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Back to Artwork The Memory Project Back to Sections Yusuf By Elizabeth Andre March 28, 2022 Mixed Media Volume 2 Issue 5

Back to Articles News Back to Sections Mrs. Suhovsky By Navrosedip Kundlas Volume 2 Issue 7 June 13, 2022 Original photography by VSN In 1985, Tracy Suhovsky entered Valley Stream North High School, somewhere she thought she would never be. Many of you know Mrs. Suhovsky, a favorite chemistry teacher, is going to be retiring this year.  We’re all going to miss her so much, but before Mrs. Suhovsky leaves North, she has a few interesting tales to share.                 Growing up, Mrs. Suhovsky never wanted to be a teacher. Her mother was an elementary school teacher, and the last thing she wanted was to a teacher. Instead, Mrs. Suhovsky chose to head on the path of being a chiropractor. What is a chiropractor? A chiropractor is a doctor that treats many conditions affecting the nervous system and musculoskeletal system. Just right when Mrs. Suhovsky was going to go to chiropractor school, she didn’t want to go. She wanted a break from school and wanted to take a year off.  However, she couldn’t take a year off if she wanted to go to chiropractor school. That’s when her mother told her to try teaching for a year and see how she liked it. So that’s when Mrs. Suhovsky, with no teaching experience or any teaching classes before, decided to work as a teacher at a school for a class of 7th graders.                 Jumping from pre-med to teaching, Mrs. Suhovsky had quite a ride waiting for her at her first school. One incident she recalled was, “There was a fire drill, and I heard the bell ring. I ran out of the classroom thinking there was a fire. I left my whole class in the classroom. The teacher right across from my room, said, ‘Where are the kids?’ I just ran out of there, and I forgot I was a teacher. Thankfully, I went back and then left the building.” After one year of teaching at that school, Mrs. Suhovsky came to North where she has taught for 37 years. Mrs. Suhovsky has many memorable moments at North. Back in the 1980s, there was a Science Olympiad team here. She ran the club and in the late 80s, and they won! The team went on to Albany and won 2nd place in the NYS competition for the Rube Goldberg Machine. The machine they built was for breakfast, and it could crack an egg, pour cereal, make coffee, and more.                 Talking about this club reminded Mrs. Suhovsky of how different North was back then. Every teacher had their own classroom. Mrs. Suhovsky used to do a lot more hands-on activities such as contests, building bridges, and Rube Goldberg Machines. She even had a bunch of fish tanks! She said that the students had a lot of fun. Speaking about students, Mrs. Suhovsky has taught some of the teachers here at North: Mr. Boyens, Mrs. D ’Alessio, and others. One of the funniest moments Mrs. Suhovsky remembers is when Mr. Boyens came back to teach at North, she thought Mr. Boyens was a student returning to visit. It turned out that Mr. Boyens was returning as a new biology teacher. He looked exactly like a student; he fit right in she said. Mrs. Suhovsky never thought Mr. Boyens would return to become her coworker. “He was one of my best friends. We have shared many great memories. The science department is one big family.” Adding on to this, Mrs. Suhovsky will miss the faculty staff the most. She says that her sister works in another school district and she doesn’t have the type of relationships that Mrs. Suhovsky has with her coworkers. She remembers that during Hurricane Sandy, her house was hit hard and the whole science department and other faculty members came to help out. Mr. Boyens and Mr. Frazer took down the walls and helped move the heavy stuff. Another time she ruptured her spleen and the whole department helped again. Besides the staff, Mrs. Suhovsky will miss her students, whom she calls her kids. She loves her students a lot. Her favorite group to teach was juniors because it was their most important year and they worked so hard as they were getting ready for college. She also had a lot of fun coaching Junior High Spring Track, which is where I first met Mrs. Suhovsky in 8th grade. One of the toughest times Mrs. Suhovsky has had was during 9/11 when one of her past students died in the Twin Towers. Finally, Mrs. Suhovsky says that teaching as her career was the best thing she did.                 One of the things Mrs. Suhovsky is excited about during her retirement is traveling. She’s going to Alaska on a cruise soon. There she will do a helicopter ride (she’s a little nervous about that) to a glacier. At the glacier, she’s going on a dog sled. Mrs. Suhovsky is also going to go to national parks, as well as Greece and Italy. They’re on the top of her list. She says she might teach a college class or tutor. She still wants to educate others in some way. Talking to Mrs. Suhovsky was so much fun, and I learned so many interesting things. Mrs. Suhovsky is a wonderful teacher! We all are going to miss her so much. We love you and hope you enjoy everything you do! BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections Interview with Mr. Lodato: Featured New Faculty Member Rehmat Kaur Volume 4 Issue 2 January 16, 2024 Image provided by Rehmat Kaur