Mr. Zeitchick is a teacher at Highland Park Senior High. He teaches an elective called Current Events, another one called African American Studies, and a class called Sociology. He also teaches an all senior class called U.S. Government.

Mr. Zeitchick is also well known for formally being the head coach for both track & field and the football team.

Students speak highly of Mr. Zeitchick for his kindness and realistic thinking. He is a very relatable teacher and is always there for students for whatever support they may need. 

One of the many things Mr. Zeitchick has done for the Highland Park community is create a thrift store for the people of this community. It is a new up and running idea he has. He calls it “Mr. Zeitchick’s Thrift Store.” It consists of a collection of winter clothes that range from all sizes for anyone to try. 

The store started in the back room of Mr. Zeitchick’s classroom where it is an open area. He filled it with mainly winter coats to help students stay warm in Minnesota’s harsh winter weather. He emailed and asked teachers, faculty, and parents for donations. The clothes are 100% donated, and 100% free to students. With all the donations, the thrift store now holds a variety of winter coats, sweatshirts, hats, gloves, shoes, boots, scarves, and snow pants. With the growing amount of clothes, the store is now in his back room and outer walls of his classroom. 

I asked Mr. Zeitchick what the purpose of this store was and his response was, “We live in Minnesota and everybody deserves a winter coat.” He is exactly right. 

Mr. Zeitchick has many hopes for this non-profit thrift store. One simple goal of his is for people to get what they need from the store. He wishes that everyone who wants/needs something from the thrift store feels comfortable to get it. The store is open 8:30-4:30 for anyone and everyone. At this time, Mr. Zeitchick has shut down the thrift store for this season.

Mr. Zeitchick says he sees the store expanding beyond winter clothing and going through the whole year. He’s hopeful that students who care about the cause will step up and take over and help grow it.

Mr. Zeitchick wishes to make the store more well known to students. He has flyers all around the school to help make the store known. He encourages students to tell their friends about it and help spread the word. 

Another thing I asked Mr. Zeitchick was what are three words he would use to describe the thrift store. He said, “Community, Helpful, Rewording.” These words are the best way to describe this store. It brings the Highland Park community together to help a good cause. It is rewarding for both the receiver of the clothing and the one donating the clothing. Donating to Mr. Zeitchick’s store is a simple good deed that anyone can do. 

by Toby Groves

Maintaining a good sleep schedule is one of the most important things a student can do. Getting a good night’s sleep can affect many things in your life and it’s very noticeable when your body doesn’t get enough sleep. Here are some reasons why every student should get 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

With the busy lives of high school students, it can be hard to maintain a proper sleep schedule. However, failing to sustain this can negatively affect your health and how you interact with the world around you. Research shows that those who typically sleep under 7 hours each night have a higher chance of premature death than those who sleep a full 8 hours.

Sleeping well can affect your appetite. When a person is sleep deprived, their body requires more energy than usual due to their lack of sleep. This means that they need to find energy in different places, which includes eating more food. Not getting enough sleep can result in unhealthy eating habits. A study in 2014 showed that children with less sleep were more likely to become obese.

Getting enough sleep can also affect your immune system. When you sleep, your immune system releases compounds that have a protective effect on your immune system. Other components, such as white blood cells, can reduce when you don’t get enough sleep, which can result in sickness.

High school students tend to stay up late to work on homework assignments or study for tests, so as to not lower their grade. Often times, however, they fail to see the importance of getting enough sleep. What’s the point of studying for a test if you’re going to be too sick to make it to class?

High schoolers need to get enough sleep. With the busy lives they lead, it can be difficult to keep up with sleep, but it is crucial to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Sleep can affect your mood, your attention span, your thinking skills, and your appetite. It is important that students sleep well in order to succeed in their lives.

High school students live busy lives. With school, work, and social lives, it can be hard for a teenager to find free time during the school year. One of the leading thieves of high schooler’s time is homework. Here are a few reasons as to how homework has an impact of high school students.

Having too much homework can affect the social lives of high school students. Students need time in their day to socialize with others and connect with one another. Having too much homework can result in a lack of a social life, and therefore can lead to difficulty paying attention during classes.

Homework can affect the mental health of high school students. According to a study done at Stanford University, 56% of students said that homework is a primary source of stress in their lives. Having too much homework can lead to stress, lack of sleep, poor eating habits, headaches, and exhaustion. Having less homework has also been proven to relax their brain and help them focus more when it’s actually time to work. 

Homework can also affect the grades of a high school student. Some teachers believe that if they assign more work, the grades of students will be better because they have more opportunities to turn in assignments, but this is not true. Having a lot of homework can stress out students, which leads to them being unable to turn them in. This in turn can lower their grades.

One reason students face a lot of homework during the school year is because it comes from many different classes. Most schools have six or seven class periods in a school day, and while teachers may think that they are not giving much homework, the work is coming from multiple sources. This can add up to become a lot of work for students. This problem can be solved simply by having teachers discuss with each other about the amount of work they hand out to students, and creating a schedule where their homework doesn’t overlap with each other to the point where it’s a ton of work.

Homework affects high school students every day, leading them to make decisions about how to spend their time and to stay organized. With the busy lives of high school students, having too much homework to do should not one be of the things stressing them out.

By Charlotte Lane

There is no denying the current data reflects that girls are out-performing boys at all levels in school.  According to the New York Times, boys score equal to girls on standardized tests, however they are receiving lower grades and fewer boys are completing college than girls. 

What is the Personal Project?  The 10th-grade Personal Project is something you do, as an individual, on a topic that interests you. It’s to show the skills you have developed over the years through the MYP Approaches to Learning, and applying them to one of the MYP Global Contexts.

To do your project, you need to complete a process journal. The journal helps to record your information while you’re working on your project. You should use the journal regularly for recording your quotes, pictures, and ideas. This journal will help you to write your final Personal Project paper.

The paper is a report in which you demonstrate your involvement with the project by summarizing the skills and experiences recorded in the process journal. Your paper should have between 1,500-3,500 words.

During the journaling and paper processes, you will be assigned an advisor to guide you on the timelines and requirements. You will meet with your advisor three times: when you start your project, halfway through your project, and at the conclusion of your project.

It is also helpful to find a mentor to guide your process, this person could be a teacher, a parent, or a community expert.

When you finish your project, there will be a Showcase, it is where you share your projects with your schoolmates along with your paper and journals.

Upon completing the project you will be honored at a recognition celebration.

For any questions or help, you can ask Ms. Bonk the MYP Coordinator.