“It feels really cool to be voted the coolest teacher,” said Timothy Campbell, English teacher. “It’s awesome to be recognized by all of the students.” Campbell has been teaching for seven years at West Deptford High School and has left an impact on many of his students.

“During the year, Mr. Campbell always made me, and the rest of my class, burst with laughter and actually look forward to learning in English class,” said—-.

Outside of the classroom, Timothy Campbell takes place in other activities as well. “I play in my band called The Naked Sun, and I also play with my naked sons. Toddlers are always naked and running around the house,” said Campbell. In addition to teaching at WDHS, Campbell also coaches the track team.

Campbell explored different majors before deciding on English including psychology, biology, math, and communications. “English was different than all of the other majors for me because I liked the fact that there was never just one answer,” said Campbell.

In the future, Campbell wants to continue to teach English. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” said Campbell. “Maybe if they had a guitar class, I would teach that.” Campbell also wants to teach himself how to play a pedal steel guitar and the violin/fiddle.

West Deptford High School has a talent show one every school year. A lot of students like to get involved in it or come out and support their peers. This year’s talent show was a huge success.

Many good acts were performed at this year’s talent show. A lot of vocal acts were performed where students sang different songs that are currently out right now. A few dancing acts were also performed and there was also a comedy performance.  Along with those performances, there were also some instrumental performances.

Some of the songs sung by students who did vocal performances were “On My Own” from Les Miserables, “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz, “Skinny Love” by Birdy, “You’re Gonna Miss This” by Trace Adkins, “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera, “Stay” by Rihanna, “Who You’re Around” By Meek Mill, and “Bound To You” by Christina Aguilera.

Dance acts that were performed were just as good as the vocal acts. Three dance acts were performed. Two of the acts were by the same person, Sarah Valdez. John Daley performed the other dance act.

For her first dance, Valdez did a more slow-paced song where she did a ballet type of dance. When she performed the second time, it was to a more upbeat catchy song, where she still did a type of ballet, but it was a lot more energetic and more movements. Daley danced to a techno “dub step” song, and he performed a techno dance.

A great comedy ac was also performed by a group of four students. Their performance had the audience dying with laughter and captured all of their undivided attention. It consisted of mostly jokes told to the audience by one on the four boys and another one of the boys would find something wrong with all the jokes that the other boy told.

The one boy laughed obnoxiously at the boy’s jokes whenever he read them to the audience. Then the other two boys in the group of four acted like security, and they took away the boy who was acting hysterical towards all the jokes made.

A few instrumentals were performed by some of the students, including two guitar performances and two piano performances. One of the guitar acts that was performed also included a vocal performance. The student who completed this act played his guitar while he sang to it.

One of the vocal acts that were performed was a rap duet by two girls named Aja Andrews and Ivory “Star” Ajamu. Star rapped the verses to the song while Andrews sang the chorus to the song. The chorus she sang is from a song by rap artist Meek Mill. Although the chorus she sang is from an actual song, the rap part that Star did is not. The two rap verses that she performed were completely made up by her.

The outcome of the talent show was fairly pleasant. Almost everyone was acknowledged for their performances and a lot of students who performed were rewarded with certificates and some prize money.

For the vocal parts the two winners were Nicole Smashey and Elizabeth McCool. There were also two winners for the dance parts which were Sarah Valdez and John Daley. The comedy act was acknowledged and they were rewarded as well. So there were quite a few people who were recognized and rewarded for their hard work and success.

Overall, the talent show was a very huge success this year and quite a few people and parents came out to support their peers or children. A lot of effort and time was put into it, and it paid off because the talent show was very enjoyable and well organized.

When you are very attached to someone and all at once it just ends, it’s like the weight of the world has crashed down on your heart. Many people just sit and cry for days on end watching sappy love movies and succumb to emotional eating. All of those things will not make you feel better because you’re not trying to get your off of your mind. Instead, you are forcing yourself to think about them.

