All posts by Stohion Staff

Editorials

Spotify should be unblocked on school wifi

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By Mya Cannon

Music is a big part of people’s lives today. Songs are listened to while in the car, working out, during the school day or when someone is bored.

Buying music may be very expensive as purchasing music off of iTunes can be anywhere from 99 cents to $1.29 per song.

Apps such as Spotify allow one to listen to any music they want for free. If one chooses to download Spotify to listen to music, the music will be interrupted by ads. People will only be able to listen to music on shuffle, and the songs cannot be listened to unless one is connected to wifi or using cellular data.

Spotify has the option for one to join a premium membership. The first 30 days are free but after that it cost $9.99 every 30 days after the free trial is up.

With Spotify premium one can “download” music so it can be listened to without a connection to wifi. Any song can be played at anytime the listener chooses, and there is an unlimited number of times one can skip a song.

Many students listen to music as they are walking in the hallways to their different classes or when there is free time during a class period.

Sitting in a silent classroom can be boring, so many people turn to music to break the silence of the room. Music may also help some students focus on the item they are working on, such as homework.

The high school has the Spotify app blocked so one can only listen to their music on the app if they have purchased Spotify premium or are using cellphone data.

A wide variety of people use music to help relieve the stress they are under, and they may not be able to afford purchasing a song off of iTunes, so they turn to a free music app like Spotify.

Students who do not have Spotify premium cannot listen to music throughout the school day unless they are using data on their phone, which can also be expensive if one does not have unlimited data.

By unblocking the Spotify app on the high school’s wifi stress could be reduced and they will potentially help save students the money they are spending to be able to listen to their music during the school day.

   

Lifestyle

Exercising daily is important for teenagers

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By Victoria Riggs

People are reminded everyday about the importance of having a healthy lifestyle.

Eating nutritious foods and exercising regularly play a big part in being fit.

The latest technology trend in fitness are devices, such as Fit Bits, which challenge adults and teens to make exercise a part of their daily routine.

People cannot argue that exercise is wise for teenagers as they tend to spend more time inside watching television or playing video games and less time being active. Exercise is not only good for the body, but it also makes a person feel good on the inside as well. Teens should try to spend at least 60 minutes doing moderate physical activity each day.

Exercise benefits every part of the body because it causes the body to produce endorphins, chemicals that can help a person feel happy and increase self­ esteem. Exercise also promotes restful sleep.

Regular exercise enhances thinking and learnings skills, which may improve performance at school. Lastly, it can also give a person a sense of accomplishment when a certain goal is achieved.

Exercising improves appearance and assists in maintaining a healthy body weight as it burns more calories and develops a toned body; however, the amount of high ­intensity exercise needed to lose weight does vary with people. Some people may need to do more than 150 minutes of activity per week, and some may need to do less.

Diseases, such as type II diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer and stroke, which are found mostly with adults, are now becoming more common in teens. Exercise and maintaining a healthy weight helps reduce the risk of these medical conditions.

Working out will also help lower blood pressure and increase good cholesterol. Brisk walking, running and other weight ­bearing exercises strengthen bones which helps prevent loss of bone density.

Staying active as a teen is extremely important. Becoming involved with a sport or other activity will encourage regular exercise.

There are three components that make up a well­ balanced exercise program: aerobic exercise, strength training and flexibility training. Aerobic exercise gives the heart a good workout as it gets the heart pumping and quickens breathing. Team sports provide a great aerobic workout; however, biking, swimming and running are some examples that can be done individually. Strength training exercises, such as push­ ups, squats, leg raises increase muscle mass and help to build strong muscles.

When muscles are used, they become stronger and can increase endurance. Flexibility training activities helps the muscle and joints stretch easily and reduces the risk of sprains. Some activities like karate, ballet and gymnastics help a person stay flexible.

Staying fit and active is one of the biggest challenges teenagers face. If one is already exercising now, try to keep it up as it becomes more difficult to do as the schedule becomes busier.

News

DECA takes part in annual competition

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By Bayley Patterson

On Jan 26, DECA, the international business career program, competed at Akron University against many different schools to decipher if any competitors would move on to states.

Both junior and senior DECA students competed in the competition. Students chose to either work in groups or work individually, and then they were given topics such as hospitality, sports and entertainment, and even travel and tourism.

For each event they were given a role to figure out a problem. Once they figured out the problems, competitors had to market their ideas off to the judges.

“It was my first time competing so I felt nervous talking to the judges, but I also felt very confident in my answers,” junior Kim Schirra said.

If competitors received a placement, and if one is placed in the top five, then they move on to states. If one does not get placed then they do not get to move on.

There are many new students involved in DECA this year, so there is a big change to how the students work and interact with each other.

“It was Allie Tinkler’s and I’s first time competing so we were really nervous and intimidated. We didn’t know what to expect and we really wanted to make it to states so we had a lot of pressure. We worked really hard and used our time wisely so I think we did well,” senior Maddie Mills said.

Although they have not received the results yet, all the competitors are very excited to know how they did. DECA will receive their results on Feb 29.

Front/Home

Online report cards cause loss of excitement

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By Maeonne Phillips

With another grading period ending, students await the revealing of their report cards once again. This time, the grades are only to be seen online rather than be handed out on paper as normal.

While online report cards can be an easier practice, it causes complications that dissatisfy many students and parents.

Although it is such a big role in many people’s lives these days, not everyone has technology. Even if technology is available, there is always a form of difficulty in the process, such as when certain grades cannot be viewed or when the website is not working correctly.

While it seems online grades eliminate the downsides of paper report cards, the simplicity of receiving grades officially on paper disappears. Trying to find not only quarter grades online but final grades as well can be a pain while navigating progress book since the website may not always be easy to use.

Progress book has been known to crash at times, and teachers will complain of the website not corresponding.

Students are also losing the excitement of receiving a report card in class. There is no time to be proud of the work that has been accomplished and no sign of a break in between grading periods.

With the grades online, students lose their interest in seeing their report card and leave their parents to find it later as at the moment it is just not that important to them.

Some students even know how to change the letter grade on their computer without affecting their actual grade, making it easier to trick their parents into thinking they’ve received grades they have not actually received.

Any student can view their current grade online at any point in the grading period, so eliminating paper report cards practically eliminates the idea of a report card all together.

They are not even recognized as a big deal since they are just there online anytime a student or parent feels like taking the time to log into Progress Book and navigate to the digital “report card” tab.

While the internet makes things convenient, it takes away the meaning of education and the simplicity or classicality of receiving grades at the end of a long and hard grading period.