Wolfpack Pride
March 3rd, 2023
Principal's Message
Hello Wolfpack!
I am excited about an upcoming opportunity for some of our junior and senior students. On Tuesday, the Washington State Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments at North Central High School. Students will attend the oral arguments and at the end of the session have an opportunity to ask questions about the role and operations of the Court of Appeals. On Monday of this week, Chief Judge Siddoway and Judge Staab presented to a group of students before school. Click here for the full press release, including details of the cases that will be heard at NC this week.
March can feel like a long month for students. Your student may feel tired or unmotivated. Encouraging consistent attendance is essential to student academic success. Students who attend school regularly are more likely to graduate and find good jobs. Both consecutive and sporadic absences may add up to academic trouble. The good news is that students can improve their academic performance if they improve their attendance. To encourage good attendance, North Central is engaging in its own March Madness competition. We want every student to leave for spring break feeling good about their academic performance.
The strength of the wolf is in the pack.
Tami McCracken, Principal
This Week's Events
Friday, March 3rd
- Boys Track & Field Fundraiser, Panda Express, 12 - 8 PM
- Middle School Art Show at Kress Gallery, 5 - 7 PM
Monday, March 6th
- Hope Squad for Suicide Prevention, 6:00 PM
Tuesday, March 7th
- Shades-Sponsored Holi Festival of Color, 4:30 PM
- Track & Field Pre-season Meeting, 6:00 PM
- Ronald McDonald Staff vs. Student Basketball Game, 7:00 PM
Wednesday, March 8th
- Badminton Tournament, 5:30 PM
Thursday, March 9th
- Baseball at Mt. Spokane, 2:00 PM
- High School and IST Orchestra Concert, 7:00 PM
Friday, March 10th
- Boys Soccer vs. LC at Merkel, 4:00 PM
Saturday, March 11th
- Baseball vs. Colville, Noon
Community Celebrations
ProStart Culinary is off to State!!
Where are we going?
We are traveling over with ProStart Culinary teams from LC and Ferris to Seattle to compete in a State-wide Culinary Invitational this weekend. The team will prepare a 3- course meal and be judged on execution, taste, timing, plating, safety, and sanitation.
What is competition like?
It’s a fun challenge to see if the team can create 3 beautiful dishes in less than one hour without being able to use any electrical appliances. The team also gets to meet other high school culinary students who have a love for cooking and watch them compete. There are Friday night plans to experience some fine dining at a Seattle Seafood restaurant downtown on the pier, named “Aqua”. The team will get to meet the head chef and get a tour of the kitchen.
Students competing (L-R) Sam Bonilla Quiroz, Natalie Akins, Emma Shay, Ember Havner
The theme of the menu is called Seafood Market which includes Japanese Takoyaki (pictured), Honduras Tilapia and a Hong Kong Bubble Waffle. The team wanted to cook dishes that you may find at street markets around the world.
Also a BIG shout out to the restaurant community leaders who volunteered their time to get the team ready for competition: Garth Hicks, Owner of Wild Sage Bistro (pictured), Elijah Crume, Executive Chef @Wild Sage Bistro, Tanya Broesder, Executive Chef @ Masselows Steak House and Deontae Johnson, SCC Culinary student.
The team is very grateful for them and their dedication to NC.
GOOD LUCK Team!
Annika Wojtowicz Advocates in Olympia
On Monday, five SPS high school students, including NC Junior Annika Wojtowicz, joined SPS Board of Directors vice president Nikki Lockwood and board member Riley Smith for a visit to our state capitol to meet with legislators and Governor Jay Inslee. Students shared their experiences as public school students related to special education and ADA accommodations.
We are grateful to the elected officials who took time to meet with our students and give them a first-hand look at government in action, and grateful to our students for taking the time to advocate for a cause that they believe in.
Middle School Kress Gallery Art Show
The North Central IST Art Exhibit will be on display at the Kress Gallery from March 3rd through the 27th. The Kress Gallery is located on the 3rd floor of River Park Square around the corner from the food court. There will be a reception at the Kress Gallery on Friday, March 3rd from 5:00-7:00 pm, and the NC Jazz Band will be playing there Friday night too!
