Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2007)
:------------------------------------------------------------------- m o Um o LL Medford teacher demands right to carry concealed firearm at school. Should teachers be armed? </> LU GC ¡5 111 Blonde-haired, blue eyed junior treated as a novelty during stay in China. Cross Country Team provides family-like environment for runners. U_ - page 2 - page 4 - page 8 h- z LU 2 S u m m e r filled with d isa p p o in tin g m o v ie s e q u e ls . p CE UJ h- Z LU UJ e o Assemblies, fo o tb a ll ^ games, and field trips; school year gets off to a great start. CL - page 11 Official Student Publication of West Linn High School Published Since 1921 >z < in t n - page 12 October 2007 • Volume 96, Issue 1 CORE begins first year of alternative learning ■ HlLLI ClAVARELLO News Editor CORE, a new course taught by Morgan Hubbard, English, and David Frick, social studies, is a class that focuses on interactive and project-based learning of both English 12 and World History 12. CORE stands for culture, opportunity, renaissance, experience. The class, held both second and third period, will be student- based, with students designing service projects and doing community service to help further their understanding of the curriculum. "We wanted to attract seniors who both enjoyed academic studies and those wj O ' did not necessarily . g e m s ch o o l, SO we designed something we could collaborate over and make into something different," Hubbard said of their plan. One of the aspects of CORE is team teaching. Along with their outside of the classroom discussions about curriculum and lessons, Frick and Hubbard teachers, to connect because there is greater diversity," David Galle, senior, said. Students will be taught a vastly different curriculum C O R E s tu d e n ts m a k e m a sk s f o r El D ia d e L o s M u e rto s c e le b ra tio n . t h e c e l e b r a t i o n ) ; it 's a n e w They are planning a schoolwide celebration for the traditional Latin learning experience not only for students in CORE, but for the school too," Makenna Wheeler, senior, said. Frick and Hubbard are also making awareness a large influence on how they Photo by Malia Chong h o lid a y . also connect their classrooms using a retractable wall on block days to teach together. "It's a better way for the students, as well as the compared to other English 12 and World History classes. Frick and Hubbard's curriculum stresses the aspects of different cultures. Once Upon 3 Mattress awakens season u The musical "Once Upon a Mattress," set to open on Nov. 2 with performances Nov. 3, and 8-10, is the musical adaptation of the well-known Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, "The Princess and the Pea." All performances will be in the new theater, giving the theatre department its second year at home. The fairy tale is about a prince who finds his princess after she successfully passes a test given by the queen. She proves herself by detecting a pea through 20 mattresses, showing how "delicate" she is. "It felt like 'Once Upon a Mattress' was the right show for this group of students and for this time in our growth as a program," Jessica Murray, -Andra Sturtevant, Princess Winnifred, practices for the musical "Once a Mattress." The musical is set to open on Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. * Photo by Malia Chong director, said of her motive behind choosing the musical. The musical has 28 total roles and was also chosen for its variety among roles. "(There are) great parts for students. Four wonderful strong leads for girls, a rarity in musical theatre, and five leads for boys," Murray said. The musical will feature representatives across the classes. Three freshman, Michael Johnson, Samantha Forsey and Matt Spady, make their premiere, along with two juniors, Ashtyn Butuso and Whitney Finnerty and Ryan Summers, senior. Annie Kaiser, English teacher, will design the costumes for the musical for the first time as well. Students also have the opportunity to help the prepare for the musical. The program hosts "work parties" on Saturday 10-4 p.m. and Sunday 1-5 p.m., in which students eager to help build sets as well as do other aspects of behind the scenes help. "(Slice Upon a Mattress” ______ ■ continued on page 5 teach. They plan to create a relaxed atmosphere, and let students control more of their class time. They are also grading differently, making the grading system not point- based but having more to do with student participation and understanding of how it relates to them and the world around them. hi the coming years, both teachers hope the class will continue to hold student interest and become an established part of the school. They hope other teachers will be able to adapt the program either by teaching it themselves, on a roving basis, or by instilling some of its curriculum into their own classrooms. Any student or teacher who comes to CORE will understand that it's possible to learn English and history on an experimental level; that makes learning fun and memorable," Frick said. school launches new web site m I ke M HlLLI ClAVARELLO________________ News Editor The works studied by the class will come from several countries, and they plan to incorporate all aspects of each country to teach the unique curriculum. "Culture translates to art, history, food, drama, music, dance—all experiences students will have opportunity to have," Frick said. Both teachers plan to make learning as fun as possible. They have several ideas; one being a school wide celebration for "El Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead), that incorporates the aspects that CORE students learn about culture and history in different countries. "I am so excited (for c G in n is Contributing Writer With an aging eight year old school web site, it was de- cided a new one needed to be launched. Angie Hammond, technology coordinator, is excited about the look of the new page that she, technology staff members and students decided upon. As early as January of2006, there were meetings about putting together the new web site. Students and teachers talked about what they liked and disliked about the old web site. The main consensus was that there were too many links on the side bar. The new web site has a dual bar: a top banner as well as a sidebar. It was somewhat modeled after the Oregon State University home page. Adam Simpson, an out side web page designer, helped Hammond launch the new site. It was launched at the end of the 2007 school year to be ready for this year. But the question is, will the students like it? "I hope the students are go ing to like it, and parents are already e-mailing about how they like it," Hammond said. One of the new features that Hammond pointed to is a list of upcoming important events so students won't have to dig through the Roar for the most important things happening around school. Students can also view specific information accord ing to their class (freshman, junior, etc.). This is especially useful for the seniors, to view information about graduation and senior events. Hammond has taken the responsibilities of updating the upcoming events on the home page. Another is that the students have their own link called "students" instead of clicking "guidance" in order to view student grades and schedules. "(The new site) makes it easier to navigate and check your grades," Kyle Olsen, sophomore, said about the features on the students link. mm mm __________ m continued on page 8
