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Broken English Flawed testing system has done great disservice to art of literature
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hat is the tone of answer. Even grammar is formulaic: the author?” There commas have rules, capitalization are four options has rules, grammar has a set of underneath, each of them similar, rules that can be followed and each of them viable, three of tested. This is not the part of English them wrong. Nervously, I circle I have a problem with; I firmly one, then erase it in believe everyone should favor of another. I move know what an Oxford on tentatively, feeling comma is or how to like I’m wrong, feeling tell the difference like there should be between “there,” “their,” no way for me to even and “they’re.” It’s the be wrong on such an interpretation aspect; interpretation-based it’s having teachers Skylar Laird question. With this tell me for years that Feature editor nervous self-doubt, I I’m wrong because move through English I feel like the author class after English class, has a different tone, or always feeling like I’m missing out because I sympathize differently on something. with a character, or because I Since I was three years old, saw a symbol differently. There learning how to read “One Fish are, of course, ways for me to be Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish,” I’ve wrong; not every analysis can been addicted to literature. As even be correct if it lacks proper I grew older, I would read every reasoning behind it, but as long book I could get my hands on. I as an interpretation makes sense, excel in English; along with my love it should be considered a valid of reading grew a love of analysis option. Literature analysis is as I dove into classics like “Little simply too subjective to be tested Women” at ages as young as 11 or standardly. 12. It seems to follow that I should This issue is already addressed love English classes, and I do, but through the use of essays and they also frustrate me to no end. class discussions, which both Our education is systematicallyallow students to form their own based: an emphasis is placed on opinions and then support them standardized testing, which is without a right or wrong answer. built to accommodate formulaic These also promote creativity and subjects, such as math and science deeper analysis than multiple - anything that can have a set choice questions, letting students
think up their own analysis and delve into it instead of simply doing a process of elimination or being forced to choose one singular option out of a list that has already been created for them. However, as long as a multiple choice section is still used in big tests like the AP exam and ACT, and as long as teachers are still using it in class as a tool to judge students’ analyses, there remains a problem. Literature should be treated as the art it is; analysis should be judged based on essays while grammar remains multiple choice. There is an obvious reason for the current system: essays are much more subjective and difficult to grade than multiple choice, which can merely be fed into a computer and have a score spit out. Essays may be more effort for both parties, but this is what literature deserves: stories are written for the purpose of in-depth analysis, not shallow and debatable questions about tone and metaphors. I have read too many fantastic works that I have been forced to change my thoughts about in order to fit the questions and answers I’m given, and I am honestly sick of it. I feel as though we as an education system could do so much more for the English program and the students who adore it without the inclusion of standardized testing. While math and science thrive
under this system, English is stifled by it; this has then allowed the teaching of maths and sciences to continue to develop while English classes feel stagnant and overdone: instead of continually learning new concepts, we are force fed the same ideas for years upon years with little variation or variety to make it exciting. I want deeper analysis, not the same statements about metaphors and similes that I have been dealing with since the second grade. I am a student who excels in little other than English, so to be provided with the same opportunities as math or scienceoriented kids would be a dream come true. And this can not be done until English is recognized more as an art form and less as a tedious task. Right now, it’s seen as just another core class or another portion of the ACT, while in reality, it should bear more similarities to the music or art programs. English is a non-standard class shoved into a standardized system, and that can make even someone as passionate about it as me hate it. And this can not be remedied until English is no longer tested through multiple choice questions. I will not stop being infuriated by English classes until I can look at a question asking me about a novel and worry more about the analysis itself than whether my answer is right or wrong.
F O C A L
POINTS Each issue, the editorial staff of the Central Focus picks three issues focused on the school and gives you insight and impact in just a couple quick sentences.
Skylar: Testing
With students taking both the ACT and PSAT, they are once again subjected to the unfairness of standardized testing, a system rigged for students with the skill of sitting still for a long period of time and against everyone else, specifically students with test anxiety, dyslexia, or ADD, all of which can make testing exponentially more difficult for a student. The fact that education is weighted so heavily towards standardized testing instead of actual merit or dedication then rewards people with the ability to take tests over students who put dedication and hard work into learning, or are even naturally intelligent, but who struggle with taking tests.
