First paper

This is our first paper, the following editions will be published the second Tuesday of every month.

The Canteen - an article by Elisabeth Sundlo

Over priced or are students too demanding?

Ever since the canteen opened students have complained that the canteen is overpriced. But is this really the truth or are students too demanding?

We have interviewed a few of the students and they have admitted that they are not directly dissatisfied, but they would be a lot happier if the canteen got a bit cheaper and more varied food. The meals are good for a snack but they seldom get full from the meals. Also, paying 49,- NOK for a snack is not very economically friendly for your average student.

I have been in contact with Høgskolen i Sørøst-Norge(HSN) where I got their full school lunch menu. Their menu is really well put together and they have a lot of options for everyone, if you are vegetarian, meat lover, on a budget, have other special preferences or allergies,you WILL find something to eat! There are three different weeks on their menu (A-B-C) and in those weeks they have three different hot meal options per day which also varies depending on the day.

Meanwhile at Skagerak we have a menu with few things and high prices. Not to mention that we have nothing vegetarian or other allergy friendly food, besides cake. Cake might sound like a good idea for lunch, but trust me- it's not.

There are a few problems here. First of all, the warm meals offered at HSN have more food than Skag Canteen has -at a lower price! This makes little to no sense, since the student's that attend HSN are between 18-47 years old. Most of them have part time jobs, therefor a bigger budget, yet Skag students have a lower budget but we are paying more.

The majority of people we interviewed thought that if our canteen lowered the prices and had a better variety they would sell more meals, meaning bigger profit! Maybe even make medium and large plates, and price depending on that?

In conclusion, put more food on the plate and lower prices! It’s a win win situation for everyone!

Meals, Skagerak (Price) vs HSN (Price)

Hot meal

49 kr (Skag)

30-60 kr (HSN)

Bread(Rundstykke)

24 kr (Skag)

6 kr + 4 kr for additional toppings/pålegg (HSN)

Skolebrød

29 kr (Skag)

16 kr (HSN)

Carrotcake

25 kr (Skag)

18 kr (HSN)

Surviving Skagerak 101 - opinionated piece by Laura Marques

As a student that has to travle around 2 hours everyday just to get to school I would know the "living away from school" life is not as simple and adventurous as is may seem. In December we will be experiencing cold weather, delayed busses and overall melancholia due to the fact that we rarely even see daylight. The exams are just around the corner and we are all, both students and teachers alike, "stressed out!" December is going to be a tough month but here are some tips for you to find ways of surviving the dreaded month of December.

1. - If you know you take the bus often, get yourself a bus card that covers days or periods. Avoid paying cash!

"Why?" you ask? Well...

When you get on the bus you’ll have to stop and buy a ticket. It’s much easier if you just have a monthly card. No need to stop, just “tick and go”. You’ll be thanking yourself and the rest of us that are impatiently waiting for you to get on with it!

You don´ have to pay for an entire month either. You can pay for a day, week, month or even put an amount of cash into the card and it will be deducted each trip you take (at a lower cost). If your wallet tends to be more on the light side these days (who am I kidding, no one uses wallets anymore) you should be economically conscious and get a bus card, this will save you money,so that you CAN afford to buy a wallet!

2. - No need to wear warmer, wear layers!

We all know how hard it is to keep up with todays fashion or your own style and that sadly clothes that make you look the best are not that warm. A way of surviving a cold Norwegian winter and still staying stylish will be wearing layers instead of warmer clothes. Wear your favourite clothes but while your outside, on your way to school, wear a warm winter sweater over it and your jacket, wool under your trousers and warm socks. Once you´re inside the building you can just take it off your outer layer and put it in your locker. If you don’t want to wear big and oversized boots all day, have a spare pair of shoes in your locker so you can change at school.

3. - If you know you might arrive late to something really important at school, sleep over at a friend that lives in Sandefjord.

Sometimes there are some important revisions happening at school, or tests and for someone that lives hours away from school, it is tough. Waking up 2 hours earlier is no fun but sleeping over at your friends house in the other hand, is always fun and if it turns out your friend lives in Sandefjord, even better.

