The Southerner Volume 65, Issue 5

the Southerner S I N C E

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HENRY W. GRADY HIGH SCHOOL, ATLANTA

THE ‘R’ WORD: REPUBLICANS AT GRADY

By Isabelle Taft unior Laura Sommerville was in the fourth grade when she realized she was different from her Morningside Elementary School classmates. It was 2004, and the entire country was caught up in election fever as Republican President George W. Bush sought a second term against Democratic challenger John Kerry. Sommerville, having heard her parents express their support for Bush, discovered she was alone among her classmates in defending him.

“In fourth grade all I knew was who my parents supported, but now that I know [the Republican] platform, I actually like them,” Sommerville said. “One girl came to school saying ‘Get your weedwackers and lawnmowers and take down the Bush!’”

Bush was succeeded nearly four years ago by Democratic President Barack Obama, but inflammatory anti-Republican rhetoric is still common at Grady today, where students who are conservative or express support for the Republican party are overwhelmingly outnumbered by their liberal, Democratic-leaning peers.

A Southerner survey of 135 students found that 63 percent express support for the Democratic Party, 16 percent call themselves Independent, 18 percent say they are unsure of their political views, and just 4 percent declare themselves Republicans.

On the electoral map of Georgia, Atlanta has long been a lone blue dot in an otherwise deep red state. According to The New York Times, Democrat Rep. John Lewis won his 2010 reelection campaign in Georgia’s Fifth District, which includes Grady, with 74 percent of the vote. Yet even in a liberal city, Grady’s near-total absence of conservatives is noteworthy.

“I think people are afraid to be public about what they actually believe sometimes because there are so many people [at Grady] who are like, ‘Ew, Republicans,’” Sommerville said.

Micheal Giles, a professor of political science at Emory, said demographic factors probably play a large role in explaining the breakdown of political affiliation at Grady. Giles said about 97 percent of African-American voters choose Democratic candidates. African-Americans are the largest racial group at Grady, comprising 65 percent of the population. Additionally, Giles said that people who choose to live in cities tend to have

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thesoutherneronline.com VOLUME LXVI, NUMBER 5

FEB. 3, 2012

Proposed council boundary runs through campus

The elephant in M the room...

By Olivia Veira

4% 57% 84%

of students surveyed described themselves as Republican. of students surveyed said they’d vote to re-elect Obama in 2012. of the students said they express the same political views as their parents.

from a Southerner survey of 135 students

see STUDENTS, page 16 CONSERVATIVE VIEWS: Junior Laura Sommerville and sophomore Becca Martin support the Republican party.

Junior Luke Webster says he doesn’t identify with a party, but his parents are Republican.

idtown, Virginia Highland, Ansley and Morningside are up in arms. They all want control of their neighborhood high school, Grady, but newly drawn city council maps divide the school between two districts, potentially diluting their voices.

In an effort to equalize the population of the city council districts, the council is redistricting based on the 2010 census. Dana Persons, Grady parent and Midtown resident, said the council’s goal is to have an approximate population of 36,000 people in each district. Although the change in district lines does not affect APS redistricting, it does change which school board member represents Grady.

Under the provisions of Plan 6 Amended, a compromise plan approved by the Committee on Council and the Atlanta school board, the border between District 2, which would include Midtown, and District 6, which would include Virginia Highland and Morningside, runs through the Grady campus beginning at the 10th Street entrance. Under Plan 6 Amended, Grady would be shared between the new districts, Atlanta School board member Cecily Harsch-Kinnane said. Harsch-Kinnane represents School Board District 3, which includes City Council District 6 but not District 2. She said she believes that this plan leaves some issues unresolved.

“You can’t draw [district lines] through people’s houses,” Harsch-Kinnane said. “Usually it’s done on roads that are traveled or some kind of established road. There’s no such road at Grady so it seems like a problem with that alone, but I also worry about what this means for Grady because if you do put a line, you couldn’t do anything on that line.”

Plan 6, which originally assigned Midtown to District 2 and Grady to District 6, was created in response to Virginia-Highland residents’ complaints about Plan 5, which put Grady into District 2 with Midtown. Persons, who is education chair of the Midtown Neighbors’ Association, said in an email interview that separating Grady and Midtown doesn’t make sense because 45 percent of Grady students live in District 2, while 22 percent live in District 6.

Alex Wan, councilman from District 6, said before the council proposed a plan to move Grady out of Virginia Highland’s city council district, the council heard few complaints from the community.

Jessica Lavandier, Midtown resident, said many Midtown residents felt the plan “was a power grab by the District 6 neighborhood.” When the council voted on the plan, with Grady out of Midtown’s district, Midtown residents were unaware of the see NEIGHBORHOODS, page 8

news

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Neighborhood landmark Outwrite Bookstore and Coffee Shop closed its doors Jan. 25 due to high-priced rent.

The local bookstore opened in 1993.

13 people

The High School Art Throwdown brought young artists from local schools to the High Museum of Art for fun, art and friendly competition.

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Junior Victoria Dragstedt came to America from Ukraine at the age of 7.

Helaine Buchwald, her first teacher in America, taught her to speak English.

The brief, cold temperatures of this winter brought ice to Atlanta, freezing the Colony Square fountain. Simon McLane captured the moment.

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Feb. 3, 2012

Editorial Board

the Southerner

Taylor Allen Jasmine Burnett Shaun Kleber LeJoi Lane Lucy Leonard Gabrielle Siegel

A HOPE-less state When the University of Georgia early-action decisions were released last November, the website crashed because so many students were checking to see if they had been accepted to the school. Many of these students committed to UGA because they can’t afford to go to a comparable out-of-state school.

In the next few years, however, the number of Georgia students who can afford to choose UGA and other state universities may sharply decrease. Because of decreased lottery-ticket sales, Republicans in the Georgia legislature passed funding cuts to the HOPE scholarship program last year. Those cuts will eventually turn the program into a “shadow of what it used to be,” state senator Jason Carter said. Increasingly, the Georgia State Finance Commission, which administers HOPE, has had to dip into reserve funds to cover costs. By 2014, according to commission president Tim Connell, the reserves will be gone and the program will fall $107 million short of projected costs. When that happens, HOPE scholars will have to foot the bill for the expenses that the scholarship can no longer cover.

Sen. Carter has proposed restricting HOPE eligibility to families earning $140,000 or less. The proposal hits close to home for this board for two reasons. Carter is the spouse of one of our advisers, and the income cap he has proposed would prevent many members of this board from qualifying for the scholarship. Neither of these close connections, however, changes the fact that restricting eligibility based on income is the proper course for Georgia to pursue. The income cap would preserve 100 percent of the scholarship for about 94 percent of Georgians, many of whom would not be able to afford college without HOPE. This proposed change is sure to anger many powerful people, but we must preserve the scholarship for the vast majority of Georgians rather than lose it for everyone. This program is appropriately named—it gives hope to underprivileged students who could not attend college without it.

For those students, literally, we must keep HOPE alive. p

Redistricting story insightful, helpful The last issue of The Southerner was especially intriguing due to the article, “Zoning Plans Create Big Stir,” (page 1). Many students might be unaware of the current APS proposals and how those proposals might affect the future of their school. From the article, I found out many people are concerned and involved in this problem, which gives me hope the end result will be one that is beneficial to all.

I also liked seeing the opinion of a concerned parent who is involved in the redistricting process because it made me reflect on my own situation. Changing schools can be difficult, especially once you’ve made relationships with your peers and teachers.

Salome Kakalashvili sophomore

Candidate gripes normal, expected In response to “Republicans lack personalized ideas” (page 3): I think this article neglects to accept the fact that the Republican candidates are

The Knights of steal Since elementary school, we have been taught not to steal. Unfortunately, as we have grown older and matured at Grady, stealing has become something we expect. We wouldn’t dare get up from a table or desk without asking a friend to watch our stuff, and even then, we understand that if our friend happens to look away for a second or two, our belongings may not be there when we get back. For most of us, we’ve learned this lesson by either having our own things stolen or hearing multiple stories from our peers about similar incidents.

Recently, the gym has been a hot spot for these thefts. Students who dress out during P.E., are unable to monitor their belongings in the bleachers, leaving lurking predators ample opportunity to peruse unattended valuables for items to steal. Everything from laptops to cell phones to clothing have been reported stolen from the gym. What most thieves don’t realize is that there are security cameras that record their crimes.

While the victimized students may not be able to get their possessions back, at least the criminals face retribution for their immoral actions.

Though administrators tell students that they will be compensated for their loss, often times they receive nothing.

Grady has changed our perception of theft from something only strangers and criminals commit, to an everyday occurrence. While our school often surpasses other schools in extracurricular activities and academics, we fall short when it comes to integrity. p

simply using the current situation and some of President Obama’s failures to emphasize their own points.

You would never launch a campaign against an incumbent officer with a plan to keep everything the same.

The Republicans’ main objective at this point is to show Obama’s flaws and explain how they will be better, so while it may seem like they are simply bashing Obama, it is easy to see when you look past this that they are actually presenting new ideas and alternative solutions to the problems currently plaguing our nation.

Grayson Garrett senior

Wilderness article inspires gratitude Last issue’s Nature with Alex column, “Laziness leads to discomfort in wilderness” (page 3) raised an excellent point about the lessons we can learn from the outdoors. In our society, people have become overly reliant on modern conveniences.

When your meat comes in a shrinkwrapped package, it’s easy to forget how it got there. But after you spend time in the woods, when your meat comes from an animal that will fight you tooth and nail until its very last

uestion

Tucker Lancaster sophomore

Tardy policy now makes more sense I really enjoyed reading “New tardy policy enacts punishment for late arrival” (page 5).The reporters Taylor Allen and Tatiana Johnson touched on a subject nearly all of us at Grady have faced before— arriving at school late. I think they did a nice job digging up facts and informing the students of the steps being taken.

I learned a different side to the tardy slips and why the administration does what it does. Overall, the article was very enlightening.

Ansley Marks sophomore

We want to know what you think!

Love an article? Hate one? Find an error?

Tell us about it! The Southerner welcomes letters from any and all of our readers.

Contact us at winterworks@aol.com.

f the month

How do you feel about Tim Tebow being voted America’s most popular athlete in ESPN’s Sports Poll?

C O R R E C T I O N S In “Innovation can cheapen holiday gifts” (Dec. 9, page 3), “downtown” should be “downturn” in the first sentence of the second paragraph.

In “Seniors find new Work Ready Test useless” (Dec. 9, page 5), the infographic was unreadable because it printed too dark. In answer to “If you took the test, how valuable did you find it?” 32 percent of students said “no value,” 32 percent said “little value,” 13 percent said “valuable,” two percent said “very valuable” and 21 percent said “no opinion.” In answer to “If you did not take the test, why not?” 63 percent of students thought it would be pointless, 11 percent had other activities to do, 15 percent were absent that day and 10 percent said “other.”

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I like it because he’s religious, and I’m religious too. He’s also a good athlete.

Davis Kennedy junior

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I absolutely hate him, but he’s nice.”

Alex Glick senior

Southerner Staff 2011-2012 Managing Editors: Jasmine Burnett, Shaun Kleber Associate Managing Editors: LeJoi Lane, Lucy Leonard Design Editor: Elizabeth McGlamry Photo Editor: Audrey Vaughn A&E Editors: Lindsey Leonard, Alix Youngblood Comment Editors: Taylor Allen, Gabrielle Siegel Doubletruck Editors: Molly Daniel, Lauren Harper News Editors: Kenny Cochran, Nile Kendall People Editors: Steve Terry, Lauren Scott Sports Editors: Nally Kinnane, Phillip Suitts

breath, your perspective changes.

You never again take that steak, dry roof, lamp or anything for granted.

Staff: Emma Aberle-Grasse, Ollie Aberle-Grasse, Konadu Amoakuh, Mac Barrineau, Rachel Citrin, Miles Clark, Thomas Cox, Sammi Dean, Kate de Give, Anna Fuller, Jolie Jones, Tatiana Johnson, Olivia Kleinman, Troy Kleber, Joe Lavine, Ciena Leshley, Simon McLane, Lauren Ogg, Grace Power, Diana Powers, Megan Prendergast, Jordan Ross, Hunter Rust, Carson Shadwell, Will Staples, Alex Stearns-Bernhart, Isabelle Taft, Olivia Veira, Gracie White

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He’s annoying because he’s all ‘holier than thou,’ and he’s too religious.”

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Alex Wolfe sophomore

I approve. I thought it was a little weird, but I approve.

Faye Webster freshman

An upbeat paper for a downtown school Advisers: Kate Carter, Dave Winter

To our readers,

The Southerner, a member of GSPA, SIPA, CSPA and NSPA, is a monthly student publication of: Henry W. Grady High School 929 Charles Allen Drive NE Atlanta, GA 30309

The Southerner welcomes submissions, which may be edited for grammar, inappropriate language and length. Please place submissions in Mr. Winter or Ms. Carter's box in the main office. Subscriptions are also available. For more information, please contact Mr. Winter, Ms. Carter or a member of the staff.

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Feb. 3, 2012

Haygood break-in hits close to home I’ve always considered Haygood United Methodist Church a second home. I go to church every Sunday with my family, I went to the after-school care program for six years, and I’ve been involved with church programs for as long as I remember. When I walk in, it’s like walking in to my living room because everything is Elizabeth so familiar. That’s why, when two or three McGlamry people broke in and defaced the church, it felt like a personal affront to me.

According to the police report, the purported teenagers smoked pot, knocked over Christmas trees, broke ornaments, wrote obscenities on the walls and countertops in the preschool and ripped out pages from a Bible and threw them around. Not only that, but Haygood’s senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. Sheila Bookout, told me that the teens unwrapped presents meant for underprivileged kids in our neighborhood.

I had to take a second when I heard that. They broke into a church. My church. They goofed around, messed a couple of rooms up and played around with a ball. While I can’t understand these actions, I can forgive them. But writing curse words on the walls of a preschool, ripping pages out of a Bible in a church and unwrapping presents for needy kids? Really? The word heartless comes to mind.

When I heard about the break-in, my first reaction was that I wanted to punch the little punks in the face. It felt like someone

had come in and messed around in my house, and I was angry.

But after a while, and after talking to my pastor, I realized that the most important thing was that it wasn’t worse.

I also realized that Haygood is so susceptible to this kind of incident because of how open the church is to the community.

On any given day, Haygood opens its doors to church members, community neighbors, preschool children and student basketball players and their parents and greets them with open arms. Haygood offers toddler dance classes, adult Bible study and exercise classes to anyone in the neighborhood who signs up. Haygood is truly a community center.

And Haygood will continue to be a community center. No rebellious little rascals will ever mess that up. While the church may pump up security and be extra careful about door codes, it will never stop being a place for people to come and find what they need. The church will replace the Bible, find new ornaments and clean up the walls—but Haygood won’t change. Haygood reaches hundreds of families in the area in some way, and it won’t stop because some kids thought it would be funny to trash it.

The one thing I do hope is that these kids realize how stupid their actions were. I hope they realize that it wasn’t cool, and I truly hope that they are not bragging about it. They probably won’t get that, seeing as they thought breaking in to a church was a good idea, but maybe when they’re older they’ll understand.

Maybe if someone defaces their home, they’ll understand how every church member feels.

Until then, please, stay out of my church. p

Screaming children are now fixed with the click of a button or the tap of a touch screen.

Some may think of technology as the new and improved Lauren Harper medicine to keep kids calm, but I think it’s leading kids in the wrong direction.

Over the summer, I worked at a local breakfast restaurant where every day, families of four or five would pile into my waiting section. I would greet them with a smile and ask what they would like to drink. When I returned with their beverages, more often than not, the children at the table would be occupied with laptops or iPads. Before I observed this, I didn’t think 2- and 3-year-olds knew what iPads were, let alone how to work them on their own.

I have no idea what it is like to have kids. I don’t know how stressful it is or how much work parents put into their children’s lives every day, and I am not trying to criticize moms for wanting a little peace and quiet. I just wish kids could appreciate activities outside the dominion of technology. When I was younger, coloring at a restaurant was a rare luxury. Toys were never packed in my mom’s purse to keep me preoccupied. I played with my brother or talked to my family.

Unfortunately, restaurants are not the only place I have spotted this new technology craze. I see children on laptops in malls, grocery stores and doctor’s offices, as well. My fear is that soon we will see this behavior everywhere we go.

Kids need to grow up playing outside and reading with their parents. They need to learn how to behave in public without the motivation of some kind of treat. By giving them access to all types of technology, we are hindering them because we’re teaching them that it is OK

Larson Collier

Parents indulge tech-savvy iToddlers

to be sedentary all the time. When parents shove an iPad in their child’s face to stop the tantrum they’re throwing, it sends the wrong message. Good behavior, not bad, should be rewarded.

A little TV time never hurt anyone. A movie a week is fine. But playing mindless games for hours every day is simply unacceptable. If parents continue to let

their children play on iPads all the time, think about what their grandchildren will be doing. Kids will become lazy and antisocial. We need to change this habit now before it is too late. Press pause every once in a while. Hit the streets for a game of “Tag” or “Red Rover.” Show your kids that there really are healthy ways to have fun. p

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e with r u t a N

ALEX Unforgettable deer season helps teach important lessons

By Alex Stearns-Bernhart It was a cool December evening. I sat in a blind made from palmetto stalks and Spanish moss, waiting for a deer to wander close enough for me to pierce it with an arrow. The sun was hanging fairly low in the sky; it would be dark in 20 or 30 minutes. Just as I was thinking about the limited shooting light, I noticed four does standing behind a clump of palmettos about 40 yards away.

This would be an easy shot with a rifle, but I was hunting with traditional gear, which consists of a longbow or recurve that does not have any of the accessories such as sights or stabilizers, just a stick and a string.

The does quickly pranced across the field into the woods. And just as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. When the sun finally fell below the horizon, I began my hike out, empty handed and disheartened.

This day represented the entire season for me.

But just because I did not kill a deer this season does not mean it was completely unsuccessful. I learned more than I have in all of the previous years I have spent pursuing “the elusive deer.”

One thing I discovered was how quickly wind can change up on a ridge. For those of you who don’t hunt, the wind is your biggest enemy because it alerts your prey to your scent. The biggest lesson I learned was to expect the unexpected.

Nature taught me these lessons during one very memorable hunt in North Carolina this past October.

I was hunting on a ridge the critters were using as a highway to get food. It was getting dark and nothing had been moving all day, so I was thinking about heading out. Just as I was about to give in, I heard something moving behind me. Sure enough, a fat doe was working her way across the ridge. I did not expect any deer to be moving back there, especially since there was a heavily used deer trail 15 yards in front of me.

The wind was not in my favor though; it was blowing right in her face, so she caught my scent and spooked.

