By Amanda Tennant, staff writer
The Hawks at Indian Trail High School and Academy have already started off the New Year with spir- it as semester one transitioned into semester two in late January. Meanwhile, as Hawks get settled into a new semester, students and staff look ahead optimistically at 2015, due to the enormous amount of events and activities ranging from across the globe to around the school. Here are a few of them:
First, this occasion is an event two years in the making, when Tim Peake, an astronaut for the European Space Agency, will become the first ever British astronaut to visit the International Space Station. Though British astronauts have traveled into space before, Peake will be the first official astronaut representing the United Kingdom. Originally, an ambassador representing the United Kingdom for science and space-based careers in 2009 according esa. int, Peake was selected for this mission, now known as Principia, in 2013. The conduction of science related experiments for the ESA will be Peake’s main objective for mission Principia. Peake is expected to launch in November 2015 and will stay there for five months.
Next, from the realm of sports, the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be hosted by Canada this summer and is expected to be one of the most watched sports performances of the year with the previous Women’s World Cup obtaining a total audience of 407.8 million, according to fifa.com. The anticipated tournament will feature famous Canadian cities as venues including Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Moncton. Along with various countries from across the globe, the United States Women’s soccer team is expected to compete in the tournament. The team currently ranks second in the world and won second place in the 2011 FIFA World Cup according to fifa.com. However, despite being second in the world, challenges to team USA include the German Women’s Soccer team currently ranked first according to fifa. com as well the Japanese Women’s Soccer team which won the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany. The long-awaited tournament will occur from June 6 to July 5 in 2015.
After that, in the world of Hollywood movies, filmmakers expect 2015 to be a year full of major blockbuster movies. One movie that is projected to do well is The Avengers: Age of Ultron. This thrilling Avengers sequel is to be released on April 30, 2015 and is predicted to bring in movie goers af- ter the first Avengers movie brought in $1 billion in just 19 days according to hitflix.com. The storyline continues after the first Avengers movie after the Avengers have gone their separate ways when Ultron, a robot created to preserve peace, turns evil and casts the world into chaos. The Avengers must therefore reunite and battle all of the evils Ultron throws their way.The cast includes famous actors such as Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Another movie anticipated to excite is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. This conclusion to action-packed revolution is set to be revealed on Nov.5, 2015 as Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, must finally confront the Capitol and finish the revolution that she started. Mockingjay Pt. 2 is expected to be successful after the prequels to the movie have passed the hundreds of millions af- ter the first weekend including The Hunger Games earning $152.5 million, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire $158.1 million, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1 $123 million, according to variety. com.
Lastly, events at ITHS&A have been planned as well. The ITHS&A Theatre Group will perform two more plays before the end of the 2014-2015 school year. The plays include Antigone, which will be presented from March 5-7 to March 12-14 ,and Hairspray, which will be shown from April 17-19 through April 24-26. Both plays will be featured in the ITHS&A auditorium. Also, the senior class of 2015 will graduate on May 30, 2015. This will be the second graduating class for the high school and the 16th graduating class for the academy.
With an abundance to look forward to from as- tronauts to World Cups to graduation, students and staff at ITHS&A will definitely look ahead at the New Year with optimism and make 2015 the best year yet.