For you lucky people that live near the school, help out the ones that don’t and if you know someone that might have issues with this, be the caring friend that helps out.

4. - Find travelling mates or simply make the travelling fun!

Travelling alone can be boring. Making time fly is the best solution there is! Find someone to travel with, join others that take the same route. Nothing beats the company of others! If you recognise someone, sit with them, have a chat. If you are more of the lone wolf kinda person, it’s understandable that you would rather sit by yourself. Listen to music, work on school projects or homework. Time can fly by when

you’re focused on something and working is the perfect thing to do. Don’t force yourself to do something you don’t feel like doing, because it doesn’t work like that. You need to feel at peace, serene and enjoy what you`re doing. Try out the mindfulness that was taught in contact time for instance.

Obviously there are multiple tips for beating the "December stressies" so if you have any tips, send them in and they might show up in the January paper edition! In the mean time, share them with each other! And remember, be kind, unwind!

The state of the fountain- An article by Fredrik Borud

The water fountain by the stairs on the first floor is a common part of student life here at Skagerak. You can expect many people to be seen using it daily, obtaining new water to help them through the school day. Indeed, with all the use it sees, it can be safely seen as a staple of life here at Skagerak.

However, with all that use, there are a couple things to note about it.

For example, when were the water filters last cleaned?

Trusted sources, that remain anonymous, say "not so often."

Have YOU ever witnessed the water filter being changed before!?

Rumour has it that the water filter was changed before summer, and it only took them two years to do so!

It is also worth mentioning that student´s behavior around the water fountain is not always "decent". Sources have commented that occasionally, they can see students drinking directly from the fountain tap, sometimes even having their mouths touch the tap!

You should not need to be in DP2 to see how this is a hygienic issue. Luckily, there hasn't been an outbreak of "the herp"...yet.

Upcoming movies of

December 2016 -Written by Pelle A. Raaen

Want to enjoy some good movies to end this year? 2016 has been an amazing year in film, but it is not finished yet!

Here are some of the most anticipated movies of December 2016.

(in order of premier dates in Norway)

Hacksaw Ridge (9th December)

A soldier who doesn´t carry a gun? Wait… is he even a soldier? Who cares! It mixes war and feelings which we all love (Saving Private Ryan flashbacks*)

Is this Mel Gibson trying to become a good guy again? Is it Andrew Garfield trying to be remembered as something else than “that Spider Man dude who was totally better than Tobey Maguire”? We´ll see.

Office Christmas Party (9th December)

A crazy party filled with stupid ideas to inspire you for your own stupid Christmas party. Also it has some great and funny actors. What more is to be said?

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (14th December)

Another Star Wars Movie, only this one is the first in the Star Wars Anthology Series. Rogue One takes place not long before A New Hope, first of the original series. Rogue One follows the Rebel Alliance as they try steal the plans for the Deathstar (which is referred to in A New Hope).

Passengers (25th December)

Sci-fi movies with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. Both amazing actors, and extremely funny people. They are awoken in a spaceship 90 years before they are supposed to, and for a reason. Or maybe not, maybe they just get bored and play beer-pong in zero gravity. Or duck hunting, but instead of hunting ducks they hunt little aliens. Nobody knows, there is literally nothing that gets us any closer to what happens.

Of course there are many good movies out there, and many good movies are expected to come next year as well. A little tip for this holiday is going with your family on a Christmas movie. Snekker Andersen og Julenissen looks like a great family-movie!

Why Him? (25th December)

With hilarious James Franco and Bryan Cranston this movie is all about a daughter and her crazy new boyfriend (James Franco).

Written by Jonah Hill and John Hamburg (as well as some other fellas), I expect a good laugh from this one.

A talk with the youngest nominee for the Norwegian volunteering prize “Frivilightsprisen” -By Laura Marques

Veronica Frantzen (16), is the leader of the youth group of UngSOS in Sandefjord and has been nominated to a prize called “Årets Nykommer”, a part of the “Frivilighetsprisen”. This Prize is given out every year, December 5th.

“Årets Nykommer” is a prize given to a volunteer who has been working within a charity organisation for more than 12 months. It’s a way of helping people recognise volunteers and their hard work.