That was the typical ending for each day of this deer season. It didn’t matter if it was archery season (Sept. 12 to Oct. 14) or rifle season (Oct. 22 to Jan. 1); the outcome was always the same: no deer. Sometimes, if I was fortunate, someone hunting with me would harvest a deer. They were always happy to share some meat with me if I was willing to lend a hand in the gutting, skinning and butchering of the animal. So in a way, I did accomplish my goal of putting meat in the freezer.

I look back on this season, not sad, but excited and ready for next year. I have no regrets. I sat in various spots many days; some were good and some were bad, and they all ended the same way.

But I did get the chance to spend many hours sitting and studying the beauty of the nature surrounding me, and that’s what being in the woods is all about. p

EXCLUSIVELY @ theSoutherneronline.com Help save planet, choose Camelbak every time

Obama announces MLK Day as National Service Day

My Camelbak water bottle is with me every day of the school year. If that green or blue water bottle is not sitting at the corner of my desk, it is a sad day. I got my first Camelbak in the ninth grade, because it was the “cool thing” to buy among the girls in my grade. ...

Martin Luther King Jr. changed the history of our country with his hope for humanity.

Through tremendous injustice and hate, King promoted the justice and love he believed in.

To acknowledge and honor him, the United States devotes Jan. 16 to this great leader ...

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Expenses play part in poor experience

Feb. 3, 2012

Dual enrollment: a chance to explore

By Julia Rapoport

By Lucy Leonard When I signed up for dual enrollment last semester, I was blinded by the fact that it appeared I would have only three periods at Grady. No fourth period? I could work on college applications, get all my homework done and still have tons of free time. It seemed like such a sweet deal.Too bad my Georgia State University class threw me a curve ball.

My class met once a week for 50 minutes, which seemed easy enough. The amount of time I spent at GSU each week, however, typically ranged from four to five hours if you factor in drive time.

In addition to my scheduled class time, I was required to go to three hours of math lab each week. You may think “math lab” means having some sort of real life, hands-on experience. Unfortunately, it involved sitting at an old computer in a silent room, working on simple math problems for hours at a time.

Maybe it is my fault for choosing that class, but when I signed up, I had no idea what I was in for. Not going to GSU as an actual college student made it very difficult to figure out what exactly the mysterious “math lab” listed next to my class really was.

Math 1111 was, in itself, an interesting experience. All I have to say is that I didn’t come out any more prepared for college next year.

And then there was the parking. When I say parking was horrible, that is an understatement. Parking in a lot typically cost me around $7. That means if I went only two days each week, which I almost never did, I spent upwards of $210 on parking alone last semester. Often to add insult to injury, parking was a rather long walk from wherever I was going.

If I did happen to find a close, metered spot, it still cost me a lot of money and huge amounts of stress. I had to set alarms on my phone to make sure I would be back to my spot before the meter ran out. Once, I left all of my belongings on a table in the math lab and ran the entire way to my car. I arrived one minute late and found the ParkAtlanta attendant poised to write me a ticket. Though I was able to talk my way out of that particular ticket, some of my friends were not so fortunate.

Parking wasn’t the only surprise expense I faced, either. I used way more gas than I ever would have if I had not dual enrolled, and I paid for a completely unnecessary math textbook that set me back somewhere in the ballpark of $100. Add the $15 that I spent on the delicious candy Rollo’s that I bought to keep me awake during class, and you may find that dual enrollment at GSU costs a pretty penny.

Despite all this, however, I am dual enrolling again this semester. So far, I’ve spent $15 on parking and am procrastinating buying a textbook, access code for our online work and weird technological device all for my psychology class that I suspect will put a dent in my parents’ bank account.

Well, here’s to hoping this semester is a little better. Maybe I will get a higher paying job from all this and will finally be able to pay back all of my parents’ money that I spent at GSU. p

e h T

Just before noon in the Howey Building on the Georgia Tech campus, dozens of college students filled the hallway, waiting for a chemistry class to file out of Lecture Hall three. I stood nervously among my fellow Calculus II classmates, hoping I was in the right place. The girl next to me, a freshman Tech student, looked a little lost too. I was glad I didn’t stick out like a sore thumb, or at least like the high school student I am.

I chose to dual enroll at Georgia Tech for several reasons. First, even though I had already taken both AP Calculus classes and AP Statistics at Grady and had enough math credits to graduate, I wanted to take a math class. With no math classes left at Grady, I had to look beyond the high school arena.

Second, as a senior with only a couple of required credits left, I was looking to fill my schedule with appealing but also challenging classes. Too often, students, especially seniors, fill their schedules with electives they don’t really care for simply because they need to take eight classes each semester. Grady’s elective selection is limited; dual enrollment expands the variety and difficulty level of class choices. For example, students who dual enroll students at Georgia State University select classes from a list of more than 100 courses ranging from Greek and Roman Mythology to Introductory Swahili.

By allowing juniors and seniors to enroll in college classes while still in high school, dual enrollment offers students an opportunity to challenge themselves with college classes, continue coursework at a higher level and “try college on for size” without sacrificing the high school experience. Credits earned can be used toward high school graduation, as transferable college credits or both. The cost of classes is covered by the Accel Program, which is part of HOPE funding.

The dual enrollment program differs slightly from college to college.

For instance, Georgia State allows dual enrolled students to take as many or as few classes as desired across diverse subject areas, while Georgia Tech is more restrictive.

I found myself looking forward to my Georgia Tech class and all the freedoms and responsibilities that came with it. I could decide for myself if I needed to go to the lectures or review sessions. No rules prohibited eating or cell phone use, as long as I wasn’t disturbing the class.

Homework assignments were rare, and there was no such thing as busy work. I was free to learn, or not learn, as I pleased. The class was fast-paced, and I learned more in one semester than in most year-long classes at Grady. On the last day, I turned in my final exam with a sense of accomplishment. Because I took the rest of my classes here at Grady, I was able to take the college class without missing out on my extracurricular activities or any aspect of senior year.

Grady’s location in midtown Atlanta opens doors for its many talented students. Why not take advantage of the opportunities? Whether you’re a Spanish student looking to continue cultivating your language skills after AP Spanish or a science student wanting to explore an area of science not taught at Grady, I encourage dual enrollment. It really enriches the high school experience. p

STUDENT

Stance

Dual enrollment: good or bad?

Don’t park on the wrong side of the street. Don’t park in front of your driveway. And definitely don’t underfeed the meter. Because they will find you, and when you return to your car, you will see a white slip of paper fluttering beneath one of your windshield wipers.

Gabrielle Siegel PARKAtlanta is a private company that was recruited a few years ago by the City of Atlanta and is overseen by the Department of Public Works.

The PARKAtlanta website claims that its objective is to “improve convenience, access, fairness and service for City motorists, residents, businesses and visitors,” but to most individuals, they are simply an inconvenience.

Lately, I’ve heard many classmates complaining about unfair parking tickets they have received. To attend a church play, one of my friends parked at a meter and only put enough money in for two and a half hours, thinking that’s how long it would last. Well, the play lasted three

Elizabeth McGlamry

PARKAtlanta inconveniences neighborhood drivers

hours, and sure enough, there was a $25 ticket waiting for her on her windshield when she returned to her car.

Many seniors who dual enroll at Georgia State University complain about the difficulty of parking there because of limited space and strictly enforced regulations. The second the meter runs out, a PARKAtlanta employee is on

the scene, ready to collect. And for high school and college students, every extra cent counts.

While I understand the money gained from parking tickets is used to better the city, the way PARKAtlanta acquires those funds is unfair to the citizens. Maybe it took a little longer to eat dinner than you thought it would; you underestimated by five or 10 minutes. Does that mean you should get a $50 fine? I’ve been with my dad when he has tried to pay one of the parking pay stations, which are similar to parking meters, and the machine didn’t work.

The entire system is faulty.

I see no problem with making people pay if they cheat the system, but it’s only fair that a little leniency be given. The economy is bad these days; people are having a hard time even affording food, so it doesn’t seem right to make them pay for something as silly as parking too close to a stop sign.

Whenever I see one of the little white Hondas with PARKAtlanta in big blue letters on the side, my calm face turns to disgust. Improve convenience, access and fairness? Yeah, right. That is the opposite of what they do. So I would recommend keeping some extra change in your pocket. p

News Briefs

the Southerner

news

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Feb. 3, 2012

Progressive bookstore forced to move on

As a lingering consequence of the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, the system must repay the $363,000 the federal government awarded to schools for test scores that had been falsified.

By Olivia Kleinman Wooden boards covered the windows of the abandoned disco at 991 Piedmont Ave. 16 years ago. Chips of paint fell off the outside walls piece by piece. This building on the corner had run its course—no business had succeeded in this location for several years.

That is how Outwrite Bookstore and Coffeehouse owner Phillip Rafshoon remembers the building when he moved in. He replaced the dilapidated dance floor with bookshelves, livening the dismal atmosphere.

The storefront windows, however, have been pasted with “sale” markers and “for lease” signs. Rafshoon recently announced he would close the bookstore on Jan. 25 and must search for another location.

“Our lease is coming to an end, and the rent is the highest we’ve ever had to pay,” Rafshoon said.

“Our revenue hasn’t increased as much as the rent.”

Outwrite, which moved from its original location in the Midtown Promenade after three years, has provided a sense of community for book lovers in Midtown for 18 years. The white brick building, bordered by a blue awning with rainbow flags, is a central location of Atlanta’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Although Rafshoon is still searching or a new location, he hopes to be able to stay in the Midtown area.

“Some people are working hard behind the scenes to find a good location that is financially feasible,” Rafshoon said.

“It’s a be-yourself-and-be-proudof-who-you-are bookstore,” soph-

Teachers forced to return incentive pay APS has determined that 134 workers were overpaid because payroll had forgotten to remove an incentive pay scale. In 2011, teachers were told they had to move down a pay level, and this year they were told they had to repay the money the system forgot to deduct from their previous paychecks.

Cleveland takes first at music competition Senior Andrew Cleveland competed in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Ruth Kern Young Artist’s Concerto. He was awarded first place in the senior division after performing “Elgar: Cello Concerto” in E minor, Op. 85.

New board member elected to El’s post The APS board of education elected new councilman Byron Amos on Jan. 9 to replace councilman Khaatim El. Amos ran three times in the past, losing each time, but won the District 2 seat this time with 74 percent of the votes before being elected new councilman.

Olivia Kleinman

APS ordered to repay money after cheating

READING RAINBOW: A customer browses the diverse book selection at Outwrite on the iconic bookstore’s final day at its Midtown location. omore Victoria Stuart said. we have so much support here. It has 1993, he faced many skeptics who Stuart has been a dedicated cus- become our home.” believed there was not room for a tomer for 11 years. When she goes After Rafshoon publicized the bookstore in the area and that noto Outwrite, she often buys creative move, the public responded by do- body would purchase any books, he pins and displays them on her purse. nating books and purchasing more said. Rafshoon said Outwrite’s sucStuart hopes the new location will be online, he said. cess has blown away the community nearby so she can continue her reguSenior Caitlin Wade is among and proven how wrong they were. lar visits four times per week. several Grady students in the Gay“It was an instant success from day “When I heard the store was mov- Straight Alliance who stepped in to one,” Rafshoon said. “It was beyond ing I was disappointed because it is a raise funds for this LGBT landmark. my wildest dreams.” part of my Grady experience,” Stuart They organized a bake sale in DeThrough his bookstore, Rafshoon said. “I’m so used to going there after cember and raised $54. All of the hopes to continue guiding the city school and getting coffee.” proceeds were donated to Outwrite. to be more progressive and inspiring Rafshoon is dismayed by the “We are really appreciative for all others to do the best they can do. thought of having to relocate. of Grady’s support,” Rafshoon said.

“It is not just a bookstore but a “I hate that we have to move,” “Every bit helps.” symbol of strength, not just for the Rafshoon said. “We’ve been a part When Rafshoon first decided to LGBT community, but for the city of this community for so long, and open the bookstore in November of Atlanta at large,” he said. p

APS parents pay price for students’ poor attendance

By Shaun Kleber high schools and their feeder schools, said DeBetween the first day of school and Thanks- nise Revels, APS coordinator of social services. giving break, there were 71 school days. In that Mitchell explained that the city council period, students at Maynard Jackson, Wash- identified students in each of those clusters ington and Douglass high schools and their with excessive unexcused absences and invited feeder schools missed a combined 2,670 school their parents to come to a meeting. Represendays—and that is just the unexcused absences. tatives from APS, the police department and A 2009 city ordinance mandated a daytime social services attended the meetings to explain curfew on school days for people between the the ordinance and offer assistance to parents. ages of 6 and 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., “What we found ... is that in some cases, but rather than puneiAs we increase awareness of the city parents ishing children for vither didn’t ordinance, we’re seeing improve- know that olations, it established harsh punishments ment in attendance. And that’s our their child for parents whose wasn’t going goal. We just want kids in school.” to school, and children are caught outside of school in some cases Denise Revels parents kind without an excuse, including up to 60 days APS coordinator of social services of knew there in jail and a $1,000 was a probfine. Although the Atlanta City Council passed lem, but they were having trouble managing the ordinance in 2009, the city is only now be- their child,” Mitchell said. “So this provided us ginning to enforce it. with the ability to identify what the issue was “It’s targeted at parents,” said Atlanta City and find help for these parents.”

Council president Ceasar Mitchell, who draftMitchell found that, following these parent ed and introduced the ordinance. “It’s part of meetings, the number of unexcused absences a larger program we have to encourage parents decreased in these clusters, and he believes this to be very active and engaged and, at the end of trend can and will continue as long as they conthe day, responsible for their child’s truancy.” tinue to communicate with parents.

Grady social worker Elesha Williams believes Revels said 64 percent of the parents who atthe ordinance will be enforced at Grady soon— tended the meetings have seen improvements possibly next year. Administrative assistant Da- in their children’s attendance. vid Propst said more than 300 Grady students “As we increase awareness of the city ordihave had 10 or more absences this year. nance, we’re seeing improvement in attenFor now, APS is piloting the program at dance,” Revels said. “That’s our goal. We just Maynard Jackson, Washington and Douglass want kids in school.”

“

The sudden push to enforce this ordinance is coming from both APS and the Atlanta Police Department. APS director of media relations Keith Bromery said the school district is placing more emphasis on truancy because of new leadership—a new superintendent and a new head of curriculum and instruction.

“Our thing under the new administration is that they want to pull out all stops to make sure kids are in school,” Bromery said. “It was a nobrainer that they wanted to start doing right away, to redouble the efforts to find out why ... kids are habitually truant, to find out what’s going on and have it corrected.”

Revels said the police are increasing enforcement because they are concerned about the increase in juvenile crime, especially during daytime hours. She added that students with excessive absences are more likely to drop out of school, become the victims or perpetrators of crimes, become involved in the criminal justice system and diminish their earning potential.

“I think it’s important to bring those kinds of things out,” Revels said. “These are the reasons we are trying to make sure our kids stay in school because we know that if they don’t, they’re headed down the wrong path.”

According to the ordinance, a parent is given a warning citation the first time his or her child is caught in violation of the daytime curfew and can be subject to a fine or jail time for subsequent violations. The child must also be out of school because of the “permission or insufficient control” of the parent in order for the parent to be penalized.

Some people disagree with the idea of pun-

ishing parents for their children’s truancy.

Williams believes the punishments are appropriate when the parents are at fault and fail to change after other interventions. She concedes, however, that the policy is too severe as a blanket punishment.

Caren Cloud, staff attorney for the Georgia Truancy Intervention Project, believes parents should not be punished for the actions of their kids, who know they are supposed to be in school, and said the focus should be on fixing the problem rather than on punishing parents.

“There’s always a cause,” Cloud said. “There’s always something going on.”

Mitchell, however, said that if a parent knows his or her child is not going to school, the parent should be held responsible because “that parent is not doing a service to that child.”

Since the ordinance has not been enforced until recently, very few people have felt its effects. Williams said she has never cited a parent to face imprisonment or a fine, and Revels said there have only been four instances of that so far this year in APS. Mitchell said imprisoning and fining parents is not the goal of the ordinance. He hopes the law will open the lines of communication with parents in order to find other solutions before resorting to these punitive measures.

“It is not our objective to put parents in jail because that just compounds the problem,” Mitchell said. “However, if we have parents we find in the court repeatedly for this ... then I hope that the judges will use everything in their power ... to inspire these parents to step up to the plate and manage their child better.” p

news

6

Feb. 3, 2012

Free, reduced lunch ‘deeper’ than discounted meals

By Jasmine Burnett Since middle school, senior Marius Jackson has been on reduced lunch, a service that has provided him with 30-cent breakfasts, 40-cent lunches, free MARTA cards and waivers for the SAT. According to 2011 data from the Georgia Department of Education, 48 percent of Grady’s 716 students are like Jackson and utilize the service––the smallest percentage of any APS high school.

Jackson said he was surprised by the number of students at Grady who don’t qualify for free or reduced lunch. “[In] middle school, I was surrounded by people who had more need because of the middle school I went to,” Jackson said. “I was in an environment where people had a greater need. ... There weren’t many who weren’t on free and reduced lunch.”

Grady Project Success coordinator Kaye Myles said, in order to qualify for the program, students’ families must receive food stamps, welfare or social security, or meet certain income guidelines based on salary and the number of people in the household. She said the school receives federal money based on the number of students who qualify for the program.

“From the number of people that get free and reduced lunch, that’s how we get our federal monies into the school to do all kinds of things,” Myles said. “That’s how we get our Title I money, and that’s how we’re able to buy supplies. We [also] do salaries here at the school, we get certain equipment, the Breeze cards, the stamps, teachers going for staff development [and] when people have to go for different conferences. That’s how we get that.”

Grady social worker Elesha Williams said 50 percent of her case load is comprised of students who are economically disadvantaged and are on free or reduced lunch. She believes some of those students’ issues stem from the economic challenges they face.

“I guess stereotypically, a lot of the issues that they’re having is because they are being disadvantaged in some way and not having access to certain things that they need,” Williams said.

Williams said the homeless students she assists are on free or reduced lunch and need additional help outside of the program.

“I’ll just say in a nutshell, most of the homeless kids I serve are on free lunch, and they have had to [come] for additional assistance such as senior fees [and] coats

2%

during the winter,” Williams said. “Usually they don’t come themselves. Usually their parents will call and say, ‘My child needs a, b, c, and they are afraid to come to you.’ So I’ll call, and we’ll go from there.”

In order to ensure families don’t abuse the free and reduced lunch system, each year the program randomly selects students’ names to verify they are actually in need of the service, Myles said.

“Every year there’s a check point, [and] randomly they pull so many students,” she said. “This year I had about 20 students that I had to go find.” “Because when you send initially your paperwork in and say, ‘I get this [or] I do this,’ they trust you to a certain degree. Then when you send in information, a lot of times they can look and say, ‘You’re over income, you don’t qualify.’”

