Category Archives: School Life

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Are high school students working too hard?

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By: Jefferson Palma

Here in this day and age it’s normal to give work for students to complete after school which is called homework. Homework is a very controversial thing because people argue that it isn’t necessary while others say that it is.

Finland, for example, is rated in the top ten for being one of the best education systems internationally even though they do not give homework, and have shorter school hours than American schools do.

Typically, in Finland, they require 5 hours a day of school while in the US it’s 7 and a half hours.

According to the Princeton Review, in their Student Life in America survey, more than half of the students reported feeling stressed, 25 percent of students felt that homework is their biggest stress, and 33 percent of their studying time they’ve felt struck, stressed, or anxious.

Homework is without a doubt a huge reason why students feel stress. I personally believe this can affect students’ mental health and it’s too much for students when they already have 7 and a half hours of school to learn and to work.

I personally am a high school student in St. Paul, Minnesota and I believe that in addition to homework, they are making it hard for us because they also do not give us enough breaks in between classes (that includes lunch as well).

Breaks are essential for the brain and it can be bombarded with too much information if they don’t give us a healthy amount of time to rest.

I personally have three core classes all in a row, and my only break is the passing time which is 5 minutes. This means that I need to drop everything I learned from science and switch to my brain to learn in history class in a few minutes.

And I find that I have too much workload in a short amount of time.

Another thing I would like to point out is that they don’t give us enough time for lunch. For the people who’re late, they need to wait more than half of the time in line to get their lunch (and I know this from experience) and I believe it isn’t enough time to eat and talk with your friends.

In the end, I would say, high school students are working too hard because we don’t have enough breaks and we also have to worry about homework.

Advice/How To, School Life

How to manage your time wisely

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By: Abisola Dosunmu

Image created with AI Art Generator

With all the chaos at the end of the quarter and the start of a new quarter, it’s really easy to fall behind. Especially now when we have a lot of stuff to distract us. Our phones, social media, and video games are only some of those distractions, so here are some ways we can utilize our time and hopefully stop procrastinating.

Setting Goals 

  • Set goals to motivate yourself – Some ways you could start doing that is creating a timeline that you have to get your work done by and going from there. Have little rewards (like a snack every twenty minutes of studying) to motivate yourself with, and adjust your goals if deemed necessary.
  • Set SMART goals – Set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely goals. Remember to take a break if necessary.

Organizing Yourself

  • Build a routine – Remember, consistency over perfection. This applies to most things, including studying. Carving out time and making studying a habit will leave less room to procrastinate and make you more productive.
  • Balance is key – Avoid stretching yourself too thin and spending too much time studying. Spend time with the people you care about, exercise, read, journal, take a nap. After recharging your batteries, your brain will be more relaxed and willing to learn.

Study Methods

  • “Chunking” – Break big tasks into smaller tasks. Use a timer and set a time you know you can focus long enough for, then take a break after. Repeat.
  • “Eat your frog” –  Do the most challenging tasks early in the morning so the rest of your day feels stress free. Benefits of doing this is getting the most difficult task out of the way will make the rest seem easy,
  • Use the internet to your advantage – Websites and apps like Khan Academy, Guides.co, and Squareknot can help you delve deeper into the subject matter and understand it more. And they’re all free.
  • Revising Method – Once you finish taking notes for a particular subject, look over it at least once, revise it again the next day, revise again after three days, then revise it again after a week. This is how you help your brain remember information.

Planning Ahead

And finally, how do you plan ahead so you don’t fall behind? Some methods could be knowing yourself and your study habits so you can figure out what to work on, evaluate your schedule, finish something before it’s due so you have time to do other stuff, and always think ahead.

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Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Why college should be free

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By: Chloe Rocha

There are many reasons as to why I think college should be free. Education is something that everyone deserves to have the opportunity to do. However, if you are someone that was born into poverty you automatically have less of a chance to have the same opportunities as someone who was born into money.