Winter Sports Season Highlights from our Coaches
Competitive Cheer from Coach Hare
- Competed and placed 1st in our division at the Eastside Classic Cheer Competition and qualified for state
- Performed at Groovy Shoes and won the shoes
- Competed at Cheer State at Battleground High School and placed 5th in our tumbling small category
- Congratulations to Emily Richardson on getting accepted into the Naval Academy
- Shout out to our wonderful seniors who have worked so hard this year!
- Shoutout to the team for working hard to put out their Groovy Shoes routine as well as their state competition routine
Gymnastics from Coach Mitchell and Coach Shenefelt
Our NC gymnastics team completed a great season last week! We had a bigger team, had fun at practices and saw SO MUCH growth amongst our new gymnasts. We had a strong showing for the JV District meet and sent two varsity athletes to state. Brooklyn Lawrence placed 32nd on Vault, 44th on Floor, 18th on Beam also sticking her entire beam routine. All Around out of 140 girls throughout the state of Washington she placed 56th. That is also with only competing 3 out of 4 events. Kathryn Lawrence competed Beam and placed 79th out of 140 girls.
Senior Kathryn Lawrence has been on North Central's team for all 4 years and has helped build up the program. This was her third state competition. She and her sister Brooklyn have been competing with each other for a very long time in club gymnastics and the last 2 years in high school. This made for a great way to finish Kathryn’s senior year. Congrats to you both and the whole team on a great season!
We are already excited for next year! Hopefully, we will continue to grow, if you are AT ALL interested in gymnastics please come and chat with Alicia Shenefelt in the student office. We look forward to a productive off season and a lot of fun in 2023-2024!
Girls Basketball from Coach Kraus
It is certainly not easy for a varsity team full of juniors and seniors (one sophomore) to take on a new coach and a new system. However, the 2022-2023 Wolfpack girls basketball program excelled beyond expectations.
The team didn't hesitate to buy into the new philosophy and program, coming quickly out of the gate and rushing to a 6–0 start, doubling all of last year's wins. There was a communal sense that the culture was shifting as the girls bought into our team philosophy of one mind equals one breath and that our success hinged on the three Es: expectation, effort, and execution.
With all of this in mind, we knew our toughest challenges lie ahead, and that every opportunity provided us a chance to grow and get better. After our first loss of the season in an overtime thriller at University High, we took two more hits and losses that represented our worst margins of defeat the entire season. It was a defining moment for our team. We could look at what had become a 6–3 and toss in the towel, or we could continue to grow each game and get better regardless of the outcome.
Though the remainder of our season was filled with more losses than wins, our eventual 9-11 overall record left us one game short of the GSL playoffs with highlight wins against: the, at the time, 6th ranked team in 2A, Clarkston Bantams; a redemption victory over the Shadle Park Highlanders at Groovy Shoes; and a phenomenal way to cap the season by beating the Ferris Saxons (a playoff team) for the second time in season on senior night.
I could not be more proud of this team and the growth that took place this season. Though we are losing four seniors, we are returning seven varsity players, and we have a promising group coming up behind them in our junior varsity and freshman teams. The future is bright, and we will look to build on the success we had this year and look to create more next season. See you there!
Senior Shout Outs: The importance of strong senior leadership is tied directly to the culture and direction of a program. The willingness of this year's group to take on a culture shift and buy into the new direction the coaching staff was taking the team and lead the way spoke volumes to the improvement we saw this season. A big shout out to Greta Marko, Hannah Hamilton, Kiara Bender, and Maggie Dubay. The example you set day in, day out left big shoes to fill next year and set a new standard in how seniors should lead the way. Thank you for everything. You will be greatly missed!
Boys Basketball from Coach Ervin
Let’s recap the North Central Boys Basketball 2022-23 season. Even though the addition of newly talented underclassmen will help our boys program contend for a spot within the top tier of 3A GSL Basketball, they started the season with a completely new basketball team due losing seven seniors and a few underclassmen from last year. 2nd year Head Boys Basketball Coach Andre Ervin describes this season as Phase 2 - being able to install new systems that lead this program forward and transitioning out of the old program that allows us to compete at a higher level. With that being said, we were able to qualify for district playoffs and have big wins over Central Valley, Ferris and of course another Groovy Shoes big win over Shadle Park. With only losing a few seniors this year, 90% of the team will return next year to possibly lead our boys program to the top of GSL 3A/4A Division and a possible state run. This year, team captain, Junior Elijiah Williams, made GSL 1st Team and sophomore Juju Ervin made GSL Honorable mention Team.
