Guide to Netflix: The Carrie Diaries

Taking place in 1984, “The Carrie Diaries” is the story of 17 year old Carrie Bradshaw falling in love with Manhattan. Based off of the novel written by Candice Bushnell, the series is a prequel to the beloved “Sex and The City”, although viewers do not need to see “Sex in the City” to be able to follow it. Developed by Amy B. Harris and airing on The CW in 2012, Season one of the light hearted drama can be found on Netflix, while season two is currently airing. The pilot starts off by introducing viewers to Carrie's hectic home life on her first day of junior year. Her father, Tom, is now a single dad raising Carrie and her rebellious sister, Dorritt, after their mother recently passed away. School was difficult for Carrie with all the pitiful looks she was receiving, but she had three friends to rely on for support. Her friends West, Mouse, and Maggie all have their own side stories during the series, as well. But it starts off first with Carrie, AnnaSophia Robb, taking an internship at a law firm in the city; leading her away from her small suburban Connecticut town, her family, and her first love, Sebastian Kydd, played by Austin Butler.

By: Olivia Terranova

Guide to Netflix: Supernatural

I recommend, no, I command you to watch the riveting tv show Supernatural. Created by Robert Singer, Supernatural follows two brothers who criss-cross the country, hunting evil and paranormal creatures. At first, this show seems like your common crime tv show, but after three episodes you will be hooked. The Winchester brothers, Sam and Dean, were raised into the family business of hunting after their mother was brutally murdered by a demon. When Dean’s life is on the line and he is hours away from death, John gives his life to this same yellow-eyed demon to save his son. His last words were to Dean, telling him that one day, he might need to kill Sam. They later find out this was because on the night of Mary Winchester’s death, the yellow-eyed demon was in Sam’s nursery to turn Sam into one of his “psychic children.” In other words, he has had demon blood pumping through his veins since he was six months old. Knowing what this demon is capable of, John knew that the demon part of Sam would one day takeover and turn him evil, if they did not kill the demon who did this to him in time. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean have to continue looking for and hunting down evil creatures such as ghosts, ghouls, vampires, demons, zombies, djinn, shape shifters, werewolves, etc.

By: Megan Wolley

Fire Safety Video Competition

            At the end of last year, a number of TV students here at Melrose High School entered a statewide video competition.  Sponsored by the Massachusetts Association of Safety and Fire Educators, the competition challenged Massachusetts high school students to create an educational video about the dangers of fires.  Each video had to be between one and three minutes in length, contain several “tidbits” of information, such as statistics and advice on fire safety, and be well researched (the statistics have to be legitimate).  There are a few other rules that they have to follow.  For example, the participants could not actually film real fires, as that would be unsafe.  Instead they had to use copyright-free and public domain stock footage.  They were judged on a rubric scaling seven categories from one to four points.  For the most part, the categories were mostly about accuracy of facts and making the video creative as well as fitting  the requirements.

            Naturally, because it is a competition, there are prizes.  There are three prizes and three “honorable mention” awards.  A total of three hundred and fifty dollars are given out to the winners.  First place receives two hundred dollars in Best Buy gift cards, split among the group members, and their school receives a brand new camera for filming future videos.  The second and third place groups receive one hundred dollars and fifty dollars, respectively, also in Best Buy gift cards. The three honorable mentions do not receive prizes.

            Melrose has four finalist teams in the competition, each of which seems to have a shot.  The Imprint was able to interview two of the competitors; Quinn Wilkins and Addison Dowell.  Just from these two there is a large and visible difference in the teams.   Quinn Wilkins said that it took was about two hours of research, scripting, and filming to make his video, and one hour additional hour to edit.  On the other hand, Addison Dowell’s group took about five or six hours researching, scripting, and filming, and as much as ten hours editing.  Quinn Wilkins believes that while he himself does not have a great chance, that Melrose will win two of the six places. Addison Dowell claims that his video has a very good chance of winning.  If he wins, Wilkins says he would probably get a brand new 50mm lens for his camera, and Dowell gave no comment.

            If you would like to find the videos, you can find them at the youtube channel Melrose High TV. They are titled Burn Prevention Awareness: Second Chance, Burn Prevention Awareness: Cooking Safety, Burn Prevention Awareness: Radio Station Fire Awareness, and Burn Prevention Awareness: Alone in the Kitchen. 

         By: Duncan McLeod  

State of the Computers

Here at Melrose High we have learned to adapt to things not working, breaking, or being from the stone age. The physical building is probably giving all of us exotic diseases that we will not fully feel the effects of until we are all too far gone. We put up with windowless triangular-shaped classrooms that change from stuffy, muggy, and intolerable in the warmer months to cold, harsh, and unbearable in the winter. We put up with eating lunch at times other people refer to as “brunch” or “early dinner.”  We have lived through gas leaks, bomb threats, and days that should have been snow days. We have learned a new schedule after following the same one for most of our high school careers.  We have embraced all that has been thrown at us; the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly. Melrose High has been a challenge to many, presenting obstacles and creating stress for those who try wholeheartedly to survive. 

Taking journalism has been one of the best decisions of my high school career. I have taken the class for two years. With each year I have learned new, interesting, and important things about reporting and news in general. For those who don't know what we do in journalism, we put out a paper every few months. We also update a blog. Becasue we live in the twenty first century, we use computers to type, edit, and put together our work for our blog and paper. But as many of you may notice, the journalism class is rarely in the resource center using the computers. That is because the English department has their own special computer lab. I know, it is pretty exciting and cool. But anyone who has actually entered that computer lab located in Room 328 would know that those computers rarely work. They are older than all of our grandparents combined, and probably enjoyed some time with the dinosaurs.