Myles said she gives those students a form to take to their parents, who must then send the requested information to the APS nutrition office. She said she is not sure how many, if any, students were denied services last year after submitting their paperwork.

“I don’t know, just like I don’t this year how many kids really returned [their forms],” Myles said. “Some of the children who I would see in the hall, I’d say, ‘Did your mother return that thing?’ and they’d go ‘I don’t know.’

So to be honest I have not followed [up].”

Jackson said he believes some students abuse the program to obtain benefits for which they don’t qualify.

“I know there are people who do that,” Jackson said. “[But] I’m not one of them.”

Myles agreed that students who use the service take advantage of the system by sharing their lunch numbers with students who are not on free and reduced lunch in order to pay a cheaper price for their meals.

“I don’t have any control over that, and the people in the cafeteria don’t have control over that,” Myles said.

“Yeah, you know the kids probably abuse it. To be honest there’s always trickery in what people do.”

Myles said the program is “deeper” than the free or discounted meals. She believes students who may qualify don’t sign up because they think the system is solely for food and don’t realize it provides services like SAT waivers and MARTA cards.

“The free lunch program is a bit more than just eating in the cafeteria,” Myles said. “That’s what I try to explain to kids.” p

How are free or reduced lunch benefits used?

7%

Meals and Transportation Meals and Fee Waivers

8%

Meals, Fee Waivers and Transportation

56%

Transportation Only

8%

Fee Waivers Only

8%

Meals Only

From a Southerner survey of 401 students

ISABELLE TAFT

Do you have Free or Reduced lunch? proportion who feel they don’t need free or reduced lunch

proportion who feel they need free or reduced lunch

44.3%

Yes

55.7% 19.4%

80.6%

No 50

100

150

student participants From a Southerner survey of 401 students

200

250

lejoi lane

0

By Jasmine Burnett Senior Marius Jackson came to Grady from Sylvan Hills Middle School, a school with 98.7 percent of its students on free or reduced lunch.

“I remember in middle school, [the service] was common place,” Jackson said. When he arrived at Grady, he was surprised so many people at the school weren’t on free or reduced lunch, since only 48 percent of the students use it.

Jackson believes that at Grady, his AP classes have students with less need for financial aid services.

“I take some AP classes,” Jackson said. “So usually in those classes, people are able to pay for things like that.”

He cited the fees required to take the AP tests as the reason why there are fewer low-income students in those classes.

“What comes along with the AP classes are AP tests and other things you may have to pay for,” Jackson said.

Jackson said that there are fewer students on free or reduced lunch in his AP classes than in his non-AP classes.

Jackson said he waited until this year to take AP classes, because before, he didn’t think he would be able to afford to take the tests.

“My first time taking AP classes really was this year, because I knew that I would have to take the AP tests, but I knew that I wouldn’t be financially able to take them,” Jackson said. “But then I researched further and figured out that you can get discounts for special things for people who aren’t necessarily able to pay them.”

To supplement some of his expenses, Jackson works at Grady Hospital.

“If I didn’t have a job, I could still support myself, but the extra money helps,” Jackson said. He said he uses his money to pay for supplies for classes and day-to-day expenses.

“I use that check to pay for minor things that I know my mother doesn’t have extra money for,” Jackson said.

“For example, art supplies for AP art because you have to pay for your own stuff. I have to pay for MARTA cards, because I have a job and do a lot of community service and I travel on MARTA.” p

Percentage of students on free or reduced lunch at APS high schools

Transportation and Fee Waivers

11%

Senior reflects on AP economic difficulties

Lejoi Lane

HIGH SCHOOL

LUNCH PERCENTAGES

Crim BEST Academy South Atlanta Coretta Scott King Carver Douglass Mays North Atlanta Grady

99%

From the Atlanta Public Schools website

96% 93% 89% 88% 87% 78% 52% 48% ISABELLE TAFT

news

Feb. 3, 2012

7

By Steve Terry The Grady Jesters’ third annual debate tournament at Grady and Inman Middle School ran smoothly but was not without its fair share of bizarre, jaw-dropping occurrences.

“The tournament ended on time,” speech and debate coach Mario Herrera said. “On Friday, we ended two hours early. That never happens.”

Each year, more than 30 teams have attended the tournament, and in the past two years it has filled up both Inman and Grady.

Grady students typically do not compete at the tournament, so they lent their help in other ways during the Jan. 13-14 competition. The Jesters helped by giving students directions, patrolling halls and solving problems that arose. Grady debate alumni also helped out by serving as judges.

Because of the size of the tournament, multiple sites had to be used for the competition. Lincoln-Douglas, public forum and extemporaneous speaking events were held at Grady, while policy debaters competed at Inman.

The majority of debate tournaments end up running several hours late on average, so for one to end early is more rare than a black swan.

“As far as I know, we were the only tournament this year that has held elimination rounds for all events,” Herrera said. “I was sure that this would have us running extremely late. The fact that we didn’t was incredible.”

The tournament, however, was not without its hiccups. Several extemporaneous speaking judges failed to show, and one completely disappeared.

“She checked in and took a ballot,” alumnus and former Jester Tyler Olson said.

“That was the last we saw of her.”

It is not uncommon for tournaments to have problems like this.

“That’s what happens with community judges,” Herrera said. “But we ended early, so everyone was pleased by the end.”

Steve Terry

Annual debate tournament full of twists and turns

READY, SET, SPEAK: Debate competitors eagerly view the postings to see if they qualified for semifinals. More than 30 teams attended the tournament this year, and competitions were held at both Grady and Inman Middle School because of the high number of participants. The Grady Jesters proudly say the event ran smoothly.

Despite the fact that it is unusual for “You know the feeling in dodge ball when the nearest shelter and escorted him off of Jesters to compete at Grady tournaments, you get hit by the ball, and the wind gets school grounds. four Grady students had the opportunity knocked out of you?” Peterson said. “It was Despite the minor issues that occurred, to compete with Marist High School’s Liam like that times 1,000, except the ball was a the Jesters thought the tournament was an Torpy when his public forum partner failed wall of metal.” overall success. They said it was well reto show up.

Peterson’s doctors said he was extremely ceived by other debaters and coaches and “I learned Thursday that I was compet- lucky not to have broken any bones. Rex was a great representation of the work that ing public forum, and on Friday I learned spent that Saturday in bed, recovering went into it. my partner had bailed,” Torpy said. “It was from the accident.

“I always love the Grady tournament,” actually much more enjoyable working with Everyone was also taken by surprise Lee County High School’s Kyle Constable the students from Grady.” when a homeless man jumped out of the said. “Just the opportunity to see so many Senior debater Holden Choi said the In- bushes as junior Omar Skandari and sev- people is just great.” man branch of the competition did not go eral other debaters were walking by the The positive energy of the tournament as smoothly as the events at Grady.

Grady trailers. was exemplified in the award ceremony “I spent 29 hours at the tournament,” Choi “We were just walking,” Skandari said. when the room spontaneously broke out said. “After a point, it got pretty miserable.”

“And then next thing you know some hobo into song.

The mood of the tournament darkened jumps out of the bushes and yells, ‘Boo!’” “I’m very proud of the fact that this conwhen junior debate student Rex Peterson The students sprinted away in shock tributed to the Grady community,” Herrera was hit by a car while crossing Monroe and alerted the police officers of his pres- said. “We had 120 volunteers, and everyone Drive on his way home on Friday. ence. The officers gave him directions to was very pleased with how it went.” p

Georgia law might lead to dramatic rise in charter schools

By Rachel Citrin Junior Jenny Moody attended Fulton Science Academy, a charter school, in order to be surrounded by a small class of high-achieving students and teachers. “[Fulton Science Academy] was a good charter school because there were small classes, which allowed people to work closely together, not only to get to know each other better, but also to work more efficiently with each other,” Moody said.

According to a new Georgia law, each school district must declare its operational system as either charter, status quo or IE2 by June 2013. IE2 is Educational Excellence legislation which permits balanced local control and allows officials who are close to students to make important decisions about their schools. The passage of this new law means that many schools, including Grady, may be changing from their current system if the school systems decide on a change for all schools.

One viable option for APS is to switch to charter schools, schools that are independent but use public funds. Some parents and public education leaders, however, fear the increased momentum in using charter schools to replace public schools could lead to decreased access to quality education for all children.

Moody agrees that not all public schools should become charter schools.

“The school drew good students and good teachers, but not all charter schools will be good. It matters how you set up the charter school.”

Over the past 20 years, the number of charter schools in the country has risen as part of the growing charter-school movement. From the 1999–2000 academic year to the 2008–09 school year, the number of students enrolled in public charter schools more than tripled from 340,000 to 1.4 million students. Georgia now has 113 charter schools, 12 of which are in APS. “[The increasing desire for charter schools] in some degree is a way to address the bureaucracies in the public school system to get an education environment that is best for our children,”

APS parent Kandy Outlaw said. “People are fed up with the fiasco from the school-board conflict or from the lack of a high-achieving curriculum, so many citizens are now opting for charter schools.”

Lisa Weldon, a founding member of Step Up for Public Schools, an active organization working to promote public schools, recognizes the merits of charter schools. “[Charter schools] can have more innovation and often require more involvement from the community,” Weldon said.

“Parents and teachers can have more control.”

Many charter schools use a lottery-based admission process.

Weldon believes a system in which some students are admitted into charter schools and others are not can be detrimental.

Charter schools may sometimes only accept 5 percent of the students who apply, while public schools have to accept all students living in the community.

Because every student is not guaranteed a spot, Weldon believes charter schools could split up neighborhoods and ruin traditional public schools, siphoning away motivated and involved families that move to charter schools.

“While there are good charter schools, it does not mean that they will always provide more benefits than public schools,” APS board member Cecily Harsch-Kinnane said. “In addition, in a public school, you do not have a limited population, and it is a cornerstone of democracy.”

Weldon believes charter schools can end up harming some students who are not as affluent. She says that Riverwood, a charter school in Sandy Springs, has a lot of involved parents who have increased the amount they charge for students to play sports.

“As a result, many kids cannot afford to play sports anymore,” Weldon said. “A local public school system, in contrast, looks out for everybody: the rich, the poor, the South, and the North.”

Others, such as Harsch-Kinnane, are worried that charter schools are not held accountable to uphold the curriculum after the start-up years.

“[Charter schools] do not have the same accountability as public schools as long as their students show adequate progress in meeting state academic standards,” Harsch-Kinnane said.

“Once a charter school opens and has been approved [after the 3-5 year start-up time frame], there is nothing to keep them accountable and operating as they should be.”

Lea McLeod, parent, has recently started a public charter school in Atlanta called Intown Academy. She said she established the school to raise the academic bar as well as to provide services parents were not getting at traditional public schools.

She is also working on a charter school that works to refocus boys who have come from the juvenile justice system.

“Charter schools go into communities with low income and with a historically underserved population, and they bring in social support services that you would not otherwise get with traditional schools,” McLeod said. “They are more innovative.”

Outlaw, however, is concerned with the growing charterschool movement and said people need to look carefully at how to make public schools excellent so they are the schools of choice for most parents.

“We all need to know how to live in our society,” Outlaw said. “In public schools, we have a more realistic view of society because students are a lot more exposed to a diverse environment. Anything application-based means that some [students] will get in and some will not. If there are specific attributes of good students, they will be drawn out of public schools. This could lead to a segregation of society.”

Outlaw believes the charter-school movement will ultimately end up deteriorating public schools.

“Public schools can become a training ground for students bound for non-college degree programs, and our tax money will be split between two education models and will be spread too thin,” Outlaw said.

APS board members discussed their choices on Dec. 15 to decide what future actions to take based on school conversion, but they do not have to make a final decision until 2013. p

news

8

Feb. 3, 2012

Community responds to new APS redistricting plans

Nov. 28 Dec. 1 2011: Conduct four community meetings on first four maps.

they were produced to inspire community feedback. The maps were released before the board of education had the opportunity to see them and were strictly based upon census data. The demographers did not take history, feeder patterns, clusters or community ties into account.

Believing that these maps were actual proposals, communities protested them ardently.

Parents in the Morningside community created a petition against the redistricting plan because the first maps suggested that parts of their neighborhood would be zoned out of the Morningside-Inman-Grady cluster.

Harsch-Kinnane, APS board representative for Grady, said superintendent Erroll Davis will make the final changes to the maps.

Duggan Lansing, Grady parent and Morningside resident, is glad APS is responding to parents but does not think the maps are done.

“The maps were a step in the right direction, but if they were listening carefully, the concerns could have been solved for a lot of parents,” Lansing said.

The parents who stood to speak in front of the demographers and board members on Jan. 30 focused mainly on walkability, crowding, feeder patterns, clusters and race.

Literature teacher and Grant Park resident Deedee Abbott said each person voiced his or her own interests rather than speaking out in the interest of all APS parents and students.

“I didn’t hear anyone mention the greater good,” Abbott said. “But it’s hard to take one for the team when it’s your child.”

Although Abbott’s children go to the Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School, she said she would consider sending her kids to her zoned high school, Maynard Jackson. She understands that parents within the Morningside-

Olivia Veira

By Olivia Veira More than 600 frustrated parents gathered at Maynard Jackson High School on Jan. 30 to voice their concerns about the two latest plans to rezone elementary, middle and high schools in the APS district.

APS is redistricting all of its schools because 2010 census data indicates that several schools in the district, including Grady, are overcrowded, while others are operating at 30- to 50-percent capacity. APS must accommodate almost 5,470 additional students due to population growth in the neighborhoods surrounding Grady.

Two proposed redistricting maps were released on Jan. 27, and at the meeting three days later, emotions ran high.

Parents with children at Mary Lin Elementary School wore neon yellow stickers stating “Mary Lin (K-5), Inman, Grady. Keep it that way!” to express their interest in keeping their cluster of neighborhood schools together.

One Old Fourth Ward parent stood up to make suggestions to the demographers.

“It makes logistical sense for the Mary Lin community to go to Coan,” she said.

The Mary Lin community responded by booing and later a representative responded to the Old Fourth Ward’s accusation of racial division in the plans.

“I’m not a racist,” said the Mary Lin parent.

He said Mary Lin parents are concerned with continuity and walkability and that their interests were not meant to divide APS racially in any way.

The meeting was the first in a series of community meetings in which APS listened to families affected by redistricting.

APS director of media relations Keith Bromery said the first set of maps, which were released in late November and caused vehement parental backlash, were “experimental.” Bromery said the board of education never intended to implement the maps and that

and Mary Lin-Inman-Grady clusters are interested in continuity but said other schools could benefit from rezoning in the long term.

“Maynard Jackson is underpopulated as a school and underperforming, and it seems one of the things that makes Grady strong is that there is consistency,” Abbott said. “Some of these kids have been together since elementary school. If there were a middle school dedicated to Maynard Jackson, either Coan or MLK, we could build a community around that, and it wouldn’t scatter the kids like it does now.”

Abbott also noticed how much of an impact race was having on redistricting. She described Atlanta as “pretty racially divided.” She said redistricting also fosters the division of children of different socioeconomic statuses. Julia Neighbors, who lives in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, agreed with Abbott.

“When you look at the demographics of our city, the Northeast sector is a very diverse community as a whole,” Neighbors said. “But when you drill down at the school level, it becomes a very different story. The current situation appears to separate the children by race and socioeconomic status by virtue of communities.”

Neighbors said many people in the Old Fourth Ward community liked the first set of plans because it addressed overcrowding and did not favor any community or race.

Kate Sandhaus, a Candler Park resident and the communications chair for the neighborhood association, does not feel that the communities are clashing because of race.

“I think this is a complex issue but first and foremost this is about school performance,” Sandhaus said. The Grady cluster has a lot of excellent schools. At the end of the day, we need all Atlanta schools to be good.”

Harsch-Kinnane hopes the board can solve overcrowding problems but is also realistic.

"Not everyone is going to be happy," Harsch-Kinnane said. "We can't satisfy everyone." p

NEIGHBORHOODS surrounding Grady fight for district control continued from front page changes, she said.

Graham Balch, former Grady teacher and Midtown resident, concurred.

“The political grab to take Grady out of Midtown was not done to balance population in political districts,” Balch said. “It was not drafted professionally by the city’s planners. It was simply a political grab to keep control over Grady. This fight would have never occurred if we had all respected the planning process and if we had worked together collaboratively instead of trying to sneak something by without consulting Midtown leaders.”

The plans won’t change which students attends Grady, but rather which school board member represents it and which neighborhoods votes on issues pertaining to it. Plan 5 created a district in which APS board member Harsch-Kinnane did not represent a high school. After learning of this plan, Harsch-Kinnane contacted the board to persuade them to create another draft in which she would represent the district containing Grady.

Plan 6 amended was sent to the state municipal court for review on Jan. 6.

The plan will be voted on in August and implemented in 2013, after new district elections have taken place.

Wan says that he sees a silver lining to the conflict.

“It’s really great that Grady has [this] sort of support and the communities want to keep Grady in [their] district,” Wan said. p

Plan to move: APS Redistricting Timeline Nov. 28 Dec. 16 2011: Feedback form distributed and posted for input.

Dec. 2011- Jan. 2012 Reviewing and evaluating public opinion.

December

Jan. 4-6 2012: Superintendent meets with board members to gain insight on guiding principals.

January

Jan. 30 - Feb. 2 2012: Conduct four community meetings for second round of opinions.

Feb. 2012: Feedback form posted for public opinion on second options. Final report delivered.

February

Kenny Cochran and Troy Kleber

Trader Joe’s demo practices rankle frequent snackers

By Isabelle Taft and Sammi Dean Senior Marius Jackson had his after-school routine all figured out.

Before going to debate practice, he would walk to the Midtown Trader Joe’s and buy a bottle of water and a navel orange. On his way out, he would grab a sample from the demo booth, a table in the store where employees prepare products for customers to taste. But then, in early December, everything changed.

“The lady was like, ‘No! Are you a student at Grady High School?’”

Jackson said.

Jackson said the Trader Joe’s employee working at the demo booth refused to give him a sample because he attends Grady, despite the fact that he is 18 and thus not a minor.

Liana Sisco, the employee who shooed Jackson from the demo table, began strictly enforcing the

company’s free sample policy after the volume of Grady students seeking samples became overwhelming.

She said it stipulates that children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent to receive a free sample.

Before Thanksgiving, the Midtown Trader Joe’s often offered samples of three or four different products at a time. Sisco said Grady students took advantage of the abundance of samples, taking up to seven on a single visit to the demo table.

Jackson said Sisco told him the managers at Trader Joe’s instructed her to turn away Grady students from the demo table. Joshua Abbate, an assistant manager at Trader Joe’s, however, said managers did not dictate demo policy but instead left it to the discretion of employees assigned to the demo table.

