Category Archives: School Life

Clubs and Activities, School Life

Chinese New Year at Highland

1 Comment

Free on Friday? Well, here’s something. On February 5th, 2016, Highland will be hosting a 2016 Chinese New Year celebration organized by the Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy and the Highland Park Middle. Taking place at the Highland Park Sr auditorium, this event will last between 6pm-8pm. The celebration will include a performance and a carnival. Worried that the late night event will leave you feeling hungry? They’ve got that covered as desserts will be served after the performance. However, the actual date of the Lunar new year is on Monday February 8th, 2016. This will mark the first day of the year of the Red Monkey which is the ninth animal in the Chinese Zodiac.

The “red” part of the year represent fire which originates from the Five Elements incorporated into the Chinese calendar. Red is also considered to be a very lucky color in the Chinese culture. Chinese New Year will last for a total of 15 days

People born in the year of the Monkey includes the years: 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, and 2028.

According to SunSigns.org, people born in the year of the Monkey are ambitious (and competitive), smart, yet mischievous, and are associated with activity and adventure. With the year of the Red Monkey, people will be dealing with more financial problems. It is also advised that this year people should be more aware of their actions before making any abrupt changes with anything contributing to money, careers, and relationships.

Location of the event? Highland Park Senior HS: 1015 South Snelling Ave, St Paul, MN 55116

Events, News, School Life

51st anniversary

Leave a comment

Highland Park, home of the Scots, has been around for almost 50 years!

1964 is when Highland Park Senior High opened, and 1965 was the first graduating class. Students who graduated in 1966 started off in a different school such as Central, Washington, etc, but when they heard about Highland and how it just opened up, some of the students transferred over, and enjoyed Highland better.

Highland was known for its academics, fellowship, and how good the athletics were. Some called it the “dream school”, while others just thought it was just another school.

Over the years major changes have been made to HPHS. Back in 1965 there were just designated areas that are now football, baseball, and soccer fields. Cheerleading outfits have changed, such as in the fabrics used, and the Highland logo has evolved.

As we were looking through the past yearbooks, we saw so many interesting, and amazing activities that Highland delivered for the students. We saw a large assortment of clubs, and the many different homecoming activities that they had around that time. The yearbook used to be called “Tartan”, and Highland’s neighborhood rival used to be “Derham Hall”, as said in the 1965 yearbook.

Reunions are for people who want to come together again after a long period of separation, and the second graduating class from 1966 is reuniting once more! The founder of this reunion is Synthia Van. The reunion is Saturday August 13, 2016. There is a tour on August 13 at 9:30 A.M. at the Lost Spur Country Club in Eagan.

On that day, 50 years will have passed by for these grads. May that day be filled with happiness, joy, and miracles.

School Life

The Gates Millennium Scholarship

Leave a comment

All over the nation, homes were filled with the clicking and clacking of keyboards as students furiously typed the night away. Rushing to unleash the eight stories of their lives, these student kept in mind that those essays would be the summary of their academic success, adversities, and commitments as a potential leader. With those eight stories, there could be a chance that they will create a life changing moment, determining the fate of their future, and their financial support in college. Being one of those students, the night before the deadline, at 12:15 AM, I sat back with a sweet sigh of relief after smashing the submit button five times (grateful that the site did not crash on me), and from there the waiting began. 

January 13, at 11:59 EST, was the final deadline to submit the largest scholarship opportunity in the US for students of color. The Gates Millennium Scholarship was established in 1999 by Bill and Melinda Gates. Just in case you didn’t know, Bill Gates is the co-founder of Microsoft, known as the world’s largest PC software company. With the $1 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the goals of the Gates Millennium program is to provide outstanding minority students an opportunity to fulfill their highest academic potential, without being hindered by a financial barrier, so that they can create more diversity in different career areas including education, health and sciences, and mathematics, while also providing better opportunities for future leaders, and offering full support for both undergraduate and graduate programs. Only student of colors are eligible for this scholarship, including African American,  American Indian/ Alaska Native, Asian American/ Pacific Islander, and Hispanic American. Other requirements include:

