team-mates’. Horn looks to put on for his town as he will “miss the sense of pride when you put on the Plainfield jersey”. If there is one thing to remember this year “don't sleep on the Pan-thers,” says Jacobs.

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SPORT NEWS

PLAINFIELD -December 7, 2015 As it was covered in Issue #1 in the Junior Spotlight for this year’s newspaper, Ailiegh Galante is a highly competitive dancer. Galante recently travelled to Germany for a world champion-ship against 32 other major competitive teams. The entire competition had been tap, which is, ‘The IDO Tap World Championships. Ailiegh recently returned and the two groups she is a part of had received both silver and bronze medals. One of the groups was award-ed with ‘Adult group “Fire & Flames” -21st.” The team as a majority won 1st runner up in the Battle of the Feet, which is also pretty cool. Ailiegh’s teammates received different awards and placements, ranging from 6th to 20th place. “I am so proud of the team!” Galan-te comments. There were tons of different countries competing against her team, which seems pretty intense; and also incredible for them getting an amazing score the team re-ceived in the end. Galante describes Germa-ny as “unbelievable! I can’t even explain what it was like! You’d have to see it for yourself!”

Props To Second In DancingWritten By: Kaitlyn Lent

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Teen Dating ViolenceWritten By: Adreanna Hannan

Did you know that every .9 seconds in the United States a woman is assaulted or beaten. As you go through your high school years, dating comes along. You hear who’s dating who and along the way you may find somebody you are interested in enough to date. In school, you learn all the normal high school topics and then you learn about certain things in health, like pregnancy, drugs and sometimes, if you have a good teacher, you learn the risks of sexual activity and how to protect yourself. One topic you do not learn about is toxic relationships. By definition, a toxic relationship is a relationship characterized by behaviors on the part of the toxic partner that are emotionally and, not infrequently, physically damaging to their partner. Nearly 1.5 mil-lion high schoolers experience physical abuse every year. A leading cause of violence in boys is that most boys who have witnessed domestic violence growing up are two times more likely to abuse their own part-ners and children when they become adults. 9.4% of high school students report being being hit, punched, etc,by boyfriends and girlfriends in the past year. A healthy relationship contributes to a person’s self-es-teem and emotional energy, a toxic relationship dam-ages self-esteem and drains energy. A healthy relation-ship involves mutual caring, respect, and compassion, an interest in your partner’s welfare and growth, an ability to share control and decision-making, in turn, a shared desire for each other’s happiness. A healthy relationship is a safe relationship, a relationship where you can be yourself without fear, where we feel com-fortable and secure. A toxic relationship, on the other hand, is not as safe, it can be pretty scary. A toxic rela-tionship is characterized by insecurity, self-centered-ness, dominance, and control. We risk our very being, mentally, physically and emotionally, by staying in such a dangerous relationship. In turn, saying a toxic relationship is dysfunctional is, at best, an immaculate understatement.

There are many different types of toxic relationships. These include:The Possessive Toxic Controller, The Independant Toxic Controller, The Deprecator , The Over- Dependant Toxic Controller, The Over Reactor,

The Guilter , and The “Bad-Temper” Toxic Partner. Each and every type of partner will put you in a place you would not like to be, make you think less of your-self and wonder what you did wrong, but the answer is you simply didn’t do anything wrong, their actions are in the wrong. They will try and convince you it’s your fault, that you can’t do better than them, but you can do so much better. Never let anybody who you’re dating continuously put you down. They’re supposed to be the one that lifts you up, makes you feel better, makes you happy. Sure every relationship has their arguments and every relationship has their down-falls, but there are times when you must know when enough is enough. You can not change your partner for who they are, but you can change the outcome for yourself. So you may be asking yourself, why do people behave in such toxic ways and why does their significant other put up with such behaviors? The an-swer is the simply the same for both individuals: poor self-esteem that comes from insecurity.

Pic Credit: Google Images

Pic Credit: Google Images

FEATURE

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There are many things you can do to fix a toxic rela-tionship, depending of the situation therapy is always in option. Sometimes, people don’t realise how they act, don’t realise they have a problem until addressed by more than one person. The more you allow them to say and do what they want, the more you’re affect-ing yourself in the long run. You may think it’s okay, you may not even realise how your significant other is acting because maybe it’s the way you two have always acted. If you or somebody you know is in a toxic relationship, you or the person you know must get out. The sooner you get out, the better you will feel. Without the constant put downs and the letdown from your partner, you will open your eyes to see the beauty of what’s right in front of you. Many people are scared to even say anything because they are scared of what their significant other might do. There are many people out there that are willing to help you, and if somebody says your relationship is toxic, listen to them. You may be scared of the outcome, but the outcome can be something you would never imagine, something needed. Don’t let a man, or woman ever put you down, don’t let a toxic relationship go too far. Speak out, be heard. Don’t sit in silence, speak out for what’s right.

