Center Hill High School, 13250 Kirk Road, Olive Branch MS 38654
August-September 2020 | Volume 4, Issue 1
New normal?
Wearing masks, students return to school in pandemic
Graphic by Brandon Mayse
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By Lily Dawson Staff Writer
ince students got out for spring break many things have changed, making this year like no other. Due to COVID-19, many students have chosen to continue distance learning, or go “VIP.” But for those who have chosen to come back to school, things looked a little different. Many safety guidelines have been instituted to help keep students and faculty safe. For example, social distancing must be enforced, water fountains are closed, Doug Payne and students must wear a mask at all times, except when eating. The first day of school was trial and error. “We want to make this the best learning experience we can have but we do have to follow a lot of safety guidelines,” Principal Doug Payne told
Photo by Lily Dawson Students returned to school Aug. 17 wearing masks and practicing social distancing. “We want to make this the best learning experience we can have but we do have to follow a lot of safety guidelines,” Principal Doug Payne said.
students the morning of Aug. 17. “We will continue to do that each day. We’ll continue to
make improvements.” Students had different reactions to the new rules.
“I feel bad for the freshmen,” junior Malik Rollen, said. “They really won’t absorb
the full high school experience. See New Normal on Page 2
CHHS, all district schools move to 70% Fridays By Shelby Parsons Editor
eginning Sept. 25, all B DeSoto County Schools students will be dismissed from
school on Fridays two hours and 15 minutes early. According to an email to parents from the school district, the new 70% Fridays were implemented to
give teachers more planning time due to the challenges of virtual learning. Students and teachers alike have celebrated the schedule change. “I’m excited about 70% Fridays,” science teacher Amber Smith said. “I think it’s going to give me time to get grading done and plan for the following week. It’s also a
Screenshot from chhsponyexpress.com Beginning Sept. 25, all DeSoto County Schools will dismiss two hours and 15 minutes early on Fridays. The new schedule will give teachers more planning time due to virtual learning challenges.
great thing for the students, considering they can start relax
chhsponyexpress.com
after a long week.” The change will also affect
Career Tech students who See 70% Days on Page 2
Opinion
The Pony Express
U.S. Constitution needs amending to help disenfranchised minorities
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he United States Constitution, written in September of 1787, was created with freedom and equality in mind. However, the original document had to be ratified with over 20 different amendments to keep up with changing morality and definitions of what freedom or equality even are. While the document itself never discriminates between different people, it also still needs to expand to help disenfranchised minorities. Recent protests have highlighted a glaring flaw in the country’s system: corporations are allowed to run wild and discriminate where the government itself won’t. The government allows this to happen because of corporate lobbyists and consolidation of power. Systemic racism still looms large over the nation as a whole. The Constitution has granted minorities more freedom such as in the 13th Amendment, which states, “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States.” This gave the black population, among others, the ability to
interact with the government as more than property. The problem with the Constitution By Zackery Blaisdell is more Staff Writer about what it does not protect against rather than the freedoms it already grants U.S. citizens. There are no constitutional amendments that even mention corporations. This lack of address is why marginalized people still feel they are not protected under the Constitution. Government corruption is a well-known and well-documented topic among political analysts. According to calculations by the Center of Responsive Politics, companies like Amazon and Facebook spend over $9 million a year in lobbying alone. This sum of money shows that large companies have a stake in the law-making process and are willing to change it without going through proper channels. The only thing companies
desire is money, and they are ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make more this year than they had in the past. The accumulation of wealth is a soulless practice, and the lack of corporate regulation, especially in regard to their interactions with the government, leads to people of color and those in poverty to remain where they are in society with little hope for change. In their pursuit of monetary gain, corporations seek to keep a status quo; a content society would hurt their profit margins because they wouldn’t need harmful corporations. In response to this problem, corporations try their hardest to preserve unfavorable conditions for people of color and those in poverty in order to stay in power. This creates an environment where people have to toil in futility just to survive while the rich, predominantly white upper class profits. This can be blamed in no small part on the lack of corporate regulation in the Constitution, lacking in explicitly racist, sexist, or classist language though it is.
New Normal Continued from Page 1
Through all of the new challenges this school year faces, the first day of school went smoother than most expected.
“It was pretty smooth to be honest,” 10th-grader Sam Bennett, said. “I expected it to be a lot messier. Overall, the staff handled it well.”
a junior in the IT program. “I enjoy my Career Tech class and we won’t be able to go over as much.” Many students and staff members have agreed with Rosas’s logic, but have mainly focused on the positive contributions. “I do hate that the students won’t be here and we won’t get
to see them, but this is going to help us be better teachers,” head girls basketball coach Emily Owens said. “We’ll have more time to work at school instead of feeling like every evening and weekend is full of planning and grading. Students can greatly benefit from this as well.”
They don’t get to be around like how (previous classes) were.” 70% Days Continued from Page 1
Monday-Thursday eat lunch before traveling to Career Tech East. Now on Fridays, they will go to their Career Tech classes first, and eat lunch when they return to campus. “It’s good that we’re gonna have a break, but it’s also bad because our time will be cut short,” said Jonathan Rosas,
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2 The Pony Express
The Pony Express is a student-run newspaper produced by and for the students of Center Hill High School in Olive Branch, Mississippi. Operated as a club, The Pony Express is supplemented by members of the Foundations of Journalism class and the staffs of Mustang Tv and the CHHS Yearbook. The online news site is chhsponyexpress.com. Editor Shelby Parsons Contributing Staff for Issue 1 Zackery Blaisdell, Lily Dawson, Brandon Mayse Advisers Ginny Shikle and Michelle Jones The mission of The Pony Express is to provide quality, thought-provoking student work focused on the events and issues that affect the CHHS community. As student writers, we try to reflect the thoughts of our most important readers – the students of CHHS. Because of this, we attempt to approach many issues, some more controversial than others. The newspaper staff hopes to inform, to educate, to entertain and to question for the betterment of CHHS, its students and faculty. Editorial Policy The editorial section of The Pony Express, including editorial cartoons, serves as a forum for well-written, thoughtful, longer forms of expression. Signed editorials represent the opinions of the author. Unsigned editorials reflect the consensus of The Pony Express staff. Views printed herein are meant to be opinionated and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the CHHS student body, faculty, administration or DeSoto County Schools. Letters to the Editor Policy Readers are encouraged to voice their opinions in the Opinion section for the expression of varying viewpoints on relevant topics. The Pony Express will print as many letters as space allows. Letters must include the author’s name, signature, and class or position relative to the letter. Typed or legible, hand-written letters are acceptable, but should not exceed 200 words. The Pony Express will edit all letters for accuracy, spelling and grammar. We reserve the right to refuse to print any letter. Submit questions, comments or letters to the editor to ponyexpresschhs@gmail.com or 13250 Kirk Road, Olive Branch, MS 38654. Advertising Policy The Pony Express will not accept any advertising that deems to be: factually inaccurate; designed to mislead, deceive or defraud; containing malicious, vindictive or unsubstantiated attacks; offering goods and/or services illegal for teenagers to possess, buy or use; libelous; obscene; creating imminent danger or disruption to school. The Pony Express reserves the right to refuse any advertising, solicited or unsolicited. Advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views or endorsements of The Pony Express staff, student body, faculty, administration or school board. To advertise, contact Ginny Shikle at ginny.shikle@dcsms. org. Member Organizations The Pony Express is a member of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association. Our publication was named Most Improved High School Newspaper by MSPA for 2017-2018, and in 2018-2019 The Pony Express was a finalist for Mississippi’s High School Newspaper of the Year.