  • US citizenship or permanent resident;
  • GPA of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or have earned a GED,
  • demonstrate leadership and commitment to community service, extracurricular activities
  • Eligible for the FAFSA
  • Will be enrolled in a US accredited college/university as first year students

Students who are rewarded with this scholarship will have their entire college tuition covered at a 4-year institution, and depending on whether the student chose to pursue careers in the sciences, mathematics, or education fields, six years of their graduate degree will also be covered. Being eligible is one small step towards an amazing opportunity, but being able to sacrifice time and effort requires a great commitment.

For the process, students would complete an extensive application with basic demographics and a profile, including your ethnicity, parent income, and self listing your classes and grades. The short descriptions must be included when listing your your leadership roles, community service positions, and jobs you have attained. Some students feel intimidated when they notice the five spaces given per category and worry about not being able to fill all five spaces with large contributions like being class president or team captain. Leadership in this case is just your participation in activities where you have a role and purpose. You don’t have to obtain a high or significant position to be considered a leader. However, the time spent completing the application itself is nothing near the amount of time spent writing the eight essays.

The person reading the essay is only able to identify students as an individual based on the content of the essays. Within those eight thousand words, applicants should be aware to use words wisely and creatively so that those eight thousand words will paint a clear portrait of who they are as a student of color both in their community and at school, leadership capabilities, and educational devotion. By portraying the descriptive details of the particular moment that is unique to only themselves, students are able to explain how their personal characters represents their worth towards this scholarship. 

The essay prompts are as follows:

  1. Discuss the subjects in which you excel or have excelled.  To what factors do you attribute your success?
  2. Discuss the subjects in which you had difficulty.  What factors do you believe contributed to your difficulties?  How have you dealt with them so they will not cause problems for you again?  In what areas have you experienced the greatest improvement?  What problem areas remain?
  3. Briefly describe a situation in which you felt that you or others were treated unfairly or were not given an opportunity you felt you deserved.  Why do you think this happened?  How did you respond?  Did the situation improve as a result of your response?
  4. Discuss your short and long-term goals.  Are some of them related?  Which are priorities?
  5. Discuss a leadership experience you have had in any area of your life; school, work, athletics, family, church, community, etc.  How and why did you become a leader in this area?  How did this experience influence your goals?
  6. Discuss your involvement in and contributions to a community near your home, school, or elsewhere.  Please select an experience different from the one you discussed in the previous question, even if this experience also involved leadership.  What did you accomplish? How did this experience influence your goals?
  7. Other than through classes in school, in what areas (non-academic or academic) have you acquired knowledge or skills?  How?
  8. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about that may help us evaluate your nomination (i.e., personal characteristics, obstacles you have overcome)?

The Gates Millennium Scholarship uses the same application every year, with the same constraints, and the identical eight essay prompts. The majority of the prompts are rather specific, and although you should grab the reader’s attention with a detailed story, it is also particularly important to give a clear answer in your conclusions. Although the minimum requirement for the essays are 500 words, it is encouraged that students make the best out of the 1000 word maximum.

Think that the organization will only take your word for everything you say about yourself? Nope. The application also requires students to seek recommendations from two individuals who are capable of recognizing your achievements and identify who you are as a suitable applicant. One person has to be the nominator and another a recommender. The nominator is often a teacher who you most connect with. It is crucial to ask someone who recognizes the importance of this scholarship in order for them to incorporate how much effort you have put in towards this scholarship.

The scholarship is very competitive with about 64,000 applicants each year. However, the faction of students who complete the application or fulfilled the requirements of at least 500 worded-essays leaves us with a 1 in 16,000 chance to be among the 1,000 students who will be winners. In mid-March, applicants will be notified on how to access the status of their application to see whether they made it in as a finalist. After that, the finalists will have to submit additional materials including transcripts, tax returns, college acceptance letters, and other information that determines their eligibility before announcing the actual winners. Not all finalist will be awarded the scholarship. By mid-May, finalist will be informed of the outcome of their applications.

