Gubernatorial Candidates Travel By Satellite

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By Elizabeth Gemme

Wednesday October 27th history teacher, Mr. Long and his students hosted Oxford Hills' Gubernatorial Forum. This was a first time for the community to put on this kind of election event, and although the class didn't receive the kind of crowd they were hoping for, it was a great way to help educate the many high school students who did attend.

Before the debate began, member of Mr. Long's class, Kait Mann, gave a few welcoming words to the audience and some information about the schedule for the evening. Shortly after 7:00pm the debate, which was actually begin held in the Bangor High School, was underway. At this time, an online chat became live for all viewers so they could discuss their feelings on the issue. (www.facebook.com/preparemaine).

As the debate started, the Oxford Hills forum began filling with recognizable faces; OHCHS  graduates and students took seats. When asked why some of these alumnae decided to attend the broadcasting, a student replied, "I can vote now. I want to know what I'm voting for."

Although the debate wasn't successful in drawing the large crowd it had hoped for, it was able to give bring the participants face-to-face with the weighty decision they would be making the following week.

Viking Sports

In the midst of their seasons, all the Varsity sports for OHCHS are working on improvement. whether it be in strength, or in record. The only winning team as of now is the Girls' Varsity Field Hockey team, with a record of five wins and four losses. Player, Crissy Lewis says, We’re "not doing so well right now." I believe, they are having an okay year. Since they do have a winning record, they must be doing something right. After all the hardship the Vikings (8 - 5) ended up in the second round of the playoffs, where they would lose unfortunately to Skowhegan (14 - 0) with a score of 4 - 0. Congrats on making it that far.
A sport that doesn't have a real record but is doing really well this season is the golf team. Jordan Strong comments, "Golf Team did great. We made it to the play-offs and [then] lost to Brunswick." At least they made it to the play-offs. Good job Golf Team.
A team who is working hard just like the Golf Team, but playing even harder, is the Cross Country Team. I run on this team and in my opinion we are all continuing to get faster and stronger. We have shown a lot of improvement throughout the year and will continue to do the same till the end. The boys' team finished 44th out of 65 competing teams. Well done boys. In our last meet at Belfast, we placed
A team which has also been improving a lot throughout the season is the Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team. Derek Morin commented, "The team is doing well, improving game by game. Our record is two wins and seven losses.” As long as they are improving, they're okay in my book. but improvement isn't the case in girls varsity soccer. Melissa Strauss says " Our record is two wins and six losses. We're still working o improvement. But still better than the last few years." I'm guessing they went the last year with no wins or maybe one. But still, they are doing good. Both teams would finish with a record of 2 - 10 - 2. The team that everyone is still talking since their first win is the varsity football team. Matt Farnum commented " We have one win and four losses. We have a good defense but a struggling offense." From watching the games, I see your point Matt, but hey, at least we have won one game. I bet everyone wants to see one more, but that homecoming game was thanks enough. They would finish with a record of 1 - 7. So overall, we have a decent sports program and are mostly focusing on improvement. Good luck Vikings on the rest of your seasons.

Healthy Lunch

By Crissy Lewis

There are many different options to eat at lunch. There are healthy choices but there are also some bad choices of eating there. Eating healthy can make you feel better and get you ready for your day ahead. It can be very hard sometimes to get students to eat healthier at school. But you know schools are trying to improve what they are making and selling for students to have for lunch.

