FOCUS Issue #5

the student newsmag of PMHS

MILITARY COUP IN MYANMAR “I feel as though I took so much of it for granted.”

Page 10

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AT HOME “[Cheating] might be spreading faster than the disease.”

Page 4

Issue 5

Connect with us

@pmhs.focus

@pmhsfocus

2020-2021 FOCUS staff Krissy Brzycki Co Managing Editor Bryan Aung Co Managing Editor Synthia Davis News Editor Madison Leonard Community Editor Evan Taylor Sports Editor Hannah Hunt Feature Editor Genevieve Holt Entertainment Editor Bawi Zing Page Designer Frederick Seddon Page Designer Lyndsey Spoonamore Reporter Ella Bennett Reporter Blake Hall Reporter Raechel Johnson Reporter Daniel Schoch Adviser Kert Boedicker Principal

falconsfocus.org

A LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

As Perry goes through the winter months, many of us reflect back on the school year. We look back on protests (both locally and abroad), pandemic-related obstacles and political division. And in this issue, we’ve decided to FOCUS on these matters at hand. Despite these weeks feeling like eons; the weekends feeling like thirtyminute lunch breaks; and the average school day rivaling the plot of Franz Kafka’s “The Trial,” perhaps taking ten minutes out of your day to read our newsmag will get your mind off the suffocating world around you. Or

you could rewatch “The Irishman.”

We sincerely hope you choose the former. Our quality has only grown as a staff in this year, and our writing is at its peak. Though it may only be a newsmag, it is something special we hope you read

Your managing editors,

Krissy Brzycki & Bryan Aung

FEBRUARY C-9 STUDENTS OF THE MONTH Andrew Carballal Landscape/Horticulture

Kayla Rose Health Services II

Jaylan York Dental DentalServices Services

Ruby Salcido

Lal San Criminal Justice

Katto Baguma

Health Services II

Auto Service Tech

Math Test

New Tab

x

www.google.com Cheating: A Different Type of Pandemic

By Bryan Aung Ever since COVID-19 forced schools to go all virtual back in March of 2020, another kind of pandemic has forced schools to reexamine their tests and curriculum: cheating.

Its presence can be felt in every classroom, with teachers asking students to show keyboards, lockdown browsers being used and Canvas testing features being introduced. With virtual learning at an all time high, the question of what to do about academic dishonesty remains on many educators’ minds.

Economics teacher Tim Dye recounts the school year’s unsteady start. “We were three weeks in, and we didn’t know how to do timed tests and lockdown browsers,” he says.

Dye also reflects on the uneven scores and grades for his classes, which showed a surprising grade disparity during tests.

“It’s rampant–it might be spreading faster than the disease,” he says. “The average overall grade was an F for virtual students, but then the hybrid students average was a B.” And then I had the first test, and virtual students had a higher overall grade than hybrid students.”

For some students, cheating is not as dominant of a presence. Senior hybrid student Fletcher Engle shares his experience with cheating as being very limited.

“At least amongst my friend group, there’s not a lot of cheating on tests,” he says. “Someone might ask me for notes but that’s about it.”

Senior virtual student Ridge Falco has a more doubtful outlook, noting that for virtual students, looking up answers is relatively easy.

“I do know people who have cheated, but I would definitely say cheating is more prone virtually,” he says. “It’s not that hard to cheat

virtually, but it depends on the type of question or assignment.”

However, with the new schedule where hybrid students are mandated to attend classes virtually on their off-days, Dye says that scores have become more similar.

“It’s more balanced because everybody is virtual half the time now,” he says. “Either you’re 50 percent virtual or 100 percent virtual.”

Along with the schedule change, some teachers have also adapted class material to combat cheating. Falco thinks incorporating more long-form and critical thinking pieces in exams may be one way to discourage academic dishonesty.

“Classes like AP Lang and AP Gov require long form thinking and it’s harder to cheat,“ Falco says. “Having a multiple choice question that has a follow up question that asks what the big idea is will be more effective.”