Between 2000 and 2014, $845,713,056 has been awarded to the Gates Scholars, with and average award of $12,492 per scholar.

Unfortunately, the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program will no longer be open to new applicants after this round due to the lack of funds left for future students. This shocking news became a major motivation for students to complete their best work for the scholarship, recognizing that their younger siblings and peers will no longer attain the same opportunity to become a Gates Scholars.

Advice/How To, School Life

Getting Distracted by Electronics

Leave a comment

We all love our tablets and cell phones etc. These devices were meant to save us time, but too often, they end up wasting it instead. For many people, cell phones have become a “new best friend”. Even if you aren’t actively trying to access your cell phone, you’re distracted by notifications, texts, and incoming calls.

People have a habit of checking their phones every 5 seconds, and that could cause a lot of injuries. Here are some reasons why checking your phone constantly is bad.

In 2012, 3,328 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver. You can prevent that from happening by pulling over if you need to talk on your phone, or turning off your phone.

You’ll see people walking down the hall and the street staring at their phone. That could cause bumping into someone, tripping over something or hurting yourself, etc. This could be prevented by making sure you are paying attention to your surroundings.

You have a big test tomorrow and it’s worth half of your grade, and kids don’t even bother to study for it because they’re too distracted with their cell phone, tablet, iPod, laptop, etc. By turning off electronic devices while studying, these distractions can be avoided. Students should set aside specific study times where they put their electronics away.

There are so many reasons of how electronics can distract you. To prevent it from happening, limit your cell phone use, turn off all your notifications so you don’t get distracted by all the buzzes.

Local, School Life

SPPS fights

Leave a comment

This past school year has seen an increase in fights in the St. Paul Public School district. Harding High School, Como Senior High, and Central all have had to call police over the recent fights that have been happening, according to Fox News. In the beginning of the school year, a loaded gun was brought to Harding in a backpack along with marijuana. According to Fox 9 news, there was no intent on using the gun.

After the Central High student (name not released) attacked staff member Mr. Ekbald during lunch, the mother of the student said that her child did not know the adult was a teacher. The 16 year old student caused a traumatic brain injury, tingling in his hands and back, and neck pain to the staff member. Mr. Ekbald was choked until he was left unconsciousness and later was admitted to a hospital.

School officials are saying the outbreak of violence in SPPS schools are a result of poverty and lack of parental guidance. In an interview with Fox 9 News, the principal of Central High, Mary Mackbee, spoke about the outbreak of violence, “Our kids are needier they come from families that are suffering, whether financially or for other reasons. There’s just a lot of chaos in this world.”

One of the problems may be discipline. The Pioneer Press reports that many students are disrespectful towards their teachers. That behavior may lead to more violent behavior.

This issue hits Highland Park Senior High hard, because we’re part of the SPPS schools, and we care about our students’ safety. Kennedy McTeague, a ninth grader at Highland, when asked about her safety in school replied, “I feel terrible about what happened at Central, but I don’t think that’ll happen at Highland. We hardly have any fights and we are given alternative ways to deal without violent breakouts.”

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Would you pay $15 for a 2-hr field trip?

Leave a comment

Hey seniors, remember the last time you guys went on that senior trip to Zero Gravity? Some of us paid up $15 to attend the trip in hopes of skipping class for the day. But did any of us realize that it was $15 just to spend only 2 hours jumping around on trampolines? Some went because they actually wanted to, while others pulled off the price just because they wanted to miss class or because all of their friends were going. Not to be dramatic or anything, but the trip should have been extended for at least another hour in order for the trip to be worth the price. With $15, a student can pay for approximately 6 days of school lunch.