“Everybody’s entitled to one free

sample,” Abbate said.

Last semester, junior Jenny Moody frequently went to Trader Joe’s after school. She said that while Sisco consistently said Grady students weren’t allowed to have samples, other Trader Joe’s employees on demo duty allowed Moody and her friends to try the samples like other customers.

Danny, a Trader Joe’s employee who preferred to be identified only by his first name, said each employee who works at the demo table can distribute samples as they see fit.

“I don’t have a problem with giving them to high school students,” Danny said.

Inconsistent policies have irritated students who frequently visit Trader Joe’s and have grown accustomed to daily samples. Senior Cheyn Shah said that, when the store first opened

a few years ago, young customers were offered copious samples. “[The woman at the table] would be like, ‘Take 12 free samples! You look like you need it!’” Shah said.

Senior Holden Choi said the restrictive policy is ill-conceived because the demos sometimes spurred him to purchase the product. Jackson and Moody agreed.

“One time they were demoing some raspberry lemonade, and me and my friends bought it for our picnic,” Jackson said.

Sisco said the change in policy was not meant to deprive students of demos but to ensure that all customers receive a sample. To combat the perception that the policy is anti-student, she said she began giving Grady students a separate sample.

She said students cannot have the regular demo but instead can have a

cookie or similar treat.

Jackson said it is embarrassing to be singled out in this manner..

“OK, I don’t want a ginger cookie, I want a ham and cheese sandwich,” Jackson said.

Despite recent controversy over the demos, Sisco and Abbate said Trader Joe’s welcomes Grady students. Communications and journalism academy leader Carrie MacBrien said the store frequently donates food for events held by Grady teams and clubs, including recent awards ceremonies. Sisco said since she began offering alternative samples to Grady students, her interactions with them have taken on a more positive tone.

“We can be more like friends than the lady that enforces the ‘you can’t come to the demo table’ rule,” Sisco said. p

news

Feb. 3, 2012

9

PEACEFUL PROTEST: Occupy Atlanta members meet in the middle of Woodruff Park for their frequent General Assembly. Members use hand signals and timers to maintain order. the world.

Occupy Atlanta continues to maintain a small tent community in Woodruff Park. Although these tents remain in the center of the park during the day, at 11 p.m., when the park closes, occupiers must move the tents to the sidewalk, where they can stay for the night.

“We use each other’s assets to help each other,” said Tony Chase, an Occupy Atlanta member and homeless man living in the park.

“We utilize all our resources to build a unified community.”

A man who identified himself as Smitty J has lived in Woodruff Park since Oct. 7 when the movement began. He works to manage the people in this park community and said the purpose of “occupying” the park is very simple: to be heard.

“The statement we’re trying to make is telling the city of Atlanta we’re here, and we ain’t going nowhere,” Smitty J said.

The Occupy movement also has beliefs and ideas that it works to spread throughout Atlanta.

“The statement that I’m trying to make is that we can no longer afford to live in this crisis of economic priority where the needs of the few are put above the needs of the many and where the richest 1 percent continue to get richer at the cost of ev-

erybody else,” Franzen said.

Occupy Atlanta member Jonathan Tooker compared the current national government to the Empire in Star Wars. He said one of his demands is to “facilitate a smooth transition of government” to one that has less power.

Occupy Atlanta works not only to disseminate its message but also to reform the system. Franzen said hundreds of people are currently a part of the movement.

“There are people that have quit a job or given up an apartment to become a part of this movement.

This is a historical moment, and I think some people are realizing that we cannot squander this opportunity that we have to change the world,” Franzen said. “This is not a protest that lasts an hour and then you go home. This is not a march that happens once a year. This is a 24/7 movement.

There are people in Atlanta working on this 24/7.”

Smitty J agreed there is still much work to be done.

“Right now, I’d say we’re about 45 percent heard because we are getting a lot of calls from people who need our help, especially with concern to foreclosures,” Smitty J said.

While Occupy Atlanta’s tactics have transformed since its beginning, the movement’s structure-

has also. The movement has split into several committees­: media, home defense, action and demands committees. Each has its own staff members and specific role in the movement.

Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, Occupy Atlanta holds a general assembly, a meeting in Woodruff Park where members make proposals, voice concerns, provide updates and plan for future events. During general assemblies, hand signals are used to prevent people from interrupting each other and time limits are placed on those who want to speak.

“We want to have our process reflect the world that we want to live in,” Franzen said. “We want to live in a world where everybody’s voice is equal, so in our structure, there are no leaders, everybody’s equal and everybody’s voice is elevated to the same importance. We operate on a consensus model … Our general assembly is a place where we can come together.”

Franzen said the future of Occupy Atlanta is uncertain. Chase believes the movement will continue long into the future but said it will be the next generation’s job to continue the work.

“We’ve started it,” he said. “Now you’ve got to finish it.” p

STUDENT RESPONSE TO OCCUPY ATLANTA

How impactful is Occupy Atlanta right now?

No Impact 28%

Very Small Impact 25%

Very Impactful 7% Moderately Impactful 40%

How active is Occupy Atlanta right now?

Not at all Active 20% Very Active 9%

Moderately Active 30%

Slightly Active 41%

How long do you think the Occupy movement will continue in Atlanta?

For Another Month For the Next Few Months 28% 30% It’s Already Over 16% Troy kleber

By Troy Kleber Surrounded by 11 tents, approximately 30 people gathered in the center of Woodruff Park on Jan. 9. This group meets in the park four times a week to discuss plans and share opinions as part of the Occupy Atlanta movement.

Occupy Atlanta began in October last year and, for the most part, has evolved from a group seeking publicity to one organizing political action.

Initially, the movement’s focus was on the occupation of Woodruff Park. Tim Franzen, who is an active Occupy Atlanta member, said having people pitch tents and live in the park for several days helped gain attention and a media spotlight for the movement.

“Now that the occupation is all over the country and out of the park, we’re getting down to the actual community organizing and taking on projects that give us the opportunity to have tangible plans that make people’s lives better,” Franzen said.

Occupy Atlanta is currently working on a major project called Occupy Our Homes, in which occupiers set up tents in the front yard of a person’s home in an attempt to prevent foreclosures and evictions. The most recent example of an occupied home is Eloise Pittmans’ house, located at 404 Glen Iris Drive. “[Occupy Our Homes] is the combined efforts of over 20 different Occupy cities working together to lift up the foreclosure crisis and have Occupy movements all over the country work on challenging the banks and stopping foreclosures,” Franzen said. “We do this because we want to win the house back for the family.”

Franzen said Occupy Atlanta is involved in other projects such as the establishment of the largest homeless shelter in the Southeast.

It is located near the intersection of Peachtree and Pine Streets.

Occupy Atlanta also schedules marches on banks and the city capitol and coordinates with other Occupy movements around

Troy kleber

Occupy Atlanta remains active, reconsiders approach

6%

For Another Year 13% 7%

I’ve Never Heard For the Next of Occupy Atlanta Several Years

Southerner survey of 154 students

Students regretfully bid adieu to Princeton Review

By Lauren Ogg and Ciena Leshley Junior Valentina Makrides walked into the SAT on Nov. 5. She sat at her desk and knew she was ready for the test. After spending her Saturday mornings at Grady for SAT preparation courses, she had the necessary knowledge.

The Princeton Review offers a course to help students prepare for the SAT and ACT. The class used to be taught at discounted rates for after-school weekday courses and free for Saturday morning sessions at Grady.

Due to budget constraints, however, the program was cut for all APS schools in December.

APS director of media relations Keith Bromery said the cancellation of the $600,000 program occurred because of a budget shortfall.

“There are definitely people who can’t afford classes or SAT prep books to study,” Makrides said. “It’s not fair to take [them] away.”

Makrides said the Princeton Review program helped prepare her for the SAT. Even

though she was not originally planning to Romeo was planning on participating in take the class, she was thankful her parents the Saturday morning SAT classes this year signed her up for it. and was upset when they were cancelled.

“It was helpful because it was forced upon He hopes to take similar classes elsewhere me, and it was so long of a class that I ac- but has been discouraged by the cost of tually learned,” Makrides said. “I wouldn’t other programs. have taken time “I already have There are definitely people who the materials,” Roout of my Saturday morning to can’t afford classes or SAT prep meo said. “I just [study] alone by to learn the books to study. It’s not fair to take want myself.” skills and tricks.” [them] away.

Similar to Makrides said Makrides, junior that although she

Cassidy Sparks is able to pay for

Valentina Makrides the classes, she attended the free Saturday classes

junior sympathizes with this past fall and those who cannot enjoyed the learning experience. afford them. “[The class] was beneficial,” Sparks said.

“Now that it’s gone, what’s their op“We got a variety of books and materials to tion?” Makrides said. use during and after class.”

One free alternative to the Saturday Because of the program’s cancellation, morning classes is the SAT prep class ofstudents will have to search elsewhere to fered at Grady during first and third perireceive SAT preparation. Junior Dominic ods on B-days.

“

Principal Vincent Murray said he set up the courses in order to provide opportunities for students to excel on the SAT. This class is conducted by literature teacher Beverly Rice-Hooper.

“The rationale was the fact that all students don’t stay after school,” Murray said. “[There are] plenty of seniors who needed additional support.”

Makrides thinks the idea of creating a replacement class is good in theory but believes the execution is flawed. She does not believe the class will be very effective since Rice-Hooper, unlike Princeton Review instructors, is not specially trained to teach an SAT prep class.

Murray explained that next year, Grady is looking for a new prep program that will be more engaging than this year’s program.

Murray said that next year’s program looks promising so far.

“The format will change, and students won’t get bored,” Murray said. “[The program] will be more attractive to students.” p

School in Cyberspace

Facebook: ‘truth serum’ for students or convenient tool for classwork, assignments?

By Olivia Veira and Sammi Dean When John Grant goes to schools to talk to students and staff about Facebook, he begins with a single question: “Can anybody think of anything good that will happen when a student and teacher communicate over social media networks?”

Grant, chief investigator for the Georgia Professional Standards Commission Ethics Division, said he has never had a student or teacher answer that question.

Over the past eight years, Facebook has continued to grow, both in members and social prominence. According to the site, there are more than 800 million active users, and the average user has 130 friends. At Grady, Facebook is a method increasingly used by teachers to communicate with their students.

Some teachers use the website to send their students notifications on assignments, and it gives them easy access to their students after school.

Woodrow Hartzog, assistant professor at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, does not think the increasing use of Facebook is necessarily a good thing.

“There is greater pressure on both students and teachers to socialize,” Hartzog said. “But then of course, why not? It seems in a sense almost natural to take advantage of the social media opportunity, and just because the opportunity is there doesn’t mean it should be seized.”

Joseph Mazer, associate department chair in communication studies at Clemson University, said there can be benefits to using Facebook in a school environment.

“One of the major benefits [for] teachers and students who are friends on Facebook is that relationships or connections through Facebook help to foster, grow and develop teacher-student relationships,” Mazer said. “Students are able to learn a bit more about the teacher’s life, and teachers may be able to learn more about students’ lives.”

AN AMORAL TOOL Journalism teacher and debate coach Mario Herrera uses Facebook to contact debate team members. He said the website is potentially useful in the classroom and does not see harm in the tool. He believes it should be used with caution and that it is up to the users to vet the information they display.

“Facebook is amoral,” Herrera said. “It’s a tool. It’s a website. It’s what you do with that website that makes it good or bad.”

Although Herrera uses Facebook to reach out to the debate team, he uses a pseudonym to separate his personal Facebook from his professional one.

“I remember a teacher in [Barrow] County. She had a picture of herself drinking a [glass of wine] on vacation, nowhere near any of her students, and got fired,” Herrera said. “I’m not going to take that risk.”

The teacher Herrera mentioned, Ashley Payne, was given the choice between resignation or suspension when her principal saw photos of her with alcohol during a vacation on her Facebook page. Payne resigned, and is now suing the school district because she did not get a hearing.

AP world history teacher George Darden, who is friends with many of his current and former students, said he is not worried about being fired because of inappropriate content on Facebook or any other social networking website.

“If I was doing a lot of things out of school that I thought students shouldn’t know about, I would be worried,” Darden said.

“But I don’t. You’re not going to find pictures of me getting drunk or mooning passing cars because I don’t do any of that. In a broader sense, I think that it’s good for students to see that there’s more to me than the person they see in the classroom.”

Senior Andrew Cleveland has been Facebook friends with Darden since he took his class sophomore year.

“Since Mr. Darden and I are both cyclists, I’ve always enjoyed talking to him [on Facebook] about races, teams or hearing stories about his really intense crashes, “Cleveland said.

Melissa Plew, a doctorate student in philosophy at Georgia State, wrote her dissertation on Facebook friendships between college instructors and students.

“I think not only high school teachers, but anyone, needs to be careful about what they put on Facebook,” Plew said.

“I think teachers are often held to a higher standard because we do work with youth, but anyone should keep that in mind.”

Although the Professional Standards Commission does not men-

tion social networks or Internet use in its ethics code, Grant said people report ethics violations involving social media once or twice each month.

“Every inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher that we investigate starts out with some type of communication between the student and the teacher over some kind of electronic medium,” Grant said.

Administrative assistant David Propst agreed with Grant and said Facebook is not appropriate in the school environment. Propst said he does not use any type of social networking website because he feels it is unnecessary due to other sources of communication such as phones and email.

“You can’t cross that line in terms of professionalism,” Propst said.

“I’m the teacher. You’re the student. That’s it. You have to respect that.

You don’t cross that line.”

APS director of media Keith Bromery said Grady has not had any major Facebook scandals. Grant, however, said APS staff members have been reported

are teachers that do have contact with kids on Facebook. I don’t think there is anything insidious going on.”

Herrera would like to see Facebook incorporated into the classroom.

“I wish that APS would be progressive enough to find ways to use Facebook in the classroom,” Herrera said. “As a journalism teacher, I find it fascinating the kinds of things that students post. I get a lot of cool links from graduates.”

Although Grant disapproves of students and teachers being friends on Facebook, he takes a realistic view of the use of the website. He accepts that teachers and students will inevitably want to take advantage of Facebook but cautions students not to become overly friendly with their teachers. He also thinks incorporating Facebook into the learning environment on a strictly professional level will benefit the classroom.

“Should school systems start incorporating electronic media into the school’s curriculum or as a tool to educate kids? Well, sure they should,” Grant said. “But does it have to have some controls? Yes.” Grant hopes educators and students will not get much more comfortable with Facebook outside of school.

“There’s already too much interaction between teachers and students on Facebook,” Grant said. “It’s a slippery slope.”

Facebook allows sophomore Eliza Renner and Cramer to reconnect with old friends and teachers.

“I am friends with my fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Stiritz,” Renner said. “He was one of my favorite teachers, and I wanted to keep in touch.”

The College and Career Connections Center is one Grady program that has taken advantage of this new medium of communication. With 167 members as of Jan. 12, the CCC page serves as a forum to inform students of upcoming college visits and share colleges to which they have been admitted.

“The main goal [of the Facebook page] is to reach students we couldn’t reach otherwise,” CCC volunteer Sarah Bryant said.

Before the CCC created their Facebook page, the sole means of communication available were the Grady Gram, Knight Lights and sign boards in the hall and the room.

getting drunk, or mooning passing cars, because I don’t do any of that. ... I think that it’s good for students to see that there’s more to me than the person they see in the classroom.

February 3 at 3:15pm • Comment • Like

AN INTERESTING CONUNDRUM Herrera, social studies teacher Lee Pope and physics teacher Jeff Cramer all accept friend requests from students only after they graduate.

“When kids come up to me and ask if they can friend me I say ‘Sure... the day after you graduate,’” Pope said. “I’m more interested in seeing what they do in college than here. I see them everyday at school. I don’t need to talk to them when they go home.”

Darden, however, believes it is useful to be Facebook friends with students while they are in his class. He uses Facebook, Twitter and email, and provides that information to his students along with his cell phone number so they can contact him about classwork and assignments. Although he gives out his information, Darden said he would remove a student as a Facebook friend for inappropriate content.

“If things pop up in my news feed that students say that I really don’t want to know about, I usually [de]friend that student,” Darden said. “Teachers are morally, ethically and legally required to report things like child abuse, so if I ever saw something on Facebook like that, I would [report it], but that’s never happened.”

Both Herrera and Cramer agree with Darden’s policy of “defriending” students with inappropriate content. Herrera said he has seen inappropriate content on his news feed, from both the high school graduates on his personal Facebook account and the high school students on his pseudonym account.

“Sometimes Facebook is like a truth serum to some people,” Herrera said.

“I am shocked at what I see on students’ walls, and sometimes I can’t respond.

There are some things I just don’t want to know.”

Cramer has noticed some students tend to be recklessly public when using Facebook.

“It’s an interesting conundrum,” Cramer said. “It has tremendous advantages, but it also has some real dangers. I’m particularly concerned with people who post comments that they wouldn’t say to my face and they don’t even realize that those comments are coming straight to me.”

For Grady teachers, adding students as Facebook friends remains a personal decision. “[Whether teachers friend students] depends on what communication they need,” Abbott said. “I trust [teachers] to make responsible decisions.”

Pope also saw no inherent danger in the online friendships.

“I think it is an individual thing,” Pope said. “I know there

Photos

By L auren Harper

EDUCATION CONNECTION: Senior Andrew Cleveland uses Facebook to communicate with world history teacher George Darden about cycling.

234 people

THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE

George Darden You’re not going to find pictures of me

for ethics violations.

Mazer believes a solution to such ethics problems lies in better teaching users how to use social media committed while using Facebook.

Do you have a Facebook account?

22 people

Are you friends with your teachers on Facebook?

57 people

184 people Is it appropriate to friend your teachers on Facebook?

45 people

FROM FACE TO FACEBOOK Mazer believes Facebook has affected the way teachers and students communicate in person.

“If you look back about a decade when we did not have social media, professors, at least at a college level, were visited in office hours faceto-face,” he said. “We relied on face-to-face communication. Now we rely more on computer-mediated communication, and as new technology develops I think there is an unfortunate decrease in the amount of face-to-face interaction.”

Plew believes these changes show no sign of slowing down.

“I’m not sure Facebook’s ever going to die, and that’s a discussion we have a lot,” Plew said. “Even though people complain every time Facebook changes, they still stick with it.”

Plew, Mazer and Hartzog believe that if Facebook were to be replaced, however, people would find the benefits of Facebook in another social networking entity.

“Even if Facebook goes away it will likely be replaced by something else that offers socialization,” Hartzog said. “Much like before Facebook came along, teachers and students will have to determine what the appropriate line is with regards to how much socializing occurs between that relationship.” p

76 people ?

