Presen�ng Peter Pan
Close cast complements characters on stage
-pg. 6
INSIDE
Pg.2 Watchu know bout Obama Pg.3 Guitar heroes at Hoover Pg. 4 Fighting to fit in Pg. 6 Presenting Peter Pan Pg. 8 Entertaining last night
Guitar heroes
Guitarist bring skills to guitar club
-pg. 3
CHALLENGER HOOVER PUBLICATIONS 4800 AURORA DES MOINES.IA. 50310 515.242.7313 11.26.08 V.43 I.4
Se�ng up for health New initiative introduced to teach new lessons in health and well-being Michael Roby staff writer
Senior Jamie Howe� sews T-shirts together to form a quilt during FACS at Future Pathways. Howe� is a�ending Future Pathways to catch up on credits so she can s�ll graduate in 2009. “I really don’t want to graduate with the class behind us,” Howe� said.
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‘None of those things are true’ Future Pathways student, teacher and administrator set record straight on grad program Bea Rendon co-editor in chief
October 11, 2005. That was the day senior Jamie Howett “just didn’t feel good.” What started out as a migraine became Chronic Daily Headache (CDH), which meant that Howett was experiencing painful migraine symptoms all day and night—for over three years. Since there is no cure for CDH, Howett’s doctor in Iowa City originally recommended a regimen of morphine treatments. But it didn’t last. “It just became so frequent that the hospital thought I was a drug seeker, like I wanted it for pleasure,” Howett said. “So we had to come up with something else.” As Howett and her parents desperately searched for an effective treatment, she was missing more and more school. And with every day of school she missed, Howett also missed interaction with other students. “When I would hang out with my old friends, it seemed like they were in some ways more mature than I was, because they had life experiences in those three years and I just didn’t,” Howett said. “I guess I kind of missed out on growing up.” After visiting doctor after doctor, including neurologists at the Mayo Clinic, a holistic doctor and an adolescent specialist, Howett’s headaches finally improved last spring. Still, it didn’t make up for all the time she had lost. “I spent so much time out of school and not getting credits that I’m way behind,” Howett said. “And I really don’t want to graduate with the next class behind us.” Howett had counselor Penny Weishaar put her on the waiting list for Future
Pathways, a new district-run high school completion program which “serves students who are in need of a more flexible educational environment in order to complete their high school diploma,” according to the DMPS website. Future Pathways Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Alison Arnold said that there is a wide range of reasons why a student might choose Future Pathways over a traditional route: some have had children, prefer an alternative setting or need to catch up on a few credits, like Howett. “It totally varies from student to student,” Arnold said. “They might have to work full time to support family, or they might have to stay home with children.” Arnold said that Future Pathways appeals to students with these issues because of its flexible schedule: not all the students attend seven hours every day—it depends on how many credits they have left to earn and their schedules. Administrator Erin Stoen said that there are rarely discipline issues because of the lack of power barriers. Students call teachers by their first names, there are few rules and students are simply asked to leave if they cannot stay self-motivated. “We only have one rule, and that is, while you’re here, you’re learning and working toward graduation, and if you’re not doing that, then it’s time to go home for the day,” Stoen said. Future Pathways combines several methods of alternative education, including project-based learning and learning by design. Units of skills and understandings end with a project that must include a product and a performance. Stoen said that students
Gas prices gone wild
First they were up, then down, then way up, then way down. . . what’s the deal?
A large reason why gas prices rise is because of . As a result of Americans being so dependant on gasoline and there being such a large demand, the prices rise to provide a bigger profit for gasoline providers. The retail price for gasoline to include all factors necessary to provide it, such
public demand
varies among regions
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learn transferable skills to improve concept understanding and retention. “For example, instead of studying World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq, we study conflict—what happens among nations, and what’s the impetus for disagreement to create war or not,” Stoen said. Stoen and Arnold both said they feel that people make the wrong assumptions about Future Pathways. “There are so many assumptions about what we do,” Stoen said. “Everything from kids getting a credit in one day, to kids only have to show up 10 hours a week, to getting credit for a project that can cover a whole class—and none of those things are true.” Arnold said students with the wrong idea about Future Pathways “are not successful here, because they get a rude awakening when they realize you don’t do one project and receive credit for a whole class.” Howett said she felt that her education at Future Pathways is preparing her for the future in several ways. “I think in some ways I’m getting more of an education,” she said. “I’m learning how to teach myself things that I want to know, and I’m learning things from regular classes, but at the level I want to learn.” Arnold said she feels that Future Pathways has given hope to students who couldn’t succeed in a traditional environment. “Our main focus is to have them graduate,” she said. “And for a lot of them, they never thought that would happen.”
The obesity rate in the United States has been increasing for the last several decades. For many reasons, Americans are putting on weight and not losing it. The NFL and the Midwest Dairy Council plan to remedy this situation with a program to introduce positive peer pressure to students to get them eating right and exercising for 60 minutes a day. Des Moines is among the 11 cities selected for the program, Meredith Middle School being one of the 10 Des Moines schools selected. Carrie Scheidel, school nutrition program manager for the Midwest Dairy Council, said she feels that the program will be very successful and believes it will get students more involved to make a difference. “It’s very important because it involves the youth in the planning and implementation process,” Scheidel said. This project will include encouraging kids to get more active on their own, introducing new exercise programs in schools such as walking clubs and implementing new marketing on the lunch menus. Up to $5000 will be granted to each school, with the ability to apply for grants afterwards, in hopes that the schools will all take this in their own directions. “The enthusiasm for this program is overwhelming,” Scheidel said. “And changes around wellness need to come from the youth.” She also said she felt confident the students would take this same enthusiasm and use it to encourage one another to take a stand to be healthier. Eighth grader Ann Strom said she feels like steps against unhealthy children should be taken. Strom guessed that about half of the middle school students ate healthy enough and got enough exercise. Strom also said that she thinks she gets enough daily exercise in P.E. class, but she looks forward to the new program. “I think it’s going to be hard at first, but it will be enjoyed,” Strom said. The new initiative will kick off in January, and if it seems successful, the entire country will join in the fight against the obesity crisis. Scheidel said she thought the program would be successful, and students were taking the next step up against obesity.
as transporta�on. Everyone from the crude oil providers to a part-�me gas sta�on employee have to make some form of a . The higher the prices rise for crude oil, the higher the retail prices are raised in order to ensure everyone makes some money. Rapid gasoline price increases occur in response to
profit
crude oil
shortages. Conflicts between crude oil providing countries and the United States o�en �mes drives up the price of crude oil per barrel. The world only contains a certain amount of crude oil and once it’s gone, it’s gone. This makes crude oil incredibly valuable which causes increasing and fluctua�ng gas prices. ����� ������ ������� ������: ���.���.���.���