Category: In-Depth
Hammond Student Profile: Violinist Claire O’Rourke
By Alexis Kujawa
Staff Writer
Claire plans to pursue orchestra outside of high school once she graduates.
Claire O’Rourke, freshman, is in the orchestra and art club here at Hammond. She has been in orchestra since 3rd grade playing violin, drawing since 5th grade, and writing since 7th grade. When she thinks back on her decision to randomly choose the violin in third grade, she states that, “My dad owns a viola, so I actually have no idea why I didn’t just choose that.”
When orchestra first began “in the old days, when musicians got together to play, they used whatever instruments were around,” (History of the Orchestra). But now, with modern day music and instruments, it is fashioned in a more beautiful way. The 1900s became an important era for the evolution of orchestra because “the 20th century has been a century of freedom and experimentation with the orchestra. It has also been a time of superstar conductors, as the conductor has more and more responsibility and visibility,” (History of the Orchestra).
Hammond Student Profile: Tony Terrasa
By Kristina Dombek
Staff Writer
Achieving first in the class is one of the most honorable titles one can achieve after their high school career. The class of 2017’s valedictorian is Tony Terassa who, for some years, achieved a 5.0 weighted GPA. This means that during those years he only had Honors, G/T, or AP level courses.
Tony Terassa performs on his saxaphone at Turf Valley for a Hammond Jazz Combo. Photo Credit: Twitter
If any students are looking to achieve first in their class, some advice Tony would give would be “do all of your work. You definitely learn from doing your homework and don’t settle for turning something in that you’re not proud of.” This may seem obvious, but according to Tony, this is the main way to achieving this honor, so people should not look past this easy step. Although he has not always wanted to be valedictorian, he has always shot for A’s. According to an article on www.campusexplorer.com, “many schools rank students purely by GPA. But how this key measurement is determined is an open question. Some schools give you bonus points for taking harder classes – potentially giving an advantage to students who enroll in AP and other advanced classes.”
Real-World Experience: Hammond’s Intern Mentor Students Explore a Variety of Fields
By: Holly Nanan
Staff Writer
Hammond High School students are again pursuing the opportunity to gain experience in real-world situations in a variety of fields by participating in the Intern/Mentor program. As a part of Ms. Lerner’s G/T program, Intern/Mentor is a class offered at Hammond that gives students the opportunity to both research a subject they are interested in as well as gain hands-on experience interning for a professional in that field.
Students at Hammond are pursuing a variety of internships this year and are very excited to go out and explore the career or field they plan on entering later in life. Students are going to internships ranging from John Hopkins, law offices, and Kinder Mender to working with district attorneys and graphic designers.