Ken Morse, the main representative for Healthy Oxford Hills, works with schools to eat fresh healthy foods. His job is to help schools eat better and to be more farm to school. He is part of the National Farm to School Network. Their job is to make a better relationship between school and farms, support community-based systems, and to help children be healthy and to prevent childhood obesity. The website of the Farm to School says it’s a program that connects schools and their local farms “with the objective of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving nutrition, providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and supporting local and regional farmers”. They go beyond than the farm fresh salad bars and local foods in the cafeteria. They “include waste management programs like composting, and experiential education opportunities such as planting school gardens, cooking demonstrations and farm tours.” It would be nice to have a strong connection to local schools with farms and have the students eat more local. Having a school garden where they can grow their own things can make it more special too. It’s a benefit you get with Farm to School and Ken Morse says, “If you grow it yourself, you'll eat it”. Children and the community will learn more agriculture and nutrition and the environment. Food security will be better too since food travels a lot, making it not fresh. Buying local food will mean local taxes, which helps the school. A salad bar is offered in the cafeteria that's has fresh vegetables in it. By doing all this you're just, “changing the whole culture on how to eat” says Morse.

You can always get more information about Healthy Oxford Hills because it's not too far from OHCHS. You can also go on Farmtoschool.org to find out more information about what it’s all about. If you eat a lunch that is healthy and local your day will be better and you will feel better about yourself and what you're eating

OHCHS Students Become Real-Life Journalists

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by Pamela Chodosh



This past Tuesday, the journalism students at OHCHS learned what being a reporter is all about. The students whose stories appear here on Viking Voices were asked by the Sun Journal to interview people about their vote on the casino. Armed with official Sun Journal press passes, flip cameras and notebooks, our students hovered expectantly by the exit doors at the fire station polls in Norway and Oxford. These young reporters experienced a full range of response to their question, "Which way did you vote on the casino?"

Though many people were happy to comment, but not happy to have their comments videotaped, and others refused to answer before the question was completely posed, there were a few brave souls who allowed the students to record their answers and their names.

The students collected a total of 8 videos, which were later uploaded to the Sun Journal's private YouTube channel in preparation for editing. Scott Thistle, a former OHCHS graduate who is now an editor at the Sun Journal, is assembling the videos and the many interviews transcribed into a story or "bucket." You can read this story here. We are hoping to do other projects with the Sun Journal, an association which will prove very beneficial to both the paper and our OHCHS journalists.

Oxford Hills First Non-Profit Fair

by Elizabeth Gemme

Wednesday, October 20th, Oxford Hills will host its' first ever Non-Profit Fair from 8:30am to 12:30pm. The exhibits will begin outside the Forum and end near the Main Office.

The main idea for this event is to give Seniors creative ideas for their Senior Project, which is a requirement for graduation. This event is not just for seniors, but sophomores and freshmen as well. Starting with the class of 2013, 20 hours of community service is another graduation requirement. This fair will be able to offer many ideas to all students no matter the circumstance.

The organizer of the Non-Profit Fair, English teacher, Mr. Brewster Burns, hopes this will "lead to something positive for the school, our students and the community." This will be the first time Oxford Hills has put on an event such as this, so don't miss it.

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Scheduling for the Non-Profit Fair will be as follows:

During CBA- Seniors and advisors
Period 2- Freshmen and Sophomore classes
Period 3- Freshmen and Sophomore classes
*open access for all students during lunches and study halls

Oxford Hills Students Travel To China

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This spring Oxford Hills High School teacher, Mr. Craig Blanchard, will be taking a group of high school students to the country of China, for the third time since he began teaching at OHCHS. The number traveling ranges between ten to twelve students and up to four chaperones, counting Blanchard.

The cost of this two-week trip, which begins on April 9th and ending the 23rd, is an estimated $3,000. Despite the cost there are plans to fundraise over the next few months. Mr. Blanchard hopes each student will raise about $1,000.

During the two-week trip the group will be visiting many places, including Bejing, X'ian, Chung-Di, and Shanghai. Students will spend two days staying with host families at Oxford Hills' sister school, Zhejing Normal University High School. In the months leading up to their trip, students will be meeting periodically to become familiar with Chinese customs and language. Mr. Blanchard is aware of the students' apprehension about being in a foreign school with new peers, but he also knows his students will learn a great deal.

