Josh Newman

Josh Newman AKA: DA BOMB!

Josh Newman, Da Bomb, Newman are all common names for a perculare excited teen. Josh is one of the few people I wish I could talk to for more than just 40 minutes. He hasn’t had the most easy life. When josh was 6 months old his dad decided to leave his mom due to some medical issues that she had. When josh was born her mother lost too blood and had to go on medication that made her act a lot differently and made it unsafe for the new baby.

Josh grew up in prospect and attended the Bucksport schools. From the begining josh had a different view than other kids in school. Other kids and teachers didn’t think this behavior as normal so they had him go to Mr. Eberhart’s room. The room Consisted of white walls that were not any bigger than 6 by 10, and had one table, two chairs, and a blank vibe. Josh hated this room with great rage and wanted nothing but to be in the normal classrooms and have fun with other kids rather than the average tantrum throwing kids.

Josh hung out with his uncle every moment he could. His uncle helped him with everything he needed. The main reason is that his uncle would support his every dream desire. His uncle would help him with his vlogging and his new-found love of comentating video games. That is when you talk through games while there is a video of what your doing.

Josh’s one superpower wish would to have the ability to replay things. I asked him why he choose it and he said, “I just wish I could go back to when I was young and tell my self to not act the way I did because it isnt fun.” I asked him why isn’t your life now fun. He said, “I’m not popular or considered normal. Some of the people in the Class of 2013 don’t even know who I am which is sad since I’ve gone through 13 years of school with them.
Josh’s future plans are to work at a local store to be able to buy the neccesities and then go and buy all the thing he needs to do commentating. Josh wants to become one of the legends of commentating where they could earn buku dollars for playing a game they like. One of josh’s future competition now makes average 10 cents per view. That doesn’t sound all that good until you get 1 million views in 9 hours. Thats 100,000 dollars, Which is just a meesly 11,111.11 dollars an hour. Not a bad day for having fun.

Josh Newman, Da Bomb, The guy I wish I hung out with more now. The Guy that could be famous tomorrow for something we never thought would be a normal job. I hope Josh has all the luck and helps people when he become that famous guy everyone will know in the future.

In it for the long-haul!

It’s like career day in elementary school, all the police officers, firefighters, and astronauts come in and talk to you about what they do, and what you can do when you’re “grown up.” It wasn’t a police officer, firefighter, or nurse that Mrs. Mytar wanted to do - but the desire was in publishing. Newspaper publishing. MAM envisioned herself writing for a big-time newspaper, in a big-time city, publishing magnificent articles - really putting to good use her interest in journalism. 

MAM has 6 total years of college education under her belt - a 4 year bachelor degree, and a 2 year masters degree with a specialty in reading at a secondary level. At the beginning of a 43 year long-haul in the field of education, MAM started out teaching reading and journalism, and has had experience teaching those subjects at other schools as well. MAM spent a few years at a rural school in Corinth, then moving on to spend one year at Central High School, which is also in Corinth. After spending one year at Central, she, again, was in it for the long-haul, and settled down at the one-and-only, Bucksport High School where she would put in 40+ years. Not knowing that she was going to spend over forty years in the classroom, MAM’s education career started out when she was in college. A ‘service activity’ was required and Mrs. Mytar tutored a seventh grade girl who couldn’t read fluently, she loved the environment, loved the “overall” and after having a chat with her college advisor, learned she could teach journalism and reading, and that’s where the rubber meets the road! 

In the many years, MAM has taught many different courses, many different subjects, and has overcome many career-making challenges. Her experience ranges from teaching journalism, reading, numerous Advanced Placement and honors courses, and now spending only half her time teaching and the other half coordinating the BARR grant program at BHS.

Now, besides all that Mrs. Mytar does while in school, the list only gets longer when she is spending time with family. On the weekends, she isn’t found grading papers, but spending time with her husband, visiting with her granddaughter Rita, or in the summer months she will likely be found in the garden. 

Mrs. Mytar and her husband have been married for 43 years, and dated for five years before being married - as she said, “we’ve known each other for a long time!” MAM and her husband, Marc have two daughters: Jennifer and Misha. Mrs. Mytar also has been on many interesting trips out of the country, as well as trips out of the state. Given Marc’s work with American University, they have had the opportunity to travel to Bulgaria, they were able to tour the entire country and visit many interesting places. One interesting place MAM visited was Taiwan. MAM went to Taiwan to attend her daughter’s wedding ceremony.

