The Dryden Red and Black
September 29, 2025
by Karley Andersen
Jesus Grafilo, an admissions representative from Northwood University, visited Dryden High School on September 23, 2025, to discuss the opportunities available to students. He used a slideshow to present his information, covering a variety of topics.
This was my favorite presentation we’ve had this year. He shared a lot of interesting things. One of them was the car show hosted by Northwood. It is the largest car show in the United States and offers students a wide range of career opportunities. Northwood is a private university. While that means the cost is higher, it also comes with benefits like smaller class sizes, which allow students to form stronger connections with their peers and get more one-on-one help from professors. He mentioned that the student-to-faculty ratio is 15:1.
Northwood offers many business-related majors. One that stood out to me was the cybersecurity major because it only requires 90 credits to earn a bachelor’s degree, compared to the usual 120. Around 85% of their faculty members have real-world industry experience, which supports their focus on hands-on learning. Mr. Grafilo, along with other faculty members, believes that this is how many students learn best. The university is located in Midland, Michigan, near Bay City. From the pictures he showed, it looked like a really beautiful area.
He also talked about his own success after graduating from Northwood. He has opened several P.F. Chang’s restaurants, and he and his wife even sponsor a scholarship. His presentation really opened my mind to possibly pursuing a business major. I'm still not sure if Northwood is where I want to go, but I am planning to take a tour there in a few weeks. Hopefully, that will help me make a more informed decision.
by Kayla Baughman
Steven Curtis came to talk to our senior seminar class this week. He is a speaker from U of M flint. The main purpose of his presentation was to tell us all the good things about the college. We learned about all the majors and pre-professional programs. U of M definitely has one of the most diverse groups of options available for majors. He also told us about the dorms and showed pictures of them. They have some pretty awesome options for living on campus. He also told us about merit scholarships, which would be really helpful for people who received them.
I think what interested me the most would be the list of majors. There are so many good ones that other colleges I looked at do not have. I was especially interested in all the arts programs. Steven also told us there was a cool theatre program that does 4 shows a year, which really caught my attention because I love theatre and would like to pursue it after high school.
U of M Flint was actually the college I wanted to go to last year, before changing my mind due to the travel distance. I think I will still continue to think about U of M Flint however. I think this was one of the presentations I was most interested in. I noticed a lot of people paying close attention as well, which tells me that this college might have caught a lot of people's eyes. I would like to know more about cost, that is definitely one of the main factors I need to think about when looking at colleges.
by Claire Wright
What did one wall say to the other?
“I'll meet you at the corner.”
by Logan Romain
On Saturday, September 20, 2025, the Dryden JH Cross Country team went to the Fox and Hounds hosted by Lake Orion.
On the boys’ side, Sullivan Brown captured 73rd place, 16:08.5.
On the girls’ side, Eliniah Fitchett secured 72nd place, 18:11.0. Holly Willson recorded 75th place, 18:21.5.
by Claire Wright
On September 23, the Dryden JV Girls Volleyball team lost against Deckerville - 12-25 L, 13-25 L, and 14-16 L. For the stats of the game, Elaina Yatros had 4 digs, Molly Wilkey had 2 digs and both Luxy Abraham and Bella Blatt had 1 dig. For aces from serves, Bella Blatt had 1 ace, Molly Wilkey had 2 aces, and Angelina Urick had 1 ace. For kills: Angelina Urick had 3, Bella Blatt had 2, and Molly Wilkey had 1. Finally, for assists: Aubrey Joseph had 4 along with Molly Wilkey, Angelina Urick had 1 and Bella Blatt had 1. Good game girls.
On September 23, the Dryden Varsity Girls Volleyball Team lost against Deckerville - 18-25 L, 8-25 L, 9-25 L. The standout for this game is Caila Fitchett. She had 2 serves and 5 assists. For Mckinley Gammon, she had 2 serves, 3 kills and 1 block. Olivia Zellers had 4 serves and 2 kills. Kayla Lapka had 5 serves and 3 assists. For Karley Phillips - 3 serves with one ace, a dig and a kill. Claire Wright had 6 digs. Finally, for Mallory Barker who had 10 serves with 3 aces, a dig, a kill and an assist. The girls played well, learning more each game.
On September 25, the Dryden Varsity Girls Volleyball team went up against Peck, at home. They played a great game with the scores being: 10-25 lost, 23-25 lost, 26-24 win, 25-23 win, and 15-8 win. Having an amazing comeback, for this game it is extremely hard to pick a standout because everyone did so good. For this game, there is not one person that did better than the other—they all did great. For serves: Olivia Zellers 21 - 7 aces, Karley Phillips 15 - 4 aces, Mallory Barker 13 - 1 ace, Kayla Lapka 13 - 2 aces, Molly Wilkey 14 - 4 aces, and Mckinley Gammon 9 serves. Already off to a great start and that was only serves. For digs: Claire Wright had 17, Mallory Barker 15, Karley Phillips 10, Kayla Lapka 3, Olivia Zellers 3, Molly Wilkey 3 and Mckinley Gammon had 1. For kills: Mckinley Gammon 15, Olivia Zellers 14, Mallory Barker 6, Karley Phillips 2 and Caila Fitchett 1. Blocks - Mckinley Gammon had 1, Olivia Zellers 1 and Caila Fitchett 1. Finally, for assists: Kayla Lapka 22, Caila Fitchett 18, Mallory Barker 4, Mckinley Gammon 4, Karley Phillips 2, Olivia Zellers 2, Molly Wilkey 2 and Claire Wright 1. Great game.
by Caila Fitchett
Dryden came up short in a high-scoring battle with Capac, falling 72–58 on Friday night. The Cardinals started fast as Gianni Coscione hit Luke Taylor for a 45-yard touchdown and added a 1-yard rushing score to help Dryden build a 16–0 lead. Rowan Handley then returned an interception for a touchdown to make it 24–0, but Capac stormed back with scores of their own. Coscione kept Dryden in the game with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Santiago Perales, as well as rushing touchdowns of 5 and 10 yards. Late in the game, Luke Kage added a 10-yard touchdown run, but Capac’s offense proved too much down the stretch.
Coscione finished with 327 passing yards, 68 rushing yards, and six total touchdowns. Perales caught 172 yards and a score, while Taylor added 97 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Handley recorded eight tackles and two interceptions, including a pick-six, while Coscione and Brady Schneider each made nine tackles. Despite the loss, Dryden’s Head Coach Hunter Gall praised the effort: “We made some mistakes throughout the game that you can’t afford against a team like Capac. I’m very proud of the fight and discipline our boys showed throughout the night. We will learn from this and be better next week.”
The Team
Faculty Advisors:
Ms. Sheryl Czerwinski & Mrs. Breanne Palmerini
Editors:
Caila Fitchett & Cara Prusakiewicz
Reporters:
Willow DuBuis, Logan Romain & Claire Wright
Email: Cardinal@drydenschools.org
Website: https://www.drydenschools.org/
Location: Dryden High School, Rochester Road, Dryden, MI, USA
Phone: (810) 796-2266
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drydencommunityschools