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What is Mr. Blanchard's biggest hope for this trip? That his students become not only more educated about China's history and culture, but also more aware of the differences and similarities between this foreign place and their own home country, America. Says Mr. Blanchard "This will be a learning experience for everyone."

Vikings Clip the Wings

September 25, was a beautiful Saturday for some hard - knocking homecoming football. The match-up, our beloved Vikings against our rivals the Eagles of Mt. Ararat. Winless since our last regular season game against them, there was a lot of pressure mounting on our guys. The fact that it was homecoming didn't help either. They responded to this pressure.

I sat down with George Turner, number 19, to get a little feed back on how the game all went down. The game plan was to control their best player, like any other team would do. The defense changed to a cover 5 for passing downs, and a base for running downs. The first half was a success, the Vikings jumping out to an early lead of 14 - 0, with our defense leading the way.

To the second half we go. The Eagles finally put some points on the board and the score 14 - 8. A couple of great defensive stops happened late and the Vikings hung on to clinch the win. The crowd went bananas! It was their first win of the season.

The Vikings also made some history, with this win, it being their first home win in four years and their first Homecoming win at home in seven! Also, Jordan Croteau had an amazing
game with 16 tackles. I see it fair to give him the Viking Player of the Game.

I heard nothing but excitement over the course of the weekend and still today, it's heard in the halls with words like "I can't believe we won!"

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Well believe it because there are many more to come. We are all very proud of our football team and can't wait to see what they do next. So thanks to George Turner and good luck Vikings. Hope you can do it again.

A Change in Yearbook Leadership

This year looks challenging for the Oxford Hills yearbook staff. In addition to the loss of veteran yearbook staff members, there has been a change in leadership.

After showing dedication to creating successful yearbooks, high school librarian, Mrs. St. John, has decided to resign her role and hand it to a math teacher at OHCHS, Mrs. Fox.

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Having had Mrs. St. John as leader for the last four years, many students have been left wondering one thing: Why stop now?

“Yearbook is a year round responsibility,” says Mrs. St. John. Because of budget cuts and the library being asked to assume even more responsibilities this year, having the head librarian lead yearbook is just too much.

Don't think Mrs. St. John's experience with the yearbook doesn't cross her mind. “I miss my students,” she says. “I think about them all the time. We were able to get to know one another on many levels, and we spent a lot of time working together.”

Many wonder what will happen now, but not Mrs. St. John. “I think Mrs. Fox is doing a great job, especially since she is assuming responsibility for such a great task and since she is starting from scratch.” The tone Mrs. St. John uses to answer this question is reassuring.  Although the yearbook staff will have a challenging road ahead of them, this year will be another successful one.

Cell Phone Policy Relaxed

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Most students here at OHCHS would agree that in previous years, the use of cell phones in the building has been an issue. Phones were constantly being confiscated, and students were facing consequences of texting. With the rate of cell phone use growing, especially in teens, the issue of cell phones in schools has become an issue of whether they are a help or distraction.

Cell phones in school can be used to support learning behaviors. For example, students can use the cameras on phones to take pictures of class projects to show their parents, who wouldn't get to see them otherwise. Phones can also be used to text absent classmates homework and assignments. Most cell phones have built-in planners and calculators, which makes it easier for students to be organized.

Over the summer a new policy was created by the Oxford Hills School District School Board, which allows principals to make their own rules. Mr. Moccia and the rest of the OHCHS Leadership Team formed a policy which states the "use of cell phones is allowed for students in hallways between classes and at lunch." They made this decision by looking over surveys and opinions from the student body and the faculty. Mr. Moccia says that he already has much more open time due to the new cell phone policy. He also feels that when the  faculty isn't always having to tell students to put cell phones away or having to confiscate them, it makes for a more positive atmosphere.

Students also agree that they have more positive relationships with teachers because they aren't always getting into trouble. Teachers think that students are more respectful during class because they know they'll have a chance to text right after, so they don't have to sneak it during class. Over all, the new cell phone policy here at OHCHS has been successful so far.