When at home, on the weekends, Mrs. Mytar and her husband enjoy doing carpentry, house renovations, and again, working in her garden. She also spends a tremendous amount of time with her family, including having Sunday dinner with family each week. Other than the tradition of family dinner, Mrs. Mytar also has a tradition of getting her nails done every other Friday. She’s also an avid reader and always has a book on tape. Lastly, Mrs. Mytar also heavily enjoys playing golf with her husband, as well as going out with friends. 

When asked “What’s your fondest, most memorable experience while in the classroom?” the response referenced MAM’s first year teaching journalism at BHS. MAM’s newspaper team took it on themselves to break into school and spend their weekend finishing the first issue of the newspaper so they could surprise Mrs. Mytar when she arrives early Monday morning. For clarification, she says, the students were able to get into school as this was when Mr. Jones came in to do his laundry here - perfect opportunity for some newspaper time! Those 25 students on the newspaper team, and that year of journalism was so memorable to MAM that images of the work-party are still posted on her wall. 

It is her intention to spend one more school year at BHS, then retire and devote time to Rita and her novel which is in progress. MAM’s plans are to spend a lot of time with family, but to put a serious focus on writing a novel. She is also interested learning more about photography skills. 

Do you know your best friend?

Do you know your best friend?

            Everyone has that best friend they can’t live without. My best friend is Bryce Farnham. Bryce is a caring, genuine, unique person. Luckily I got the opportunity to interview my best friend. Being her other half I already know her life was not a walk threw the park. I know she tried her best and has gotten where she is today, and I am so proud!

            When Bryce was young she had to go through tragedies that kids should not go through. Her parents split at a young age, and all she wanted was to have her family together. She then took on the role of raising herself and helping a great deal with her sister, Kylie. Usually when you’re a child your favorite thing to do is eat candy and go run around with your friends. Bryce’s favorite thing to do as a child was hang out with her dad and sister. They would go play at parks and lay on the floor watching WWE.

            Bryce now has a beef farm with her grandparents. According to her she spends more time on the farm than she does in her own house. Bryce is the only person I know who takes personal days to hang out with her cows. Her hard work pays off in the summer when she gets to take her cows to fairs. Before she can go to the fairs she spends her days on a tractor in the hay field. By the end of the summer she attends five fairs.

            Bryce has had to overcome hard times. It upsets her to know that her parents will not be together again. She had a hard time adjusting to her new family and moving schools. She also does not like the fact that new people are getting involved in her ‘cow thing’. There are two people who have helped her a great deal with her hardships. Her Aunt Stacie is like another mom to her. Bryce knows she can tell Stacie anything, and she will always know how to make her feel better. The second person is me. Bryce knows she can always rant to me about anything and everything.

            Bryce is now 18 years old and has gotten accepted into both colleges she applied to. She is not quite sure is she wants to attend UMO or UNE. She will be studying pre vet. After school she wants to be a big and small animal vet. I think that will be the perfect job for her.

            Bryce is more than my best friend, she is my other half. I would do anything for this girl and she knows it. We have been attached at the hip for about five years. Even though she has gone through so much bullshit in her life, she would still drop everything she is doing to help a loved one. Bryce is a leader, hero, and a best friend. 

An Interview with the Master

            Bryce Farnham

Just this year I become closer with a great guy. Not many people know his story and neither do I really, but I do know he’s gone through a lot and deserves more props than he probably gets. James Comtois is what I like to call an under appreciated hero, who also goes by JC.

            JC looks forward to his future. It’s looking bright and full of sunshine. He plans on graduating high school and moving to Florida to attend a community college. After taking the required classes he plans to transfer to University of Southern Florida, and continue to ‘win’ as he calls it. I asked, ‘What is your drive to get out of bed in the morning?’ he replied, “To graduate and get on with my life.” JC shows up to school 9/10 times. Not usually on time but he shows up, he knows his future depends on it and now that it’s spring its baseball season and has to come to school.

            JC has a decently sized family; two sisters through adoption, and two brothers whom are biological. When JC was only 8, his father passed away. I asked JC, ‘What was one of the hardest moments you’ve ever had to deal with?’ He replied, “Watching my dad die, that was rough.” He also stated that he was very close with his dad and that he looked up to him. His dad had a great influence on him. JC doesn’t speak about his father very often but I remember him saying that he hates it when someone calls his uncle his dad. Even with only a single ‘yeah’ answer to, ‘Were you close to your dad?’ and from what little he has talked about his dad it’s obvious that him and his father had that bond that no one else could ever replace.

            JC has had many struggles through out his life. Along with family struggles he also struggles with learning. He suffers through learning with ADHD. I asked him, ‘Do you feel like your ADHD effects your life positively or negatively?’ he replied, “Negatively, because it effects learning and such.” Even though he suffers from AHDH, I find JC to be like any other student. Even though it may be difficult for JC to comprehend certain things he is still as smart as the next kid, probably even smarter in some cases. Knowing that JC has difficulty learning, knowing how smart he is only makes me realize how much of an effort he puts in to understand.

