February
■■
Forum
Student
grades,
absences
could
affect
field
trip
privileges
E
C
mmalie ox
Staff Reporter
Rumors that the school
was going to enforce a new
field trip policy have been
heard within the crowds of
students during the past few
weeks. The most common
rumors were that the school
was going to limit field trips
to students with higher grade
averages or cut out field trips
altogether, but those rumors
are anything but the truth.
The new "field trip
policy" really isn't a policy
at all. It was just a few ideas
being discussed in Faculty
Senate meetings. The idea
for a change came up when
faculty started noticing how
many absences were on
record.
"At one point we had
a teacher come to us with
190 student absences and
it was only the first two or
three months of school," Rob
Holstrom, activities director,
said. Another teacher
calculated that students
miss an average of 10 days
of school each year not
including athletic events and
field trips. It doesn't make
sense for students to not
show up for class, yet have
the privilege of going on
field trips.
The Faculty Senate also
took into consideration how
field trips disrupt other
teachers' schedules. For
example, when the photo
classes took their big field
trip downtown, it pulled
many students out of some
of their classes, affecting
instructions and requiring
makeup work for the
students. Often, if only half
of the class is present the
teachers don't give as much
homework.
But it wasn't just the field
trip and activities disrupting
everyday schedules that
was being looked at. The
faculty found that it wasn't
in some of the students best
interest to get out of school
for field trips and activities.
"[If we went in this direction]
we would need to look at
the students absences, look
at what classes they are
failing, and their 'Student
in Good Standing' [status]
would be incorporated,"
Holstrom said. Student in
Good Standing is a system
implemented to help
students to keep track of
graduation requirements.
Student in Good Standing
is a system that was first
implemented with last years'
freshmen and has since
included sophomores. A
student is considered not
in good standing if they
are failing one or more core
classes, and will work with
their counselor to raise
grades. Those not considered
in good standing don't get to
participate in extra curricular
activities until grades are
raised. In this case, students
would have to miss field
trips because they are failing
a class/classes. "We are
trying to do what is in the
best interest of the students,"
Holstrom said.
I can understand
restricting field trips based
on unexcused absences, but
limits because of grades
shouldn't matter. If a student
is failing almost all of their
classes it becomes an issue,
but one or two shouldn't
matter. Sometimes students
just need a little boost to
raise their grades. Taking
away the privilege of field
trips wouldn't be a fair
change their physical
appearance, eating habits,
and mental state on or
around Valentine's Day.
Frequently people will find
something they don't like
about themselves, weight
or hair color, and blame it
for the loneliness they are
feeling. The Samaritans
In fact, it can leave a person
with negative long term
emotional effects.
"The truth is, there's a lot
of pressure to find a date on
Valentine's Day," Christina
Letsou, freshman, said.
It's time to expand
Valentines Day. It's time to
not only honor romantic
love, but to honor friends
and the people that work
around us daily. The typical
Valentine’s Day lovey
dovey feelings falter in
comparison to the sense of
gratitude you could give to
someone.
After saying "I love you"
to someone, take a moment
to say "thank you" to your
parents, friends, or anyone
else who has effected your
daily life. Spend the day
recognizing the little things
that people do for you, such
as the time your teacher
takes to prepare you for
your future.
Pressure
of
Valentine
s
Day
daunting
J L
aimie orenzini
Staff Reporter
For many people,
attempting to find true
love on Valentine's Day is a
yearly ritual. Unfortunately,
many of these people
end up spending the
day unaccompanied and
heartbroken. Unable to
cope, they give in to the
loneliness they are feeling.
According to The
Samaritans organization,
one in ten people under the
age of 25 feels depressed,
or unwanted on Valentine's
Day. Trying to cope with
being alone, people are
apt to do illogical and
sometimes desperate things.
The U.S. Census Bureau's
Public Information Office
made it clear that 15% of
American women send
themselves flowers on
Valentine's Day.
It's not unheard of
for people to radically
that over two-fifths of
or indifferent towards
Valentine's Day:
"The stereotype is that
you should have someone
to cuddle with. A lot of men
buy flowers just to get a girl
happy with joy," Sebastian
Okhovat, sophomore, said.
The pressure of finding |(
love (or in this case not
finding it) is perhaps
a daunting task. For
someone to raise their
hopes of eternal love only
to be rejected is nerve-
wracking to say the least.
punishment. No matter what
grades we have or what our
standing is, field trips are
still experiences that play a
big role in our understanding
and education.
Since the beginning of
school, Holstrom has been
keeping a calendar in the
mail room that has a color
coded list of all the field
trips taken and yet to come.
Having taken a look at this
myself, it is quite a rainbow
of colors. The point of the
calendar was to map out
all the field trips to display
to all of the faculty to show
just how much time is spent
away from school.
However, a policy like
this would be very hard to
implement. After having
many meetings between
the Faculty Senate and the
Curriculum Coordinating
Council (CCC), any plan of
action having to do with field
trips would take away from
the curriculum and part of
life's experiences for those
students. Most of these field
trips inspire and advance
the students and affect their
learning.
There are many ideas for
changing policies within
the curriculum at this point
that are being explored. The
Faculty Senate and CCC
plan to continue exploring
the possibilities throughout
the next semester and are
nowhere close to coming #
to a final resolution. This
isn't just a make-cut-
and-dry decision. We are
always looking at how we
can improve and how it
will affect the students,"
Holstrom said.