Category Archives: Front/Home

Editorials, Front/Home

Students do not receive enough free time

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     Eight hours of sleep, seven hours of school, five hours of work, two hours of homework and one hour of studying, leaving one hour of free time. That is just a normal day for a high school student.

     As the years go on, teens are expected to gain more responsibilities. Nothing out of the ordinary, but with all that is already going on in a teens life, things can get overwhelming.

     Students have to get to bed on time to make it through the day, which leads to staying up late to finish homework they could not finish earlier.

     Some students find themselves hurrying to get their homework done the second they get home, before rushing off to work to earn the money they need for being able to go out with friends on the weekend or gas money for driving to and from work and school every day. Teens need this free time with friends to relieve the everyday routine they go through during the week.

     Nowadays, doctors, teachers and counselors, are stressing the impacts of mental health on teens. How can one student balance so much at once and yet still avoid depression or getting overwhelmed.  

Too much is expected of someone so young, who is still trying to figure out what they want to do in the future or if they want to go to college.

     Some teachers give out more work to do at home than is done in class, which is unfair to a student who spends so much time listening to lectures and being handed quizzes and tests during the day.

     Honors and AP classes build up too, but students take the classes whether they can handle them or not because the expectations of getting good grades are so frequently pushed upon them.

     A buildup of homework puts the student behind and they begin to get lost in the curriculum and do whatever they can to keep their grades up, even if they are not completely comprehending the material given to them. The student is then no longer learning as they should be.

    If teachers were to limit or not give any homework to their students, teens would be able to handle all the stress in their life much easier, because being a teen in general is hard enough as is.

     Homework stress can cause a student to lose motivation all together and give up. It is possible teachers might just be expecting too much of their students.

     

    

Front/Home

CoverGirl introduces first ‘Cover Boy’

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Just when you think you have seen it all Covergirl introduces their first “Cover Boy” and shocks many.

Covergirl announced on October 11 2016 that the newest face of the makeup brand was going to be 17 year old boy, James Charles Dickinson. He is a makeup artist, who is widely known on social media, having almost half a million followers on Instagram and almost 100,000 subscribers that watch his makeup tutorials on Youtube.

Dickinson put on social media on Tuesday about the agreement. He also did a photoshoot with Katy Perry.

Many questioned if Dickinson was a transgender but he exclaims that he is gay and uses makeup to express himself. He strongly embraces being a boy and belongs to the group of “Beauty Boys” who also glam up using makeup.

This caused a lot of controversy across the people. The LGBTQ community highly supported CoverGirl and Dickinson. On the other hand, the people who are against the LGBTQ community are boycotting CoverGirl and the makeup. 

“I think it was a bad idea to have a guy Covergirl. Only because it is going to draw more hate to the LGBTQ community. Not that I do not respect the community any less, I just think this will cause a lot of controversy,” Yasmine Izaldine said.

This was one step forward for the gay community and such a bold move in the cosmetic industry this year.

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Physical activity is very important for high school students

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By Mya Cannon

Today’s generation seems to be either completely motivated to exercise and work out or completely against anything that requires any form of physical activity.  

According to Mayo Clinic, there are many benefits to working out including maintaining a healthy weight, helping fight against health problems such as heart disease, and also can increase one’s mood, boost their energy and help acquire better sleep.

It is recommended that an individual receives a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity a day to maintain good health. If one is seeking to increase their health or lose weight, it will most likely require more than 30 minutes of physical activity a day.

Playing a sport for the school gets one out of taking a gym class, making room for other classes, and it also gets students into the habit of exercising. Getting in the habit of working out at a young age has a huge benefit for one’s health in the future.

If one does not wish to dedicate their time to a sports team, a gym class at school is a great replacement. Unlike sports there is no extra time required outside of school to take a gym class and the type of activity is constantly being changed so one is not likely to get bored of doing the same thing everyday.

According to James Clear, a writer for The Huffington Post, in 1950 Doctor Maltz, a plastic surgeon, conducted a study on how long it took the average person to form a habit. The minimum amount of time it took for a habit to be formed was 21 days but the average time was 66 days.

There are endless ways to get exercise with today’s ways of living. There are gyms to join that have classes, sports teams for schools or community leagues that can be joined, gym classes at school or one could even go online to find an exercise routine that can be completed during some free time. Just going on a small walk after school can greatly benefit one’s health and way of living and is highly recommended.  

Front/Home, News

Parking lot and traffic patterns to upgrade throughout the year

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As the new school year began, students and staff were welcomed to a new parking lot that changed the way traffic flow in the school used to be in years past.

For over a decade, the high school had some issues with the parking lot such as an insufficient number of parking spaces available for staff and students during the year. The overall increase in parking included around 200 new parking spaces for staff, student and community use during the school day or for local events.

New renovations took place such as a newly paved section of the parking lot in late July and the process took no longer than 2 weeks to complete. New parking spaces were opened up as a result and an area was designated to staff only parking. Blocked off by bolted orange guards, only facility have access in and out of this area.

A parking gate was put up at the entrance to the staff parking lot and works much like an EZPass on the turnpike. The gate only opens up when a car that has an ID badge with a transponder. Staff and facility now have a secure parking area where they are able to have a space available when they arrive to school each morning.

The high school currently has two parking lots that are gravel because it takes about a year to allow the topsoil to set. If black top was added before the soil has time to harden, then the area will sink as a result. When the area has cured black top will be added, creating more parking.

“This year, we spent $261,000 to improve the high school parking lot by paving a very large area, excavating the hill at the stadium, making utility vehicle access more logical, replacing soft fill with clay under the newer parking area to provide a better and stronger base, and running power to the new gate system,” superintendent Tom Bratten said.

Funds to allow this and many other district­wide modernization projects to happen comes from the General Funds.

“We currently spend about 1.5 million dollars a year trying to update our schools. Keep them repaired and maintained. We have about $350,000 to do it with. We are the only school in Summit County that does not have a permanent improvement levy,” Bratten said.

To explain further, a permanent improvement levy something taxpayers pass in order for the school to have the funds to renovate and improve buildings within the district.

Another issue the high school has faced for many years is the traffic. With buses, parent drop­offs, student drivers and facility members trying to enter the school using the same entrance, this caused major traffic down the main road with drivers coming from both directions. It has been an ongoing issue in which the district is working hard to fix.

Currently, the district is testing out a new method to try to help improve the morning traffic. Parent drop-offs, staff and student drivers all enter the school through the front entrance while the buses are to drop off students in the back of the building by Joshua’s restaurant. If this method works to help improve the traffic then it will continue.

 

“The majority of the teachers that park in the front lot are happy with [the parking lot]. The only concern I have heard from students is the fact that you have a bit of a walk if they park in the far reaches of the parking lot,” principal Jeff Hartmann said.

Overall, the new parking lot seems to be a major improvement for many students and staff who were worried about parking space. The traffic is an ongoing issue that is currently being addressed; however, improvements are going to take a while.