123

people said it doesn’t matter

Has a teacher ever friend requested you?

43 people

201 people The Southerner survey of 256 students

School in Cyberspace

Facebook: ‘truth serum’ for students or convenient tool for classwork, assignments?

By Olivia Veira and Sammi Dean When John Grant goes to schools to talk to students and staff about Facebook, he begins with a single question: “Can anybody think of anything good that will happen when a student and teacher communicate over social media networks?”

Grant, chief investigator for the Georgia Professional Standards Commission Ethics Division, said he has never had a student or teacher answer that question.

Over the past eight years, Facebook has continued to grow, both in members and social prominence. According to the site, there are more than 800 million active users, and the average user has 130 friends. At Grady, Facebook is a method increasingly used by teachers to communicate with their students.

Some teachers use the website to send their students notifications on assignments, and it gives them easy access to their students after school.

Woodrow Hartzog, assistant professor at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, does not think the increasing use of Facebook is necessarily a good thing.

“There is greater pressure on both students and teachers to socialize,” Hartzog said. “But then of course, why not? It seems in a sense almost natural to take advantage of the social media opportunity, and just because the opportunity is there doesn’t mean it should be seized.”

Joseph Mazer, associate department chair in communication studies at Clemson University, said there can be benefits to using Facebook in a school environment.

“One of the major benefits [for] teachers and students who are friends on Facebook is that relationships or connections through Facebook help to foster, grow and develop teacher-student relationships,” Mazer said. “Students are able to learn a bit more about the teacher’s life, and teachers may be able to learn more about students’ lives.”

AN AMORAL TOOL Journalism teacher and debate coach Mario Herrera uses Facebook to contact debate team members. He said the website is potentially useful in the classroom and does not see harm in the tool. He believes it should be used with caution and that it is up to the users to vet the information they display.

“Facebook is amoral,” Herrera said. “It’s a tool. It’s a website. It’s what you do with that website that makes it good or bad.”

Although Herrera uses Facebook to reach out to the debate team, he uses a pseudonym to separate his personal Facebook from his professional one.

“I remember a teacher in [Barrow] County. She had a picture of herself drinking a [glass of wine] on vacation, nowhere near any of her students, and got fired,” Herrera said. “I’m not going to take that risk.”

The teacher Herrera mentioned, Ashley Payne, was given the choice between resignation or suspension when her principal saw photos of her with alcohol during a vacation on her Facebook page. Payne resigned, and is now suing the school district because she did not get a hearing.

AP world history teacher George Darden, who is friends with many of his current and former students, said he is not worried about being fired because of inappropriate content on Facebook or any other social networking website.

“If I was doing a lot of things out of school that I thought students shouldn’t know about, I would be worried,” Darden said.

“But I don’t. You’re not going to find pictures of me getting drunk or mooning passing cars because I don’t do any of that. In a broader sense, I think that it’s good for students to see that there’s more to me than the person they see in the classroom.”

Senior Andrew Cleveland has been Facebook friends with Darden since he took his class sophomore year.

“Since Mr. Darden and I are both cyclists, I’ve always enjoyed talking to him [on Facebook] about races, teams or hearing stories about his really intense crashes, “Cleveland said.

Melissa Plew, a doctorate student in philosophy at Georgia State, wrote her dissertation on Facebook friendships between college instructors and students.

“I think not only high school teachers, but anyone, needs to be careful about what they put on Facebook,” Plew said.

“I think teachers are often held to a higher standard because we do work with youth, but anyone should keep that in mind.”

Although the Professional Standards Commission does not men-

tion social networks or Internet use in its ethics code, Grant said people report ethics violations involving social media once or twice each month.

“Every inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher that we investigate starts out with some type of communication between the student and the teacher over some kind of electronic medium,” Grant said.

Administrative assistant David Propst agreed with Grant and said Facebook is not appropriate in the school environment. Propst said he does not use any type of social networking website because he feels it is unnecessary due to other sources of communication such as phones and email.

“You can’t cross that line in terms of professionalism,” Propst said.

“I’m the teacher. You’re the student. That’s it. You have to respect that.

You don’t cross that line.”

APS director of media Keith Bromery said Grady has not had any major Facebook scandals. Grant, however, said APS staff members have been reported

are teachers that do have contact with kids on Facebook. I don’t think there is anything insidious going on.”

Herrera would like to see Facebook incorporated into the classroom.

“I wish that APS would be progressive enough to find ways to use Facebook in the classroom,” Herrera said. “As a journalism teacher, I find it fascinating the kinds of things that students post. I get a lot of cool links from graduates.”

Although Grant disapproves of students and teachers being friends on Facebook, he takes a realistic view of the use of the website. He accepts that teachers and students will inevitably want to take advantage of Facebook but cautions students not to become overly friendly with their teachers. He also thinks incorporating Facebook into the learning environment on a strictly professional level will benefit the classroom.

“Should school systems start incorporating electronic media into the school’s curriculum or as a tool to educate kids? Well, sure they should,” Grant said. “But does it have to have some controls? Yes.” Grant hopes educators and students will not get much more comfortable with Facebook outside of school.

“There’s already too much interaction between teachers and students on Facebook,” Grant said. “It’s a slippery slope.”

Facebook allows sophomore Eliza Renner and Cramer to reconnect with old friends and teachers.

“I am friends with my fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Stiritz,” Renner said. “He was one of my favorite teachers, and I wanted to keep in touch.”

The College and Career Connections Center is one Grady program that has taken advantage of this new medium of communication. With 167 members as of Jan. 12, the CCC page serves as a forum to inform students of upcoming college visits and share colleges to which they have been admitted.

“The main goal [of the Facebook page] is to reach students we couldn’t reach otherwise,” CCC volunteer Sarah Bryant said.

Before the CCC created their Facebook page, the sole means of communication available were the Grady Gram, Knight Lights and sign boards in the hall and the room.

getting drunk, or mooning passing cars, because I don’t do any of that. ... I think that it’s good for students to see that there’s more to me than the person they see in the classroom.

February 3 at 3:15pm • Comment • Like

AN INTERESTING CONUNDRUM Herrera, social studies teacher Lee Pope and physics teacher Jeff Cramer all accept friend requests from students only after they graduate.

“When kids come up to me and ask if they can friend me I say ‘Sure... the day after you graduate,’” Pope said. “I’m more interested in seeing what they do in college than here. I see them everyday at school. I don’t need to talk to them when they go home.”

Darden, however, believes it is useful to be Facebook friends with students while they are in his class. He uses Facebook, Twitter and email, and provides that information to his students along with his cell phone number so they can contact him about classwork and assignments. Although he gives out his information, Darden said he would remove a student as a Facebook friend for inappropriate content.

“If things pop up in my news feed that students say that I really don’t want to know about, I usually [de]friend that student,” Darden said. “Teachers are morally, ethically and legally required to report things like child abuse, so if I ever saw something on Facebook like that, I would [report it], but that’s never happened.”

Both Herrera and Cramer agree with Darden’s policy of “defriending” students with inappropriate content. Herrera said he has seen inappropriate content on his news feed, from both the high school graduates on his personal Facebook account and the high school students on his pseudonym account.

“Sometimes Facebook is like a truth serum to some people,” Herrera said.

“I am shocked at what I see on students’ walls, and sometimes I can’t respond.

There are some things I just don’t want to know.”

Cramer has noticed some students tend to be recklessly public when using Facebook.

“It’s an interesting conundrum,” Cramer said. “It has tremendous advantages, but it also has some real dangers. I’m particularly concerned with people who post comments that they wouldn’t say to my face and they don’t even realize that those comments are coming straight to me.”

For Grady teachers, adding students as Facebook friends remains a personal decision. “[Whether teachers friend students] depends on what communication they need,” Abbott said. “I trust [teachers] to make responsible decisions.”

Pope also saw no inherent danger in the online friendships.

“I think it is an individual thing,” Pope said. “I know there

Photos

By L auren Harper

EDUCATION CONNECTION: Senior Andrew Cleveland uses Facebook to communicate with world history teacher George Darden about cycling.

234 people

THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE

George Darden You’re not going to find pictures of me

for ethics violations.

Mazer believes a solution to such ethics problems lies in better teaching users how to use social media committed while using Facebook.

Do you have a Facebook account?

22 people

Are you friends with your teachers on Facebook?

57 people

184 people Is it appropriate to friend your teachers on Facebook?

45 people

FROM FACE TO FACEBOOK Mazer believes Facebook has affected the way teachers and students communicate in person.

“If you look back about a decade when we did not have social media, professors, at least at a college level, were visited in office hours faceto-face,” he said. “We relied on face-to-face communication. Now we rely more on computer-mediated communication, and as new technology develops I think there is an unfortunate decrease in the amount of face-to-face interaction.”

Plew believes these changes show no sign of slowing down.

“I’m not sure Facebook’s ever going to die, and that’s a discussion we have a lot,” Plew said. “Even though people complain every time Facebook changes, they still stick with it.”

Plew, Mazer and Hartzog believe that if Facebook were to be replaced, however, people would find the benefits of Facebook in another social networking entity.

“Even if Facebook goes away it will likely be replaced by something else that offers socialization,” Hartzog said. “Much like before Facebook came along, teachers and students will have to determine what the appropriate line is with regards to how much socializing occurs between that relationship.” p

76 people ?

123

people said it doesn’t matter

Has a teacher ever friend requested you?

43 people

201 people The Southerner survey of 256 students

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Feb. 3, 2012

By Megan Prendergast As yellow feathers fluttered backstage and cast members frantically searched for missing props, the youth group at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta prepared for its 16th annual musical production.

This year’s performance, Guys and Dolls, a musical set in New York in the early 1940s, was performed by a number of youth members, 12 of them from Grady. With only minutes before the audience hushed and the lights dimmed, Youth Minister Allison Per-Lee gave her final words of advice.

“You know someone sitting in the audience tonight needs to be inspired,” Per-Lee said. “They need to see you acting, singing and dancing, and be enlightened. Bring joy to other people tonight.”

The story begins with a bet. Nathan Detroit (junior Luke Webster) bets gambler Sky Masterson (Luke’s brother and senior Jack Webster) that Masterson cannot convince the straight-laced Sarah Brown to join him on a date to Cuba.

Throughout the play, Masterson attempts to charm Sarah Brown, while Detroit avoids “the matrimonial clutches of his long suffering fiancée, Miss Adelaide.”

Beginning in early November, members of the youth group were assigned roles in the musical. Per-Lee and parent volunteer Gary Shell chose the cast based partially on talent and partially on seniority.

“Per-Lee has a close relationship with all of us,” junior Miller Lansing said. “She knows who will work hard and do well.”

At first, the practices were held twice a week, Wednesday after school for about 90 minutes and Sunday afternoon for about four hours. As the cast members began to get comfortable with their roles and the play itself, singing and dancing practice began.

“I participate in the plays because they’re really fun, and I like performing,” said sophomore Mallory Hazell, who played one of the “Hot Box” dancers. “They also raise a lot of money for our mission trips which is really good since I normally go on at least two each summer.”

As the weeks progressed, cast members began to split up during practice to focus on their specific parts.

“I think my favorite part was definitely being taught the dances,” said junior Katherine Avery, who also played one of the “Hot Box” dancers. “We’d go to the church’s dance studio room on the third floor and practice separately from the rest of the cast. I had a fun time and picked up the dances quickly.”

Even though the practices grew longer and more frequent as the opening night drew closer, the cast members found plea-

Steve McMillan

Local church draws student actors to winter musical

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: Sophomores Rebecca Martin, Mallory Hazell and junior Katherine Avery strike a pose during a collaborative dance number. sure in participating, said sophomore Rebecca Martin, who Throughout all of the performances, there were hiccups played another one of the “Hot Box” dancers. and road bumps.

“I see participating in it as one thing that I can do to help “The Velcro on my dress broke right as I walked onmy church and my community,” said junior Patrick Wise, stage,” Lansing said. who played Nicely Nicely Johnson.

Lansing, one of the 12 “Hot Box” dancers, lost the adhesion This year First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta raised on her gown. Unable to perform the first third of the dance, $10,000 in ticket sales, concessions and donations.

Lansing kept her arms glued to her side to prevent her gown “The play this year definitely drew a lot more people than from slipping down. When it was time to drop the gowns and previous years,” Jack Webster said. “It was really packed, and continue dancing in their leotards, Lansing was more than rethe good support was important.” lieved.

Although fun, the experience was not without its tense mo“I was so ready to drop the thing when it actually came ments. During the show, Avery said costumes were getting time to take it off,” Lansing said. “The good thing was that mixed up and misplaced. The chick costumes worn by the I didn’t spoil the surprise for the audience until it was time. I “Hot Box” dancers shed their feathers at every turn. just looked silly until then.”

Webster said the last two nights were full of tweaks, a term Despite the adjustments to the play and the few mishaps, actors and actresses use to describe small changes to parts of the audience got a laugh out of the play and enjoyed the perthe play to make it funnier. formance, Per-Lee said.

“On the Saturday night performance, I asked Linda to bring “I really like their plays because they are always a lot out carrots on stage for the restaurant scene,” Webster said. of fun,” junior Sophie Maschinot said. “Regardless of “Patrick and I both ended up forgetting our lines, so we just what play they are performing, you can tell the cast enjoys ate baby carrots on stage for awhile.” themselves as well as the audience." p

Alix Youngblood

A SPLASH OF COLOR: Art teacher John Brandhorst constructed this “color spot” above one of the water fountains on the E100 hall.

Color spots brighten hallways

By Alix Youngblood Grady students create a racially, socially and economically diverse wave of people as they bustle down the hallway, but the walls boast only one color: beige.

This year, the art department is taking the beautification of Grady’s campus to a new level. With the specific goal to bring about unity and school spirit through aesthetic identity, the art department— teachers and students alike—is creating “color spots.”

“These are attempts to reclaim the school as our own,” art teacher John Brandhorst said. “The building is an architectural document, and I think that Grady has an amount of sophistication and quirkiness that can be expressed this way. If all the world is a stage, all we have is this beige stage.”

The color spots are literally spots of color, which Brandhorst and the art students plan to use to decorate the walls. Various shades of reds, silvers and grays are soon to grace the

walls of Grady, with knight-themed accessories and flourishes.

Brandhorst said he is disappointed in the lack of school spirit on campus but is optimistic about the powers of visual persuasion.

“It’s the aesthetics about [Grady’s campus] that provide the unity,” he said.

Brandhorst hopes this movement will continue after he is gone.

“I want the next art teacher to have the freedom and obligation to continue,” he said. “This is the job of the art department to provide a visual and aesthetic voice.”

Outside of the art department, other teachers and students have gotten involved as well. The new band director Brian Cook plans to incorporate the school’s three longdead fight songs into the band’s regular rotation of tunes.

Senior Aja Blair, who is currently Ms. Grady, has begun attending Student Government Association meetings in order to further her involvement with the entire school.

“I know our student body,” Blair said. “I know we are holding back.”

Blair and her SGA cohorts have already broken into six committees, one specifically geared toward bettering the school courtyard. The senior class is planning to expand the senior patio, constructed last year, by adding stairs to the eroded and muddy slope leading to the patio.

The goal of the annual senior project is to allow departing seniors the chance to give back to Grady and to help contribute to its upkeep.

Brandhorst is also involved in the senior project. His focus for the school is to incorporate the students’ imagination into the physical aspect of the school, he said. Right now, he is concentrating on the color spots.

“There is a road to innovation that is curvy and fascinating,” Brandhorst said. “I want to keep that and, as much as possible, keep it student-driven. I want the students to feel ownership. Otherwise they’re walking through a beige bus stop.” p

Impressive cover band rocks and rolls the yacht

By Ollie Aberle-Grasse I walked into the Variety Playhouse to see Yacht Rock Revue Club play a cover gig. I had a feeling of optimism and the expectation of a decent cover band with marginal technical effects. To my surprise, I was quickly introduced to the deep musical talent of the band, and by the end of the show I was more than thoroughly impressed.

Forget the old songs being covered and the movies that played in the background for part of the show—I just wanted this band to play its interpretation and solos all night. And that they did.

The band played from 9 p.m. until 12:30 a.m.

The Yacht Rock Revue is a local cover band composed of various musicians from around the Atlanta area. Two of the members are local music instructors who have taught guitar to Grady students. When I saw this band on stage, that is what they look like: a group of middleclass males who have kept up their musical hobbies and made a career out of them. Despite their amateur appearance, they do not disappoint. In fact, the initial impression I got is only a taste of the admiration that I developed for the band by the end of the show.

They grew up in the rock-androll age and showed talent comparable to the rock ‘n’ roll champions people still cherish. The solos they played silenced the crowd, and the band devoted each solo to an instrument—a guitar, a drum set, a saxophone, a keyboard. Each one seemed better than the last. The saxophone solo during the Pink Floyd cover had an especially special, mellow magnificence.

The first part of the show comprised of a few hit songs from the Dazed and Confused movie. They then played songs from the album “Led Zeppelin IV,” accompanied by the animated movie The Hobbit in the background. The third part was a cover of Pink Floyd’s album “Dark Side of the Moon,” with the The Wizard of Oz movie playing in the background. They finished the night with an explosive cover from The Who, and although this piece was just the encore, it was so full of energy that it seemed to be a show of its own.

I appreciated these musicians because they are great at what they do, and I could tell that they enjoy it. They had as much fun on stage as their audience did, and that creates an exceptional show. Good vibes all around. p

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Feb. 3, 2012

13

Ten students given five minutes to tell tales of hate The storytelling project The Moth trains students to be better speakers

By Diana Powers The theater full of students was hushed, dark and expectant as junior Jalen Gregory broke the silence with a formative story from his childhood. He was accused of shoplifting, solely because of his race. Gregory was the first of 10 students to recite a story relating an experience of discrimination. The performances were sponsored by The Moth, a National Public Radio program, as part of a project with USA Network.

For over a year, the USA Network’s Characters Unite initiative has been working with The Moth and holding workshops in six high schools across the nation in order to spark dialogue about discrimination and intolerance.

The program was first presented to principal Vincent

Murray, who then handed the project over to history teacher Roderick Pope. Pope said he was enthusiastic about coordinating the project with journalism teacher Deedee Abbott.

Each participant submitted a story about a time they dealt with discrimination and how that experience altered him or her. Pope and Abbott announced the opportunity to their classes and after-school clubs.

The program coordinators selected juniors Lauren Alford, Josiah Garrett, Deborah Harris, Olivia Kleinman and Gregory and seniors Mallory Akard, Vivien Feria, Quameeha Grandoit and Caitlin Wade to participate.

The program coordinators helped the students craft their stories, shorten them to five minutes and learn how to speak in front of an audience.

“The whole week of writing our stories was an introspective experience,” Harris said. “I gained a lot of insight about myself.”