            JC has a very abstract mind. I asked him, ‘If you were on an island, what three things would you bring and why?’ His reply was, “A still for never ending alcohol, a survival kit, I can hold my own with this, and a canteen for water and boiling water.” JC would go out of his way to make someone smile. He may have that ‘badass’, tough boy exterior but deep down he wants to help the helpless and heal the wounded. JC’s super power in my eyes is a contagious smile. 

I thought Bucksport was bad!

I as an individual always say how bad of a school Bucksport High is. I say that there are better High schools out there, ones that actually care for the students, ones that won’t have bullying, and ones that you can actually learn something that’s worth learning. So, I thought sense I think so badly of my High School that I would interview a kid from a different school to see if their school was different than mine. The person I interviewed is a girl from Hampden.

            Here are the questions and answers.

 When you hear the name Bucksport High School, what is the first thing to pop to your mind?
-Good sports team

 How is it walking down the halls of your high school?
-Teachers are very strict, but mostly nice and it's a pretty nice school, but it's hard to feel comfortable in it because it's very strict. You're not sure if what you're going to do is bad and is gunna get you into trouble, but the students are reasonably nice and it's an easy atmosphere for learning

 What are some rules & how strict are they?
-No wearing hats in the school, can't wander in the halls even during lunchtime you have to stay in the lunchroom unless you have teacher permission. Can't leave study hall unless you have an 85 or above. And you can't even hug your friends. So very strict, And you get a Friday a three hour long detention if you show up even a minute late to a regular detention. Which it's not hard to get detention because there are a lot of rules you can possible break

What are the teenagers like at your school? Are there clicks? If so, what kind of clicks?

-There are a lot of cliques, because in Hampden academy you're either really rich or really poor (like me) poor kids are usually from Winterport and the rich from Hampden. There are cliques like the rich snotty kids, but some of them can be nice. Then there are the athletes who are all usually rich and pretty snotty. Then there are the really smart kids who aren't snotty but if you aren't smart like them you can't hang. And then there's the stoner kids who drink and smoke and they won't hang with you unless you do drugs like they do. And then there are kids like me who usually fit in with everyone. Because I'm nice, reasonably smart and do sports. But I'm not rich and don't hang with the people who are, and then there's the really poor kids, sometimes they're in cliques but a lot of them like to be loners and they get picked on a lot

           

How do teachers treat the students? & how do students treat the teachers?
-The stoner kids usually treat the teachers like shit, but only because the teachers treat them like shit, they don't give them half a chance. They're more focused on the rich kids and athletes because they have more potential and a brighter future. There's not much respect going between students and teachers both ways. Unless you're an athlete, smart or rich. And that's just the way it goes.

After taking all this time to ask these questions, I realized no matter where you go for High School its going to be similar not all schools are all exactly the same though. Every school has its problems and issues it all depends on how you look at it or handle it that will effect how the school is to you, or the teachers and your peers. Your actions will affect the ones around you, so respect others and they will respect you, be kind and it will be returned. 

The Coach Behind the Madness

            Some wonder about his coaching philosophies. Some wonder about his inspiration. Some wonder about how he can be so passionate about coaching. On the outside Bucksport’s varsity boys’ basketball Coach Josh Tripp is seen as an angry, easily frustrated coach who yells frequently, but on the inside it’s a different story.

            As a high school student, Coach Tripp was impacted by one coach in particular: his J.V. baseball coach. His J.V. baseball coach at Searsport High School “was a great teacher of the game and knew how to relate to athletes,” says Tripp. His coach was dedicated, knowledgeable, passionate/driven and strict yet fair. Many of those qualities have hedged their way into Coach Tripp’s coaching style too.

            Coach Tripp began coaching high school basketball his sophomore year in college. As a freshman in college, his high school basketball coach asked him to return to Searsport to be an assistant. The next year the head coach left, and Tripp took over his position. Thirteen years of coaching later (5 Varsity basketball at Searsport, 2 J.V. basketball in Bucksport, 5 Varsity basketball in Bucksport) his coaching philosophy has developed into something unique and great. His philosophy is “to teach athletes to compete at a high level, continue to grow individually, be an excellent teammate, and a great representative of the school.” When his players were asked if Coach Tripp had a good coaching philosophy, they all answered yes. Freshman Riley MacLeod says, “he has the experience, not only as a coach but as a player. He knows what will work and what won’t,” while Senior James Osgood says, “he is a good coach, but still needs to grow into a certain style of offense.” Each of the boys asked gave variations of the same answer: yes, he is a good coach and has a good philosophy.