Did you do anything in particular so that you got nominated for the prize?

SOS barnebyer in Vestfold needed a leader so that they could make a youthgroup. The reason behind this is to make teenagers more aware of society and to encourage them to think of making a difference. This way we don’t need to always be with adults to try do something and rather think for ourselves. I was asked if I wanted to be the leader and I knew it would be a challenge but I accepted. My first task was to organize the “Barnebyer marsjen” that occurred in September.I had a choice to either cancel it or plan it by myself. I had never planned an event like this before and it was a huge responsibility given to me. It turned out to be very successful. The leaders were very happy with the success of the “barnebyer marsjen”and when they had to come up with nominees, the success of this event and my name was the one they had in mind.

Is the nomination mostly because of your group activity and leadership or for your own independent work?

The nomination goes for my work after school and also what I do in school. It’s for what I do together with the group and also what I plan independently. It’s very balanced.

What are you currently doing to encourage other teenagers to do some volunteer work themselves?

One example is the SOS Barnebyer CAS here at Skagerak. It wasn’t here from before and me and the vice leader Chloè Lilland (16), both members of the youth group decided to bring it over here.

What do you think are your chances of winning?

I am not sure. I am the youngest of the nominees and my work is very recent. The others might have been within the organisation longer than I have and that’s a clear disadvantage. But it would a lot of fun if I won. Not that it matters that much because either I lose or win, I intend to work with SOS barnebyer for as long as I can. Then I can work my way up and reach our goal.

Do you have an important message that you are currently transmitting through your actions and effort?

I think that it is very important to be a volunteer. I don’t get anything from being a volunteer, don’t receive any money or anything, but I find being remembered by the effort I have made to help reach SOS barnebyers goal enough. Norway is a privileged country and being a volunteer is a way of giving back to our community and to the world. We have so much and it’s important to share our knowledge and wealth with the world. You don’t need both of those things, you could rather give some kindness back instead and that’s also what volunteering is about. Just spending a few hours for charity causes is enough. So I encourage everyone to give a little, either kindness or knowledge, to help our cause.

Veronica and her group are now focusing on building a child home in Colombia and they’re planning different events and other ways of helping out to reach this goal.

In less than a month the prize “Årets Nykommer” is going to be given out, and we wish the best of luck to Veronica Frantzen.

Hands Like Houses – “I Am” -Music review by Fredrik Borud

Some songs manage to grab the listeners attention with clever lyrics. Some songs grab attention through the vocalist and their voice. And some songs grab attention through clever riffs that help evoke a mood.

In the case of “I Am”, by the Australian post-hardcore band Hands Like Houses, there is some element of all three at play.

The song presents itself as an outcry of anger, and it can be heard from the build up of energy in the introduction that transitions well into the verses. Held together by a purposed guitar riff and well-planned drumming, the music brings what it promises. The lyrical content, while perhaps leaning towards the overdramatic at points, works well to help cement this song. As the song slows down ever so slightly in preparation for the main breakdown of the song, this constant anger is given a slight pause as the final burst is prepared.

There is a certain amount of implicit catharsis in this son, which can come across as perhaps unnecessary to some. However, if one finds music that might be slightly heavier than standard radio sounds to be enjoyable, then this song might be a solid choice for a high energy situation.

Gossip corner with Mr.Burns!

How long have you been teaching?

I've been teaching for.. let me think about that, um, 13 years.

What inspired you to be a teacher?

I'm not sure if it's really inspiration, it's more kind of the way things took me, so to speak. I actually studied German in university and I got a scholarship and one of the points of the scholarship was that I was to train to be a teacher. So I did that, but I have never taught German. *Haha*

Have you ever thought about a different career? If so what?

Yeah, actually I've done a little bit of outside teaching work as well, mainly in PR and marketing, that's also my sort of background. I did my masters in public relations so I've done a bit of that.

And that's what you wanted to do when you were younger?

No, not necessarily it was just, sort of, like trying something else for a bit. But at the end of the day it felt like I wasn't ready to go in that direction so I just sort of thought that being a teacher isn't that bad so that's why I stuck at it.