Lukas: Spartan stars
The school’s new, improved Spartan star system is essentially the new Oprah. Not only can parents reward their students with the sought after Spartan star now, but students can also award them to fellow students. Before the new system, Spartan stars were already flawed; they were commonly awarded beforehand to students, who don’t typically do what they should, for doing simple things, like turning in homework. It is important to recognize students for doing well and making improvements, but it depreciates their value even more when the students being recognized could be receiving awards from almost anybody.
Elaine: The military
Whether an airman or marine, being a member of the United States military evokes a deep sense of camaraderie and patriotism. The military creates a newfound sense of purpose for individuals from all walks of life. Many may be discouraged from entering the service, based upon their uneasiness with weapons or war. Many may believe their skill sets within the classroom possesses no relevance for military affairs, but that belief couldn’t be further from the truth. Approximately 80 percent of military occupations are noncombat related. Without the supportive roles of administrative and supply workers and nurses, the combat engineers and infantrymen could not do their jobs. Not everyone needs to pick up a rifle in order to serve our country. Heroes come in many shapes and sizes, don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Staff editorial: Missouri conceal carry law
Hollow point
New gun law promotes dangerous culture
By The Editorial Board With the new update to our laws on guns, you are able to conceal a gun, wherever you please, without a permit. The notion that more guns are the solution to our growing gun problem, is absurd. Guns themselves are not our issue; however, bringing more of them to the party, opening up more opportunity for the wrong person to be in possession, is ludicrous. One more gun sitting in its display case at the store or in its safe in someone’s home is not the problem. Those guns are not the ones making headline news or eliciting the feelings fear, insecurity, and worry. It is the guns that cause loss of property, loss of health, and sometimes loss of life. Many people use something called the “airplane effect” to describe what our society is faced with. Thousands of airplanes take off and land safely every single day and no one turns their heads towards those planes, no one worries, there’s no headline reading “Airplane safely lands!!” but once in awhile, an airplane crashes and people are hurt, sometimes even killed and everyone goes berserk. Not that a crashed airplane is a gun but for every 2,000 guns that are safely locked away, there is a gun in the wrong hands. Sure, the average person will say guns are to protect or to kill game, but what about when that muzzle is pointed at another human being? Not a human being wielding another gun, but an innocent and defenseless human being. Allowing more wrongly motivated people to have such harmful weapons outweighs the correctly motivated people with guns. The only justifiable intention for a gun is to protect oneself and those around them, the problem is, the wrong side is winning, as we clearly see throughout the world. The argument that increased gun usage leads to preservation of lives is irrational, because even if some people have good intentions, are educated in gun safety, and plan to use it to protect, there are still those who are unsafe and uneducated. Beginning in January, it will be legal for any person in Missouri who has a gun to conceal it in any place you could formerly have a gun out in the open. Before a person would have to obtain a permit with required training to conceal their weapon, now any gun owner can conceal their weapon without the training. Missouri joins nine other states in allowing concealed weapons without training. This is outrageous because the process of getting a permit to conceal a weapon was not hard.
