The Spotlight is sad to see our seniors go, but we salute them as we say so long!
Casey Anthony has been a part of the Spotlight staff for all of her four years at Southern Lehigh High School. She was the features editor for her sophomore and junior year, and was promoted to the highest spot, editor-in-chief, for her senior year.
During high school she was a member of the robotics team, National Honor Society, teen counseling, and Key Club, where she was secretary during her senior year.
Following graduation, Casey will attend Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA. She will major in early childhood education and special education.
Casey is very excited to be going off to college in the fall. “I can’t wait for all the exciting new adventures,” she said. “I’m also really excited to live on my own.”
Although she is very excited to graduate, Casey is sad to be leaving her hometown dance studio behind. She plans to join the dance ensemble at Juniata where she will continue to dance and maybe even choreograph a little.
Casey will miss Mr. Cooper, Mr. Sinkler, and Sra. Imms the most when she leaves Southern Lehigh.
A random fun fact about Casey is that her favorite animal is a six-legged, long-eared zebra.
Lauren Gross has been a member of the Spotlight for four years, where she has been a staff reporter, features editor, news editor and managing editor. During high school, Lauren has been a part of varsity and competition cheerleading, WSOL morning announcements, Teen Counseling, and Varsity Club.
In her spare time, Lauren enjoys baking, cooking, crafting, and picking flowers from the garden — a typical Southern belle. She also collects aprons, has over 180 hair bows, and says her favorite color is sparkly pink.
Lauren plans to attend the University of Alabama to major in public relations.
In the future Lauren sees herself living in a plantation home outside of Atlanta, Georgia. She would love to work in PR or a sales department for a large corporation. But once she gets married, she plans on having three kids and becoming a stay-at-home mom.
Jenna Weigard is a first year staff reporter and photo editor for the Spotlight. During high school she has participated in NHS, WSOL, and was a two-year member of both the track and field team and cross country team. Outside of school, Jenna loves watching Glee, keeping up on politics, shopping frequently, going on Disney cruises and traveling to Disney world.
Jenna will be attending Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, in the fall. She plans to double major in political science and film and television studies. Jenna is really excited for college because she is in love with the school’s programs and location, just outside of New York City.
“Hofstra has televised presidential debates which is perfect for both of my majors,” she said. “I also love the internship opportunities since it is so close to New York City.”
After college, Jenna would love to work for CNN as a news anchor or become “a future Anderson Cooper.” She is extremely passionate about sharing the news through new media platforms, while hopefully rising to fame.
Throughout high school, Jenna’s favorite classes were Mass Media with Mr. Hershey and Government with Mrs. Quartuch. She advises underclassmen to “not screw up the college application process.”
Danielle Renner has been a member of the Spotlight for two non-consecutive years. Her columns on the op-ed page have always been a topic of discussion because of the honesty and truth she expresses in each one.
Outside of the Spotlight, Danielle has been part of varsity and competition cheer, track and field, WSOL, Cake Decorating Club, choir, Meistersingers, and several spring musicals. In addition, she spends her spare time working on her witty banter and comebacks, and she can get an Oreo from her forehead to her mouth in six seconds!
Danielle plans to attend Penn State University in the fall where she will major in broadcast journalism along with theatre.
Looking ahead, she hopes to become a television floor manager in either L.A. or New York, where she insists on having a dog, whether she can afford it or not.
Danielle will always remember Mr. Wehr, especially for his sarcasm. “[His] ferocity will keep me forever content with my high school experience,” she said.
Throughout high school, Danielle has achieved a lot and has earned many awards for her outstanding performances in sports and extracurriculars, including choir and cheerleading, as well as two Freddy Nominations.
Her advice? “Kiss up to all the teachers,” Danielle said, “it got me places. HA!”
And before she leaves the halls of Southern Lehigh, she wants to send a special shout-out for her AP English class to remember: “Don’t forget to….” Oh, nevermind. They know.
Emily Tkacik is a first year Spotlight reporter, and, due to her senior status, this will be her last as well. Regular readers of the Spotlight should remember the vast number of Emily’s book reviews in the paper this past year.
Emily has read four to six books per week since fifth grade, which comes out to approximately two thousand individual titles read. And you couldn’t even manage Brave New World.
In addition to maintaining her paperback obsession, Emily is going to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania next year. She plans to major in English Education so she can become an English teacher. She will no doubt inspire a multitude of future generations to become readers like her.
She is also quite the romantic. “My favorite memory of high school would be meeting my current boyfriend for the first time, in freshman year,” she said. How adorably sweet.
The boyfriend in question isn’t quite as romantic. “She said that?,” he said. “Oh geez.”
All in all, Emily is approachable, polite, and always eager to help those in need. She’s very intelligent and a great friend to anyone who takes the time to get to know her. There’s a bright future in store for this novel hound.
Justin Malone: What more can be said of the man who single-handedly tried to make a boat out of duct tape? And by single-handedly I mean with one other person. And by tried, I mean never got around to it.
Justin Malone is pretty well-known since joining the Spotlight this year. As he is a senior, this will be his last year as a member of the newspaper. As a tribute to him and his contribution to the world of journalism, I will regale readers with a rundown of his informative articles.
How could one forget the article about the end of the world? A true masterpiece of sarcasm and wit. Telling the story of waking up to nothing more than a bit of fog on the morning when one should have been ducking for cover. Or how about the ones that brought the newest video games to our readers’ attention and the newest movies to movie goers?
Next year, Justin will be taking a siesta to gather money and a car before starting film school in the fall of 2014. He hopes to become a professional video editor and maybe make a movie or two. He also hopes to branch out into the music field by writing a few remixes.
In a few years we may just watch a movie of his or download his next greatest album. Justin Malone, we will miss you!
Grace Reichard is a second-year (non-consecutive) staff reporter for the Spotlight. During high school, she was involved in competition cheerleading, treasurer of the Cake Decorating Club, and the treasurer for the Asian Culture Club. Outside of school, Grace loves doing product reviews, keeping up with the news, and playing tennis.
Grace will be attending Pace University in New York City in the fall. She plans to double major in Finance and Communications. Grace is really excited for college because of the internship programs and the opportunity to explore the city.
“Pace is ranked fifth in the nation for internships,” she said, “which I think is a really great way to make connections for jobs after graduation.”
After college, Grace plans to work on the legal side of mergers and acquisitions, but she’s not sure in which specific industry she would like to work. She also plans to pursue a law degree.
Throughout high school, Grace’s favorite classes were Economics with Mrs. Wlodek, Government with Mrs. Quartuch, and Honors English 10 with Mrs. Ciotti.
Grace advises the underclassmen to, “Stay true to yourself and don’t change just because something is a fad. Do what you love.”
Tyler Martin is a first-year reporter for the Spotlight. Outside of the Spotlight, Tyler was a member of the football team, performed in musicals, competed in weightlifting, and participated in track and field.
In his free time, Tyler enjoys urban kayaking, sleeping, working out, and eating peanut butter sandwiches. Tyler’s achievements vary from earning two varsity letters for football and one for track, ranking second in the state for powerlifting, and being nominated for two Freddy awards.
Tyler will really miss playing football.
“My advice to underclassmen would be that the best memories are the ones you will make outside of the classroom,” he said.
Tyler’s favorite teacher is Srta. Swartz. His favorite memory is the food fight that happened in lunch five during his sophomore year.
Next year Tyler will join the Air Force with the goal of becoming a pararescueman.