            As a coach, Josh Tripp has an extreme passion for the game of basketball. Senior David Fucillo tells us that one of the qualities that he admires in his coach is his passion that he has for the game. When asked about where his passion and drive for coaching basketball comes from, Coach Tripp told about his career as a basketball player. As a player he was competitive and that “carries through into my coaching.” For him coaching is a way for him to stay involved. It allows him to “stay involved in the game and give back to basketball what it gave to him.”

            Many of his players admire him as a coach and as a person. He is not only the varsity basketball coach at Bucksport High School, but also the J.V. baseball coach and an incredible math teacher. His players look up to him. Junior Ryan Grindle says that, “He gets to know you as a person and really becomes like a father figure. You can go to him with anything.” MacLeod says, “I loved him as a coach.” All of the boys which I asked about Tripp said nothing but positive things. They truly admire him and look up to him.

            Many do not realize how important Coach Josh Tripp is to many people. He is someone who his players look up to; someone his players truly admire. He is not only an amazing coach, but also an amazing teacher. “Coaching is teaching, it’s just basketball instead of math. Improving either practice helps out the other,” says Josh Tripp. Many had questions about what kind of a coach Josh Tripp was, and now those questions have been answered.

            On the outside, Coach Tripp seems like a grouchy, crabby old man, but when you dig down deeper, you realize something. He is crabby and seems angry because he truly cares. He always has his mind set on what is best for those who he cares about. Whether he is yelling at his players while squatted next to the bench or anxiously rubbing their knee as he tells them what needs to be done to win, he is doing it for them. 

Bucksport High Schools Full Time Student

            What makes a person a full time student? Is it the amount of effort they put into there work? Is it how popular they are? Is it how many A+ they can get? Or is it the love, support, time and effort they put into everything that has to do about BHS? Not many people can call themselves hard core BHS students, but there is a select few. Some of the students get all the glory while some of them don’t get much appreciation and people don’t realize how much they do. The student that is the number one hard core BHS student would have to be by far Courtney Fish.

            Courtney Fish has a lot of roles at BHS. She plays volleyball, is part of Make a Difference Team, Enviro team, Basketball manager and Baseball manager. Many people know that Courtney loves to be at school and doesn’t leave the school until 8 at night sometimes.   Most people acknowledge Courtney’s hard work, but most people don’t know the story behind why Courtney became a full time BHS Student.

            Courtney has always loved school from the first day until now. Why you may ask. Well to Courtney school is “I feel at home when at school. I have always just felt comfortable there. My teachers and peers have made me feel as though I belong, and they encourage me” says Courtney. This means a lot to Courtney because she doesn’t get appreciated and encouraged at home. She doesn’t have a great support team at home except for her loving Dad. When she walks into a school she gets all the love she needs. When asked who her support system was she replied “My Friends particularly Lisa, Madi and my teachers, Denise Smith. Actually I sat and talked to Mrs. Smith for like 30 minutes last night.” It is people like this that make Courtney the way she is funny, positive, outgoing and loving.

            One of the main things Courtney is known for is her manager position from boy’s basketball and baseball teams. When asked who got her started she said “Clout and Madi got me started. I remember sitting in freshman honors English when Clout pulled Madi into the hallway to talk to her. A few minutes later she pulled me in the hallway and ever since we’ve been managing together.” This was the moment Courtney found her passion. As Courtney says “I love managing because it’s where I’ve found my niche. I’m not highly athletic…. Managing sports is my way to be a part of a sports team even though I don’t have the athletic skill to play them.”  She has been managing since freshman year now and she is by far the most dedicated manager yet. She does everything for what she calls “Her baby birds”. She makes sure the boys are equipped and ready every game. During study hall you can find her in the laundry room hanging the boy’s uniforms for the game or putting together their stats to put into the paper. Courtney’s favorite part about managing is “The relationships you build. If it was not for managing I would not be close with many people. I mean just this year I’ve become really close with the freshmen who played. If it wasn't for basketball I probably would have never talked to them.”

            Courtney said that if she had the chance to start high school all over she would only change “I would have only been more involved my freshmen year. My high school experience has been perfect and I would do it a millions time over with very few changes.” Courtney's future plans involve attending The University of Farmington for a teacher's degree. She hope to become an English teacher and maybe eventually come back to teach right here at Bucksport High School.  There has never been a more dedicated students at Bucksport high school and never a student more deserving of an award. Courtney is loved by all and gets the support she needs right at school. Bucksport high school will never forget Courtney and all she does. We Love you Courtney!