How would a colleagues describe you?

Oh er, that's a good question. It sounds like an interview *haha*. Um, team player, friendly, helpful, knowledgeable, I guess. I think that's probably it. *haha*

As a teacher, how do you relate to students?

Well, I'm not sure it's different from the other teachers but of course sometimes I have to remember what it's like to be doing the IB. I didn't do the IB when I was at school but the pressure and the large amount of work that is required, I'm always mindful of that, you know? And I try and be as flexible as possible, to a limit of course, but I try not to be the sort of teacher that is, "nope we're going to do it like that." I want to make it as mutually beneficial to the both of us, working together I think is the most important thing at this level.

When you were our age, what kind of student were you?

I was a very quiet student, very quiet. I was not the person who would put up their hand first to answer questions or in class discussions. Yeah, quite shy, and I would say that I was a reasonably hard worker, or, no, not as hard working as I should have been actually. So a bit lazy. *Haha*

Do you have any strange hobbies?

I don't have any strange hobbies, no. I'm not really a hobby person. I would say that what I do outside of school is pretty mainstream *haha*

Do you have any strange pet peeves?

Eh, well I don't know if it's strange but bad grammar *haha* so I'm a grammanazi. That's my main peeve, seeing it written on social media and so on, when people can't write properly it really annoys me.

Very interesting that you chose to come to a Norwegian IB school then.

Ah, look, yeah, I've been working in international schools for most my career. I am more understanding, obviously, of people who's second language is English. It's mainly more native speakers who don't understand how to write English properly.

Have you had a strange hair style?

Um, no, no. Obviously, you can tell I don't have a lot of hair therefore there hasn't really been an issue with my hair. *haha*

Whats the craziest thing you have done?

I have not been jumping out of airplanes, or anything like that... uh. *haha* you kind of put me on the spot. Uh. I've danced on trains with people celebrating birthdays... *haha* the most crazy thing... I sang karaoke in front of 300 people at a club in Berlin.

Any gossip about your colleagues?

Maybe you know Ms. Andersen got married in the summer?

For you have any embarrassing stories from teaching?

Talking to parents at parent teacher conferences about their child and actually confusing them with another child. I guess that's the most embarrassing thing, right? So that happens to a lot of teachers. So, you sit in the conference and you think you're talking about one student when actually it's someone else completely and I managed to get through it. I realised my mistake afterwards but it didn't seem to matter much because the students were quite similar anyway, so it was ok. I didn't get into trouble, I wasn't telling them that their child was a terrible student.

...Ok, so Mr. Burns might not be a former pop star, but we definitely can say that we have a major karaoke star in our midsts!

This month´s lucky teacher is Mr. Burns! Mr. Burns is one of the new teachers who joined the staff in August 2016. We´ve known the other teachers for a year or two now, depending on how long we´ve been here but there is a fresh new bunch that we literally know nothing about! And as soon as I found out we had a pop star in our midst I had to know more!

- Interview by Emma Viken

What's for dinner?!

Tomato and mozzarella tart - made by Emma Viken

Ingredients:

1 puff pastry ready rolled sheet
4 large tomatoes sliced
1 mozzarella cheese sliced
basil leaves
beaten egg to glaze
Tomato puree

How you do it:

1. Unroll pastry sheets and cut each in half across length, place pastry on baking sheets.

2. Spread tomato over pastry pieces, leaving a border of approx. 1.5cm.

3. Top with overlapping tomato slices, every now and then putting in a thin slice of cheese.

4. The Tomato puree should be completely covered.

5. Brush borders with beaten egg and bake at 200° for 12-15 min or until borders have risen up around filling and pastry is golden.

6. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

Buon appetito!

5 at skagerak! - A column by Elisabeth Sundlo

Everyone knows that even though Christmas is almost around the corner, the DP students still have a lot to do! But will they still have time to get cozy for Christmas or is it all about the IB homework? Will the DP2`s just be studying or will they actually find some holiday spirit in them and then put the IB away for parts of the holiday? Maybe the DP1`s will just be at home finishing their WT for English or will they forget about it until January second and then write the whole paper then? And the year 11`s do not have that much to do so will they just relax and forget about school or will some of them actually prepare for the two hard DP years to come?