Garrett’s story centered on the difficulties he encountered moving from Virginia to Atlanta in the middle of his sopho-

more year.

“The audience was a lot more accepting than I thought it would be,” Garrett said. “I realized that there were people that seemed to connect with me during the story and even more who reached out to me afterwards. I realized that everyone has a story to tell and that a surprisingly large number of people want to hear it.”

Abbott and Pope said they were extremely proud of the students who shared their stories and said it took an immense amount of courage to share such vulnerable moments with such a large audience. Pope said that by telling their stories, they are spreading their strength to others who have suffered and that the impact on the student body was more powerful than he ever expected.

“The students I talked with afterwards who performed told me the whole experience meant a lot to them,” Abbott said. “This unique opportunity gave them the strength they lacked previously so they would never feel torn down again.” p

Shoppe slices way through Midtown

Simon McLane

HOLD THAT POSE: In the first-ever high school art competition at the High Museum, a participant competes in a 20-minute figure-drawing heat.

Students fom Greater Atlanta area schools traveled to partake in the five-hour inaugural event on Jan. 14, organized by Grady teachers and students.

High hosts inaugural competition

By Simon McLane Dozens of young artists are standing at easels, sitting on the floor with drawing boards and using the floor itself as a flat-top, waiting for the starting signal. The model gets into place, the clock is set for five minutes and then they begin drawing furiously as the first-ever official High School Art Throwdown begins.

The competition was held at the High Museum of Art on Jan. 14, and included students from Grady, North Atlanta, Riverwood and North Gwinnett high schools. The museum hosted five competitions including five-, 20- and 60-minute figure drawing, a 60-minute collaborative sculpture competition and a 60-minute still-life competition, each one scored by a panel of seven judges. Also included, but not judged, was a portfolio review: a themed collaborative performance and a judge’s critique of long-term work submitted by competitors.

Junior Charlie Denton, who competed in all three figure-drawing competitions spent a lot of time preparing for the event.

“It’s kind of like starting a day of school; you have to get up and get in the zone,” Denton said. “I get up, eat breakfast, try to remember what breakfast looked like and then draw it.”

Denton was also planning to compete in the collaborative sculpture competition but could not due to a conflicting start time with his 60-min-

ute figure-drawing.

“I decided to do all the figure drawings instead because Mr. B [Grady art teacher John Brandhost] said it would be like being Michael Phelps if we did all of the figure drawings,” Denton said.

“It is an endurance thing.”

This art competition was the first of its kind at the high school level. One of the many first-time competitors was North Atlanta sophomore Charlotte McCauley, who competed in the fiveminute figure drawing.

“During the competition I think about the light and shadows of the model,” McCauley said. “I try not to think about unrelated stuff.”

McCauley also submitted a self-portrait in the long-term works section.

“I spent about three weeks on my longterm piece,” McCauley said. “I sat down and thought about my influence and talked to my teachers. The completion was inspiring, being able to see other artists’ works.”

While the competition was a first for many, Chris Appleton, competition judge and the founder of the nonprofit arts organization WonderRoot, has done this before.

“I have been a judge for several other art competitions before,” Appleton said.

“They have been at various levels, some at a professional level, some at the college level, but never for high schools.”

Appleton said while the competition was enjoyable, he would have liked to see more events in which artists could compete against one another.

“I think it would be really interesting to incorporate photography and a creative-writing competition into the event,” Appleton said.

Appleton was not the only one who thought that more could be added for the next competition.

“I would like to see pyrotechnics added,” said competition judge Pabin Williams. “I would like to see a lot more of a theatrical element added. I want to be entertained.”

Williams also thought there should be more consistency in the competitions.

“Things like drawing tools and paper size should be the same for all competitors,” Williams said. “That way things like scale won’t be a factor upon the artist who is creating the piece, like they did today.”

Overall, Williams said he was pleased with the outcome of the event.

“I get my juice from young people,” Williams said. “It is great to see a whole group of young people continuing the legacy of contemporary arts. Contemporary art is missing skill today, and it makes me happy to see it here.”

Each competition had four winners.

Grady junior Sofia Economou won first place for the five-, 20-, and 60-minute figure drawing competitions. Grady also scored the second and third place honors in the collaborative sculpture competition but fell short for the most awards won. North Gwinnett High School earned that distinction, winning 12 of the possible 20 awards. p

By Taylor Allen The scent of freshly sliced meat lingers as customers walk under the black-and-white checkered awning into the store. To the left is a wall of wines and a refrigerator filled with prepared meals, cake, ice cream and cheese. To the right, a variety of meat is visible through a glass display, accompanied by the smiling faces of employees.

About a year ago, Greg Wheat and his wife visited a franchise of the New York Butcher Shoppe in Sandy Springs.

Today, they own their own New York Butcher Shoppe in Midtown with Wheat’s brother-in-law Rick Wolfe.

“My wife and I were looking to start a business in the neighborhood,” Wheat said. “We thought [the New York Butcher Shoppe] was a cute shop and exactly what the neighborhood needed.”

There are 11 locations of the meat shop throughout Georgia and South Carolina, making the Shoppe across from Grady the 12th in the Southeast.

“The store reminds me of an authentic deli that makes sandwiches and has good meats,” said firsttime customer Brad Coolidge.

Wheat has found business to be successful so far and said he knows his customers “won’t be disappointed.”

“It’s fabulous,” Wheat said. “The holidays have been really good to us.”

The New York Butcher Shoppe offers an array of products that are all prepared in-house.

“I enjoy making the Italian sausage, Wisconsin Bratwurst and Kielbasa. I also freshly grind the hamburger meat daily,” said employee Rob Wheat, who moved from Tampa to help his brother Greg.

Greg Wheat said their most popular item is their steaks, which are a higher quality meat than grocery stores carry.

The New York Butcher Shoppe’s second most popular items are the prepared meals. Rob Wheat has had lots of students come in after school to grab a prepared meal for their families, he said.

“I would definitely go here on my way home to pick up a meal for dinner,” said junior Nia Tippet, as she studied the variety of meals in the refrigerator. “Everything here looks so fresh. If only I were going straight home today.”

The Wheat brothers are looking forward to getting involved with the community. Currently, no promotional discounts for Grady students are being offered, but Greg Wheat said he is interested in providing discounts.

“We also want to have a hamburger and hotdog cart at Grady football games,” Wheat said. “Some of the sales could be given back to the Grady Athletic Booster Club.”

Midtown’s New York Butcher Shoppe looks forward to the summertime and events in the park, which the brothers think will positively impact their business.

With big hopes for the future, Greg Wheat admits the hardest thing about opening the shop was feeling out the neighborhood.

“We can’t carry everything,” Wheat said. “We’ve had to figure out what the demand is and what the community is looking for.”

The Wheat brothers said they are confident their success will continue.

“The feedback has been unbelievable,” Greg Wheat said. “People are excited we’re here, and we’re excited to be here.” p

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Feb. 3, 2012

Ghost hunt maddening, exorcises damn patience

Will Staples

BRUSHING UP ON ART: Grady’s art club meets every Thursday in the art room, allowing students to develop their talents together.

New art club attracts attention

By Will Staples A new, student-run art club has emerged to provide an outlet for extracurricular drawing and painting.

Spearheaded by juniors Danillo Kisser and David Spearman, the group of students experiment with a variety of media and visit artistic hot spots off campus.

“We felt Grady’s art community was too spread apart,” Kisser said.

“Most people interested in visual arts did not know each other, so we created an environment where they could get together.”

They took their idea to senior Lamar Benefield, who they asked to help lead the operation.

The club was created as a haven for artists who need to bounce their ideas off of people, who wish to learn more about the craft, those who want to improve .

“The purpose of Art Club is

to connect the artists of Grady through this one group and collaborate with each other as well as share and teach other styles and techniques that none of us would have possibly fathomed separately,” Benefield said.

The club is advertised as a way to further students’ skills in the artistic fields and to encourage participation in various projects and activities.

A usual crowd gathers at every meeting. The group consists of both dedicated members and occasional visitors.

“Meetings are usually lively, with at least 15 people attending on average,” Benefield said.

“It can get chaotic, but that’s really the point and what makes Art Club fun.”

Art teacher John Brandhorst and student teachers Mattie

Matakis and Zach Demoff run the meetings. There is no official teacher sponsor, however. Meetings consist of individual work, group projects and information about current art attractions.

“We usually plan activities such as three-minute figure drawing, character creation and a free draw period,” Spearman said.

“The art club isn’t just for those who draw, paint or sculpt,” Kisser said. “It also features opportunities for musicians.”

The musical aspect of the club is the brainchild of Spearman and junior violinist Charlie Denton.

“I wish I could stay and see it grow for at least another year, but my time to depart from this school is nearing,” Benefield said.

“Even though I graduate this year, I still plan on helping the club out as much as I can.” p

When I walked into the entrance area at Rhodes Hall, I looked around and realized the Phillip Suitts night might not pan out exactly as I expected. I had given up a Friday night with friends to cover an event first described as an “exorcism” and then as a “ghost hunt.”

I was not expecting a celebrity meet and greet.

Behind me, a line stretching across two rooms led to two tables.

Pictures were being snapped and autographs signed.

The only problem was I didn’t recognize these celebrities. These were “ghost hunter” celebrities, and I was feeling severely underprepared. I started frantically texting my brother and some of my friends, asking them to google “Ghost Hunters” and provide me with some information.

Luckily, before I had to interview the “celebrities,” I was given free access to the upstairs rooms. As I moved from room to room snapping pictures I realized I was alone.

I began to feel a little apprehensive.

And then as I walked into a room and took a picture, something weird happened. The camera malfunctioned and took the picture a full 10 to 15 seconds later.

On top of that the picture didn’t come out right. Light was scattered, blurring the object that was supposed to be in focus. I quickly took another photo, which came out fine, calming my nerves.

That turned out to be the scariest part of the night, not the most interesting.

As the night dragged on and on and on, I began to wonder if these people truly believed in ghosts and psychics, especially when I overheard comments like, “So do you have any psychic abilities?” and saw people with their own equipment for the “ghost hunt.”

Of course, not everyone ardently believed in the supernatural. There was a couple that seemed to treat the event as a joke, and I met one woman who told me “at least I’ll have a story to tell.”

Sadly, I don’t have many stories.

The “ghost hunt,” which I had looked forward to, was a letdown.

As we crowded into a room downstairs, I saw everyone else migrating toward a machine that suddenly lit up. Apparently, this meant a “ghost” was in the room. Just as I was beginning to wonder if this could get any weirder, it did.

Someone took out a radio that was moving in between stations and told us that whenever we asked a question to the “ghost,” it would answer through the radio. Someone shouted out, “What’s your name?”

Thirty seconds later, as the radio was switching stations, someone said, “I just heard Anna. The girl’s name is Anna.”

To my surprise, everyone agreed.

Never mind that numerous words were said, in numerous other voices, before that person supposedly heard the world “Anna.” I had had enough. There was nary a scare nor a hint of ghosts, so I decided it was time to go home and get some sleep.

Reflecting on the event the next day I realized it wasn’t a total waste. I did get to see how the other half, the paranormal half, lives. But that doesn’t mean I want to live like them. p

Hinton wraps up Tortillas-style burritos with a personal twist

Gracie White

By Gracie White Any city worth its margarita salt has its signature burrito restaurant, that place locals love and tourists don’t know exists. In Atlanta, for many restaurant-goers, that place used to be Tortillas. Matt Hinton hopes to create a Tortillas-esque restaurant with the opening of his place, Bell Street Burritos.

“I ate [at Tortillas] practically every day, sometimes twice a day for over 10 years,” said Fred Schuster, Inman Middle School parent.

As popular as the burrito joint was, it closed in 2003 after being in business for 20 years. Tortillas regular and aspiring entrepreneur, Hinton said the craving for a Tortillas burrito was so unbearable that he decided to take the matter into his own hands.

Hinton was a professor of religion at both Morehouse and Spelman colleges.

When the economy started to collapse, he wasn’t able to instruct the classes he had been hoping to teach. He also realized he needed to make more money to support his family.

Hinton decided to sell Tortillas-style burritos to his friends on the side to make some extra cash.

The day Tortillas closed, the restaurant released its recipes for the items on their menu. Hinton realized they were incomplete and saw many holes and gaps in the recipes he needed to fill.

Hinton said he attempted to hunt down

OLD TO NEW: Owner Matt Hinton opened a second location of Bell Street Burritos and altered original recipes. every missing ingredient but then decided to just add his own personal flair instead. The burritos he made still contained the essence of Tortillas but not the identical ingredients.

Selling burritos, however, was the kind of job that required a huge time commitment. Hinton realized he would have to completely commit to this new business or give it up.

“I knew it was illegal [to sell burritos without a permit],” Hinton said. “I did it anyway, but a little after I’d started, a food critic got a hold of my story, which made it difficult to work under the radar.”

Hinton said he then had two options: either close up shop or get legal. He chose burritos over books. He stopped instructing altogether so he could spend more time at his new restaurant, Bell Street Burritos.

“The hardest part about opening the restaurant was the time commitment,” Hinton said. “I averaged about 18 hours a day overseeing the beginning months of construction.”

The hard work paid off. Bell Street Burritos received an enthusiastic response from its customers. One month after opening, the Howell Mill location had attracted a group

of regulars, including Schuster, who has visited it at least a dozen times already.

“It’s almost like Tortillas risen from the dead,” Schuster said. “The food is just great; it’s fresh, unique, and tasty and really cheap.”

Even though Bell Street Burritos has many distinguishing features that separate it from Totrtillas—including cleaner bathrooms in Schuster’s opinion—and an expanded menu, the restaurant drew the attention of former Tortillas regulars along with families and teenagers who were looking for a new, laid-back and local burrito restaurant.

Bell Street Burritos has caught the eyes of many families looking for a kid-friendly place to eat, which is exactly the type of restaurant Hinton said he wanted to create.

“It’s not a run-of-the-mill burrito place,” junior Sophie Maschinot said. “It has a down-to-earth feel to it. It was really homey. The employees were all very friendly and made you feel comfortable.”

Hinton also acknowledges that working isn’t the only priority in his employees’ lives, giving his workers Sundays off.

“Everyone needs a break sometime in the week. I don’t want to make my employees choose between church and work if they are religious,” Hinton said. “I know we’d make a bigger profit if everyone worked on Sundays, but there’s more to life than money, and I think that’s important to understand.” p

people

Feb.3, 2011

old snapshots by Michelle Hollberg

Victoria’s ninth birthday

15 Victoria in 2012

with brother Stephen

Jolie Jones

(Above) Victoria at age 9, in her Atlanta home two years after adoption.

(Right) Victoria age 17, at school

VICTORIOUS

Despite childhood obstacles as an orphan in Ukraine, junior triumphs

By Jolie Jones A little girl looked through the crack of a door and saw her mom injecting a small needle into her dad’s arm.

Victoria Selene Dragstedt was born in Novoasosk, Ukraine, to parents suffering from alcohol and substance abuse. From ages 5 to 7 years old she lived in an orphanage. When she was 7, an Atlanta couple adopted her and her younger brother Stephen.

Looking at the Grady junior today, you see no trace of the Ukrainian orphan she was just a decade ago. The challenges she survived still influence her personality and her outlook on life. She’s more comfortable keeping to herself, especially when she’s around a large group of people. She’d rather blend in than speak out.

This reticence doesn’t define her.

It’s a part of her. She’s multifaceted; some know her as a loud free spirit, while others see a quiet girl with a sweet smile. When asked about life growing up in Ukraine, Victoria describes it as a dream because she can only remember bits and pieces of her time there.

LIFE IN UKRAINE She lived in a house with her grandparents, her parents and three brothers. Her two older brothers remain a hazy memory; she can’t recall their names but remembers one of them having a learning disability.

“Our house was really empty,” Victoria said. “There was no furniture except I remember my grandfather had a really big bed.”

When she was 5 years old she suffered pneumonia and was hospitalized for two months. A few weeks later her grandmother told Victoria that she and two of her

brothers were going to the hospital. Victoria, Stephen and one of her older brothers were taken to an orphanage instead. “[Stephen and I] kept switching rooms, and I thought it was different orphanages,” Victoria said.

Her brother Stephen would lie in a crib for most of the day while Dragstedt befriended a 5-year-old boy who was her roommate.

“My mom came back and told me she was only taking our mentally challenged brother back home with her,” Victoria said. “I didn’t know what was happening.”

At age 7, she was transferred away from her brother into a different house where she lived with kids her age. Dragstedt described the orphanage as having rows of beds where both boys and girls slept in the same room. The orphans had lessons three to four times a week where they learned to read and write.

The children used their fingers instead of toothbrushes to clean their teeth. Daily hygiene consisted of standing in a silver basin and washing with a bar of soap and a sponge.

Everyone’s clothes were washed together and thrown into a pile from which they would choose their outfits for the week.

Kitchen duty was a chore shared between the orphans. Three or four children took turns each day wearing an apron and handing out plates, napkins and silverware to the other 50 children.

THE ADOPTION PROCESS Halfway across the globe, Lester Dragstedt and Michelle Hollberg were interested in adopting after being told they couldn’t conceive children of their own. The couple first tried domestic adoption but soon grew frustrated.

“We went through the whole process to be foster parents,” Hollberg said. “We had to go to 10-week parenting classes.

Things weren’t moving along.”

After exploring international adoption in several countries like China, the couple grew frustrated with their lack of involvement in the adoption process.

TRIP TO UKRAINE Their experience in Ukraine was different. After completing the necessary documentation, the couple flew to Ukraine, and were quickly interviewed by a government official.

A translator helped them communicate. From rows and rows of filing cabinets, the orphanage director soon began pulling children’s adoption profiles, which consisted of a description and a picture about the size of a thumbnail.

“We waited in a long line then went into a room and they showed us a picture of [Victoria and Stephen],” Dragstedt said. “We said, ‘Those are our kids.’”

Dragstedt and Hollberg had originally wanted a 5-year-old girl, but they fell in love with 7-year-old Victoria and her little brother.

Immediately after their meeting, they traveled to Mariupol, where the sibling’s orphanage was located. The couple noted cold weather and a low standard of living in the small city.

“You can tell that people are making do on a lot less money,” Dragstedt said. “Everyone lives in government-made apartments. The elevators were all broken, and there was no heat or lights in the halls. We had to climb six flights of stairs to get into a cold apartment.”

Meanwhile, the siblings were introduced to multiple couples in-

terested in adopting them. Due to Stephen’s illness, the pair saw many couples reject them.

Hollberg and Dragstedt later arrived at the orphanage only to hear the orphanage director say they could not see Victoria. She claimed Victoria had suffered too much heartbreak from other prospective parents. After the couple’s persistence, the director allowed Victoria to meet them but refrained from mentioning anything about adoption.