Dye also acknowledges the importance of getting creative with course material. Last semester, he focused on a final group project, acknowledging the benefits of getting more accurate data and the incentive for students to work together. Dye’s group project also gave students less incentive to cheat.

“On a normal final exam you can get a twenty or thirty percent if you don’t study,” he says.“But on a final exam that’s a project, you either get all the points or you don’t. I still get the benefit of the data piece but at the same time you all get the benefit of the collaboration piece.”

Despite historical policies, Black representation remains slight

by Madison Leonard

It can be hard sometimes: not seeing yourself be portrayed in the environment you grew up around.

Walking down the halls and seeing no one with your unique qualities.

Wondering why there seems to be no teachers and few students like you.

Watching as the small number of people who are like you keeps dwindling down as time passes.

For African American students at Perry Meridian High School, this is an all-too-common experience, as the already small Black representation in students far outweighs the representation in teachers and staff.

As of the 2020-2021 school year, the African American population at PMHS makes up 7.0% of the school, according to the Indiana Department of Education.

To find one of the main reasons behind the fluctuation in population, one must go back in time, to 1971, when the Indiana state legislature created “Unigov,” which conjoined smaller cities around Indianapolis into a single entity.

While this ensured many different township functions would be joined together for a countywide system, it very noticeably left out surrounding school districts and led to accusations of segregation.

The result was an order by a U.S. District Judge to bus students between districts, which started in August of 1981. This meant that Black students from northern communities would ride buses into Perry Township to help alleviate segregation problems within Marion County.

The busing order did bring some negative attention, with an incident in October of 1981 in the school parking lot. According to retired PMHS social studies teacher Jerry Brown, who was teaching at the time, some white students started to rock and throw things at the bus.

“The media heard about it and were there the next day,” Brown says. “On the Saturday following the incidents, many PMHS teachers came to PMHS for some diversity instruction.”

Brown, however, acknowledges that even though some negativity existed, the busing mandate also brought forth productive change.

“Two more seats were added to the school board, several teacher workshops and in-service programs were offered over the years to teachers related to educating a diversity of students, and we established the Human Relations,” Brown says.

Another benefit was that the Bradford Woods for the Challenge Education program was created to help the desegregation process initiated by the court-ordered busing of students at Perry. The program would take students from Perry Township and IPS schools and have them attend Bradford Woods to do activities with the students to have students who had not interacted at school form friendships and become acquainted with each other.

The mandatory busing order may have increased student diversity at PMHS, but the same cannot be said for teacher representation, especially today.

By law, the busing order ended in 2016, and currently, there are no African American teachers or guidance counselors at Perry Meridian High School.

According to a 2019 article from The Hechinger Report, which covers inequality in education, Black students who have one Black teacher by third grade are 7% more likely to graduate high school and 13% more likely to enroll in college.

Benjamin Brown, a former government teacher, and advisor at PMHS, currently works as an interventionist at the James Whitcomb Riley School in Perry Township. He was also the former advisor for the African American Club.

“In the past, there were efforts made to recruit Black students within the district, to pursue education as a major so they could be hired as teachers in Perry Township,” Brown says. “At one time there were three Black certified teachers, one Black certified teacher/school counselor, two-degree home school advisors in Perry Meridian at one time, and four non-degreed bus monitors that had duties during the day at Perry Meridian.”

The Black representation at Perry is a constant push-and-pull, ending with the same results where it started: with African American students watching the people who represent them dwindle over time.

They still have to walk down the halls and into classrooms knowing that they will not see teachers and students that have the same unique qualities as them.

Self-Expression Self-Ex pression

During Quarantine

Synthia Davis Staff Reporter

W

hile time seemed to drone on during the five month period between March and July 2020, some students spent their time mindlessly scrolling through TikTok, while others became more educated and self aware.

Pandemic-induced isolation forced the entire population to stay home and, with the time spent alone, many were able to reflect upon themselves and make discoveries they may not have otherwise made.

Becoming more aware of heritage, being more outspoken of social injustices and discovering a gender identity are all examples of how three students spent their time familiarizing with themselves.

Freshman Lily Smith filled her time researching and becoming more familiar with her Thai heritage. Smith remembers blocking out her Thai background since childhood because of racist comments and jokes that were made at her expense.

