How to Get a Date with a Hunk

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December 9^th wasn't your average Thursday. At Oxford Hills,  some handsome guys were put up for sale. These guys weren't just your average homeboys. They were chosen for one reason: they were the most desirable men in the school. The winning bidder did not get to own a man. Instead she got a date.

The men who were sold were seniors Alex Hardy, Spenser Morse, Chris Alberi, Kurt Kilgore, Bret Stuart, Matt Farnum, and Andy Ripley; sophomore Conner Beebe; and freshman Ben Bowie. The festivities were run by seniors Kate Mann and Chelsea Gould for their senior project. All the proceeds ended up going to Christmas for Teens.

The night went well. Sam Feely was the announcer for the event. He spoke quickly, just like a real auctioneer.

Alex Hardy commented, “I felt mine was really quick. Nikki Surette bid like 20 and then it was over. . . . It was really fun and a couple guys were bought by one person multiple times.”

The movie "The Killers" was included in the event , as was a meal cooked by Levi Gloden. On the menu was spaghetti and cupcakes. The biding only lasted about a half hour. Eating took around 45 minutes. The whole event was about 3 ½ hours in length.

Over $100 was earned by the event. Another event like this is planned for the future. So if you're looking for a date with one of the most desirable men at OHCHS, watch for another "Go on a Date with a Hunk."

How I Became an Instant Mother

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by Crissy Lewis

I remember talking with my health teacher telling her I’m not ready to have a baby, and there is no way that I would have the time because I’m so busy as it is. In my Advanced Health class my teacher, Mrs. Cash, gave me a Real Care Baby for the weekend. This baby was something that would give us an idea of what it was like to be a teen parent and everything that we needed to do. We were given all the essentials, including: two diapers, a bottle, clothes, a diaper bag, and a key that you would need so the baby would know it was you before you can do anything to make the baby happy again.

My weekend with my “baby” was interesting to say the least. When I got my baby Thursday morning, I was very excited but anxious to see how my night would be later. The first thing I noticed was how difficult it was to walk around with a car seat. It was very uncomfortable holding it on my arm and carrying my backpack. I noticed that many people were looking at me funny, but I didn't really care. In health class we went over everything we needed to know about then we were sent on our way to fend for ourselves.

At 4 o'clock Thursday afternoon my baby went off. I had basketball practice so I had to run off the court to tend to it. I didn't know what I was doing and I was freaking out because the baby was crying louder and louder. Once it stopped I decided to leave it with my friend until my practice was done practice. That night when I got home there was no way I was going to be able to finish my homework. The baby went off numerous times and I could tell my mom was getting annoyed with it already. I didn't end going to bed that night until 11:30 although I was forced to wake up again at 1:30am. I was exhausted and I didn't want to take care of the baby already. Thankfully that night it only went off once, but I didn't go back to bed till 2:40am.

All day Friday I was in trance. I just wanted to sleep but I knew that night would be the worst because I didn't have school the next day. After school when I went to the boys basketball game I walked around with my friends because we had pizza party for basketball team. When I walked out near the gym, people looked and stared at me. It was kind of funny because when I made eye contact with them they smiled. I couldn't tell if they thought it was real or if it was fake. It was kind of obvious that it was fake but you never knew what people thought.

Friday night was by far the worst night with my baby. I had pre-season basketball games the next morning and the bus left early. I thought I was going to die that night. My baby went off 4 times in the night/early morning. The first time it did I was OK with, but after the third and fourth time I was getting aggravated. I just wanted to sleep. Saturday morning I didn't realize that the baby was going to be on, and thought it would be off at six again. I was wrong. I had so much to do to get ready for my games and to get to my bus on time. The baby made it very difficult getting dressed and having to feed it all at the same time. My mom was getting frustrated, knowing that if I didn't hurry up we'd be late.

On the bus ride all my friends wanted to hold my baby but I felt this weird kind of protection towards that baby that I didn't want anyone to hold it or touch it. I only let one of my friends hold it because she was going to be babysitting for me Sunday afternoon and I knew she would be careful with it. During our bus ride I was tired and luckily was able to sleep a little bit on the bus to Lincoln Academy. When we arrived there, I walked the bus struggling a little bit. I was worried about what people were going to think or say when they saw me carrying a baby in a car seat. When I walked into the lobby, I saw people turn and look at me. This one lady that was taking the admission money looked at me funny and said out loud, “oh that's classy”. I kept on walking because I wasn't really sure if that's what she said, but my mom later told me that she actually did say that. That woman obviously didn't look close enough to realize that the baby was indeed fake. That made me feel really self-conscious after that. It was silly though because why would someone bring their baby onto a bus? Why would I carry the baby in the car seat so unsafely around and not have the baby strapped in? You wouldn't normally see someone do that and I most definitely wouldn't do that.

As I played in my basketball games I gave my baby to my mom to take care of and to watch as I played. I was really worried about that because I didn't want her to mess up and have it crying in the gym the whole time. As I was playing and sitting on the bench when I came out I could hear my baby crying. It really made me nervous and anxious because there was nothing I could go do to help make her stop crying. I was more focused on my baby than playing in my game. Throughout the day I felt like this. Although being nervous about it, it was also really funny to see all the moms trying to help my mom stop the baby from crying. At the end of the day when I was leaving the gym, girls from another basketball team were staring at me when I walked down the bleachers. I kept on walking but I could see them in the corner of my eye watching me, and I knew what was probably going through their heads. Again, it was funny but I wanted to get out of the gym as fast as I could.

