National History Day (NHD) is a contest that is held annually in which students research a historical topic pertaining to a yearly theme. It’s sponsored by a non-profit education organization based in College Park, Maryland. National History Day, orignated in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1974. It started off as local contest, then expanded quickly throughout Ohio and into the Midwestern states. It then became a national program in 1980, with millions of students participating in History Day. Others, like parents or volunteers, support the program by being contest judges, workshop presenters, mentors, and advisers to students and teachers. This year, the National History Day theme is Triumph & Tradegy in History.

Triumph is: a victory or notable success like:

• What is being overcome?
• What were the goals and objectives?

Tradegy is: a disastrous event like:

• What was impacted?
• What was harmed?
• Was it the tragedy man made or Natural?

An example of a topic that fits this year’s theme, would be: the triangle shirt waist factory fire. It was a tradegy that lead to a triumph. Another area that would produce multiple possible topics would be slavery as it was one event, but it has multiple connections to the theme. Lastly, the sinking of the Titanic could lead to a possible topic as it was a triumph that lead to a tradegy.

To get started on History Day, here are a few tips

Step one: Choose a topic

• Learn about this year’s history theme
• Choose a topic that interests you and connects with the History Day theme.

Step two: Research the topic:

• You are required to provide primary and secondary sources. A primary source is something that was created during the event and a secondary source is something created after the events.
• Start researching Online and do a bibliography of the sources you find to keep track of them.

Step Three: Choose a history day category

• Documenary (10 minutes long)
• Performances (10 minutes)
• Website (1, 200 Addition)
• Paper (1,500 or 2,500 words)
• Exhibit (500 words)

Step four: Work on project

• Set time aside so you can work on your History Day project.
• If you’re working with a partner make sure you get together outside out school to work on your project.
• Practice what you’re going to say, so you can be ready to talk about your project.

Step five: Competitions

• School-level competition – January 31, 2019, at Highland Park High School, St. Paul, in the cafeteria.
• Regional Competition – March 9, 2019, at Johnson Highschool, St. Paul.
• State Competition – University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
• National Competition – University  of Maryland, College Park, MD.

For more information, please visit these websites:

• http://education.mnhs.org/historyday/history-day-timeline
• https://www.nhd.org

There’s always room for improvement! Here are three ways to help you do better in the second quarter of the school year!

Get Organized

Just a folder or two can drastically improve how you organize things if you normally just shove things in your bag without looking. Organizing has proven to help increase productivity, and it decreases stress and unhappiness.

Not organizing often means you forget assignments, and study less. So try to get more organized if you need to be!

Designate Time For Homework 

I’m sure everyone reading this has gone home after school, intending to do homework, but first you want to watch a YouTube video or Netflix. Then you’re no longer in the mood, or you’ve forgotten. Maybe designate an hour to two of your day specially for homework. That way you won’t forget, and you’ll actually do it.

Self Care 

Taking care of yourself is the most important thing. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep, and keeping up your hygiene. If you need a small break for mental or physical health, that’s always alright. You can’t do well in school, if you’re not well yourself.

Have a good quarter two!

The PBE matrix, or Positive Behavior Expectations matrix, for HPSH can be found in, if all, most classrooms. It is separated into 8 columns: Before school, Classroom, Halls, Cafeteria/courtyard, Bathrooms/locker room, Event/assemblies, Bus/parking lot, and After school.

Recently, the administration has made it a goal to reinforce the matrix, which was introduced to students at the beginning of the year grade level meetings.

The Before school expectations include: being timely to classes, following dress code, using appropriate language, coming to school prepared, being alcohol/drug free, and respecting others.

The Classroom expectations also include: being timely, being respectful, using appropriate language, and being alcohol/drug free. Along with this, students are expected to be engaged in class, listening and following instruction, being prepared, turning in work by deadline, and having electronics put away (directed by staff).

The Hallway expectations include: appropriate language, being respectful, walking/talking, being alcohol/drug free, and arriving to class on time. Students should otherwise be in possession of a hallway pass.

The Cafeteria/courtyard expectations include: appropriate language use, being respectful, and being alcohol/drug free. In addition, to these expectations students are also expected to walk, throw garbage away, and follow staff directions.

The Bathrooms/locker room expectations also include: appropriate language, being respectful of privacy, and being alcohol/drug free. In addition, students should use bathrooms at passing time, or return promptly to class. They should put away electronics, wash hands, flush, and respect others personal property.

The Events/assemblies expectations include: appropriate language, being timely, and being alcohol/drug free. Students should be attentive/engaged, sit in assigned area, silence electronics, follow staff directions and enter/exit as directed.

The Bus/parking lot expectations include: using appropriate language, cleaning up, following alcohol/drug free expectations, following road signs, bus safety rules, and listening to bus driver’s expectations.

After school expectations include: using appropriate language, following staff instruction, going to adult led activities (directly), following all after school policies, keeping track of Schoology, Campus, and email, and respecting others, along with being alcohol/drug free.

The hope is that students will feel more comfortable in school if they follow the matrix as everyone would be doing what they should be doing. Following the matrix would also hopefully help students be more productive, because there would not a lot of extra distractions.

In the end, without the matrix, school would be a lot less structured, and there would be a lot more chaos.

