Drama, Drama, Drama

by Rachel Kenderdine

Hours and weeks of practice, new friends, costume fittings, and endless studying of lines, all leading up to the perfect moment on stage. These are the experiences that PCHS Drama participants will encounter during their production of “Up the Down Staircase” this fall.

Two casts will perform the play, each starring in two performances. Ellie Vaughn, a senior who plays new teacher Sylvia Barrett in one cast, says that the play is good. “I like it a lot,” she said. “It’s a pretty good fall play.”

The play, by Bel Kauffman, is one that Mr. Lynch, drama director at PCHS, says relates well to high school. “It’s about the struggles of high school students and how their lives outside of school influence their lives in school, and the struggles of a new teacher dealing with all the rules and regulations,” he said. Mr. Lynch also chose the play for a special reason--it was the one that was performed during his senior year of high school.

Ellie also added that while having a big part in the play is exciting, it also comes with some difficulties. “I’m really nervous,” she said. “I have a lot of lines so I’m pretty worried.”

“Up the Down Staircase,” is still in the works, with practices twice a week and on Saturdays. In the week before the play, dress rehearsal will take place nightly, according to the PCHS Drama Blog. Performances of the play will take place November 12th, 13th, and 14th in the PCHS Auditorium.

But for now, Ellie is just happy to have a lead. “I screamed when I saw the cast list,” she said, “but there wasn’t anyone there so it wasn’t too embarrassing.”

Pictured: Alex Fenza, one of the leads of the play, practices his lines as Joe Ferone. (picture taken by Blade Hall)

Hats and Superheroes and Togas, Oh My!

by Serena Wells

PCHS Homecoming week for the 2010-2011 school year was great for the students. Monday was Hat Day at the school. We had students wearing baseball caps, stocking caps, and even chicken hats. There was a large variety of hats around the school that students wore.

Tuesday was Toga Day. Students wore a sheet over their clothes for the toga look. Many deviated from the typical white sheet by wearing bedsheets fashioned in cartoons, super heroes, and other designs.

Wednesday was Class Colors Day and the day of the powder puff game. Freshman wore green; Sophomores wore blue; Juniors wore pink; and the Seniors wore orange, each to support their classes. Seniors also went as far as decorating the hallways of the school in order to get more into the spirit of the game day. The atmosphere was wonderful.

Thursday was Superhero Day. Students dressed up as their favorite superhero all day long. Among those seen were the Hulk, Power Puff Girls, Ninja Turtles, Spiderman, Batman, Catwoman, and some students even invented their own alter ego.

Friday was Orange-and-Black Day and also class games day.

I interviewed both Austin Huxford and Cayla Higgins about what they thought of the week. Both Huxford and Higgins answered "class colors day" when I asked them which day they enjoyed the most.

I also asked them both if there was anything they didn't like about the week.

"I wish dressing for the theme days would have been worth points towards class games like usual," says Huxford.

"The theme days should have been themes more people would have participated in, Superhero Day was really hard to come up with something for," says Higgins.

All in all, the week was a success. Going around school that week, I did hear a few teachers complaining about it because nothing ever gets done in class time during the homecoming week, but I think it's good that the students have a week for them to just be able to have fun at school and show their school spirit and tiger pride!

New Student in Town!

by Christine Porter (picture taken by Alexis Peterson)

Teenagers from Paris aren’t too different from students in Moscow, Russia. Grigory Leskov, the new Russian student at Paris Cooperative High School, is just a regular teenager who likes to hang out and have fun. He said, “I like Happy Meals and ice cream.” He also likes to listen to rap music and tiesto, which is a Russian type of music. He likes to Jet Ski and play golf. His school in Russia is a lot bigger than our school. Grigory would like to go to Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and own his own business one day. Grigory has a 3 month old baby sister and he said, “She is very cute” and that he misses her a lot. Grigory expressed that he likes our town and school very much, and he thinks there are very nice people here. He is here for the entire school year and hopes to get to know us a lot better in his time spent here.