We have asked around at school to find out what everyone is up to for Christmas holidays! These 5 at Skag had a lot to say!

Weronika(DP1)

- I'm going Christmas shopping! And I'm going home to Poland. Where I'm having Christmas dinner with my family. There I'm celebrating Christmas Eve with my whole family. Something we also are going to do is celebrate my cousins birthday who turns 18 when I'm there.

Kaia(DP2)

- My family from America will come and visit us, so we will have a very large Christmas celebration with them and my grandparents. They don't visit very often so most of my time will just be spent with family and eating large meals.

Edward(DP2)

- I'm spending Christmas with family and friends that I have not seen for at last 4 years. I am really looking forward to hanging out with my cousins and kicking their butts snowboarding. Getting together with the people I love for New Years and going down to the beach for fireworks with them. Watching the starry sky explode with bright colours that quickly fade away giving room for the next batch. Drinking gløgg and wine and be merry. Catching up on 4 months of sleep. And getting fat on pinnekjøtt.

Josefine Y11

- I'm going to stay home with my family, visit some friends that I haven't seen in a while, maybe travel a little, but most of all make the best out of all the time I have with my family back home. I think Christmas is very much about spending time with people you love and your family, and it's a great opportunity to relax and forget "reality," and everyday life, I guess, for a little while, and not be stressed and worried about things you usually stress about. That's essentially my plan for Christmas this year.

Ece(DP1)

- For the first third of the holiday, I will be in Turkey visiting my family and friends. I haven't seen them since August, and I know that it will be so nice to see them all again. But I will come back to Norway before Christmas starts for real. This is because there is not a Christmas break in Turkey so there is no special celebrations there. I do not want to spend my 3-week holiday doing nothing at home whilst my parents go to work and my friends go to school. So I will be back in Norway during the Christmas time, and I'm going to be at my host family's house in Nøtterøy. I can not wait for the Christmas spirit to come, food to be on the table and gifts! Something I'm also planning on doing is seeing all of my old friends(from last year) from Tønsberg and Nøtterøy.

Thanks for reading. The next issue will be published on 10.01.17. If you like to keep up with the school news, have some suggestions, gossip we should know about or even want to submit a creative piece? Contact us at hsnewspaper@skagerak.org

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-from the News Crew!

15th of march 2016

Prom expectations amongst year 11

-by Laura Marques

Prom is just around the corner and many students in Y11 are very excited for their first Skagerak prom on Tuesday 13th of December.

They were asked:

- how excited are you for Prom?

- what are you wearing?

- Who do you think is going to be Prom Queen/King?

These are a few of their answers.

Knut Martin Halvorsen Y11

Yes, very much.

A tuxedo. My mask is going to be white and gold.

I would say Kavindu would make a good king.

Hedda Wike Y11

Not really, but should be fun and see.

A long red dress and my mask is going to be a mystery.

I hope Ada, but that’s just because I know she’s going. Also she’s very sociable and I would call her the life of the party.

Eirik Doksheim.Haugrud Y11

I am really excited for prom!

I’m wearing a dark blue suit with a silver mask.

I’d say Julius for king! He is the king already.

Marie Thorsrud Y11

I’m super excited! So excited!

I’m wearing a blue dress and it’s a masquerade so, my mask shall remain a secret and you’ll just have to find out which one I have.

I think our Prez would be our king. I don’t know how it works though, if it’s only a queen I’m sure he would make a pretty good one.

Veronica Frantzen Y11

I am very much excited.

I am wearing a black dress and heals.

I have no idea who would be queen but everyone has a chance.

Ada Lassen-Urdahl Y11

Very excited!

A dress. That’s all I have to say. You’ll have to guess who I am.

Me obviously. Ada for queen!

Nora Mikkelsen Y11

Sure I’m excited for prom, I don’t see why not.

I’m wearing a vintage black dress.

I’d say Ada for queen! Love that gal, my woman for queen.