It’s that time of year again – the holiday season has come to a close, and it’s time to break out the crazy noisemakers and ring in the New Year. Of course, that includes reflecting on the best and worst of the previous year, and 2011 was definitely a year to remember. It was filled with countless memorable moments, good and bad, here at Pine Crest and beyond. Let’s take a look at the best and the worst of last year….

Highlights of 2011 at Pine Crest:

There were so many good things happening at the Pine during 2011. That year saw the unveiling of the newly redesigned and reconstructed Upper School, with its multitude of fountains, new wheeled desks, Student Union, and college-campus feel. School spirit reached an all-time high during Homecoming Week 2011. With
each themed dress-down day each class got more and more outrageous, thinking of original costumes for senior citizen day, superheroes and villains day, Harry Potter day, and more. Although the spirit stick went to the senior class in the end, the entire high school participated and made this year’s Homecoming one to
remember. As far as sports, the PC swim team blew away the competition at districts and the boy’s basketball team recently beat Sagemont School, which is ranked as one of the top 50 teams in the country. The cross-country team also had a great season: Junior Savanna Gornisiewicz broke a school record and, as cross country runner Hannah Montague reports, “Girls were 2^nd in districts to American Heritage, placed 3^rd in regional’s, and placed 7^th in states. Guys were 1^st in district and 7^th in regions.” And don’t forget one of the most unique parts of 2011 – on November 11^th at 11:11 a.m., every student in every classroom watched the clock, counting down until the luckiest minute of the century.  11:11 on 11/11/11 was truly a minute to remember, and one that won’t be experienced again for another hundred years.
Best & Worst Food:

Cafeteria lunches – Crispitos are the best lunch for some and the worst for others. You can either love or hate crispitos, which remained the status quo. “Nutella Fridays” have become a huge favorite, with a scene of mayhem occurring by the nutella bar as all ten jars are simultaneously scraped clean. The Pine Crest cafeteria has tried some new things recently, such as the unintentionally-frozen-fruit bar and the strikingly neon-hued hummus bar. However, the other delicious lunches far outweigh those few anomalies, making the PC lunches in 2011 an overall plus.

Infused waters – The Pine Crest Cafeteria got very creative during 2011, introducing infused water as a beverage option. Each day is a surprise to see what type of infused water will be offered. One that looked suspiciously like pieces of chopped kale, in the opinion of Junior John Rudnik, “tasted like kitchen
trimmings.” He went on to describe his favorite, which tasted like basil, as “refreshing like a salty sea breeze,” the infused water did have its good moments.

The student café – Everybody has been talking about the chocolate chip scones, which are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, especially when heated up before serving. The less-pleasant aspects of the student café are the chip offerings, which consist of onion and garlicky flavor or jalapeno pepper flavor. Where are simple, salted Stacy’s pita chips?

Highlights Outside the Pine

Movies:

BEST: There were so many good movies from 2011, such as Limitless,Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:Part II, X-Men, Midnight in Paris, and No Strings Attached. Wait, I meant Friends With Benefits for that last one. No wait, No Strings Attached….were those even two different movies..?

WORST: A movie with a slightly promising premise that struck no gold was Cowboys and Aliens; to sum up the movie in the words of Junior Noah Grass, “The movie had absolutely no redeeming qualities.” A sequel to the horrific Human Centipede was also released this year; no one could stomach going to see it, so it will remain a gruesome and disturbing mystery.

Sports:

WORST: The NBA was put on lockout over a financial dispute between team owners and players, delaying the start of the basketball season by a few months. However, the season did begin, bringing us to…

BEST: The NBA season finally began, and the Miami Heat displayed a promising start – they took a clear victory over the Dallas Mavericks, who had vanquished them in the NBA Championships last season. Hopefully, this will set the standard for the Heat for the rest of their season.

Music:

BEST: LMFAO’s album Sorry for Party Rocking was clearly a huge hit, producing chart-topping songs such as “Party Rock Anthem” and “I’m Sexy and I Know It” (which was hilariously parodied by Pine Crest economics students and danced to at the Homecoming PowderPuff game). An album that was less widely-known but equally deserving of mention is The Vaccines’ debut full-length album, What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?. If you were expecting amazing indie-rock music sung with an endearing English accent, the band doesn’t disappoint with upbeat tunes like “Norgaard” and “If You Wanna” – they are worth listening to if you haven’t discovered this band already.

WORST: Justin Bieber’s Christmas album. Enough said. “Under the Mistletoe” could not get any cheesier with lyrics like “I should be playing in the winter snow, but ‘ima’ be under the mistletoe wit you shawty.” The song is not good enough to make up for its second-grade rhyming skills; Bieber failed to create a new Christmas classic.

With its many ups and downs, 2011 was an incredible year, and 2012 will be even better. Happy New
Year!