Category Archives: School Life

School Life

School lunches over the years

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School lunches have been a topic tossed around a lot. What do you get to eat at school? Why do you get to eat it? How much should it cost? Should it be healthy? Does it taste good? These questions have been asked over the years in schools. Even though these questions never seem to change, school lunches themselves have changed over the years.

According to the website Mental Floss, in 1960, public schools and the Child Nutrition Act expanded the availability of school lunches in the U.S. They started to implement pizza, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and enchiladas, not caring if the food was healthy or not. Then in the 1970s, fast food chains started to rise in the food industry and were put into the school lunches.

Soon after the fast food company’s took over in 1970 the USDA put out a statement saying that school lunches only needed to have “minimum nutritional value.” This led to ketchup being classified as a vegetable, due to the cuts in funding for school lunches that reduced the funds by $1 billion. 

Soon after this, in the 1990s, when fast foods had been in the school lunches for 10 years, obesity was at an all time high. Because of this, health concerns became a top priority for schools in the U.S according to the USDA. 

By 2005, schools were switching from canned vegetables to fresh vegetables, and grilled chicken to grilled jerk chicken. This made the obesity rates drop according to the website Mental Floss, but the schools also lost most of their money from the fast food companies. Since fast food was no longer being served for lunch, the companies no longer paid to be in the schools. Because of this, school lunches lost over half of their funding. 

5 years later, in 2010, President Obama was elected and he began the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. This increased the funding of school lunches, and school lunches began to get healthier and better for kids in school.   

School Life

Personal Project

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This school year’s Personal Project due date has passed, those who missed it can no longer turn it in. The Personal Project is for Sophomores, but information was given out during the spring of their Freshman year. The students are given a packet with what the project required from the students. The packet also had ideas or topics the students could possibly be interested in.

What is the Personal Project? The project is an IB-MYP project with the expectation that all students take on the project and create something unique and personal to them. The motive is to get students motivated about doing things that interest them.

Each student has their own Personal Project advisor who can help them deicide a topic, guide them with their paper, and answer questions students may have about the project. Throughout the student’s Sophomore year, they will meet their advisor at least 3 times to talk about the progress of their project.

The project has requirements to be completed. Students who decide to complete the project are required to physically turn in their paper along with five journal entries and five pictures of proof. The paper is where students write about their process of learning about their topic. The paper is then graded using the criteria on the packet.

Some ideas people choose for their project are: Learning a new instrument, joining the dance team, learning a new skill, or building their own computer. Many of the ideas are personal to the student and is something they would like to learn more of.

School Life

History Day

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Ms. Bonk

On Tuesday, February 2nd, Highland Park Senior High held a showcase for History Day projects in the cafeteria. Students in Ms. Bonk’s and Mr. Berndt’s accelerated history classes were required to complete a History Day project. Each year, History Day has a new theme, and students must find a topic, in history, that relates to that theme. This year’s theme was “Taking a Stand in History.” Some of the topics that were chosen include: LGBTQ Rights, Black History, and Women’s Rights.

There are 5 different ways a student can present their project, they are: exhibits, websites, documentaries, performances, and a paper. Students that choose to present something, other than a paper, can work in a group of 2 or 3 people. If a student chooses to complete a paper, then they have to work individually.

There is the opportunity for students to compete in History Day beyond their Freshman year, if they so choose. This year, there were 2 Sophomores, and 2 Juniors working on History Day. There was also an entire 11th grade regular history class completing the paper for History Day.

Judges come and evaluate student presentations. Each type of presentation has their own criteria that is judged, and each is judged at least twice by two different judges.

The students are encouraged to wear formal outfits on the presentation day. The presentations are then graded and the teachers in charge of History Day will decide who makes it to the next round known as Regionals. Regionals judging is a little different; students from different schools who made it to Regionals will have a specific time when they are judged. The judges will ask questions about your topic and observe your presentation.

If students pass Regionals then they move on to the State History Day competition. The project itself is very competitive so students thrive to make the best out of it.

This year’s Highland History Day went well and there were many interesting topics that students chose.

School Life

Winter pepfest and spirit week

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This year Highland is going to have its winter pep fest on February 24th. Every school year Highland has a pep fest to celebrate the school, and to get everyone into the school spirit heading into the second half of the school year.

Typically, the school has spirit week, which is the week leading up to the pep fest. Spirit week is a themed week, where each day you dress differently. This year, the students got to give input and vote on which themes they wanted for spirit week. Spirit week starts on Tuesday, Feb. 21st, with the following themes:

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  • Tuesday is Pajama Day
  • Wednesday is Decades Day
  • Thursday is Flannel Day
  • Friday is Class Color Day.