When they saw Victoria, Dragstedt said she was extremely skinny and looked like a 5-year-old had cut her hair. Her clothes were five sizes too big, and she had a giant bow, nearly the size of her head, in her hair.

“She was grinning and smiling,” Dragstedt said. “She knew what was going on. She was flirty trying to get our attention but also shy.”

Stephen was small and malnourished; he was two-and-half years old but wearing clothes sized to fit a 12-month-old. Stephen suffered from ear infections and pneumonia as well as malnourishment.

HOME AT LAST “After we adopted him, I sat for the first two weeks and all I did was feed him,” Hollberg said.

Victoria had been raised with her birth family and knew more about the family experience. Stephen was only 6 months old when he had been institutionalized.

In the orphanage they would put all the younger kids on a potty schedule: toddlers spent 15 minutes out of every hour sitting on a toilet.

After Stephen was adopted he had to be re-potty trained. At the age of 12 he still rocks himself to

sleep every night.

Hollberg and Dragstedt, who divorced in 2004, are unaware of any information involving Victoria and Stephen’s biological parents and their past life with them. All they know is what Victoria remembers.

“In Ukraine they do not think there is a benefit to having any knowledge of their biological parents,” Hollberg said.

Victoria credits Dragstedt and Hollberg with saving her life and that of her brother. They currently have a better life then they ever could have hoped for, Lester Dragstedt said.

ADJUSTING TO AMERICA Within four months Victoria was speaking English. Despite learning the language, she did not always find it easy to communicate.

“The hard part was when she felt sad or confused,” Dragstedt said. “She couldn’t describe how she was feeling.”

Victoria quickly adjusted into the American world and a stable home, and now says being adopted is just a layer of her and not who she is.

Her close friends, junior McKenzie Taylor agrees adoption isn’t what defines Victoria.

“I don’t know who she was in Ukraine, but I think who she really is has come from living in America,” Taylor said. “She’s a very caring and mature person.

You really have to get to know her for her to open up to you.”

Despite her unusual circumstances Hollberg and Dragstedt have always felt they were a regular family.

“Six months into school, one of her friends asked her if I was her real dad or her adopted dad,” Dragstedt said. “Victoria said, ‘it’s my adopted dad and my real dad.’” p

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Feb. 3, 2012

Two students awarded ‘20 Under 20’ for giving back

By Alix Youngblood Some families shop during the holidays.

Others ice skate, sing carols or design complex light displays. Senior Eve Brown had a different prerogative in mind. Brown was at home in the kitchen cooking meals for the needy. For many years, Brown and her family have volunteered for the Meals on Wheels program, an association dedicated to providing nutritious meals for underprivileged senior citizens.

Brown is also a dedicated member of Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for families in need. Though initially she was just asked to volunteer, by the end of her first year as a volunteer, she had re-

cruited numerous other students to assist with the project and was asked to lead the program the following year.

Another generous student, Preston “Stone” Person, may only be a freshman, but his dedication to community service is apparent. Like Brown, he has been active in Habitat for Humanity. He is most passionate, however, about helping at the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta and tutoring students at Intown Academy.

Both Persons and Brown have now gained recognition for their hard work. For the past four years, Atlanta INtown Paper has annually selected a group of 20 students under the age of 20 who have gone above and beyond to give

back to the community.

“Many students are awarded for athletics and academics,” Atlanta INtown media publisher Wendy Binns said. “We’re putting a twist on that and drawing attention to community service.”

This year, Atlanta INtown Paper selected Brown and Persons. The two represented Grady in its January issue.

Brown is proud of her work and has reaped a few benefits of her own from her efforts.

“I know it sounds cliché, but feeling that you’re doing something that doesn’t just help yourself is so satisfying,” Brown said.

Brown’s surprise at being recognized is exactly why Binns finds the article to be important

to the paper.

“It is our small way to validate all of the effort these students make with their hundreds of hours of service,” Binns said. “We want to say that we notice what they’re doing. In many cases, it has encouraged students to take on more projects.”

Brown looks forward to hosting more Habitat for Humanity projects in the future.

“I’m continuing to fund-raise,” Brown said.

“I’m also looking for people to recruit for next year. It’s a harder job then I’d like it to be. I’m hopeful that people will be as ambitious and excited about volunteer work as they are about their other hobbies.” p

STUDENTS suppress conservative viewpoint

Lauren Scott

continued from front page

THE MUSIC MAN: Senior James Taylor strokes the keys of the chorus room piano. Taylor has played piano since he was 9 years old.

Senior pursues pile of passions

By Lauren Scott Senior James Taylor III is adamant about a few things: one, not being mistaken for the other James Taylor; two: having a single room in his home containing nothing more than a Steinway piano; and three, that the roman numerals at the end of his name not be forgotten.

Taylor is the third of three James Taylors in the family and is well acquainted with being compared to the “Carolina in my Mind” singer.

“If I had a half of a penny for every time someone referenced me to ‘the’ James Taylor, I’d be a millionaire,” Taylor said. “The jokes were funny when I was a youngster, but they get old after a while.”

Taylor and the singer do have two major qualitites in common: a enthusiastic passion for music as an art and an uncanny ability to create it.

The singer-songwriter, who picked up the piano at age 9, said music has been passed down in his family for generations.

“My family is ... musical,” Taylor said. “They tell me that my great grandfather loved music, {and} wrote songs. He didn’t want it to stop with him. He prayed that he would have musical children and grandchildren... I’d say his wish was granted.”

Both of his grandfathers played piano and composed songs. They had an innate knowledge and aptitude for music. Taylor feels he inherited a little bit of that talent.

“He’s very talented,” said Amber Eldridge, Taylor’s close friend.

“I have never met anyone with such a natural talent for music.”

A frequent churchgoer raised in a religious household, Taylor traces his interest in and talent for music back to his roots in gospel.

“That’s my bread and butter,” Taylor said. “It’s the style of music I’ve grown up under.”

He said he appreciates the genre’s ability to create so many “styles within the style” and its ability to reach the hearts and souls of people of different ages and walks of life. He also has a genuine appreciation for R&B music.

Surprisingly, Taylor admits that he prefers to play his own tunes rather than listening to those of others­­­­­—he doesn’t even have a favorite artist in particular.

Aside from music, he has several other passions he would like to pursue in the future. He often links music to biology, which reflects his interest in science.

He has considered careers in medicine, meteorology (his father’s suggestion) and more recently criminal justice and busi-

ness, as he is intrigued by the idea of being a lawyer.

Despite having a plethora of interests, at the end of the day music is still his ideal day job, Taylor said.

“Music is a great portion of my life,” Taylor said. “It’s definitely in my plans to continue my pursuit of [it] as a professional career; however, I want to pursue [other interests] as well. In essence, if music was my 9 to 5, I’d be good with that.”

Taylor will attend Georgia State University in the fall to continue his study of music and science. His father teaches at the college. He says he is both “comfortable and familiar” with the campus, and is eager to begin taking classes there.

In addition to being known as the “music man” of the senior class, another facet of Taylor’s personality makes him just as noteworthy: his wisdom.

“James is wise beyond his years,” Eldridge said. “He’s my go-to for advice. I can talk to him about anything.”

He also prides himself on his ability to give advice to his friends.

“It’s effortless for him,” Cantrell said. “He always knows exactly what to say at exactly the right time.” p

values that align with those of the Democratic Party.

“Who is going to appreciate the Midtown community?” Giles said.

“It’s going to be someone who wants a closer-knit community, who is going to self-select into the higher taxes in the city.”

Junior Luke Webster said his parents are Republicans. While he doesn’t have strong political views himself, he feels living in Midtown has influenced his perspective. His father, John Webster, grew up in Meridian, Miss., while his mother, Julie Webster, grew up in Longview, Texas. Webster said Midtown is far more diverse than the smaller, more homogeneous towns where his parents were raised.

Kyle Constable, a senior at Lee County High School in south Georgia, population 28,000, said about 70 percent of his classmates lean Republican. According to the 2010 census, Lee County is 77 percent white and 18.6 percent AfricanAmerican. Fulton County, where Grady is located, is home to more than 900,000 people, 44 percent of them African-American and 44.5 percent of them white.

“At Lee County, it would be difficult for me to say anything other than, ‘It’s tough to be a liberal,’” said Constable, founder of Lee County High School Young Republicans.

Lee County senior Brian Seo heads the LCHS Young Democrats and acknowledged his political views render him a part of a tiny minority.

“Teachers are for the most part very conservative and tend to stay away from Democrats and our organization,” Seo said.

Seo and Constable said that despite occasional antipathy towards liberals, they have seen no instances of outright hostility towards Lee County Democrats.

Sommerville feels that her Virginia-Highland neighborhood is politically mixed. During the 2008 election, however, her parents’ McCainPalin sign was burned in their front yard.

Sophomore Rebecca Martin, who identifies herself as a socially liberal Republican, said she felt uncomfortable during some class discussions

about politics.

“Most of the time I don’t [contribute],” Martin said. “I usually don’t put myself out there because I know I’m the only Republican in the room.”

Sommerville said she had noticed a trend among Democrats of intolerance toward conservative political viewpoints. “[Some Democrats] talk about being open-minded, but then shut other people down when they’re trying to defend their views,” Sommerville said. “People take it personally when I disagree with them.”

Literature and AP Government teacher James Campbell said he is one of the few conservative faculty members, which has sometimes led to uncomfortable moments.

“There’ve been times when I was having a conversation with one person, and it kind of ended with three or four people debating against me,” Campbell said.

Some conservatives at Grady expressed concern that their underrepresentation limits opportunities to expose students to varying political ideologies.

“Especially in a government class, I’m trying to get people to discuss ideas, and it’s hard when people only discuss one side,” Campbell said.

Alumnus Tyler Olson, currently a freshman at Georgia Tech, considers himself fiscally conservative but socially liberal. While at Grady, he noticed that many students were poorly informed, yet didn’t shy away from loudly voicing their opinions.

“Most Grady students think they know a lot,” Olson said.

“Sometimes they think so highly of themselves that they close their eyes while lecturing their [perceived] inferiors.” p

Students’ Political Stance of 135 students surveyed

63% Democrat

Feb. 3, 2012

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Thomas Cox

Watching women try to play sports is funny, right? Not to me. Men are better at sports than women in all cases, right? Not in my opinion. Men should get paid more for sports careers, shouldn’t they? Absolutely not.

As a female athlete, I can recall many times when a male has made a sarcastic comment toward me Lauren Harper about how pointless women’s sports are. They have ranged from “Why are you watching women’s soccer?” to “Women suck at sports. Why waste your time?” To all the naysayers out there, here’s why.

I “waste my time” because I care. Just like all of you macho men, I get a thrill, a distinct high, when I am on the field. I love the feeling of success. I love being committed to something. Just like most athletes, both male and female, I always strive to be better.

Let’s look back on the last few World Cups. The U.S. men’s team has not placed in the top three since 1930. 1930, everyone. The women are a lot more impressive, to say the least. They won the World Cup title in both 1991 and 1999. They were runners-up in 2011 and placed third in 1995, 2003 and 2007. I don’t believe I need to make any more comparisons.

Despite the consistent success of the U.S. women’s soccer team, the men still get all the fame, all the attention. Landon Donovan jerseys will continue to be yanked off shelves while Hope Solo’s collect dust, and the MLS will continue to get more views than the Women’s Professional Soccer League.

In fact, most of the athletes from the 2011 women’s World Cup will be forgotten in the next few years. Of course, everyone will remember Hope Solo and Abby Wambach. But what about Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe? They deserve just as much credit. They scored the goals that propelled the team to the finals.

Even my high school produces similar statistics and receives the same results. In the past three years I have been playing on the varsity soccer team, the boys team has always had a losing record. The girls have not.

Our top scorer racked up 21 goals her freshman year. The boys’ top three scorers didn’t produce that many goals in two seasons, let alone during their freshman year.

After all our hard work and dedication, we still look up at the stands and see people arrive at the end of the girls varsity soccer games, preparing to see the boys play. Why is that? Why don’t we command the same respect? Sure, we are slower than boys. That’s scientific fact. Sure, our footwork may not match up to the professionals. Who cares? We should be getting the same support from our classmates and community as the boys do.

People can laugh all they want about the idea of women’s sports being serious. They should just know that, after the results of both the next men’s and women’s Federation Internationale de Football Association World Cups, I will be laughing right back at them. p

Thomas Cox

It’s no coincidence: Women, not Men, starts off with a ‘W’

Six Knights sign for colleges, move to the next stage On the morning of Feb. 1, Grabaseball player Mendez Elder EXCLUSIVELY @ theSoutherneronline.com dy hosted a National Signing Day (Savannah State) principal Gym hosts National Signing Day ceremony ceremony for football players.

Vincent Murray, Quintavious For in-depth coverage of Grady’s collegeDorian Greene, a punter and Knight (Georgia Military Colbound Knights, please visit our website. kicker, (top photo) was among lege), Millen, John Law (Appaplayers who signed a letter of intent to play football lachian State University), and Kieno Jones (University of next year. Greene signed to Morehouse College. His Richmond), gathered for a group picture. parents and coach Ronnie Millen (standing) look on.

Jones and Law committed to their respective schools At the end of the ceremony (bottom photo) assistant on 11 Alive two days before the ceremony. principal David Propst, assistant principal Rodney HowDespite a disappointing end to their high school caard, Greene, Aaron Cooper (Lincoln University), Grady reers, these seniors will play football in college.

GHSA separate Class A playoffs; secession avoided Public schools receive their wish; starting next fall, Class A to crown separate public, private champions

By Nally Kinnane At the start of the 2012-2013 school year, sports rivalries between public and private schools in Georgia will come to an end in Class A. The Georgia High School Association, a committee that oversees all athletics in Georgia, voted on Jan. 10 to hold separate playoffs and championships for public and private schools in Class A for all sports. The plan will divide the 32 playoff spots in Class A into two groups—16 for public schools and 16 for private schools.

The plan, which was first introduced by Charlton County athletic director Jesse Crews, passed by a vote of 36-12.

Crews believes the imbalance between public and private schools stems from private schools’ ability to pull students from a wider area than public school districts as well as the superior facilities and opportunities that private schools often provide.

Prior to the vote, public schools in Class A were discussing pulling out of GHSA and forming their own organization called the Georgia Public Schools Association. Crews said the idea to form GPSA originated because public schools in the classification believed there was a competitive imbalance between public and private schools in their

classification and wanted to level the playing field.

Albert “Pat” Blenke, a Georgia Department of Education administrator who serves on the GHSA executive committee, voted in favor of the plan because he hoped the change would convince the public schools not to secede from GHSA. “I voted for it because there were several schools, as many as 30 or 40 public high schools, that were indicating that they would leave GHSA,” Blenke said. “My deal for this vote was to at least be able to offer them an option so they could stay with GHSA. I wanted to keep the organization intact. I didn’t want schools leaving because that wouldn’t help anybody.”

Public school athletic directors in Class A have been meeting in Wilcox County since last January to discuss ideas about splitting the classification for playoffs. Crews said a committee was set up with public and private school officials and state legislators. Their original plan was to create separate playoffs for only four sports—baseball, tennis, softball and golf. When this proposal was voted upon by the committee, which consists of 50 people from the reclassification committee and two representatives from each classification, it passed by one vote. A few days later, however, the plan was reconsidered and the committee recanted the vote.

In December 2011, the director considered a new plan. “We met again in Wilcox County, and from that meeting came a separate idea: we would form our own Georgia Public Schools Association,” Crews said. “I didn’t want to do that, but I was prepared to pull out if no action was taken.”

When the plan to divide all sports in Class A was presented

to GHSA, there was some hesitation, but something needed to be done, Blenke said.

“It had gotten to the point where we had to offer a solution or the possibility of x number of schools leaving could come,” Blenke said. “If people started leaving, that would have opened the flood gates for other schools.”

Crews laments the gap between public and private schools.

“What happens is private schools can pull kids from the whole county, and anyone can go there, whereas a public school has a zone area that they are limited to,” Crews said. “They aren’t doing anything illegal; it’s just something they can do that public schools can’t.”

While Crews understands that playing higher quality teams can improve a team, he feels as if there were no disadvantages to making the divide. Crews thinks the playing field is now level because schools with comparable facilities and coaches will only be playing each other.

Blenke said there are always unintended consequences, but right now he is not sure what they will be.

Some members of the GHSA executive board have expressed concern that the divide between public and private schools will expand to all classifications in Georgia. Blenke does not, however, think it is likely that other classifications will follow the same path.

“The main reason Class A split is because there is a 50-50 split between public and private [schools],” Blenke said. “As you go up in the classifications, you see fewer private schools and more public schools.” p

18

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Feb. 3, 2012

Knights knock on wood; superstitions assist athletes

By Joe Lavine at a Grady game a couple years From the Curse of Bambino to the ago during warm-ups. His ankles Sports Illustrated Jinx, sports have al- were stiff, so he shook them back ways been steeped in superstition.

Michael Jordan always wore JUNIOR CHRISTOPHER CARSON (swimming, his sky-blue University of North Ultimate Frisbee) “I eat two waffles and listen Carolina shorts under his Chicago to the song ‘Big Dreams’ by The Game.”

Bulls uniform. Former hockey legend Wayne Gretzky put baby powder on the blade of his stick and forth to make them more before every game. Gretzky said it limber. Williams said it probably was a matter of taking care of what did not do anything physical to takes care of him. Basketball play- help him, but he played well er Jason Terry sleeps in the other in the game and decided team’s official shorts the night be- it would be a helpful fore a game. routine.

Former baseball pitcher Turk “It’s probably just a Wendell was so superstitious, he mental thing, but I became more known for his ec- feel more flat-footcentricities than SENIOR LANCE BENNETT (Football) “I don’t his fastball. wear a mouthpiece, I just chew gum during Deemed by games.”

Men’s Fitness magazine to be the most superstitious athlete ed if I don’t do it,” of all time, Wendell was known he said. to chew licorice while pitching Whether it’s fútand then brush his teeth between bol or football, suinnings. perstitions are a part The prevalence of superstitions of the game. Junior extends beyond the professionals. Patrick Carroll, a startNo matter what sport they play, ing wide receiver on the Grady athletes have their own varsity football team, wore idiosyncrasies. Justin Williams is the same Nike tight-fit a starting midfielder on the varsity soccer team and has his own superstitious tradi- FRESHMAN SAM BOWIE (soccer, volleyball) tion every time he gets on “I always wear ribbons [in my hair] when playing volleyball and soccer.” the field.

“I have this thing where I feel like I have to wiggle my ankles shirt before every football game back and forth before a game,” because he felt like he would play Williams said. better in it. He does not believe He said the tradition began that this superstition is unusual

for football players.