Those who did not attend the trip admitted that they were not willing, nor able, to sacrifice that amount of money to join the rest of the seniors on the trip. Some of us were left behind at school, and unfortunately, still had to attend our usual classes. It honestly feels unfair that money has to be involved in order for students to be able to participate in fun senior activities. Shouldn’t senior activities be for the benefit of everyone? It is understood that students had voted for this trip, but not all students were aware of the fact that it only allowed them to miss the last two periods of school. Plus, they were still responsible for work they missed while class was in session.

You shouldn’t have to put a price on the happiness of students. Even though a survey was created to determine the senior field trip, not all student took it, therefore only those who took the initiative to vote on social media were able to have their say on the options.

An alternative should have been given to seniors who were not able to attend the field trip. For example, different activities could have been supervised by different teachers between those times, such as sports activities in the gym, a movie in the auditorium, or other things that students would rather do besides sitting in class.  

Snow tubing will be the next opportunity for seniors to participate on a senior field trip. Based on the opinions of previous seniors, it will actually be a fun and exciting activity for us to experience, but let’s just hope that it will be reasonably priced to fit the financial needs of all students who want to go.

Getting To Know/History, School Life

Strength and fitness

Leave a comment

IMG_2192Strength and fitness is a class where endurance and strength is a MUST in order to pass the class. The teacher who teaches strength and fitness is Mr. Brandon Ferraro, also known as Mr. Ferraro. He is a gym teacher that teaches gym and strength and fitness. There are 38 kids in his strength and fitness class, and when combined with his regular gym class, there’s about 80+ in the class. The classes he teaches are vaguely similar, but they’re different due to the curriculum that he has set up. For example, the subject in gym that they are focusing on now is volleyball.

We asked four people that are enrolled in both strength and fitness and gym what they thought about the more specialized class and here are some of the things they said:

Francois (who referred to strength and fitness as “weight training”): “I like it. I took weight training sophmore year. It’s a good class and a good workout, only if you’re constantly working. If you’re not willing to participate and try hard then you should leave.”

Yeab: (who referred to strength and fitness as “weight lifting”): “Horrible, because you have to work hard and be strong and all that. It’s very tiring every day.”

Leul: “It’s fun. I like it because it’s not like class and I can gets away from the stress and the homework.”

Raina: “I’m a freshman. I like it because it’s exhilarating, and hard sometimes, but they’re easy ways to do the workouts when the teacher explains.”

After, we asked the students about the gym class and how they felt about it, we asked Mr. Ferraro what strength and fitness really means. His response: “My class is to build confidence and self esteem. Most important, understanding importance of what hard working does.”

We recommend taking this class if you want to improve skills, gain muscle, and build confidence.

Local, School Life

Questioning SROs’ role in SPPS

Leave a comment

In a recent Pioneer Press article, it was stated that chair of Saint Paul Public School Board, Mary Doran had proposed the idea to remove student resource officers from all Saint Paul Public Schools. This proposal created controversy, especially in light of the recent events around SPPS. Just within the past 4 months of the 2015-16 school year, SPPS has faced many dangerous incidents. This includes;

  • A loaded handgun found at Harding High School
  • An officer punched in the face breaking up a fight at Harding High School
  • An outbreak of fights with 10+ students involved at Como Park High School
  • A student at Central High School tasered for refusing to leave class
  • And the most recent event, a staff member hospitalized after trying to break up a fight at Central High School

With the occurrence of these events, many people believe that removing all student resource officers (SROs) would only make schools a more dangerous place to learn. The SRO budget is currently $854,000 to pay for nine resource officers within the district. This money is from the school district budget provided by education funding from the government. Although removing these officers would save money and help with budget cuts, many people believe that their presence within the schools is essential. The removal could elevate the situation and make our schools more dangerous without strong reinforcement present at all times.

One reason Ms. Doran supposedly questioned the presence of SROs in our schools is because earlier this year, an officer at Spring Valley High in South Carolina assaulted a student. Since then there has been much talk about the benefits and disadvantages SROs bring to schools around America.

