You are bad, and you deserved to be punished! That is what students hear from this year’s Learn policy. Having D’s in a class will get you the liberty of Learn snatched away. No more library for you, buddy!
But what we don’t hear is “Good job, kid. Here, have a reward.”
There are three statuses one can have: “Statesman in Good Standing,” “Monitored” or “Scheduled.”
While the hallways are filled with people complaining of lack of sleep, tests and in-class essays, these concerns are rarely addressed by the administration or teachers unless you enter your counselor’s office. Stress Free Day is an exception and an excellent idea. However, if the administration is serious about what Stress Free Day represents, it needs to make some serious changes.
Founded more than a century ago as the College Entrance Examination Board, College Board created and popularized standardized testing. Today, however, College Board has become a parasite to its clients, as its countless fees and lack of accountability to clients have grown rampant in recent years. Now, the time has come for parents and students to look for alternatives to College Board.
Rather than informing the public about current issues the government is facing, this year President Obama’s State of the Union address focused too much bipartisanship and patriotism.
Much of the hour -and-a-half-long speech was spent trying to encourage both parties to work together in Congress. Obama used examples in history to create a sense of patriotism that would overpower the divide the two parties are experiencing.
The administration has mandated that students register their smart phones, tablets, and laptops with the Information Technology department, the organization charged with regulating internet use at the school. Although the regulation of students’ use of technology was inevitable, the school is ill prepared for this move. The lack of warning, the limitations on administration’s power and the sheer multitude of devices owned will cause this measure to fail.
Students are quick to heap blame on their school for ugly ceilings, missing snow days, and parking snafus, but overlooked in the heap of blame shoved toward FCPS is a little shining nugget that someone got right.
I am talking about the salad bar. The salad bar, in the lunch-line furthest to the right of the cafeteria provides students not only with an alternative to an unhealthy lunch, but also with a better lunch. The result of “a confluence of good luck,” the bar is a good option for students looking to make healthy choices in the lunch line, principal Jay Pearson said.
FCPS has reason to be proud what it has achieved with its new FCPS Google Apps. Faculty and students now have a powerful suite of professional software at their fingertips. FCPS’ new Google Apps network is a strong step in a smart direction, but it needs work and time before it becomes useful. At the moment the Apps implementation is underpowered.
The night before an IB Biology test, I am distraught by the amount of information I am unclear about. Upon posting a Facebook status and tweeting about my distress, to whom do I turn?
Salman Khan.
Salman Khan is the creator of the project khanacademy.org, a site that holds over 2,700 videos—topics covering calculus to history—all taught by Khan.
The site also includes numerous lessons in biology. I watched one ten-minute lesson on oxidative phosphorylation, and the subject became clear to me.
The internet is sometimes considered the freest place to express oneself. Well not anymore. There are two bills that are being discussed in Congress called Protect IP Act and Stop Online Piracy Act, and their aim is to allow Media Corporations to directly interact with websites and take down any content that they feel is breaking their copyright. The Protect IP Act and Stop Piracy Act are an excuse for corporations to start a full monopoly over all the media.
Social media is a powerful tool. It can be used to gain support for a movement, raise awareness of an issue or voice opinions of current events. When used effectively, social media makes these things possible; its nature is to connect people and serve as a platform for discussion. However, as with any power, the power of social media can easily be abused. High school students need to figure out how to use social media without abusing it.
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