The number one reason you can’t get over an ex is because you remember all the good times and the memories you had together. When you are sitting there thinking about your ex, you seldom remember the bad times. You remember that time you went to the carnival, and he won you that huge pink bear, and you felt more happy than you ever have, but what about that text from that girl you read in his phone that you got into a fight about? What about those moments when you just found things to fight over or the time he told you that you were worthless, and he could do better. You don’t think about the bad memories, which would cause you to think rationally about the breakup. You just think about the times you were happy.

Maybe he made you feel complete and made you feel safe for the first time in your life and maybe he made you happy in the way that no one else could. But was sitting up all night after fighting for three hours straight losing your mind worth that day of happiness? Were the days he called you beautiful worth all the days he told you he could do better?

Honestly, I’ve wasted a lot of my years with people who weren’t worth ten minutes of my time, but something holds us women back from being happy after we break up. The reasons we are unhappy is because we blame ourselves for it ending. We had security with him and he made us happy, but what we don’t understand is that he wasn’t right for us, and we weren’t right for him. It’s not our fault; it’s just the way it works out sometimes. We will find someone else who makes us just as happy as he did, maybe even more, and that won’t fight with us constantly, and he won’t let us stay up all night and cry until our eyes run dry.

We might see him around holding hands with the girl he said was just a friend, and he will hold her just a little closer because he knows you are looking. Nothing will hurt you more in your life when you see him kiss her, but the most effective revenge is to be happy. Find someone new and move on is the best advice that anyone could give you for getting over an ex. It may be hard, but it might just be the only way to be happy again because you cannot undo the past and you can’t change what has been done. Mitch Albom in his book The Time Keeper wrote a very inspirational quote:

“I made such a fool of myself,” she lamented.

“Love does not make you a fool.”

“He didn’t love me back.”

“That does not make you a fool, either.”

“Just tell me …” Her voice cracked. “When does it stop hurting?”

“Sometimes never.”

I believe that you will always love a person deep down in your heart, and it could always hurt, but if you don’t try to tell yourself it is over and move on, you will always be living in the past, and you will be living with sadness and guilt.

― Mitch Albom, The Time Keeper

I believe this is great advice from a master storyteller.

Junior Lisa Lessig shares a witty and sarcastic view of high school life.

According to an article posted on Alabama.com, there are 34 million hunters and fishermen in the United States.  Two of those 34 million fishermen are West Deptford High School sophomores Jake Mangano and Tony Freeman.

Like many aspiring fisherman, Mangano and Freeman developed an interest in the sport at a young age.

“I started fishing when I was very young, probably around four or five-years-old.  I mostly started because my dad fished for his entire life, so I wanted to try it too,” says Freeman.

Mangano also started fishing for some of the same reasons.  “My dad and I started fishing when I was about seven,” says Mangano, who has since placed third at the New Jersey State Bass Fishing Championships. He also fishes in many tournaments in New Jersey with his club Millennium Junior Bassmasters.  “We usually fish in freshwater lakes around South Jersey,” he said.  Freeman, on the other hand, fishes strictly for fun.

Catching a big fish is much like hitting the jackpot for a fisherman.  “The adrenalin rush I get after I catch a fish makes me want to catch an even bigger one,” says Mangano.

Both Freeman and Mangano have caught a 4.5 lb. bass.  “I get excited with just thinking about catching a monster,” says Freeman who has also caught a 6 lb. snakehead and fishes for carp, perch, stripers, and bluegills as well.  “As soon as I catch the fish and get it out of the water, I quickly take a picture with it and then throw it back.”

Some could say that fishing is all luck, but it takes skill too, which is why both boys fish almost every weekend year round, and nearly every day once the summer comes.  “My goal for this season is to go back to States with my club,” says Mangano, who is hoping to win another state title.  “My dad helps me fish a lot and so does my uncle.  I’ll never forget the time when my uncle and I both caught a fish at the same exact time. It’s really rare when that happens,” adds Mangano.

Freeman is not interested in fishing in tournaments.  “My goal for this fishing season is to catch a few 5 lb. bass and a 7 lb. snakehead,” he says.  “But no matter what happens, every fishing trip is amazing.”