After contacting Ms. Doran, she claims that the reporter simply misinterpreted her proposal, and that she just meant to start a conversation between students about their opinions of their school officers. She also claims that she does not wish to remove all SROs, and in fact she firmly believes their presence in schools is much needed in light of these recent events.

In the Pioneer Press article, the reporter said, “Evidently, you have some doubts as to whether SROs are a strictly positive presence in St. Paul schools“, but Mrs. Doran claims that nothing she said lead to that conclusion. She also claims these were false assumptions with no evidence. In summary, she believes that officers are important for the safety of students and teachers within the school, and they will not be removed.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Tardy Policy

1 Comment

Highland Park Senior High has started to enforce a tardy policy as of November 16, the start of the second quarter. The policy says that if a student is late to school or to class three times in a week, the school will call the student’s house and report to parents of their child’s late arrival. Seems pretty reasonable. Except for the fact that it’s construction season here in St. Paul, which will soon be followed by Minnesota’s notorious snowy season. Many students get to school via parents, friends, or public transportation, therefore taking logistics out of the students’ hands.

I recently posted a poll on Twitter proposing a “three minute window” policy instead of the current tardy policy. The three minute window policy would eliminate students being penalized for being a few minutes late to first hour, coffee in hand or not, as long as they made it to class within the first three minutes. Class would still begin at 7:30 AM.

102 Highland Park students took part in the Twitter poll, and 84% agreed with the three minute window policy, instead of the current policy.

Highland Park’s principal, Dr. Winston Tucker, has communicated with a student via email regarding concerns felt throughout the school. That student, Senior Misha Prasolov, conducted a separate Twitter poll asking for student feedback about the current tardy policy. “Some days I have to take public bussing, which does not arrive until 7:32, meaning that I would have to be tardy. There is no way for me to avoid this on these days so the policy is pretty unfair to me. Especially since I am only two minutes late,” was a sample comment collected from that poll. 

Dr. Tucker said that being late to work, for example, would not be acceptedTucker.JPG by an employer and you would get fired. Though this is true, I’m quite sure we won’t be expected to complete twenty pages of reading, four pages of notes, a lab, and at least three homework assignments in a week by an employer (seeing how all of the above is the unfortunate reality of high schoolers today). The “real” work world reality is simply not the same “real” reality of a high school student.

Another reality we all face are unexpected barriers that may occur in our regular commute to school. Barriers may include: Metro Transit running late, excessive snow blocking driveways, ice covering the windows of cars and/or streets, or unexpected traffic. One senior at Highland Park said, “Tardiness during first hour shouldn’t exist. Transportation can fluctuate frequently. After first period, any time later than one minute should be considered tardy unless there is a pass.”

A Highland junior said it is very hard for them to get up in the morning, “Especially after working and homework and other out of school activities which makes me miss the bus and therefore be tardy to my first hour. My intention is not to be tardy.” 

To take a look at other comments made go to:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-GVgk9S-u3aAepgNMq1l8vC_UjOVyEZJTRmfUiDGbSw/edit#gid=1497682940&vpid=A2

Movies/TV/Theaters, School Life

Pepsi Vs. Coke

Leave a comment

Coke? Pepsi? Which one taste better?

My fellow writer and I decided that it would be interesting to do a soda taste test, and to see which soda tastes better. We made a poster that had both sodas on one side of the poster.

Once the HPHS students entered lunch, we had them come over and try both drinks and after they tasted it, they tallied which drink they liked best. The amount of soda we gave the students to taste was about a Dixie cup worth.FullSizeRender

With the data we collected it shows that people like Coke better than Pepsi. For some students, they said that they like Pepsi because it had a sweet taste, while others said they liked Coke because it had a really fizzy taste. Some people disliked Coke because it had a bland taste, which stayed in their throat.

Overall, 41 people liked Pepsi and 56 liked Coca Cola. So, with that information, we see that Coca Cola is the favored soda of HPSH.