Rearranged grad requirements prove to be taxing
on student schedules; forecasting plans revisited
E mily R eed ___________________
With the end of the
school year a few months
away, why would we
rearrange graduation
requirements for two
classes? Just a week before
forecasting, on April 4,
counselors announced that
the requirements had been
adjusted for this year's
sophomores and freshmen.
The differences are
simple. The change in
graduation requirements
made in 2008 was imposed
prior to the Class of 2012's
freshman year. This made
it easier to adapt to the
new classes and changes in
expectations. The current
change, however, comes
only two months before the
end of my second year in
high school, and it really
shook up my schedule.
With the addition of three
new required social studies
classes such as Civics and
Gov, World History Green
and Economics to fit into
my already jam-packed
schedule, it makes it
difficult to fit in everything I
The number of social
studies credits required is
still the same at six, but the
classes that students can
take to achieve these credits
have been changed.
"We no longer offer
International Relations and
Crisis," Lou Bailey, principal
said. "However, World
History Gold will combine
some aspects of both of
these classes."
Making classes such as
Civics and Government
and Economics required
for graduation creates
a more "cookie
cutter" look on
transcripts, not
only in our own
high school, but
throughout
the state.
In the past
our district
has not
complied with
the state standards
regarding
psychology, but now
are conforming. Last year,
there was more variety in
the combination of classes
offered to students, such
the individual wanted to
take or was interested in. By
making us all take the same
classes, there is not a lot of
variation or individuality
from student to student.
"We didn't necessarily
change the requirements,"
Bailey said. "We just
rearranged which
classes
would
as International Relations
'anSTC'risT^vvJ'iicn have been
According to Bailey,
p sy ch o lo g y h as widely been
cut for next year. Classes
were taken based on what
\_a^e
pV\o^° ^
count
as
s o c i a lstudies,
and which ones would be
electives."
classified as an elective
credit. "All around the state,
psychology has been made
an elective credit. We are
just now conforming with
th a t," Bailey said.
This year the state
standards for graduation
requirements were changed,
causing the district to
comply with the changes.
"I wanted
to take
psychology, but
now since it doesn't
count, I can't take it
anymore. I can't take
as many
electives
that I
wanted
to,” Emily
Mathes,
freshman, said.
Timing is
an important
component of
this change as
well. Why apply
saw
these changes to
students already half-way
through their high school
career? Some of us already
have all of our classes
planned out, and a drastic
scheduling change shakes
up everything,
"We are currently going
on a case-by-case basis. If a
sophomore is taking or had
taken psychology it counts
as a social studies credit,"
Bailey said. "Students that
signed up for AP Psych in
the fall met with counselors
to decide if that was a class
that they still wanted to take
given that it would not be
counted as a social studies
credit."
Graduating classes of
2013 and 2014 are affected
by this change.
Because this is the first
year in which this change
is implemented, we are
basically stuck with it. But
there is good news. The
little "wiggle room" that
these changes may create
make students think twice
before taking classes. It
makes students choose
electives carefully, knowing
that there will be fewer
class options in the future
to fulfill the continued
six credit social studies
requirement. This could
also encourage the four year
planning that the counselors
suggest during forecasting
every year. While these
new requirements are
bothersome, they may be a
blessing in disguise.
Reduce, reuse, recycle; our generation can make change
C iara W olfe _________________
Look around you. Do you
see loose pieces of paper
lying around? Empty plastic
bottles or bags littering
the floor? Most of these
materials will be thrown in
the garbage by the end of the
day One plastic bottle that
goes into the garbage will
take 700 years to decompose.
Billions of tons of recyclable
paper are thrown away each
year. Chances are, you're
surrounded by thousands of
recyclable materials each day.
There are several ways for
people to reduce the amount
of materials that are wasted.
It all depends on whether or
not our society will take the
initiative to make the world a
better place.
Recycling and conservation
are vital to our world. In order
to prevent wasting the Earth's
resources, the population
must become more aware
of the benefits of recycling.
The consequences of wasting
resources will be great if our
up-and-coming generation
doesn't reuse materials.
Although recycling rates have
gone up in the past few years,
there is much more that we
can be doing as a society, and
as a school, to reduce waste as
well as conserve resources.
Photo by Laurel Massaro
Victoria Guerchon, junior, collects recycling during her third period
math class. According to the EPA, in 2009 paper and paperboard
products accounted for about 28 percent of all materials in the
municipal waste stream. In that same year, 62 percent of all the paper
that Americans used was recycled.
As a whole, the United
States recycles only 0.6 percent
of the 100 billion plastic bags
that are brought home from
grocery stores each year
(according to the New York
Times). The other 99.4 percent
of the plastic bags end up in
landfills or as litter, on land or
in the ocean. According to the
Earth Resource Foundation,
each of these plastic bags will
take 1,000 years to decompose
on land, and 450 years in
water. The Environmental
Paper Network says that of
all paper in America during
2010,44 percent was wasted.
The paper industry's goal is
to reduce this number to 40
percent by 2012. The past few
years have seen large increases
in recycled materials; however
100 acres of forest are being
cut down per minute in order
to make paper, almost half of
which is not recycled. Plastic
bottles are responsible for 50
percent of all recyclable waste.
If our generation doesn't
make a change regarding how
we dispose of materials, the
coming years will hold many
consequences. First, fuel prices
are affected by the amount
of recycling that goes on. By
making more products from
scratch, much more energy is
used than simply salvaging
old materials. Fuel prices
then go up, which causes
a ripple effect throughout
the economy, making prices
higher on everything.
Secondly, wasting materials
makes the Earth a dirtier
environment for us to live
in. The Earth is only so big,
and the only way to avoid
taking up space with landfills
and garbage is through using
fewer materials and reusing.
Lastly, producing new
materials rather than recycling
old ones creates harmful
emissions that pollute the air.
Therefore, recycling promotes
cleaner air for us to breathe.
As a school, there are
many ways that we can save
resources and recycle more.
The most obvious way would
be to reduce the usage of
paper. If teachers simply
printed worksheets using both
sides of the paper, our paper
consumption would be cut in
half. Also, if possible, more
assignments could be done
and turned in electronically,
which has the potential to
significantly reduce WLHS'
paper consumption. As for
recycling aluminum cans and
plastic bottles, all we need
fo do is place recycling bins
next to garbage cans, so that
students can recycle without
using any extra time or energy.
By starting the movement
to recycle more now, our
future generations can
implement recycling for the
rest of their lives. Integrating
new recycling ideas into our
school could be the start to
the change that will make our
Earth better.