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It required a gun safety class and a criminal background check that can be done by a local sheriff. With no mental illnesses and a clean record, anyone could obtain a permit. Now, with more non-restrictive laws, any public place that stirs arguments, like say a bar, can turn a small scuffle into a fatal fight. Knowing any person that wants a gun can, should not sit right with people. Yes, there are the cases of people who are educated and who douse guns with correct intentions, but there just as many people who are not educated, and are not using guns with correct intentions. Those people, in possession of guns, have the capability to kill strangers, your family, or even you. That risk of the loss of a life is a risk we should be willing to take. There are too many people who have been affected by a trigger, making many wonder why gun laws are loosening. One too many tears have been shed, one too many people wrongfully killed, and one too many person has suffered the loss of their loved ones because too much power was put in the wrong hands. There used to be one example everyone thought of when the word guns came around: Columbine, but today there’s numerous examples from Sandy Hook, to the shootings in Colorado, to the nightclub in Orlando. With every shooting comes more memorials, more candle lightings, more tears and more people affected at the shot of a gun. Assault weapons and riffles should not be as readily available as they are. They are weapons made for war, and the purpose of war is solely to kill and harm. By having these deadly weapons so readily available we have started a war, in which the innocent are those on the other side of the dangerous, ill, and wrong, and are losing their lives, daily. Every year, more than 100,000 people are shot in America. That means on average .003% of America’s population is shot each year. This is just the number of those shot. Those who are killed by guns in America? Each day, 31 lives are lost to homicide and 56 to suicide, via gun. That is 87 lives that are taken by a gun that was used for the wrong purpose. Taking someone’s life, is in no way the “respectable or expected use of a gun.” So tell us, why, guns are portrayed as some badass item, an item of strength and courage. Tell us why advertisements and movies have made guns out to be the most masculine and empowering thing. Allowing someone to take the life of themselves or another is the furthest thing from empowering, and the closest thing to preposterous.
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Ten ways to save the planet Helping to conserve the planet goes farther than just recycling your paper and plastic By Caleb Harmon
Staff reporter How do you save the earth? If this question was asked, how would someone most likely respond? They would most likely say something about recycling because the recycling raccoon told them. But there are so many other ways to help save the earth that doesn’t involve recycling. “One thing my family does to help conserve energy is we turn off all the lights when we leave the room, and we’ve switched to using those spiral light bulbs because they conserve energy better,” senior Nathan Buchholz said. 1. Using compact fluorescent lightbulbs really does make a difference. By using this type of lightbulb, a person could save $30 or more in energy costs, over a bulb’s lifetime. The compact fluorescent light bulbs use 75 percent less energy. 2. However, one wouldn’t have to worry as much about that energy consumption if they did one simple thing. Turn off electronics when they aren’t being used. It is common sense because leaving something electrical on, such as a light when you leave the room is just nonsense. Shutting off electronic sources of energy consumption will also help decrease the cost on the electric bill. 3. It may sound a little weird, but if clothes don’t stink, don’t wash them. Standard washing machines use 40 gallons of water per load. If households nationwide were more conservative with laundry, they would save enough water to fill more than seven million swimming pools. 4. Now everyone has probably heard that the faucet should be turned off when it isn’t being used, but it is still true nonetheless. Junior Evan Goodbody has had experience with this. “Saving the earth is very important to me. When I was little, I didn’t realize how much water was wasted so when I brushed my teeth I would forget about the faucet that I left on,” Goodbody said. “Now that I realize how much water is wasted, I make it a point to shut it off when I’m not using it.”
5. Faucets are not the only worrisome object of water loss. Shower heads may also be a source of water and energy loss. Install faucet aerators and high-efficiency showerheads and in a year’s time you’ll save between 1,000 and 8,000 gallons of water. 6. Cell phones are constantly becoming better and faster, and when this happens people buy new phones. About 130 million mobile phones are thrown away each year that creates more than 65,000 tons of waste. To help prevent this problem, people can donate their phones instead of just tossing them in the trash. 7. Say someone starts to get thirsty after saving the planet all day, what do they do? Americans use over three million plastic bottles an hour, but only recycle about one in every five of those bottles. Buying a reusable water bottle and not buying a new bottle every time will help decrease the size of this problem. 8. Ever wonder whether remaining idle while a car is running how much gas is being used? Well a simple answer is more than it takes to start a car. Shut down your engine, because idling for any length of time burns more gas than it takes to restart the car. 9. Being a bad driver doesn’t pay. Speeding, fast accelerations, and hard braking waste gas, while maintaining your car saves it. Tune up your car according to your owner’s-manual and raise your car’s fuel efficiency anywhere from 4 to 40 percent. By doing this a person could increase their fuel efficiency and have another way to save on gas. “Honestly, I try to drive as safely as I can,” senior Isabella Jones said. “Not only is it a safety factor but I was aware that it could save me money. Right now money is very important to me.” 10. Something the average shopper may not think about is how many plastic bags they use. U.S. Households use about 100 billion plastic bags on average during the year. 99 percent of these bags used during the year are never even recycled. By bringing your own shopping bag to shop, the demand, and therefore the amount of use of the plastic bags lessens the problem.
