Northwestern Press

People in the know say the success of any reality show hinges on three top ingredients: ego struggles, a gang of best friends and clichéd activities.

The annual Mr. Northwestern contest seems to fit the bill but the fun and camaraderie of the event makes it a reality show that is one of the most beloved traditions in the high school.

The high school debate season ended at Saucon Valley on April 25, when Pennridge argued the negative and Salisbury argued the affirmative on “Resolved: The United States should implement a DNA database for all criminal suspects.”

Northwestern’s semifinal team had its last debate just a few weeks earlier.

This year’s semifinalist team included Kyah Harding, Ben Fry, Sommer Farthing and Jason Woolley.

While folks gathered across the country to celebrate the importance of science on April 22, young scientists were making their own scientific statements in the high school cafeteria during the annual science fair.

Students from kindergarten to eighth grade were invited to submit science projects.

Members of the Science National Honor Society served as judges.

Any adult looking to find relief from the daily grind will find a welcome break at the end of this month by visiting with Peter Pan and his friends in Neverland as Northwestern Lehigh Middle School thespians stage the family favorite.

Seventh grader Molly McGorry debuts as the boy who refuses to grow up.

“In the beginning Peter is a little more pushy and kind of like a brat,” said McGorry. “He’s kind of freaked out Wendy saw him crying.”

McGorry easily relates to her character.

“He’s a very free spirit and can do whatever he wants,” she explained.

Just ahead of Winter Storm Stella, which dumped more than a foot of snow that blanketed the area, 10 Lehigh Valley residents escaped to sunny Cuba for an unforgettable week.

Urszula Abolik of Emmaus, one of the two hosts leading the group, promised an untraditional trip.

“We organize these trips because we are both in total love with Cuban culture, music, dance [and art],” Abolik said. “You will discover with us some places tourists do not know about.”

Abolik was as good as her word.

Three Northwestern students earned awards in the Lehigh Valley Kennel Club Essay contest.

Maggie Mauro took top prize overall and Chris Hippensteel took second. Brandon Smeltz scored an honorable mention.

Mauro’s essay was partly true and partly fiction.

“I wrote about my dog Atticus, but the [actual] story was fake,” said the eighth grader. “I take him outside in the snow and he ends up saving a child in a woodsy area around my house. My dog is a star and he didn’t even have to get off the kitchen floor.”

Mauro is no stranger to writing contests.

When Emily Witt puts on a blonde wig for tonight’s premiere of “Legally Blonde,” she will have to do what Reese Witherspoon did in the role of Elle Woods and then some.

As the central character of the musical, she will also have to sing and dance.

“You have to have a lot of energy,” Witt said. “Elle is a little bit flaky but Bill [Mutimer] wants her to be a lot more optimistic in our version of the play.”

“Emily is doing great,” said Director Bill Mutimer. “She really is working hard and doing fantastic.

“It’s a huge role but she is fully up to the challenge.”

Three Northwestern students earned awards in the Lehigh Valley Kennel Club Essay contest.

Maggie Mauro took top prize overall and Chris Hippensteel took second.

Brandon Smeltz scored an honorable mention.

Mauro’s essay was partly true and partly fiction.

“I wrote about my dog Atticus, but the [actual] story was fake,” said the eighth grader. “I take him outside in the snow and he ends up saving a child in a woodsy area around my house. My dog is a star and he didn’t even have to get off the kitchen floor.”

Mauro is no stranger to writing contests.

The Northwestern Lehigh High School gym was a hub of activity but there was no wrestling mat or basketball in sight.

Instead, clusters of teenagers from 25 different schools were busy conferring, calculating and hoping like crazy that their work would yield wins in the Tiger Invitational Science Olympiad Competition.

In one corner, a group of some 30 Northwestern students were cheering on Ryan Terrell and Michael Boushell as they manipulated a robotic arm.

“This is the 40th iteration of the robot arm,” said Terrell. “It’s been a continuous process.”

While many Americans were lamenting that a famous groundhog saw his shadow on Feb. 2, Northwestern Lehigh High School junior Kelty Tarvin was lending her voice to poetry at an annual celebration hosted at the Allentown Art Museum.

Tarvin was one of six students from area high schools who memorized and delivered three poems at Poetry Out Loud, a national initiative that is more than a decade old.

“It’s a rare group,” Tarvin said. “It’s a good crowd to be around sharing their experience and passion for poetry.

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”