Pic Credit: Google Images

Pic Credit: Google Images

Many hotlines are available for people who have gone through dating violence, consisting of: National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline: 866-331-9474 or at www.loveisrespect.orgNational Domestic Hotline: 800-799-SAFE (7233)National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673)Nat’l Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center: www.safeyouth.orgChoose Respect Initiative: www.cdc.gov/choosere-spect

Also, don't forget that February 6-10 is Teen Dating Violence Prevention Week.

FEATURE

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COLUMNS

Brandon Griffin’s life is consumed by racingdirtbikesalmost24/7andmostlyallyearlong.Griffinhasbeenridingsincehewasthreeyearsoldandrac-ing sincehewas thirteen.Hisdadanduncleused toridewhentheywereyounger,butheisthefirstinhisfamily to actually race. Everyone begins at beginnerand youmove yourway up to novice then amateur.Theultimategoalisonestepaboveamateurwhichispro.Griffinhashiseyessetonproby2017andwilldowhateverhecantobeablereachhisgoal.

G r i f f i ntrains dur-ing thewinter fora portionof time inthe south,mostly inF l o r i d a .He trainsattheCen-tral CycleClub aswellasTheT h o m at r a i n i n gfacility lo-

catedinCanterburywhichisonlyopentofamilyandfriendsandhasbeenrecentlymadeintoafulltrackbuthasbeenthereforawhile. Thisyearhehasracedinthirtytofortyraces;nextyearhewillcompeteinatleastanotherthirty.Grif-finracesonaKTM250sxfandanotherpracticebike;heislookingtogetathirdbeforegoingdownsouth.Griffinwonhisfirstraceoverallin2013inMaine.InthepastGriffinhas traveled toMaine,Pennsylvania,NewHampshire and even Florida. There are one totworaceseveryweekendduringtheseasonandsome-timesyouhavetogoimmediatelyfromoneracetothenext.Griffinhassevenoverallwinsunderhisbeltandis training togetasmanyashecan in theupcomingyears. Oneofhisfavoritemomentsinracingwasan

amazingcomeback.AtthegateGriffinhadbiketrou-blesandhisbikewouldn’trun.Hestartedoutinforty-fifthplaceandrodehiswayallthewaybackuptothird.Griffin’splanistomovedownsouthoncehegraduatesandkeeponriding.Hewouldlovetogetafactorycon-tractandbeabletoraceforhiscareer.Ifheaccomplish-esthisgoalhewouldultimatelyliketomoveoutwest.SofarhedoeshaveafewsponsorssuchasBJzcycleshop,ShiftRacingaswellas100%andalltogetherhasfourteensponsorswhichsupporthimracing inwhichhereceivessomegearfromthem.

If racingwasn't towork out,he wouldlike totake overhis dad'sb u s i -ness oncehe can.

Whichwould be doing home improvementswith hisdad and stillworkingon racing like he has beendo-ing.InschoolhisfavoriteteacherhastobeMr.Jordanbecauseof“Howlaidbackheisandhecanjustrelatetohim.”Outsideofschoolheisobviouslyridingcon-stantlybutbesidesthathelikestohangoutwithallhisfriendsandspendsalotoftimehuntingaswell. Griffin says “To be a champ is a lot of hardwork,a lotofyearsofpreparation,youhave tohaveasolidfoundationandagreatgroupofpeoplearoundyoutosucceed!”

Senior Spotlight: Griffin 29ywritten by Ryan Shippee

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COLUMNS

Who is Ashley McCarthy? She is a kind, creative, and intelligent 17 year old senior at Plainfield High School. Ashley has an older sister named Kaileigh and a young-er brother, Ryan, who now attends Plainfield High School as a freshman. Her mother is a paraprofessional at Plainfield High School and her father served in the United States military. Ashley won senior superlatives for the ´most dramatic´ and ´class flirt.´ Ashley enjoys being active by taking part in multiple sports, such as volleyball, cheerleading, and she has boxed in the past. This past fall Ashley was a part of the varsity volleyball team for the season. Ashley has enjoyed her high school experience but is very excited for her future endeavors.