I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Lodato, the new Special Education teacher, and learning more about his journey that led him to being a teacher here at North. Before he started teaching, he coached baseball for around 8 or 9 years. He worked with a teacher and recognized many similarities between coaching baseball between 13 and 18 and teaching. He felt strong at communicating, teaching, and being hands-on with his players, and after discussing with his coach, he stated, "I decided to go into teaching, and I'm very lucky that I did!” Mr. Lodato played college baseball for a short time, but he wanted to complete his studies first. Following that, he opted to pursue an undergraduate degree in Communications with a minor in English at SUNY Farmingdale. It started with Liberal Arts, then moved on to Communications and a lot of public speaking. After finishing his Bachelor's degree, he leaned toward Journalism and English. After deciding what he wanted to do, he went to Molloy University for a dual master's degree in English and Special Education. Mr. Lodato only heard positive things about North from Mr. Pandolfi, and he felt fortunate that his résumé was accepted and handed to Mrs. Vickse, who ended up interviewing him. " Here we are, and this place is great, I love it! " Mr. Lodato added. Currently he co-teaches two IST classes with special education students. He has a 10th grade IST class (Earth Science with Mr. Roveto) and an 11th grade IST class (English with Ms. Belbol) for individual skill development. He also finished his first season coaching Junior High Football in fall, coaches Varsity Girls Basketball in winter and will jump on board with Mr. Sanfilippo and Mr. Casella for Varsity Baseball Team in spring. What do you love most about teaching? “The connections that you make with the students. Everyone remembers, at least for me when I was in high school. You remember the teachers that you really liked or really did not have good experiences with, and I always try to remind myself of that and go on the side of being the one that kids do remember in a good way. It is important, especially in the age group of 14 to 18 the high school age when lots is going on and you are trying to figure out what you want to do in life, so it is important to have an adult figure point you in the right direction.” What characteristics do students want their teachers to possess? “Kindness, lead with kindness. I'm a big believer in first impressions, so especially as a new teacher I don’t want to come in, not that I'm like this anyway, but you don't want to come in with the grumpy face or being angry. As a substitute, I learned fast, I was a substitute teacher for the last two years at Island trees at Levittown. If you walk in with a bad attitude, the kids feed off that. I think their day takes a hit if you walk in with a bad attitude. So, I think kindness and positivity goes a long way as a teacher.” How was your first day or week here at North? “It was cool, I mean it was different, being in a different area you always have to take some time to adjust a little bit but I'm lucky that I have a special ed department that's so welcoming. There's so many of us and everyone has been super welcoming and nice and upfront. It also helps that I coached football guys over the summer. There were summer clinics, I knew some people already before the first day of school, I knew Mr. Casella, Coach P, and a couple of other football guys and I also knew Mr. Pandolfi like I said. Knowing people in the building, instead of just walking into a place without knowing anybody definitely helps.” His advice to cope with stress and to motivate students is to look at the bigger picture. It is easier to take steps little by little instead of having negative thoughts. “I try to motivate them to finish the task at hand, instead of just looking at the grand scheme of things” Mr. Lodato adds. Mr. Lodato shared this beautiful quote: “ Show me your friends and I’ll show you what kind of person you are” Mr. Lodato’s dad has told him since middle school, and it really resonated with him. He states that it is important to surround yourself with good people doing the right thing and are on the path of having a good life. Some fun facts about Mr. Lodato are that he enjoys sushi and that The Great Gatsby is his favorite novel. He read it in high school, and it is the book that stayed with him the most. Fall is his favorite season because “ football is on, it's hoodie season, and I associate fall with peace and relaxation." He also enjoys watching hockey, playing baseball, and reading autobiographies. Mr. Lodato is an exceptional individual with a lot of enthusiasm, and we are extremely fortunate to have him as a teacher here at North. BACK TO TOP

Back to Artwork Pop Art Back to Sections Ella Puccio - Pop Art By Ella Puccio January 14, 2022 Acrylic Volume 2 Issue 3