Saturday night I was already exhausted from the two nights before, but it made it ten times worse that I had basketball games that day. I wanted to sleep and rest up from playing so much. I also noticed that I was getting sick, so that didn't help anything. I was grumpy, over-tired, and getting sick. I was up all night and Sunday morning again. That morning though, I felt like I got a little more sleep than I did the three nights before. I was still tired but a little more rested. I planned on going to a play Sunday with my mom and grandmother, and I already had a babysitter set for that time for me. My babysitter was my friend and I had to make sure she knew everything that she needed to do. After I dropped off the baby at her house, I felt relieved to be free for a few hours.

Picking up may baby again made me a little upset because I did not want it back at all. But when I got home luckily it slept for a while so I could work on my homework. I finished everything it was 11:00pm, but I didn't end up going to bed till 12:30am. I felt like the baby went off more than the other nights even though my teacher told us Thursday and Sunday they wouldn't because they were school nights. Maybe I felt this way because I couldn't wait to get rid of the thing the next day. In the night I was so tired that when I had to feed her, I just kept her in my bed. I ended up keeping my baby in my bed for the rest of the night because I was too tired to move it, and it was just easier to keep it there. Monday morning my mom came into my room and was laughing at me because I slept with the baby in my bed. I could not wait to pass in my baby to my health teach that afternoon.

In health class that afternoon, I was so relieved. I noticed that everyone else was too. I knew that they all went through the same thing I did and everyone looked tired. Even though I felt relieved, I didn't really want to give my baby back because I kind of felt attached to it in a way oddly. I told my teacher that I couldn't believe that she put us through all of that and it was awful. I also told her about Saturday and the what the lady said to me, but she just laughed and thought it was funny. I thought having this experience with this baby was a good way of birth control. It helps show kids how hard and difficult it really is to have a baby at this age. Before we got our babies, I remember telling my teacher that there was no way I would have time to have a baby now and I don't intend to have one anytime soon because I'm so busy as it is. This experience just proved my point on what I said. I am way to busy and I need my own rest because I'm still young. It showed me how there is a stereotype for teen girls if you see them with kids. People automatically assume that they are theirs and there is no question about it. For all that woman knows, the baby could have been my little sister. I think that every girl should do this baby experience to get the idea of what it takes. Even though it's not the real thing, you get the general idea of what it's like to have a baby. Hopefully when go through this experience you see that you are not ready to have children and you decide to wait till you are older when you are ready. I know that I'm waiting till I'm financially ready and when I have time to go through all though sleepless nights for real.

OHMS goes all the way to the championships

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By Abby Shanor, Tyler Pelletier

OXFORD HILLS – There's big news here in the Oxford Hills – the middle school football team made the state championship game. Over the course of a long six-game season, the Vikings went 3-3, a respectable finishing record. Starting the season with 0-3 and the Vikings made it all the way ... a true underdog story.

The first three games were lost by a combined margin of nine points, all very close losses. What turned this team around was a win over Auburn, 13-12 at home. Auburn hadn’t lost a game before and didn’t lose another after until the play-offs.

The Vikings then went on a winning streak of three games including defeats of Lewiston, and Gardner by forfeit. When Gardner forfeited it gave the Vikings the fourth seed in the play-offs, which meant a rematch of the game with Auburn, who only lost one game the entire season and was the number one seed.

“The boys were really motivated for that game,” said Coach Chris Marston. “Not only because it was a play-off game, but because they knew if they knocked Auburn out of the play-offs, we would be the only team to beat Auburn all season and we would have done it twice. They took a lot of pride in knowing that they could accomplish that and nobody else could.”

The Vikings ended up shocking the Red Eddies 21-14, a major upset. They made it to the big show, as a complete underdog. The championship game was held at Mt. Blue middle school where the Vikings would take on Mt. Blue, one of the teams which beat the Vikings early in the season by two points. “We were very positive about our chances going into that championship game because we felt that we outplayed them earlier in the year, but they stole one from us,” explained Marston. “They returned two fumbles for touchdowns in the first meeting and those were their only points.”

Mt. Blue got on the score board early and used that momentum to spark a 16-0 lead at the half. The Vikings started the second half with the ball and marched up the field with a good running game by Gavin Bandy and a strong offensive push led by Zack Little and Brennan Gillespie.

The Vikings would score off a 20-yard touchdown pass by Brady LaFrance to Ian Lejonhud. That would be the only offense shown by the Vikings, and Mt. Blue would eventually win by a final score of 30-6.

“To go from 0-3 to playing in the championship game is something these boys can be proud of...this class will use that as a motivation for when they get into high school,” said Marston.

Coach Marston also noted how supportive families and local businesses were.

“This success could not have been possible if it wasn’t for them,” he concluded.

A Year Without Diversity

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Nothing seems unusual compared to every other school year at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School (OHCHS) but there's more than meets the eye. This year there is a change in the student body that is not going unnoticed by members at OHCHS; a lack in foreign exchange students.

Oxford Hills has a strong history of hosting as many as five foreign exchange students in their community every school year. So far this year the community has only welcomed two teenagers, one from Chile and one from Turkey.

This change was noticed by many members of the faculty at the high school, including French teacher and host-mother to many, Mrs. Andrea Asken-Dunn. Mrs. Asken-Dunn has been involved with student foreign exchange programs at OHCHS for seven years and has hosted students for five. This the first year she has not hosted a student. This is her first year without a child of her own at home. She felt she had some adjusting to do. When asked why she thought other host families chose not to host this year, she said there might be "a lot of economic stress." Mrs. Asken-Dunn feels this affects the school. "Students are less aware of the world around them. It's good for students to become aware before they leave high school."

Faculty members are not the only ones to notice the change; students have as well. Senior Kurt Kilgore says, "I feel that the lack of foreign exchange students in this school does not allow me, or other students attending OHCHS, to broaden their horizons. Nor does it allow other cultures to assimilate."

Whatever the cause may be for the lack of diversity in the OHCHS student body this year, one thing is for certain: it has affected everybody.