By: Maggie Alarcon

On November 1st, at the school library, there will be a display of “altars,” also called ofrendas, starting from second period to six period. In each side of the room there will be ofrendas that are set up on a tablecloth. There will be papel picado, which is cut tissue paper set over the cloth as a decoration.

On the table there will also be levels that are set using boxes to represent different levels. The levels represent the levels a soul needs to journey though to reach the next life.

When you are walking around in the library you will also see salt and water next to the decorations as essentials. They are set to quench the thirst of their souls.

Another thing you will see at the the library is people dressed as a “catrina” or a “catrin” and other people with their face painted as a skull.

There will also be a description in paper of the elements used to make an ofrenda and their significance.

When you walk around you will also see pictures of people who have passed away, some are famous, and some are people that were important in someone’s life in school.

There will be so many great ofrendas that will be shown on dia de los muertos November 1st, at the library! Make sure to come take a look.

Do you like to read? There are two upcoming, amazing reading programs happening soon. They are Read Woke, and Read Brave. Read Woke is going to be for high schools, and Read Brave is city wide. Here is some information on these two reading programs.

The Read Woke program started in Georgia, where a high school librarian started it as a response to what the country was going through at the time. The basic idea, of the whole thing, is to read books about other people that have different experiences than you. When we read books about different people, (i.e. different race, gender, sexual orientation) we learn more about them, and that’s an important part about the program. The idea is to make people who read the books more “woke” to what others see and experience. The current SPPS schools that are participating in this program are: Highland, Johnson, Harding, and Creative Arts.

There are a total of 12 different books that are pretty similar in that they all deal with issues the country is facing right now, some are new, and others are old. The books were all chosen for a reason; to challenge stereotypes about people. There will be 5 copies, of each book, available in the library at Highland. For anyone who reads 4 of the books, with a written review of 1 of them, they will be rewarded with a shirt. The review will be online so that students can see what students from other schools thought of each book.

Read Woke will be promoted in English classes at Highland by Ms. Rahman, the librarian. The start date is on the 29th of October, and it is a yearlong program. If a student reads 10 of the 12 Read Woke books, the librarian will buy any book of their choice for them, plus she will also buy a copy to put into the school library.

Read Brave is a bit different because it is a city wide reading program, and it will be hosted by St. Paul College. The idea for Read Brave is to bring up issues that teens are going through. Read Brave will be focused on mostly one book, but there are other options available. The reason for this is that they want teens and adults to read the same book.

St. Paul College will purchase copies of the book for participating schools and libraries. After the program ends (end of February), the author will come to St. Paul, and speak at different schools, and will also hold community events. Students then have a chance to talk to the author and learn more about the book through these events.

The book for Read Brave this year is, Burn, Baby Burn by Meg Medina. This book focuses on a teen that experiences housing problems. St. Paul College, felt that this was a topic worth learning more about. There will be another option for adults if they choose to read a different book, Evicted by Matthew Desmond. The Mayor is also getting involved with the Read Brave program to try and promote it more. 

These are the two reading programs that will be taking place soon. Students who are interested can stop by the library, and talk to Ms. Rahman to get more information.

At the end of September, we had our annual homecoming week. All week students were encouraged to dress up and participate in our themed spirt week and all the events planned for that weekend.

On Friday, we had our Pepfest and Homecoming Dance. This year’s Pepfest had a lot of different things. Ms. Headwall and Ms. Rohweller were in charge, like every year, and they did a great job. Towards the end of 6th hour, students started pouring into the gym. The band played as people were getting settled and they filled the whole gym with their music. All the capitans came out to talk about their clubs/sports and invited everyone out to upcoming events/games.

This year, there were a lot of candidates who ran for Homecoming Royalty. After everyone was paraded out, and the winners were announced for each class, we had presentations by the dance team, the cheerleaders and the soccer teams. All of the dances were very different from each other, and from anything else I’ve personally seen at previous Pepfests. Everyone seemed happy, excited and full of school spirit.

Friday night, from 7PM-10PM, was the Homecoming Dance. The field house was full of students all dressed up hoping to have a good night. At the tables, where you could check in bags and jackets, they sold refreshments, like water, soda, and candy. As you walked into the gym, where the dance was held, all you could hear was people off key singing along to the songs. Everyone was huddled together in a 20 x 20 foot area near the DJ’s table. Outside of a few problems, everyone one seemed to be enjoying their night, until they turned the lights on and told everyone it was time to go home.

The morning following the dance, we had pre game tailgating in the link area near the school house. Even though it was freezing outside, there we around 15 different booths selling everything from food to t-shirts. Some of the more popular foods to buy were: the ACC’s egg rolls, Union Latinas pupusas and horchata, and Cane’s, sold by the girls basketball booth. Black Student Union held a bake sale, while student council sold Highland Park t-shirts and sweaters. Everyone walked around eating and taking pictures in the photo booth while people played music on bluetooth speakers.

Ms. Headwall ran around taking pictures of everyone and everything, making sure not to miss documenting anything important. Even the man who plays the bag pipes at the games went to participate in the pre game activities. No one seemed to really mind the cold, and just looked like they were enjoying their time. Around noon, everyone started leaving the link area and made their way down to the field to show support at the football game. This year’s homecoming was a lot of fun, and everyone seemed to have a lot of school spirit. Hopefully, next year will be even better.