Before graduation... 10 great things to do that won’t show up on your diploma By Mackenzie Morris Voice Editor
STAND UP FOR SOMETHING YOU BELIEVE IN. Whether it is as small as proving you have the right answer on the homework, or starting a political movement, have an opinion and defend it. PARTICIPATE IN A PEP ASSEMBLY. We only get four years here, some of us less, and even though pep assemblies seem like the lamest things right now, they are a lot of fun when you actually participate. MAKE A FRIEND OUTSIDE OF YOUR CLIQUE. Life is short. Do you really want to spend all of it with the same four people? Branch out, and talk to somebody you would not normally talk to. You never know what happiness that might bring you. GO ON A DATE. Like a real date. High school is prime time for dating, and that doesn’t mean having a person you are romantically interested in over to a family gathering and hugging when they leave (scandalous, I know). Everyone should have at least one date in high school, when you get dressed up and go do something with your significant other. GO THROUGH A BREAKUP. It is one of the more difficult things in life, but arguably one of the most rewarding. Once you get past the sadness that comes with losing your significant other, you learn some valuable things about yourself, what you need in a relationship, and how to put your happiness first.
GO ON A SENIOR TRIP. Senior year is the last year before most of us are no longer living under the care of our parents. In a few short months, we will be off to college where we will stay for the next four years, so the sooner we get used to fending for ourselves, the better off we will be in college. What better way for us to get used to living on our own than taking a trip with some friends and trying out real life for a few days? SPEAK PUBLICLY. Everyone will have to speak in public at some point. Anything from job interviews to work presentations, being able to talk in front of people is a part of life, and an important one at that. Getting practice early on is the best way to ensure success in the future.
CHALLENGE YOURSELF. Do not allow yourself to relax for three years to decide to buckle down senior year before you start applying to colleges. Most universities want to see that you are taking a rigorous schedule all four years, not just the last one. Taking more difficult classes and challenging your abilities are much more rewarding to your education than classes you can glide through with no effort. VISIT A COLLEGE WITHOUT YOUR PARENTS FORCING YOU. Too many students let their parents drag them around to schools they aren’t interested in. Take responsibility for your own education. It’s your future, not your parents’. ATTEND A HIGH SCHOOL PARTY. Parties don’t have to be the negative atmosphere with low lighting and questionable substances. The best parties are with a bunch of people, some music playing, good food, and a good, old fashioned game of Cards Against Humanity.
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Volume 18, Issue 2 Oct. 30, 2014 Francis Howell Central High School
The
Pressure PERFECT
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Students face the challenge of balancing the pressures of achieving perfection in apperance, academics, athletics, and social life.
BE A PART OF SOME OF THE BEST PUBLICATIONS IN THE COUNTRY!
FHC Publications students earn national and state recognition each year. At our most recent national competition, one student took second place in a national design contest. FHCToday and the newspaper you’re reading, took ninth place in the Publication Website and Newsmagazine categories. In students own words: “I like the freedom we have to do as we wish and have responsibility.” “I like that we get to share the memories we make with our student body and that we tell the story of our year through our pictures.” “Everyone has a story, and every story is worth being heard. It is so fun to get to know people and then take their words, face, drawings, and turn them into a medium on a page in a book that they can look back on and remember.” “The class gets to run itself and be responsible for their work and deadlines.” “Nothing is better than seeing something that is in your mind come to life through the web, newspaper or yearbook.” “I love the atmosphere of room 139.”
APPLY NOW!
Stop by Room 139 to talk with Mr. Schott about how you can become the next great journalist at FHC. Get an application to join either the newspaper or yearbook classes at the semester. We’re looking for the following people: WRITERS. PHOTOGRAPHERS. VIDEOGRAPHERS. EDITORS. SOCIAL MEDIA MAVENS. GRAPHIC DESIGNERS. Come be a part of the best!