Back to Articles Entertainment & Media Back to Sections The Influence of TikTok By Augustine Magapan Volume 3 Issue 1 November 7, 2022 Image provided by Google In September 2016, ByteDance, a Chinese technology company, launched an app called TikTok. The well-favored app was initially the famous Musical.ly app until ByteDance bought it and converted it into the social media known today. As time progressed throughout the years, more people used the app every day. Today, in over 150 countries, TikTok has over one billion users. An average user would open the application about 8 times per day; consequently, it is shown that TikTok has a strong influence on people. Why is that? Our brains have a mechanism of releasing dopamine, a type of neurotransmitter that plays a part in how we feel pleasure. Our phone activity would cause the release of dopamine in our brains which make us feel motivated and happy. When your brain starts to understand this release of dopamine based on what you are doing on your phone, your brain will have the urge to crawl back to the phone for more releases of dopamine. This causes phone addictions for most people because of the happiness they get from going on their phones. TikTok is one of the reasons people are addicted to their phones. An average user would open the application about 8 times per day creating an addiction to a person. This is due to the TikTok videos being short and sweet which creates a diversified “for you page” purposely to keep a user’s attention going from one to another. The videos would be relevant to the dopamine excretion that the brain would release since the TikToks are filtered to a person’s interest making the phone user feel good and want more of it. That is just one aspect of TikTok. People are influenced by TikTok so easily that their habits change. Another aspect of TikTok that influences a person is their music taste. Music is used in many ways. It mainly promotes our well-being since we usually use it to tranquilize ourselves and spurt out our emotions freely. It also helps identify and understand who we are and how to impact society. Initially, people would use Musical.ly to express themselves in videos with music they enjoy before TikTok came on. Multiple trends would arise from certain songs. In TikTok, people now express themselves even further with music. People dance to it. Some express certain parts of the song and identify why it is impactful. Music in TikTok can create a whole new playlist because of the new “for you page” algorithm. TikTok knows what music you would like as well, not just the videos that you are interested in. Usually, people tend to look at which “sounds” or music is trending at the moment and start to hop on board with the bandwagon by doing whatever dance or just recording themselves with the song. I enjoyed certain songs I found on my feed and added them to a playlist on Spotify because they were enjoyable and helped me express my emotions better. Finally, even though it is important to realize how many people in this world have an addiction and strong influence on themselves by being on social media, it can also improve someone’s health. Not all the influence and content on TikTok are useless or unhealthy amounts of entertainment. People can learn new things on TikTok that can be implemented in a person’s normal routine, or perhaps a new diet. Cooking and exercising and also advice for family, school, and relationships are posted as well. Another portion of the content can come from schools or businesses trying to promote their products as well which can flourish the economic state of the online world as well. Overall, TikTok has transformed the metaverse immensely and people from all over the world are using it daily for an excessive amount of time. In the end, however, people can continue to reach out and stay connected with family and friends while being overall healthy by making TikToks or sending them. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections Holidays Near and Far By Ismela Andre Volume 3 Issue 2 December 23, 2022 Image provided by Wikipedia All around the world, there are multiple traditions and religions; however, have you ever thought about how each age group celebrates the holiday? There are many different age ranges worldwide, and each age level celebrates a holiday in separate ways. For example, in elementary school, children love to draw pictures or create gingerbread houses for Christmas. They develop multiple crafts and write beautiful letters. Meanwhile, high school students do other things. High school students love to host concerts, and friend “get-togethers” and give gifts to their friends and family. Since their maturity level is higher, many tend to distance themselves from their family. However, according to statistics, college students are the opposite. They tend to eagerly want to come home to their families, especially the students that study far from home. All students may have different ways of celebrating, but the holidays are meant for coming together and having fun! BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka, Liz Welch, and Martin Ganda By Manal Layachi Volume 2 Issue 2 November 19, 2021 Image provided by I Will Always Write Back I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka, Liz Welch, and Martin Ganda is an inspiring true story about a girl from the United States who writes to a boy in Zimbabwe, in Africa. Caitlin and Martin are very different. Martin comes from a poor family. He can barely afford basic necessities, let alone school. On the other hand, Caitlin comes from a wealthy family. She can afford basic necessities and go to school. For example, she has plenty of food, clothes, shoes, and clean water. In the