The computers, when and if they ever turn on, work, but very slowly. You can almost open the internet and Microsoft almost lets you type without a glitch every ten seconds. But when these computers are turned off, they take forever to turn on. And I'm not kidding when I say forever. We have about five computers in that lab that actually “work.” But “work” is an ambiguous word.

I was curious about the efficiency of our dear computers, so I tested them. First I turned all the computers off, then back on. I timed how long it took for them to start. A new computer takes less than two minutes to turn on. The computers in the blue or red lab take about four, or maybe five, minutes to turn on completely. After they are on, it doesn’t take very long to either open the internet or Microsoft. So I went through every computer in the English lab, turned them fully off and then timed how long it takes for them to fully load. You might be thinking that it couldn't possibly take that long, but the quickest computer takes about sixteen minutes to load. Now that means turning it on, going through the control-alt-delete page, and then eventually opening up Microsoft takes sixteen minutes. You might not think sixteen minutes is a long time to load a computer. But when classes are fifty-seven minutes, and realistically you take away seven minutes for the beginning or end of class to settle in or pack up you are left with fifty minutes. Now take away sixteen minutes to load your computer. Now you are at thirty-four minutes. Take at least another ten minutes to open the internet and Microsoft. That leaves twenty-four minutes. Now quick! Start an article or finish the one you have been working on. Don’t forget to save it or try to e-mail it before the bell rings and you need to run off to your next class. It is impossible to accomplish any noticeable amount of work in this time frame.

All this ranting does have a point, I promise. My anger is not necessarily the inefficiency of the computers, but rather the lack of recognition of this. At this point I would like to take a second and say I am not blaming the administration. But at the same time, I'm not sure they realize how awful some of the supplies we have are. There is not much we can do about the physical building, unless we literally tear it down, but students should be provided with computers that work. I don’t want to point fingers because maybe there are other reasons why we do not have better computers. I just do not believe this is the best the school can provide for us.

By: Elisa Lemack

Important Dates for Seniors

Senior Deadlines

Internship Meeting – TBA

Senior Paper Due – April 4^th

Start of Internship – April 7^th

Payment for yearbook – March 15^th

Pre-Prom meeting – March 31^st

Completed 48 hours of Community Service – May 1^st

Diploma Decision - TBA

Awards Night - TBA

Senior Week

Graduation Rehearsal – May 27^th (8:30 am)

Prom – May 27^th (Bus check-in 4:00)

Yearbook signing – May 28^th (subject to change)

Six Flags – May 29^th             

Graduation – May 30^th (ceremony starts at 3:30)

Grad Night – May 30^th (doors opens at 10 pm)

By: Anna Garofalo

Valentines Day Treats

Valentines day is fast approaching and some of you may be frantically running to Walgreens looking for cheesy cards, teddy bears and gross chocolates that are the only things left on the 13th. As nothing really catches your eye at the store, its all either too expensive or to unoriginal, you need to find a gift, quick. As many of you know, the best way to anyone's heart is food. This quick and easy recipe will make you significant other and you wallet love you this holiday.

These marshmallows dipped in chocolate are sure to make your sweetheart have a sweet tooth.

What you need:
Marshmallows
Chocolate Chips
Sprinkles ( or any other topping; m&ms, crushed butterfingers etc)

Step 1: Put chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and place in the microwave, melt until smooth

Step 2:  While chocolate is melting place marshmallows on wax paper on a cookie sheet, when chocolate is melted, dip the marshmallows in the chocolate, covering about have of the marshmallow

Step 3: Before placing the marshmallow down, dip the marshmallow and chocolate in the festive sprinkles or toppings

Step 4: place the marshmallow chocolate side down and let freeze for 20 minutes

By: Charlene Feeley

Poetry Out Loud

           On Tuesday, January 14^th, twenty-seven Melrose High students recited poems they had memorized as part of the annual Poetry Out Loud competition. Five English teachers judged the students based on accuracy, among other criteria. Senior Lilah Drafts-Johnson was declared the winner, and freshman Alana Williams was the runner-up.  The results were announced on Wednesday, January 15^th.

           Melrose High School has participated in the Poetry Out Loud competition for about four years. In the past, only four or five teachers sent students to the school wide competition, and only about twelve to fifteen students participated. Mrs. Stearns, the lead teacher for MHS, wanted more students to participate this year to “increase the quality of the performances.” On the week of January 7^th, English teachers held classroom competitions. The winners from the classroom competitions went on to compete in the school-wide competition.

            Students who win their school competitions need to prepare three poems for the state and national levels. One must be twenty-five lines or fewer, one must be written before the 20th century, and the student can choose another poem as their third poem. All poems must be from the Poetry Out Loud anthology. The anthology can be found online at www.poetryoutloud.org.

            Mrs. Stearns believes it is “valuable for students to memorize poems” because then they “own” that piece of poetry, in a way. She uses Nelson Mandela to illustrate the benefits of memorizing poetry. Mandela memorized poems and recited them in prison for entertainment. One of the poems he memorized and recited to other prisoners at Robben Island, “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley, is part of the Poetry Out Loud anthology.

            Junior Megan Wolley, a member of the Imprint staff, said the competition made her go outside her comfort zone. She recited “The Maid’s Lament,” by Walter Savage Landor. She chose the poem because she had “never done a poem about mourning” and she wanted to try something different.

            Winner Lilah Drafts-Johnson recited “Cartoon Physics, Part 1” by Nick Flynn. Runner-up Alana Williams recited “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughs.

            The Massachusetts competition will be on March 1^st, 2014. The location has yet to be determined.

By: Emma Morrison