College costs thousands of dollars and that is money that some people don’t have. If you look into the future, the people that are now going to college are the future workers of our world. There are so many brilliant minds out there that won’t be able to reach their full potential for the sole reason being that they don’t have enough money to pay for the full price of college.

Even with the fact that if you are born into poverty you are automatically born with less opportunities, some do make it; it usually comes with debt though. If college was free student debt would no longer exist or crush the younger generations. In America, if you graduate with less than $10,000 in student loan debt you are considered lucky. However, the average college debt is around $37,700 according to an article by CollegeRaptor.

If you were to graduate college without debt then students would be more likely to be able to buy houses, cars and much more sooner in their life rather than later. It isn’t just cars and houses that would benefit from college being free, but also physical and mental health too. For your mental health it would benefit because with less debt comes less stress generally. For your physical health it would be beneficial because with the money that you would have used to pay for college, you would be able to afford healthier food options and live a better life.

School Life, Student Creative Art, Student Creative Photography, Student Creative Writing

PRIZM: Now accepting submissions!

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Do you like to write, but nonfiction article writing is just not your thing?

Then you’re in luck! The Plaid Line is proud to announce that it will now be accepting student generated creative writing, art, and photography for possible publication in the PRIZM section.

If you are interested in submitting work for possible publication, and are a current student of HPSH, please contact Ms. Lingofelt in room 2205 or via email @ liana.lingofelt@spps.org

Advice/How To, School Life

Tips for studying

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By: Aliana Romo

Using time wisely during school is hard for many students, myself included. Although there’s many ways to work around pocrationation and bad work habits.

One of my favorite ways to avoid procrastinating is to study somewhere besides my house. This is especially for homework and outside school assignments. It’s easier to get distracted by phones and other objects around. Some of my favorite places to go and study are the library, outdoors or a local coffee shop. Some of these places can get a little loud, for example a coffee shop or studying outside at a park can be busy at times. Although with headphones and concentration it can be easy to stay on task. Picking a good study location is key to learning more about yourself and your learning qualities.

Another way to stay focused is to eliminate distractions. This can easily be to remove electronics such as phones, headphones, shows, etc. Many people get distracted by cell phones and it’s one of the worst distractions there is. It’s easy to lose focus quickly whether it’s by a notification or just wanting to be on your phone. Some ways to eliminate electronics from the area is to power off your phone, leave it in another room or to put it on do not disturb.

Taking out headphones or pausing any background noise like a movie or music can also help, even though for some people having music helps them concentrate. ‘Medical News Today’ says that “Music may help reduce stress, improve some aspects of memory, and improve cognitive function, which may all help with concentration and focus when studying.” The article also says that it can suggest the opposite too, causing distractions and getting lost in thought.

An additional way to stay on task is not to overwork yourself. It’s important to take breaks at points and revisit the subject later. Ways to take breaks is to go on a short walk or give yourself 10-15 minutes of relaxing. This can be hard to do if after the end of the break you’re feeling unproductive, although it’s important to remember that the main goal is to finish the work.

Setting goals often helps people finish homework and assignments more quickly. This is by setting achievable goals and focusing on finishing. This helps to concentrate on the work and getting it done, which helps to get motivation to finish.

Lastly, besides assignments outside of school it’s important to use time wisely in school and get work done then. Many times students are more distracted in school because of friends, being tired, and many other things. It’s also important to utilize help when needed; teachers are there to help you understand things. It’s good to ask questions when confused to make sure that you understand the assignment and topic. This can make things a lot less stressful and easier. To get rid of distractions while at school, the other tips still come into place. This means to stop talking with friends, avoid going on your phone and concentrating on the work.

Studying is about being able to figure out what tips help yourself more. What works for other people may not work for you.

School Life

The end of another year

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We are at the end of another school year, and so will be going on hiatus until fall.

Thank you to all that have been following us and for reading the articles students have worked hard to bring you all year.