book, Caitlin is supporting Martin by sending him money for school and necessities. At first, she sent money to Martin by mail, but that wasn’t a good idea because the money kept getting stolen. Caitlin and her mom made Martin a bank account so that it would be easier to send money to him. There are many themes that are shown in the story. First, we should not judge a book by its cover. We don’t know what people are going through or what their life is like, so we should not judge them very quickly. Second, a little bit of kindness and generosity can go a long way in changing someone’s life forever. Caitlin helped Martin turn his life around and now he is successful. Third, we should not take what we have for granted. When Caitlin found out that Martin was poor, she realized that she was lucky that she had all these things. It is important to be grateful for what we have. Finally, friendship is forever. Caitlin and Martin’s friendship stayed strong for their whole lives. That is a magnificent example of a long-lasting relationship. Caitlin felt like Martin was her “brother”. Martin felt like Caitlin was his “sister”. This book would be interesting and memorable for people who have liked books like Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. I would recommend this book to people who like non-fiction and reading about true stories. The authors did an amazing job describing what their characters’ lives were like and how writing to each other changed both of their lives forever. I like how they included real pictures because it added a nice touch to the story. As I was reading, I felt happy, upset, concerned, cheerful, nervous, amazed, inspired, hopeful, and motivated. All in all, I loved most everything about this book, and it changed my perspective of life and relationships. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections Holiday Baking By Carolina Figueroa Volume 1 Issue 3 December 16, 2020 Image provided by American Heritage Cooking It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The smells, tastes, and the merriment of holiday baking always adds to the joyous festivities of the season. Baking festive cookies, spiced fruitcakes, decorated bars, gingerbread loaves, meringue swirls and themed iced cupcakes are just some of the delicious flavors that make the holidays even sweeter! Baking with family and friends creates wonderful lifelong memories that will last throughout the years. While baking, you can also make the event extra special by playing holiday music, wearing festive aprons, drinking eggnog or hot chocolate, singing, and spending quality time with your family and friends. My favorite holiday baking standout is making Linzer cookies with my Grandma. Here is the recipe we use for these delicious buttery, confectioners’ sugar-dusted, jam-packed cookies that are a big hit every year. You won’t be disappointed, as you and your family should celebrate the holidays while having some annual traditional baking fun! Linzer Cookie Ingredients : 9 oz. sifted flour (250g) 4 ½ oz. sugar (125g) 6 ½ oz. butter (185g) – cut into small pieces 4 egg yolks 1 tsp vanilla extract Directions: Knead all ingredients quickly onto a wooden board to make a firm cookie dough. Put dough into a plastic bag and chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour. Take out of refrigerator. Roll dough out with a rolling pin onto lightly floured wooden board. Use a large round cookie cutter to make 24 whole round cookies and also 24 large round cookies with a small thimble circle cut out in the center. Bake in the oven on center rack for 11-12 minutes at a temperature of 350 F (180 C). Cool on wire rack. Once completely cooled, spread seedless red raspberry jam (we use Smucker’s brand) onto the whole round cookies. Use confectioner’s sugar to dust round cookies with thimble circle cut out in the center. Place dusted round cookie on top of whole round cookie with the jam to finish. Store cookies in a tin box. Enjoy! We naturally find comfort in indulgent baked goods that allow us to relive and recreate fond memories with our family and friends in the form of certain flavors and ingredients. It’s these holiday baking aromas and tastes that always bring us back home again! Happy Baking! BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Advice Back to Sections About Me! By Chloe O'Connell Volume 3 Issue 1 November 7, 2022 Image provided by Marketing Sage Hi, my name is Chloe O’Connell! I’m in 7th grade, and this is my section called “Ask Chloe”. Here’s a little about me. I am the oldest and I have two siblings. I have a dog named Bandit. Fun fact: I was born with plagiocephaly, which means I was born with a flat head, so I had to wear a helmet when I was a baby. When I grow up, I want to help kids and become a pediatrician. My family is Puerto Rican and Italian, and we are also a bit Irish. I hope this helps you get to know me! Please send in your questions for our new “ Ask Chloe” advice column to oconnelc3990@vschsd.org, and Chloe will try to help you navigate the wonders of middle school. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Polaris, Fiction Back to Sections Petals By Navrosedip Kundlas Volume 3 Issue 4 May 18, 2023 Image provided by Elaine Ching Glistening raindrops fall, On purple petals they rest, Nature's beauty shines BACK TO TOP