Sofia Ball, Writer
Hi! My name is Sofia Ball and I am a writer for the Northwest Passage. Writing started out as a hobby for me. Something I never imagined I would be good at until about 7th grade after taking a creative writing class with Dr. Van Zant. I just started out as a freshman, and already, I've come to know and love many of the classes, teachers and students here at Northwest. I’d like to think of myself as an extrovert, but most of my freetime is spent either reading, writing or watching Netflix in my bedroom. I used to watch The Office all the time before it got removed. The only time you'll ever see me out and about is probably at Cross Country or Track practice. You may even see me handing out our latest newspaper issues around the school.
![Junior Venti Neaderhiser and senior Dylan Paflas work on their robot March 21 in Room C. The robotics team worked on their robot, Fred, to prepare for the FRC Worlds competition. “I was working with the bumpers on our robot that protect [the] frame [for] when we hit or bump into something,” Neaderhiseri said. “We have put a lot of work into building and coding the robot and have run into many difficulties but we have overcome every issue.” photo by Jack Pischke](https://smnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/JPischkeRoboticsteam-7-1-1200x795.jpg)
![Smiling, senior Courtney Allison watches her students Oct. 25 at Nieman Elementary. Allison has been coaching cheer for 2 years and teaches grades 6-8th. “[Moments I live for] are when I make a correction and I can see the students that are taking a correction and using it to get better and not immediately shutting down,” Allison said. “I feel like I'm more of a peer role model because I'm somebody closer to their age who maybe they could relate to a little more.” Photo By Haylee Bell](https://smnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Hbell_courtneyscolumn10.25-02.CMYK_-1200x801.jpg)
![Smiling, senior Courtney Allison watches her students Oct. 25 at Nieman Elementary. Allison has been coaching cheer for 2 years and teaches grades 6-8th. “[Moments I live for] are when I make a correction and I can see the students that are taking a correction and using it to get better and not immediately shutting down,” Allison said. “I feel like I'm more of a peer role model because I'm somebody closer to their age who maybe they could relate to a little more.”](https://smnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-09-at-10.22.49-AM-1200x800.png)
![Speaking in front of students, senior Rha’ki Walker talks about the upcoming Black Student Union (BSU) assembly Jan. 19 in Room 130. Walker is one of the co-presidents for the BSU. “[BSU] is the first club I’ve ever run,” Walker said. “It’s really fun to lead because everyone there has a fun and positive attitude.”](https://smnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ksimpson_bsu.1.19.1-2-e1675800651678-900x885.jpg)
![Senior Tanner Pruter plays the tenor drum Aug. 31 in Main Gym. The Marching Cougar Pride performed their “Chaos Order” show during the Bonfire Assembly. "[During the performance] the band is split between chaos and order,” Pruter said. “The beginning of the show starts out with chaos and throughout the show, you get little glimpses of order.”](https://smnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ejohnson_bonfire_8.31_32-1-900x600.jpg)
![At freshmen mixer, senior Elinor Engel dances with senior Jill Blocker Aug. 12 on the Northwest track. StuCo and Link Crew ran the event together to start the freshmen off to a good school year. “We had very good attendance and got a large amount of freshmen involved and dancing,” Engel said. “I think a lot of [freshmen] had fun.”](https://smnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_2121-900x600.jpg)