Senior Spotlight: Ashley McCarthyWritten By: Shelby Wargat

For the year to come, she hopes to attend the New Hampshire Institute of Art to further her edu-cation in the arts. By attending this university, Ashley will be able to become a fun and helpful art teacher, yet she is not positive on the grade she wants to teach. Ever since she started in eighth grade, Ashley has been teaching herself how to create magnificent art pieces. “After being bullied for a really long time, that is when I started drawing.” Ashley has enjoyed taking the class-es of 2-D Art, 3-D Art, and Pottery. She was a teacher assistant her junior year and now is in an independent study for an advanced placement art class. In addition, Ashley was a member of the school’s pottery club for two years. She enjoys painting whenever she has the chance and also loves learning and playing the ukulele.

Ashley loves to paint and draw because it is a way to relieve personal stress and express her feelings and perspectives of her surroundings. ¨Each girl that I draw has a little bit of me, and they aren’t meant to be perfect.¨ Every girl that Ashley draws has an imperfect feature, such as crossed-eyes and scars, to show that they are human. Ashley stated that she ¨portrays many girls in one drawing,¨ and that some are close friends and others are just passing by strangers. One of her fa-vorite quotes is that ¨even after a flower is stepped on, it returns to grow and so will I.¨ Ashley Mccarthy is a beautiful person inside and out, and will have a suc-cessful future in college and becoming an art teacher.

Ashley’s Drawings

Ashley McCarthy

Ashley McCarthy

Ashley’s Drawings

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COLUMNS

Liz Loporto is a freshmen at Plainfield High School, you better watch out Liz will make her presence well known within the next four years. She is into very cool hobbies that she does. Some of the hobbies that she does with her family include roller-skating and geocach-ing. She has been roller-skating with for quite a while and she says “ we started roller-skating as a joke and we would just do it on weekends, but then we kept going back to do it every weekend and it grew on me and my family.” Loporto is involved in geocaching which is ba-sically a huge scavenger hunt. You use a GPS to find containers called geocaches that are hid-den all over the world. The typical geocache is a small container that holds a log and usually a pen or pencil, the geocacher that discovers it writes the date they found the log and then they sign the log with their code name, then you place the cache back exactly where they found it.

Written by: Mathew Laskarzewski

Loporto has been in the gifted and talented program since she was very young. The initial test to be enrolled in the program is a test that you can take in the first grade. If the child had passed the test they would be sent to another school to be with other gifted and talented chil-dren and Liz was sent to a gifted and talented school in the second grade. In the gifted and talented school the subjects are different from a regular school, the children were always be-ing given challenges and tests to see how their brains were working. She moved when she was in fourth grade, and then again when she was in fifth grade, and she was not put back into the gifted and talented program until she was late in her fifth grade year. Loporto was put into special classes for her sixth and seventh grade because she had to be in gifted and tal-ented classes. In the eighth grade loporto re-ports that she did not have the opportunity to be in the gifted and talented classes because the eighth grade did not offer those types of class-es. Loporto moved to Connecticut about a year and a half ago and she has taken another test to be able to stay in the program and if she did well enough she will continue with the program if the school offers it. Loporto says to me that “ being in the program is basically like being an all honors student but a little more”. Being in the program will look very good on job appli-cations and college applications. Loporto says that being in the classes she is in now is not re-ally a challenge at all for her and she picks up on what the class is learning very quickly.

The Lovely Liz

Liz Loporto

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COLUMNS

Teacher SPotlight: Bourque around the world

Written By: Adreanna Hannan

She may be a Spanish Teacher, but you'd never guess that she actually taught in Mexico. In the town of Oax-aca, Mexico she taught at a school that was right in the middle of the jungle. In 2012, Bourque decided she was going to go for a teaching job in Mexico teaching English, moving herself and her daughter with only two suitcases to a whole other country. A place where you didn't even need to travel by car, a place where it took only three pesos to get somewhere. The stores are all very small and the closest Walmart is about six hours away from the town she lived in. “I lived right near the beach and the whole town contained sustain-able buildings as it was an eco-friendly tourist area, they didn't have high rise buildings, everything was very small and isolated. The school was right in the middle of the jungle, you could see iguanas outside my window. It was very in tuned with nature,” Bour-que proclaimed, adding in that there were many taran-tulas there, huge ones at that. “It's very different, you learn what you need and what you don't, you really don't need as much as you think.” Moving to Mexico seemed to teach her a lot about the importance of life and necessities in life.

