Hilltop Heroes: fighting winter boredom

Hilltop+Heroes%3A+fighting+winter+boredom

Jordyn Hronec, Staff Writer

 

Did I initially plan on spending fourteen hours at school? No. Do I regret the decision to do so? Absolutely not. Of course I am referencing last Friday, when the Hilltop Heroes club held their viewing of both the first Avengers movie and The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The shows didn’t start until 4 o’clock officially, but staying at the school until then was just more convenient. I got some homework done, and I got to hang out in the sharp-looking new library…yeah, it wasn’t bad. The admission for the movies themselves was only $6, proceeds going to the Superhero Foundation, a charity that helps victims of child abuse.

So we enter the auditorium, expecting to just see the films. But before the first movie, Dr. Barkovich, along with several other Hilltop Heroes club members, jumped on stage in character, acting out a scene in which Dr. B is an agent of Hydra, an supergroup committed to world domination in the Marvel universe. He was then stopped by both Captain America and his close friend, Bucky Barnes, played by two Hilltop Heroes students. It was entertaining, and definitely surprising, but nonetheless, a great way to begin the night.

Like all great superhero movies, The Avengers was action packed and along with chips, candy, and soda, provided by the club, it was the full movie theater experience, right in our own auditorium. Between the two movies, there was pizza as well. (Which after being at school for so long, was greatly appreciated, to say the least.)

Of course, this event was the work of the Hilltop Heroes, our school’s (far cooler) version of your traditional comic book club. And according to sophomore Brandon Staab, a member of the club, it’s a pretty good time.

I sat down with Brandon in the cafeteria to discuss the club itself. When asked why he joined the Hilltop Heroes, he answered: “When I first joined, I thought that it would be a place where I could be myself, maybe a bit nerdy at that,” he laughed. (I reminded him that there’s nothing wrong with being a little bit nerdy…we all are.) He then told me about the typical goings on at a Hilltop Heroes meeting. “We take time to discuss that meeting’s activities, which vary from meeting to meeting,” He told me. “There are also announcements from a representative from each grade.”

“Where do the ideas for these events come from?” I asked him. He thought for a moment before speaking. “Some are Dr. Barkovich, our club sponsor’s ideas. Some are from the students. The upcoming Smash Brothers tournament, which has been big focus of ours, was Dan Cunningham’s idea last year, and we’re trying to continue that. The Avengers movie night was the idea of our ninth grade representative, Kendra.” He then went on to tell me more about the Hilltop Heroes’ upcoming events. “The Smash Brothers tournament will be on January 22nd,” he states. “And there will be prizes for that! We also have the Super Hero Run that we participate in, which is a run for charity. It’s a lot of fun, we go and run, and play with all of the kids who are in costume. We also have a field trip to the Smithsonian coming up, and we will be visiting the Air the Space Museum!”

Finally, I asked him about his favorite part about being in the club. “The absolute best part is that you’re around people who like the same things as you,” Brandon said. “You feel more confident talking to people about things like The Avengers, because they understand and enjoy these things too.”

Obviously, we can look forward to seeing more from the Hilltop Heroes in this upcoming year, as they plan these events, full of fun, food, and generally just a great place to be if all things superhero-related or sci-fi centered are of interest to you!