( Freshmen class is Yellow, Sophomore class is Green, Junior class is Blue, Senior class is Red)

The pep fest will be held during 7th hour, and the whole school will be there. This pep fest is going to focus on the things that students at Highland are involved with during and after school. The HPSH band will play some songs. Several teams will have presentations. School clubs and activities leaders will make announcements as will sports team captains.

“It will be similar to other pep assemblies, but there are a few surprises to come,” said Ms. Hedwall, when asked about the upcoming pep fest.

Highland has a spirit week and pep fest twice a year, where students and staff are able to show school spirit and enjoy the week that celebrates all of us as a school.

 

 

 

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Blocked schedules

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This school year, like the last, our daily schedules changed for our final days of the semester. Each class was switched (with the exception of 4th period) to being about two hours long, to give each student a longer time to be able to finish their final tests. But is the two hours of class really needed for the students?

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image taken from: http://www.tv-spoty.info/image/h/high-school-classroom.html

I went around and asked some students about how they felt about the blocked schedules, and many students hated the fact that they had to sit in a class for what seemed like forever. Jennifer Perez, a Highland student said, “I had many classes that I didn’t have a final for and it just felt a bit long and boring, but I get that if you did have a final it would come of use to you.”

Many other students that I had asked had the same thing to say. There would be days where people had no finals at all, and even though they were glad that they didn’t have to stress out that day, the whole day just seemed to move a lot slower than usual.

After talking to students, I went around asking some teachers about how they felt about the blocked schedule. Many of them liked the blocked schedule; one of our math teachers said, “I liked it. I liked that it gave the students more time to work on the tests that were given and that they didn’t feel rushed.”

Many of the teachers that I asked felt the same way. They were more comfortable with giving a more advanced test to their students because they knew that their students had a long enough time to be able to work out the problem and solve it.

After talking to a number of students and staff, I got the sense that feelings about the schedule were somewhat divided. I personally like the schedule. I’m sure that we will continue with blocked schedules for finals for while. Not only does it give those who are testing more time, but for some students it gives them a break from having to take so many finals in one day.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life, Tech/Games

The issue of technology in the classroom

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image taken form: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11676117/Training-for-teachers-in-war-against-pupils-who-use-mobile-phones-in-school.html

In the past few years, there has been a huge advancement in technology. This technology is being used for education (for example: school issued iPads). Even though the idea of technology is a good idea for helping children learn, it is also creating a distraction for their learning. In St. Paul Public Schools, there are many kids that are distracted by either their iPads or cell phones in the classroom (playing on them instead of doing their school work). This is causing them to not focus and learn, which can result in bad tests scores and low grades. 

One of the issues with school iPads is the App Store which allows kids to download and play games on the device. In the last year, there have been fixes that have taken the App Store off of school iPads. This helped for awhile, until kids figured out how to either get the App Store back or they found other ways to play games. The App Store battle is a constant issue which is continuing to cause kids to be distracted in the classroom.

Another issue is the use of cell phones. Each teacher has different rules about phones but kids still use them to “listen to music while doing work.” There have been studies proving that listening to music is more of a distraction than a help for doing work (for an example see: http://www.spinedu.com/listen-music-studying/).

One more issue with cell phones is that if a student doesn’t have an iPad with them, they say they will just use their phones to do the work. The problem with this is A) the screens of cell phones are small so it is difficult to produce quality work and B) without the school iPad app restriction, the student is able to do anything on their phone even if they say they are doing work.

Since school issued iPads, and personal cell phones, are both an issue in a learning environment, there should be someone who looks into enforcing more efficient rules for the use of these devices in the classroom.

School Life, Tech/Games

Programming at HPSH

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ianHighland offers a wide range of electives. Electives can be used to explore studies outside the core curriculum. Electives offered are anything from sports and journalism, to photography and programming. I am here today to talk about one particular elective: computer science with Mr. Peterson.

Back in my Junior year, I took computer programming as an elective. I liked my experience, as I thought the class was fun but simple, and Mr. Peterson was a great guy. The class taught me how to use Scratch and Google Sketchup, and unlike a lot of other classes, he gave us a lot of creative freedom. Most assignments had an end goal requirement, like “have it multiplayer” or “draw a house,” but anything else was up to us. We could decide what kind of multiplayer game it was, and what the details of the houses were.

Perhaps the reason why I did so well in the class, was because I had experience in programming and model design. As a kid I had always been very creative and loved Legos. Eventually, I turned to video games, but my creativity stayed the same. In games like Minecraft and Garry’s Mod I could explore and interact with my own creations; which is a wonderful, godlike experience.

Then I found LittleBigPlanet, a game that gave a limited range of tools that, if you knew your stuff, could create almost anything. The game is primarily a platformer, but I have seen people create shooters, RPGs, mini games, full length movies, anything and everything you can set your mind to, if you know how to make it.

How the programming in LittleBigPlanet works is a lot like Scratch; how you place and hook up modules to activate things. It is as complex as you make it. If I want to make it so that when the player grabs a button it turns on a light, I place an object called a “grab sensor,” and wire it up to a light.