“It was very different, it was warm all the time. Everybody was really laid back and friendly, it was a tourist town so everybody was motivated to learn English. They learned English on scholarship, so they had to take eight semesters of English and take a TOE-FL test which determines if somebody knows English well enough to study in United States.” With the miraculous teaching of Bourque, many students were able to study English in the United States. Bourque goes on to say what a wonderful experience she had and how she enjoyed being in Mexico a lot. During the summer vacation at the school in Oaxaca, Mexico; she decided to come back to the United States for a visit In turn, she recieved a call from Mr. Bitgood who said there was an opening for a Spanish teacher at Plainfield High School. Bourque had originally done her student teaching here at Plainfield High School. Two days after being in the United States she inter-viewed for the job of a Spanish Teacher, and the rest is history. If she didn't get the job, she goes on to say that she would have moved to Mérida, Mexico and taken a new job as an English teacher at the school there. Luckily for the students of Plainfield High School, she got the job and continues to teach us the wonderful language of Spanish. Working hard everyday to come up with new games to help us learn the language easier, and make it much more fun to come to class. Bourque goes on to say that she misses her students in Mexico, but the students here have a special place in her heart.

Pic Credit: Adreanna Hannan

Pic Credit: Google Images

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COLUMNS

On the Big ScreenBy: Colby Grreenhalgh

LA To Philly; A Fighters Life

PLAINFIELD. Dec. 10th, 2015. The highly antic-ipated boxing movie has finally come out, it will have you at the edge of your seat throughout the movie. Early in Adonis Creed’s life he was just known as a number going in and out of juvie, fighting many times more than the average kid. Soon after his last fight in juvie, Creed meets his savior, Mary Anne. She turns his life around and leads him in the right direction, but Creed still

loved to fight. Creed’s passion to fight ran through his blood, his father Apollo Creed was a pro fight-er and was known as a champion in the boxing world. Early in Creed’s career, he dominates fights in Mexico leading to finding his “Unc” in Rocky Balboa as his trainer. From there Creed does well in his first American fight which then leads to the biggest fight of his life…. Creed is an inspirational story that any sport or action lover would want to see. It is in theaters in Lisbon right now and would not dis-appoint.

Agent 007James Bond a secret agent determined to do ev-erything he can to take down Terrorists, along Bond’s journey he overcomes several obstacles and looks to take down his so called “step broth-er” that has aimed to kill him for quite sometime. Bond escapes these attempts, and it leads to one final showdown, Bond could either save his girl-friend that he took under his wing or stop his “step brother” from taking over England. Watch see what happens.

This movie is an attention grabber, thrill seeking, and in-teresting.. Although the movie is long, it will not disappoint and you are in for a great time.

Movies in Theaters is

follows:

In the Heart of the Sea (Also in 3D)

Krampus

The Letters

Creed

The Good Dinosaur (Also in 3D)

Victor Frankenstein

Secret in Their Eyes

The Night Before

Love the Coopers

Spectre

The Peanuts Movie

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COLUMNS

“It’s such a bummer that we can’t travel off to a place filled with adventure and magic where we can get away from reality.” That’s what someone would say if Dun-geons and Dragons was never invented. Invented in the 1970’s, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is an extreme-ly popular game and has been an essential part in the formation of role playing games throughout the years. It has influenced massive multiplayer online role play games (MMORGP’s) that are played today, like World of Warcraft. A game of D&D, as it is popularly stylized, consists of a group of players and a “dungeon master” who runs the game. The dungeon master makes a cam-paign that has certain scenarios, and the roll of a die determines the outcome of the scenario. Some char-acters may die along the adventure due to the various outcomes of the story, and the game is played until the dungeon master’s adventure is completed. The greatness of D&D is that you have the ability to create any character you want. You choose a certain class that you want the character to be, and that particu-lar class has special character traits and abilities such as magic or strength. After choosing a class, you can cus-

tomize your character into anything you could possibly want them to be. It could be your alter ego, which is why so much time is invested in the game by some people. Here at Plainfield, there is a club run by Mr. Ewan that meets every Monday to exclusively play Dungeons and Dragons. Ryan Lajeunesse, an avid D&D player and beloved Plainfield student, is a member of Plainfield’s club. Lajeunesse loves Dungeons and Drag-ons not only for the fun he has playing it, but how he learns how to understand people’s “individual playing styles” more. “One person likes to help out, and other people like to take for themselves. It’s kind of like learn-ing to adjust and adapt to other people,” Lajeunesse ex-plained. It helps him understand people more, which could be a helpful skill in life. “It’s a learning experience if you really think about it,” he added. The club currently has one game that is full, but there is another game that has a few empty spots that could be taken. If you are interested in getting involved, stop by Mr. Ewan’s classroom in the senior hallway on a Monday and embark on a Dungeons and Dragons jour-ney.