“When you win a game, most people try to do the same thing so that they keep winning,” Carroll said.

Both Williams and Carroll had bad experiences when they neglected their superstitions.

A year ago, while play-

ing for his club team, Williams forgot his cleats and was rushing through his warm-up, so he did not perform his usual ankle-wiggling ritual. He believes the lack of his precious routine cost him.

“I felt like my touch wasn’t as good,” he said.

After that game, Williams real-

ized that his pre-game ritual influences his game.

Carroll’s experience involved

the last game. He said this superstition started when he played Little League at Medlock Park.

“It’s not that I think [superSENIOR GRAY QUILLER (football, track) Sleeps natural elements] are at play,” for 18 hours before a football game or track Munger said. “I know deep down meet. that this really has no effect on me. It’s just something that I do not his own performance to cope with my performance.” but the team’s. During three Munger does not remember a colder weather games, Car- time when he forgot to perform roll wore a longer shirt his ritual. instead of his Nike “It probably wouldn’t have any tight-fit shirt.

His team SENIOR ZANE COBURN (cross country, track) lost all “I eat only pasta the night before [a cross three of country or track meet].” those effect on my actual play, but it may have an effect on how I mentally go about the game,” he said. games.

Superstitions like the ones WilC a r r o l l liams, Carroll and Munger have d o e s n ’ t may seem silly and unnecessary, b e l i e v e but many athletes across several Grady lost sports at Grady understand the because he subconscious element of sports was wear- and how superstitions can alleing a differ- viate mental stress. Munger exent shirt, but plained why he thinks superstistill, he wonders tions are beneficial. what might have “Most superstitions that you hear about are JUNIOR SOPHIE MASCHINOT (soccer) Wears the done by same hair tie she wore the last game if her people that team won. happened are very if he had worn good at the his lucky shirt. sport they do, so they could be conNo athletes revere superstitions sidered valid because it helps them to like baseball players do, and junior mentally prepare,” Munger said.

Alex Munger is no exception.

Williams agreed.

The outfielder said he adjusts his “It’s important to establish a rousocks from being up to being down tine,” Williams said. “If you go or changes the tightness on his belt through [the routine], you know depending on his performance in you’re about to play a game.” p

Special Olympics provides lessons, skills for future they can do it too,” said Regina Gennaro, the APS liaison for the Special Olympics.

She said there are several levels of difficulty in the competition, each with different tasks to fit students’ diverse capabilities, so they are all able to participate.

“If all they can do is pick up a ball, then great — they’re still a winner,” Gennaro said.

Before rounds of competition during the Georgia Special Olympics, an oath unites the voices of all competing athletes: “Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” Gennaro, however, said all of the students feel like winners solely for participating.

The competition also promotes development of skills outside of sports.

The athletes gain skills for employment, learn independent living skills and help others understand their capabilities despite health issues.

In addition to Morton and Gennaro, four other coaches from around APS have invested their time to guide the athletes: Wendell Hale, Lisa Oglesby, Nic Hill and Patricia Merkerson.

Morton said she has watched some of the students’ progress since teaching them in elementary or middle school.

“I used to be pulling teeth just trying to get them to participate in anything,” she said. “Now several of them keep asking when the next event is and really look forward to it.”

Freshman Deandre Ford was one of the 12 students selected from APS to participate in the state softball competition.

“It was fun,” Ford said. “I got to meet a lot of new people.”

His mother Tonya Ford believes the competition has helped enhance her son’s outgoing personality.

Latonya Whatley, another parent, remembers when her autistic son, Darrius, proudly displayed a ribbon he earned in the competition. She said he often expresses his excitement after completing activities and now likes to spend more time with his siblings. “[The Special Olympics] helps him be more sociable,”Whately said. “It’s hard because of his disability.”

Russie Ruelemore, whose son Brandon also has autism, said she is glad to see the students excited about playing sports.

“A lot of the time, people shy away [from people with disabilities],” Ruelemore said.

“People say they are different, but who is to say they aren’t Wendell Hale

By Olivia Kleinman Each Friday afternoon when Vanessa Morton enters room E210, nine students rise to their feet to commence their training for the Special Olympics. She pops in an exercise video displayed on the Promethean board to begin her lesson with the nine students in Grady’s self-contained autism class.

As an adapted physical education teacher, Morton modifies traditional physical education curriculum to address the individualized needs of students with disabilities. So far, those athletes have shown success in bocce, softball and basketball competitions and are currently preparing for the next event: bowling.

The mission of the Special Olympics is to give children and adults with intellectual disabilities opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. This is accomplished by providing sports training and athletic competitions in a variety of sports competitions that are spread out throughout the year, and Grady students are taking advantage of this opportunity.

In 1970, 500 students gathered at a suburban Atlanta college to participate in the first event held under the Georgia Special Olympics banner. Since 1970, the number of active athletes in the competition has grown to more than 23,000 students who participate in a total of 24 sports. “[The athletes] see sports games on TV, and they see what their peers can do, and now

SHOOTING FOR THE GOLD: Laquita Smith practices her jump shot in the practice gym in preparation for the Georgia Special Olympics basketball competition.

different themselves?”

Hale, who is on Grady’s special support staff, has also spent time coaching regular athletics. He said he has come to realize that coaching for a special-needs team can be very different. “[The Special Olympics] gives them some more confidence and a real sense of belonging,” Hale said.

He said he is glad to donate his time to coaching students and encouraging them to achieve success.

“I’m volunteering, but it feels like I’m being paid,” Hale said. “There is no price for it.”

Gennaro is one of the more than 15,000 volunteers in Georgia who are dedicated to promoting the growth and development of athletes. She has been very involved in the Special Olympics for almost 30 years.

By reaching out to volunteers, Gennaro believes she is spreading the word about what students can do despite their disabilities.

“I love getting other adults involved and standing with me to share this amazing experience,” Gennaro said. “It

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Feb. 3, 2012

19

By Konadu Amoakuh As a child playing soccer, Bridgette Ukah had a habit of not tying her shoes well. Her mother, former Grady teacher and soccer coach Sandra Ukah, said she would always have to stop playing during games to retie her shoes.

At one game, when Bridgette shot a ball, her shoe flew off, and she continued to play with only one shoe. This was just the beginning of Ukah’s adventures in soccer.

Ukah, or “Coach B,” as her students call her, coaches the junior varsity soccer and cheerleading teams at Grady. Ukah started coaching soccer in the spring of 2009, and this year is her first year coaching cheerleading. The 2001 Grady graduate has always loved sports and was excited by the prospect of coming back to her alma mater to coach.

Ukah said the bonds she forms with students are rewarding, and her players feel the same way.

“Coach B’s connection with the players is beyond that of just a coach,” said junior midfielder Sofia Sifnaios, who played JV soccer her freshman and sophomore years. “She wants us all to do our best and pushes for that.”

In addition to playing basketball, softball and soccer while at Grady, Ukah cheered and threw the discus on the track team. Ukah’s senior peers at Grady voted her “Most Popular,” “Most Spirited,” “Most Outgoing” and “Miss Red and Gray.”

Ukah’s mother said she always made sports a large part of her daughter’s life.

“Sports were a natural part of growing up for my children,” Sandra Ukah said.

“I think sports are helpful in the development of the ability to be-

konadu amoakuh

‘Superwoman’ takes on plethora of commitments

coaching from experience: Coach Bridgette Ukah (center) talks with two girls soccer players and varsity coach Rodney Thomas (right) while wearing the sweatshirt of her alma mater. Ukah, the daughter of a former Grady teacher, gained her soccer experience from a life-long dedication to sports and the help of her parent’s encouragement. come a team player and a leader, so we did encourage our children to play a sport.”

While at Grady, Bridgette Ukah was known to be outgoing and involved in the school community.

“Bridgette loves sports,” said Natasha Gathers, Ukah’s high school friend. “If she wasn’t in a game, she was still [at games] supporting her friends or cheering for Grady.”

Her mother said when Ukah was a child, she and her older sister Bethani took dance lessons, but after seeing her brother play soccer

COACHES

fifth in a series

every Saturday, she abandoned the dance studio for the soccer field.

“I realized that [Bridgette] had a passion for playing sports when she was about 8 years old,” Sandra Ukah said. “She loved to play ball with her brother. [She] enjoyed playing on her recreation soccer team and her club teams.”

Ukah’s father is also an avid soccer lover who played in college.

Sandra Ukah said the family often played pickup games in the park, and three of her other children also played soccer at Grady.

After graduating high school, Ukah attended Fort Valley State University, where she did not continue to play soccer but received her degree in social work and joined Delta Sigma Theta

sorority. Currently, Ukah works at Dobbs Elementary School as a paraprofessional in a kindergarten classroom.

Though Ukah will soon start school for her master’s in early childhood, she enjoys coaching in her free time. Ukah is also a Girl Scout troop leader for the Brownies at Dobbs Elementary.

Ukah admitted she is strict but feels her coaching style is effective.

Her players agree. “[Practices] are fun and playful, but we know when it’s OK to mess around and when to be serious,” Sifnaios said. “Her style is serious, but she still finds ways for us to have fun.”

Ukah also finds time to have fun with her friends and family.

They find it remarkable that she manages her hectic schedule.

“Bridgette, like most incredible women I know, is like Superwoman,” Gathers said. “She can multitask, face challenges with a smile, maintain integrity, give each project 100 percent and still have time to give support and love to others.”

Though not yet 30, Ukah feels she has accomplished a lot and still has many aspirations.

“My ultimate goal is to be a teacher,” Ukah said. “I would love to teach early childhood. I would love to get married and have kids of my own. I want to travel. I want to learn how to speak French. I want to learn how to play piano.” p

Public schools suffer losses on uneven playing field of GHSA’s membership. These numbers do little to no recruiting and offer scholarscream competitive imbalance. Private ships and financial aid on a strictly academic schools have a clear adbasis. Also, some public vantage over their pubschools recruit athletes. lic counterparts because For a student to attend a they can recruit athletes. public school, however, How else can you exhe or she has to live in its plain how private schools district. This means his win an amount of chamor her family has to buy pionships disproportiona new house or apartment ate to their membership in zone or create a fake adsize in GHSA? dress, all of which is more Georgia high schools Percent of GHSA championships won difficult and costly than by private schools in the 2008-09 can’t formally recruit attending a private school academic year athletes. However, prion financial aid. vate schools can attract I find it hard to believe students from all over the it’s a coincidence that state and offer “academic” Eagle’s Landing Christian scholarships and finanAcademy, a Class A school cial aid. Public schools, and a state semifinalist in however, are limited by football this year, has at district boundaries. least five Division I footPercent of GHSA’s membership that By scouring the state were private schools in the 2008-09 ball recruits, according to and enticing the top aththe AJC. Usually a school academic year letes with financial aid and the size of ELCA is lucky scholarship money, these to have one or two Divitwo advantages make it exsion I recruits, and we are tremely easy for private schools to recruit. supposed to believe they don’t recruit? Last This is not to say all private schools re- year, Grady boys cross country runner Zane cruit. There are some private schools that Coburn got a text message saying he could

Private Schools Prevail

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Phillip Suitts

The playoff format for the smallest schools in the Georgia High School Association has changed.

GHSA divides schools up by classPhillip Suitts es, and the smaller the student body of the school, the lower the class. Class A contains the smallest schools, and Class 6A contains the largest schools.

Grady is a Class 3A school. Starting next year, public and private Class A schools will have separate playoffs.

By making this change, the GHSA has admitted something I have known for a long time: private schools hold an advantage over public schools in sports. GHSA has finally done something to correct the problem.

While the solution may not be perfect, it’s a step in the right direction.

According to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, in the last five years, private schools have won 58 out of the 80 championships —and 30 of the last 35 spring championships—offered in Class A. In the 2008-09 academic year, private schools won 45 percent of the championships in all classifications while making up less than 10 percent

attend The Westminster Schools as long as he ran cross country and track for them.

In other Southern states, like North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, there are already separate private and public school playoffs.

Many athletes at Grady probably wouldn’t support separate playoffs. I know many soccer and football players look forward to playing St. Pius. I, too, would enjoy beating St. Pius.

As the playing field becomes more and more uneven, however, something has to be done.

Since the private schools and GHSA seem unwilling to reinstitute the 1.5 multiplier on the enrollment of private schools, which forced many of the private schools to compete against schools with larger student bodies, separate playoffs for private and public schools in each classification seems like the only feasible solution.

After all, the NCAA doesn’t force Division III universities to compete against Division I universities, which have distinct advantages in the forms of athletic scholarships and increased sports revenue.

GHSA began the process of separating private and public schools. Now they need to, as University of Georgia coach Mark Richt would say, “finish the drill” and create separate private and public school playoffs throughout all the classifications. p

the Sports section LAST-SECOND 3-POINTER SENDS BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM TO STATE PLAYOFFS, SEE THESOUTHERNERONLINE.COM

thesoutherneronline.com

HENRY W. GRADY HIGH SCHOOL, ATLANTA

FEB. 3, 2012

VOLUME LXV, NUMBER 5

Athletes Ready to

By Nile Kendall Tennis fter a 10-7 regular season by the girls team and an 8-9 regular season for the boys in 2011, both tennis teams entered the region tournament as the fifth and sixth seeds respectively.

Needing to break into the top four to qualify for state tournament, both teams failed to reach the semifinal round, ending their seasons and extinguishing their hopes of a state playoff run.

This season, the boys will return five of seven starters, while the girls will look to rebuild their roster after losing four players to graduation.

Boys and girls tennis coach Scott Stephens said he is hopeful about the team’s prospects.

“I have met a few male and female players who say they have years of [tennis] experience,” Stephens said. “So hopefully this year we can make a breakthrough.”

Both tennis teams have struggled to advance past the region tournament. The girls haven’t made it since 2008, and the boys haven’t since Stephens took over the position in 1997. Stephens said the region is a veritable gauntlet of tennis juggernauts.

“We have both Woodward and St. Pius in our region, who are the state champions and state runner-ups,” Stephens said. “Plus, there are a lot of other really competitive schools in our region, so it’s really hard to grab one of those top four spots.”

Both teams will aim for one of those spots again this season. The teams’ practices began on Jan. 17. p Baseball he boys varsity baseball team lost six players last year to graduation, including 2011 team captain Mason Gepp and star lead off batter Damian Swann. Head coach Mark Davidson, however, said he believes the team’s ability to compete has, if anything, improved.

A spot in the state playoffs has eluded Grady for the last four years. The team was two runs away from finally ending this drought last season. Their 3-1 loss to Riverwood, however, pushed them back to fifth in the region—one place shy of a state playoff berth.

The team began tryouts on Jan. 30 on the upper playing field, and began official practice at Crim High School on Feb. 7.

The team campaigned in 2011 to be allowed to practice across the street at Piedmont Park instead of having to take a bus twice a week to Crim for practice and even made an appearance on 11 Alive News. Their request was denied, with the City of Atlanta determining that the Piedmont practice fields are only fit to host softball, not baseball. p Lacrosse fter just one win in 2011 for both the boys and girls lacrosse teams, both programs are looking for a plural win total in 2012.

“We just want to win a few more games than last year,” boys head coach and chemistry teacher Gabangaye Gcabashe said.

Senior Khadijah Brown said they hope to improve, but, more than anything, they just want to have fun.

“Most of us are new to lacrosse and have never played before,” Brown said. “We’re not trying to become national champions. We just want to enjoy our time.”

Brown said she is interested in getting as many students as possible introduced to the sport.

“I had never heard of lacrosse before I came to Grady,” she said. “I’m glad I was able to come here and get involved because now I love it, and I want to continue to play in college.”

Both teams began practice on Jan. 30 and will play their first games in late February. p

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Soccer fter a disappointing loss to Woodward Academy in the 2011 region tournament, the more experienced boys varsity soccer team plans to have a stronger season.

In 2011, the team blew leads in three crucial games. Boys varsity soccer coach Thomas Waller has worked to make sure his team is physically prepared for the upcoming season. During the offseason, the team participated in outside strength and conditioning work with professional trainer Jason Thomas. “[The training] is tough, but I deal with it because I know it’s going to make our team stronger,” junior Asa Eggleston said.

Despite the boys’ early region tournament exit last year, the girls finished in the top four and thus qualified for the state playoffs, where they lost 2-1 to Allatoona High School in the first round.

“It was tough to go all the way out there just to lose in a close game,” girls varsity soccer coach Rodney Thomas said. “Making it to state was still an accomplishment though.”

Waller said he has a lot of confidence in his boys team and expects its season to end with some hardware.

“I want to be first in our sub-region, which would mean beating [St.] Pius at home, which I think we’re very capable of doing,” Waller said.

Waller said anything less than a quarterfinal finish would be a disappointment.

Both coaches explained that fan support will be crucial to the success of both soccer seasons.

“Every team needs that 12th man, and that 12th man is our student body,” Waller said.

Tryouts started Jan. 23, and practice began Jan. 27. p Track he track team has a lot of individual talent. Senior Zane Coburn was last year’s 800-meter state champion and a 1,600-meter bronze medalist, while seniors Gray Quiller and Rosi Stevens placed in the top eight in individual times at state in the 4x100 meter relay. The team is now focusing on improving its talent across the board.

“We had five boys place at the state championships last year,” Quiller said. “We’re trying to get more this year.”

The team began practice on Jan. 23 in preparation for its first meet on Feb. 21 at Westlake High School. Quiller said he expects that he and his teammates will compete well at this meet and throughout the season. p Ultimate Frisbee fter winning the state championship last May, the boys ultimate Frisbee team headed to Philadelphia for the USA Ultimate High School Eastern Championships. After losing two of its best players to injuries within the first two rounds of the tournament, the team was taken down in the third round. Head coach and American literature teacher Susan Mercer, however, was satisfied with her team’s season.

“Last season really couldn’t have been much better,” Mercer said. “We won state, [and] we held our seed at Easterns. I think if we hadn’t lost so many players to injury, we could have really gone far.”

On Feb. 13 the team will begin its new season and a quest for another state title.

The team, however, will have to defeat the Paideia School if they want to repeat as state champions. Mercer said the team is excited for the challenge, “When we say that we won state people always say, ‘Yeah, but Paideia wasn’t there,’” Mercer said. “Which, I mean, is a reasonable justification. They are a great team.” p

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Lucy Leonard

Konadu Amoakuh

Audrey Vaughn

Audrey Vaughn

A SPRING IN THEIR STEPS: Sophomore midfielder Anatole Roper (left) scoops up a ball at lacrosse practice. Freshman Josephine O’Dwyer (second from left) winds up to hit the ball at tennis practice. Junior Sophia Buscaglia (third from left) runs in line with her girls soccer teammates before practice. Senior Larson Collier (right) grabs the frisbee, defending it from an opponent at a Fall League game held at Gwinnett Soccer Park.