Over the summer feel free to peruse our back catalogue of articles, and don’t forget to check back in September for new content!

-HPSH Plaid Line

School Life

College preparations

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By: Joseph Nelson

Image created with Wonder

If you’re looking to become a college freshman this year and might need some tips before you check into your dorm room then you found the right place. But before that I just want to say Congrats! Applying and getting accepted into college is a large task and massive challenge that many turn down, but you didn’t, so let’s get to some tips freshman.

If you are living on campus and in a dorm, please consider these following items to add for your dorm room; a LARGE trash bin because that tiny $5 bin you got at Target isn’t going to hold a week’s worth of trash (let alone 3 days). A desk or personal fan is a great investment for those who live in very hot or humid climates as the ceiling fans in dorms are hard to maintain all year round. Please, please, please buy a laundry hamper basket with wheels as it will probably be likely that you will be floors above the laundry room and carrying that basket up and down your dorm is a pain. Finally, lastly, the needs for your dorm life experience are shower shoes, I can’t elaborate more but just know that I wouldn’t step into a shower without them.

Now we all want to find a person that matches our energy and that we can tolerate sharing a room with for 8-9 months. so a good tip is that if you want better chances of finding someone who maybe shares your same interests and lifestyle and don’t want to leave it up to the chances of the dorm room lottery, then I would recommend using Facebook groups to help find your roommate. Many people post about themselves and it’s so much easier to connect with someone before the year starts then when you guys are already unpacking your room to start your year. Also, use your roommate for connections for friend groups; connections can make your college life so much easier.

My final tip for incoming college freshmen is just have fun. Sure you should strive for those good grades but college is a once in a lifetime experience that for many they regret not embracing. So what I really mean is, go to that football game to cheer for your team, it doesn’t matter if you like the sport or not, the atmosphere is enough to go as is. Join that club that you’ve been interested in, heck you don’t even have to commit, just visit once or twice to see if you’d like it. Just don’t take your experience for granted and you’ll find yourself not regretting it when you walk on stage to get that diploma.

School Life

University of Minnesota competitively for 2022-2023

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By: Joseph Nelson

The University of Minnesota has always been a very competitive school with it being part of the Big Ten colleges in the U.S. but how competitive was last year for the freshman class of 2022-2023 and how has it changed for the class of 2023-2024?

The U of M is one of the biggest colleges in Minnesota with over 6,700 freshman joining the Gophers every year. But how many applications did the applicant’s office have to go through in order to select these students? Well, for the class of 2022-2023, over 37,000 applications were submitted to the University. That’s about 1 in 5.5 applicants to be accepted into the University. These students weren’t just randomly picked though as the University looks to grab students with a heavy extracurricular activity background and academic achievement (along with many more minor details). So what were the exact stats of the applicants?

As of the 2023 year, the University of Minnesota looks for students that average 3.59-3.96 GPA and have gotten either 27-32 on their ACT or 1330-1500 on their SAT tests. Granted, depending on what major you go in for, the requirements might vary, but this is the general admission rates to get into the 2022 year. This was one of the University’s most competitive years and it seems to continue growing as in only 9 years, the acceptance rate has gone up from 53.29% all the way up to 73%. That’s almost a 20% difference right there.

So how can you increase your odds of getting accepted into the University of Minnesota? Well the 2024-2025 year has no predictions yet on whether or not it will be as competitive as its previous year but if we look back on the past few years then I wouldn’t doubt we’d see around the same results as we did last year. Like stated before, the University loves picking up students who have a large background in extracurricular activities and large academic success in their schools so joining a team or club at your school would help your portfolio immensely for your application. Along with your extracurriculars, averaging around a 3.8-3.9 GPA is highly recommended as this is the golden area of all acceptances of the 2022 year (All A’s and a B here and there).

