Getting to Know Mr. Sousa

by Will Hastings

Welcome back students of Hopkinton High School. The new school year in Hopkinton begins with an assortment of new staff, among them a new Principal. Mr. Chris Sousa was chosen from three other finalists for the position.

Originally a business major interested in advertising, Mr. Sousa started substitute teaching on the side to earn money. It was then when he discovered that he liked working with children, so with the encouragement of an aunt in the education field, he attended Plymouth State University and received his teacher’s certificate.

Mr. Sousa’s teaching experiences are rather extensive and well rounded. He began teaching business in Rhode Island. After that he moved to Procter High School in Vermont to be principal, from there he went to be principal at Hampton Middle School. For Mr. Sousa the idea that he could "affect students in a positive way felt really great.” Aside from school work, Mr. Sousa enjoys mountain biking, hiking, and camping. He also enjoys trying his hand at guitar as well as cooking. Family is a huge part of his daily life; his children are truly his pride and joy.

Sousa’s passion for teaching seems to have no bounds. “If I had one million dollars and could do any job I wanted, I would have chosen to be a teacher.” he says. Hopkinton welcomes you Mr. Sousa, and wishes you the best of luck.

Welcome Mrs. Lulka!

by Anastasia Anderson and Shannah Kimball

Mrs. Lulka is a new math teacher at Hopkinton High school. She teaches grade nine through twelve. Lulka grew up in Mass, but she has also lived in New York City, and near the Grand Canyon. She has taught in the Bow, Manchester and Concord schools.

There are many reasons for her love of math, one of them being that all her grandparents were immigrants who came over to America with no money. Her mom, her dad and all her uncles had really good math teachers throughout school and went to college on scholarships. Now they all have great jobs as engineers and computer programmers. Another reason she got into teaching math is she enjoys finding patterns in things and math deals with a lot of different patterns.

So far, she likes Hopkinton as a community because she has more of an opportunity to get to know every student individually. She hopes to stay in Hopkinton as long as she can. "I have made good friends with all the teachers in the math department and the staff at the school and in all my classes. The students are great."

Hawk Art

by Colin Amoth

So far in the year, according to Mr. Kociuba, the arts department at Hopkinton Middle
High school has been going very well. With 11 classes, not including all the numerous photolabs, it’s easy to see that many students understand the importance that the arts has for their education.

Among these students is Danielle Gonzales. Danielle is one of the students who is taking a fine arts independent study under Mr. Kociuba. When I first talked to Danielle, she was shading in a quite remarkably good charcoal of R2D2. When asked why she was doing fine arts for an independent study she simply replied that she wanted to create a personal portfolio of her work for later in life, maybe even for college.

Even this early in the year we are seeing that students are producing some amazing pieces in all the arts. One example is this photograph, taken by Ian Hancock. This photo was taken on his own time even before he began his photo 2 class.

Keene Pumpkin Festival

by Aleksandr Hubbard

Summer is just about to end and fall is breezing in. Once school starts, many students groan about all the work they have to do. Instead of moaning, though, there are some fun things that can be done. Allow for some excitement to happen by attending the Pumpkin Festival on October 17th, 2009 in Keene, New Hampshire.

For the past 18 years Keene has sponsored an annual event to celebrate the coming of Halloween. This will be the 19th year anniversary. Here, thousands of people come to Keene to have a blast with the whole family. Over 25,000 pumpkins are present with a candle in each and every one of them.

If looking at pumpkins for the entire day sounds boring, then there are other activities for enjoyment! Some of these activities include: a costume parade, a seed spitting and pie eating contests, live music on three stages, face painting, craft booths, and lots of food provided by area non-profits.

Jenn Crowe, a senior from Keene High School says that she has been going to the Pumpkin Festival for 14 years. At the Pumpkin Festival “you can get together with friends, roam around, do your own thing, look at creative pumpkins,” says Jenn and, “as long as I have friends with me, I never get bored.”

This festival is not a one time event for friends and families; I have gone once and plan to go again this year. Jenn sums it up right, “It’s a tradition.”

Teachers

Teachers at HHS

C U Y T A Z R E D D P F A U E K K J
T G M M O N P R N O O F H D N T K D
U G G X V P A X W L N O E F Z D N L
C T A Y P Z K V H K P O W F L G O N
G Z Z T Z J J U M C C L M R F R V C
D X T I N H O I W H H V Y W E E A O
G V R E X N A E X D C P R S W D R Z
Q B S Q A Y P R P R X L E B R A N D
C L X D N R W G B O B U E O Z B E U
O N E M I J Q T Y F O D N W K A K F
H A T Q D D T M F K E T B S E C P U
U H N N P N C G E C Q H E G J K I O
E B T L A N U F B I M T Y N L M Z C
O V D G L G W H A B V Q T D N A R B
W T J W Q J D D P H C I B H E N V L
P E I S X G K U Y N U K D Z O B Q P
V F J M B Q W J X V H L P E M P K D
G F X X Q M S E M M E N S K X N N E

BACKMAN
BICKFORD
BRAND
BRANDT
BRIZARD
HARB
NADEAU
OLSEN
PFEFFER
SEMMENS
UNDERWOOD
WELCH
ZIPKE
Sokul

Contoocook Carry

by Dan Lux

The 7^th Annual Contoocook Carry was held on Sunday, September 27, 2009. This is always a chance for anyone to get out and have some fun while supporting a great cause. This year one hundred percent of the proceeds will go to fuel assistance.

This year's volunteers consisted of The Rotary Club, Hopkinton Policemen, Hopkinton Volunteer Fire/Rescue Squad, Interact Club, the Girl Scouts, The Lions Club, local churches, and also individual volunteers.

The CC has three parts; a two-mile run, a kayak paddle plus a portage, and a fourteen-mile bike ride. The run started at the Hopkinton High School and ended out past Herrick Mill Works. The kayak is on the Contoocook River. About one sixth of the way down the river, the paddlers had to land their boats and carry them 200 feet across the dam, putting them back into the water on the other side of the dam. The fourteen-mile bike ride went through the beautiful backcountry of Hopkinton, and ended at the Hopkinton High School.

Cellphone Usage in School

by Katy White

According to the telephone use policy in the HHS student handbook, cell phone use in the school is prohibited in any location other than the office. However, when high school students were asked if they used their cell phones in school, the majority answered “Sometimes” and “Yes.”

Even though our school does not permit cell phone usage during school hours, kids still text during class. However, they are not necessarily texting other kids in other classes. Sometimes kids text their parents about after school plans, or their parents text them first.