As for the other teams, we have a much larger win increase from the previous seasons at all levels, led by our super talented freshmen and leading scorers Trevelle Jones and Nicholas Elliott, along with super sophomores Franky Wynne and JaAhn Carney, and juniors Zach Schlettert and Jacob Rafter. Our JV teams had spent much the season in first and second place and finished the season in top tier of the league. The Freshmen team also had similar results, being led by freshmen/JV swinger Kayoni Yoeun, Adie Wright, Jaqueim Griffieth, Kobe Reuben, and Evan Quarles. Our C-teams also had double their victories from last year, which means that our boys’ programs are headed in the right direction. This was a successful year for the program. Great Job Wolfpack Ballers!!!
Wrestling Highlights from Coach Taylor
We had 3 state participants (Tommy Elliot, Tristan Zaragoza, Kilee Callaghan) 1 alternate (Riley Hemminger).
Kilee Callaghan earned First Team All GSL. Thanks for a great season to all of our wrestlers and managers!
Announcements and Events
Step Team at Stevens
The North Central High School Step team joined Steven’s in celebrating Black History Month at their con this week. Students at Stevens shared a Black History presentation and recited the “Hey Black Child” poem. The North Central Step team performed a step dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. and discussed the power of being brave. Step members also showed Steven’s students the peace and unity step. It was a great celebration and a great day to be a part of the North Central feeder pattern.
NC March Madness
Beginning next Monday, February 27th, we are starting our first ever Attendance March Madness competition. Each week, every teacher will be assigned a matchup against another teacher. The teacher whose classes have the highest average attendance will advance to the next round, progressing through the bracket until there is only one teacher remaining! Who will persevere to get their One Shining Moment? Who will be our Cinderella Story? Will there be a surprise upset? All this and more will be revealed!
There will be prizes given out to the winning classes, and we will also come and celebrate any class who has 100% perfect attendance for any given week during the competition. Get those brackets ready and let the competition begin!
Youth Leadership Conference
This past Saturday (2/25), 8 amazing NC students participated in the Youth Leadership Conference hosted at the NEWESD 101. These youth learned about mental health, physical health, the effects of substance use/abuse, and invaluable leadership skills to take back to NC. One fun fact they learned.....tomatoes and potatoes each have trace amounts of nicotine in them! They were inspired by great presenters, enjoyed a free Coffee Truck and networked with other youths from around the Inland Northwest! They're helping to make our Wolfpack stronger and healthier!
Need NC gear? Use our special 30% discount code, valid only for today, 3/3/23. The code is h8p5y3.
Get Connected Conference
The annual Get Connected Conference will take place on Wednesday, March 29th at Spokane Falls Community College . This is a one-day college & career conference for students of diverse backgrounds grades 9 -12. If you are interested in attending, please stop by the library to see Ms. Shamerica Nakamura or Ms. Sarah Myers.
Track Team Online Store
Boys track team online store is open now through March 7th. Lots of different types of Wolfpack Track gear that you can order to show your support for our team! Thank you for your continued support!
You can also support NC Boys Track and Field and eat out at Panda Express in Shadle Center today! Fundraiser is from 12:00pm-8:00pm. The fundraising code is 350492 for online orders. Thank you!
Creative Writing Workshops
Creative Writing Workshop and Voices will be hosting creative writing workshops on Mondays in room N345 from 2:45-4:00. This is a chance to work on your writing, workshop with others and submit for publication. Contact Mary Fruchter, maryfr@spokaneschools.org with questions.
Wellness Traditions at NC
Last week, Spokane Schools Native Education hosted an Indigenous Wellness Workshop at NC in partnership with the West Spokane Wellness Partnership.
Attendees learned about the traditions behind Native medicine wheels and were invited to create their own. Students also learned to make beaded bracelets and about Native traditional medicine.
Thank you to the community members who facilitated this opportunity for SPS students, families and staff to gather together, create community, and learn about Native culture and traditions. #SPSPromise #BuiltOnLove
NC Tennis Store Now Open
It’s that time of year again, the Tennis estore is now open, and we have so many items for you to show off your Wolfpack pride! Please take a look and know that a portion of your purchase goes to the team to help us fund or growing tennis program! Store closes on March 6th, so get those orders in! https://nctennis23.itemorder.com/shop/sale/