I can make the same concept more complex too. Like if I want it to be that only certain characters can grab the button, and make the light turn on permanently, I can add a tag sensor and hook that and the grab sensor up to an AND gate, and hook that up to a counter set to 1, so when a certain player with a tag grabs the button, both conditions are met so the AND gate sends out a signal, activating the counter so it is at 1/1 and permanently sends out a signal to the light.

I have used this system to create some pretty complex stuff, like a character stealth system, movement speed of characters, etc.

So, if any of this sounds interesting to you, or if you would like to learn more about programming, you should check out Mr. Peterson’s elective class.

Editorials/Student Voice, Events, School Life

CU Day at the capitol

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On January 31st, I attended an all-day event called: Credit Union Day at the Capitol.

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http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/50866802.jpg

This event saw all of the credit unions, in Minnesota, coming together to meet with different legislators, of Saint Paul, to talk about how their credit union is making an impact on their community. They also talked about how they are most important when assisting their community members with financial troubles.

As a student from Highland Park, I was invited by HIWAY Federal Credit Union to participate in this event so that I could learn more about how a credit union can make an impact on society.  They also wanted me to better understand the work that is involved with promoting a credit union.

img_4251The Minnesota credit union network contains more than 20 credit unions, all consisting of one important rule, which is to help their members learn more about savings and assist them with any concerns about their financial position. I met with two legislators: Dave Pinto and Dan Schoen. I talked to them about my involvement with HIWAY, and about having a branch inside Highland Park, which influenced many students to become a student member with HIWAY. This school year, we have had at least 8 students become members, and we still have people joining today.

img_2401Another thing I found very exciting is the CEO of HIWAY – Dave Boden, took me on a tour of the capitol building, for my first time visiting the place. He told me that the legislators of Saint Paul look upon the credit union network of Minnesota, and see how they want to help their members and educate them about the benefits and qualities of savings.

Just before the event, I also got to sit in on a press conference for a program called: “WINcentive savings” where they talked about how learning to save and being knowledgeable of your finances can make a difference in the future.

Working for a credit union, inside a high school, is a grand opportunity to promote HIWAY amongst students and teachers who are interested in learning more about this type of business and its purpose. It also provides the chance to be part of an outreach, to be involved with a different crowd that wants to start being well-educated on the qualities of a credit union, and to actually become a member of the credit union.

Entertainment, School Life

Dance performance

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On January 19th, 2017, during 3rd hour, Ms. Landreau and Ms. Berger’s dance classes, hosted a dance show. The dance show had all types of dances including: tap, rhythmic, group, and solo dances. The dancers used songs that related to their emotional being; from the way someone looks at their body to their sexual orientation. The dances were full of emotion and spirit each one having its own meaning.

The dance performance used a wide variety of songs. There was a dance for a song in Spanish and a dance with no song at all (to focus more on the expression and body language rather than the rhythm).

Most of the solo dances were based on oneself. The feeling of being lonely or lost, not liking how you are physically, and having feelings others may say are “unnatural” or “not normal” were a few of the topics the dance class decided to focus on.

At the end of the show there was one last dance performed by the IB class. They performed the dance using the song “Where is the love?” by the Black Eyed Peas. Everyone dancing had on a tie, but each tie consisted of a different color representing differences in society as they danced as a whole. The dance had amazing choreography that forced the dancers to rely on each other, emphasizing the importance of teamwork.

The dance performance is different from last year’s with new meaning and choreography. As the diverse choreography and music came together so did the performance. It was an amazing experience to watch, and everyone did a great job as individuals and as a whole.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Making Highland a safe space

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Donald Trump’s inauguration was on January 20th, 2017. Many students in our community don’t feel as though he will make America a safe place for them to live. A few peer leaders in our high school community wanted to do something to show that we want Highland to be a safe space for everyone. They went about showing support to other students by having a gathering during lunch, in which people could share their concerns, fears, hopes, and any feeling they may have during this time. Everyone wants our community here at Highland to be a safe space for all, and we are doing everything we can to make our students feel welcome.

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We asked the leaders of the gathering what their overall goal was and what their plans were for the next meeting; here was their response, “We wanted something that would draw positive attention and help broadcast a sense of community. Basically we wanted to create a platform to continue more events that would be similar and encourage people to be more politically active.”

Based off of the turnout, it’s easy to say that the leaders were successful. Many of the students were able to discuss their worries free of judgment in a very respectful and inclusive environment.

Overall, the rally went on successfully, serving its original purpose of bringing a community together. The students of Highland hurt by President Trump’s election came together to voice their opinions and stories. Leaders of the rally, both staff and students, brought a positive outlook in a dark time for many. They are looking forward to having more gatherings for social injustices in the future.