The U of M is a part of the Big 10 schools so of course it’s going to be attractive to many looking towards going to college. It’s going to be challenging to get in, and sometimes you might feel like quitting, but if you’re considering a future there I cannot recommend going to a Gopher game enough. It always reminds me of the goal to become a Gopher like my parents before me.

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Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Day in the life of a high school student

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By: Caden Kipfmueller & Toby Martin-Kohls

Webster’s dictionary defines senoritis as: an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades. Senioritis is very real and affects at least one student at Highland Park Senior High annually. We chose to follow one such student around for a day and dive deep into the psyche of a slacker.

In order to minimize the time spent in school, this particular student has opted in for a late start. This option, as well as early release, are only available as an option for seniors.

Not only has he obtained a late start, he has managed to fit his class schedule into working for a double late start. This is a remarkable feat of laziness, and it should be appreciated largely because this is a decision that the counselors usually try to steer you away from taking. Somehow, the student we followed managed to convince the counselors to allow him to take this unique opportunity, although we have no clue how (potentially bribery?).

As the writers of this article are also seniors, we also want to note that the current Late Start/Early Release form only includes Period A1, B1, A4, and B4. So, this particular student took the time and energy to talk to the counselors about a course selection alteration to make his schedule easier for his last semester of high school.

After sleeping in well after 10am, this student arrives for his first class, which is Honors Band. This student plays the trumpet. They had a special guest give them a lesson. When interviewing this particular student about his thoughts and feelings about band class, he replied “Uh yeah… we suck.”

After his first class of the day, the student has first lunch. He opts to pack and bring lunch from home. His meal includes a singular slice of ham on two pieces of white bread. No cheese. Just ham. He also packed a brown, sad looking, once-green pear. Personally, I would have not touched that pear with a 10-foot stick. He then moves onto the next part of his meal. He has packed two protein bars. He ended up dropping one on the bacteria filled high school cafeteria table and still proceeded to eat it. What a way to support the elimination of food waste. Kudos to such an environmentally sustainable move!

When interviewed, this student said, “I enjoy lunch because I get to refuel my body for my last class of the day.” Such great words to hear if you are his Chinese teacher!

His last class of the day is IB Chinese. But wait! First, he needs to head to the CCRC (College and Career Readiness Center) to print out his almost late IB Physics IA. This is quite an important assignment, for those who don’t know, IA stands for Internal Assessment. We take a nice walking trip around the first floor, and as we get to the CCRC, he notices the red sign on the door noting that they are closed for advisory. He exclaims “!@#%! Hopefully the library is open?” I don’t say anything and let him ponder about his struggles. As a senior, it is surprising he doesn’t know how the school operates.

We make it to the library and log in on the slow computers. He struggles with getting to Google Docs, so I have to step in and help him navigate. After around 15 minutes in the library, he has his 4 page Physics IA. He quickly runs up to the third floor, only to find that Mrs. Hedwall’s door is closed. He knocks, and interrupts a class of juniors. The class is dead silent as he walks in and awkwardly hands his fresh off the printer IA. But, he’s managed to do the hardest thing of the day, getting his Physics IA in.

Our student walks in late, but the teacher does not seem to care. When prompted by the reporter about his tardiness, the student replied “I don’t care.” His class is preparing for the IB Chinese exams. His class was rowdy and energetic, but ultimately focused. Our student talks in Chinese sentences about the family in a picture, showing off his multilingual abilities.

Our subject is not perfect, however. The teacher asks him a question and he struggles to answer for a second before replying in Chinese. This response is met with laughter, though this humble reporter is not fluent in the language and thus does not understand the joke he made. At the end of the class, our student asks for clarification on the homework. His teacher makes a joke about how he wants to do two assignments instead of one.

The day ends, and our student is ready to go home after a long, tiring day at school. One of our reporters asked him about the latest history assignment on WWII, and our student revealed himself to be pro nuclear bombs. What an awesome day at school!

It should be noted that this article is 2 weeks late, showing that senoritis truly affects everyone.