Club Spotlight: Dungeons and Dragons

Even the Beatles played D&D! The boss D&D logo

By Hunter LundinPicture credits to the internet

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EDITORIAL

Don’t take this the wrong way. Don’t call me Scrooge or anything. I love the Christmas spirit, don’t get me wrong. But I think, as much as a lot of other people, that it starts way too early. Every year it also seems like it starts earlier and earlier. This year I saw Christ-mas commercials as early as Halloween. In about 10 years from now you will see Christmas commer-cials during your Easter gatherings. The ratio of peo-ple that think Christmas starts too early opposed to the people who like Christmas in October or before Thanksgiving is about 5 to 1. The poll I took includ-ed 100 students. Seventy-nine people believe it starts too early and nineteen love Christmas spirit and they think it should start before Thanksgiving. Many of the comments I received were about the anticipation of Christmas. “I don’t to get too hyped for it [Christ-mas] early or I’ll start slacking.” I totally agree with this statement. If something big is coming I will start slacking because I’m busy planning for the holidays or too excited thinking of what the event will bring. I believe there should be no mention of Christmas until after Thanksgiving because it takes away from the true meaning of Thanksgiving, which is giving thanks to anything or anyone you have in your life. Then when you're eating all the great food for lunch or dinner and you're talking about what you want for Christmas just isn't right when you should be giving thanks for the things you do have. These commercials that play a month earlier than they should also don’t promote the true meaning of Christ-mas. Instead it is usually the same old Target, Walmart, or Gamestop commercial talking about a sale that’s going on to get the children all the toys they want when the real meaning of Christmas is giving back,

not getting more toys that they may never use again. I believe Christmas starts about one month earlier than it should. It takes away from a very important holiday in Thanksgiving. The reason it starts too ear-ly is for advertisements that have no true meaning to Christmas just advertisements for toys and spe-cial Black Friday sales. Speaking of Black Friday who wants to wake up super early after eating a huge meal to risk getting trampled but that's a whole different debate. And lastly Christmas starts too early because there is not much christmas music in the world and the repetition of hearing some of the songs over and over again gets very tiring. And don’t argue that be-cause there is only so many times one person can han-dle hearing “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”.

Does Christmas Start TOO EARLY?

By: Jason Sweet

How the Holidays feel nowadays.Credit: The Cagle Post

ComING

SOON!!

PHS Baseball Madden Tournament

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EDITORIAL

PLAINFIELD -December 3, 2015 What’s the point of ugly sweaters for one of the prettiest holidays of thence a year? All you do for one time a year is get a sweater and design it in the ugliest way possible, and then wear it around like it’s some type of trophy. Yes, I understand that it’s for fun and what not;, however, I feel that ugly sweaters don’t go with the pretty lights of this time of year. Christmas is supposed to be filled with laughter -which ugly sweaters give tons of people, butand it’s also supposed to be filled with be joy and everything pretty. Now I’m not saying it harms people by wearing these sweaters (just my eyes);, however, I think it’s just not right for people to wear these and be proud of it. They aren’t a trophy someone has won,they’re it’sjust for wearing a hideous article of clothing. Ugly sweaters have no purpose besides to annoy and disgust those around them that wear these hid-eous creations. It’s not wrong to want to get a good laugh- and they certainly give people a laugh with how ugly these sweaters can get, but maybe people should get a good laugh another way, or just be happy that it’s Christmas time and ‘Santa is coming to town.’ With this being said, try to persuade those around you to not bother with wearing these things around because it’s a waste of time and it’s not very Christmasy to go around looking like a fool with a bizarre outfitclothing item on. Like I said.when said in the above paragraph, Christmas is a time for pretty lights and more, and ugly sweaters are anything and everything but pretty. In addition to this, I feel that companies should stop making ugly sweaters, and if they do, may-be not price them as high as they are currently. On one website, it had said their ugly christmas sweat-ers were priced at around $35. Why would anyone want to waste money on a sweater to wear once for a hol-iday, and then wear a different one the following year? If anything, make your own ugly sweater for around $10, or less because they shouldn’t be worth more than that. There are’s hundreds of different kinds of ugly sweaters, from weird looking snowmen to gross looking Santas, that people go and prance around in be-cause it’s ‘fun.’ This, in my opinion does not exactly seem like fun, especially when you’re forced to wear one that someone made because it’s ‘fun.’ Ugly sweaters do not add to the Christmas cheer, and if you don’t care about looking weird and you want to wear these hideous articles of clothing, then go ahead and wear them.

Say “Gross” To Ugly Sweaters

Written By: Kaitlyn Lent

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