These led her to “identify more with the white half” of herself, sticking “for a very long time.”

Smith also started to “read more about other mixed children and their experiencwes.” She thought this was helpful because she “felt a bit alone at first.”

Along with reading shared experiences, Smith talked to her grandma and was able to learn more cultural information through her grandmother’s experiences.

Like Smith, sophomore Arianna Rawlins also did research to help identify with themselves more.

Rawlins began to realize that they don’t identify with the gender binary, starting to research and experiment with different pronouns.

Through a long process of trying to find pronouns they identify with the most, Rawlins feels that he/ she/they suits them the most.

“Most of the ways I’ve tested out different pronouns is just getting my friends to use them in sentences,” they say. “I would then read them out loud and see how I felt.”

Along with these pronouns, they also use the neopronouns ice/iceself and fai/fairy.

“There’s two types of neopronouns,” Rawlins says. “There’s the ones that have been used since the 18th century and those are ze/zir, ey/em and stuff like that. And then there’s the ones that use nouns and adjectives, which are the ones I used.”

Other research Rawlins did includes how to dress more androgynous and how to do makeup that is more masculine presenting.

Not all self-discovery can be seen on the outside. During quarantine, many experienced an ideological awakening.

Sophomore Mia Allman started to become more politically and socially involved after George Floyd was killed this past summer.

“I think my eyes just opened up to everything that was going on,” she says. “I would say I was kind of blinded by the problems in this world until the media started really speaking up this summer and I started to read more and expand my knowledge.”

She advocates for public safety and human rights, and ultimately praises the individuality so many have found since lockdown began.

“Speak up. You do not have to have your family’s beliefs. It’s okay to be different, it’s okay to have different beliefs than the people around you.”

“Speak up...

It’s okay to be different.”

- Mia Allman

ne

Bringing “The Wizard of Oz” to Life

Ella Bennett

Staff Reporter

PMHS is diving into the fantasy world of magic, witches, and munchkins in this year´s spring musical, “The Wizard of Oz.” The spring musical always includes a large cast and a grand production, but this show will look different than anything else that the Perry stage has seen.

While still featuring a talented cast and captivating story, the musical will be conducted virtually. Musical director Melissa Walsh walks through the rehearsal process and how members of the show overcome the obstacles that video calls present.

“Obviously, it’s not the same because with sound, you cannot all be in sync when you are in a virtual call,” Walsh says. “So, I have to teach something and then have them unmute and sing it back.”

In addition to rehearsals, the musical will also be performed in a unique fashion.

“We will all be in a Zoom call together, so the leads will all have their own private screen,” Walsh says. “When we are doing ensemble numbers, the people who are in the chorus will be together on stage.”

The cast will perform together, but they will not be able to sing live during the Zoom performance.

“All of the singing has to be pre recorded and edited together,” Walsh elaborates. “All of the lines and actions will be presented live in the Zoom call. The music will all be edited together and will be playing on top of what everyone is doing live and in person.”

There are bound to be setbacks when it comes to virtual performances, but “The Wizard of

Oz” is the perfect musical for the circumstances.

“The nice thing about the show is it allows the characters to wear masks,” Walsh says. “The flying monkeys can wear masks, the jitterbugs can wear masks, and hypothetically, the people in emerald city all like to wear green masks.

It’s all fantasy.”

Despite the different environment, members of this show maintain an upbeat attitude towards the musical.

“Obviously, a big regret is that we weren’t able to do Singing in the Rain last year,” English teacher and assistant director Natalie Friar says. “It is good to still be able to do a show and give the kids a creative outlet to really pour their talents into.”

“Instead of being sad over the things that have had to change or be taken, I am so grateful that we still get to have a musical safely without breaking Covid guidelines,” junior Ravana Gumm says.

The experience of putting together a virtual musical illuminates how change is positive and even necessary.

“Although it is very different, the fact that there still is a musical brings back a bit of normal that I think we have all been missing,” junior stage manager Allyson Herrington says.

“What I’ve found as someone who loves being creative and loves exploring new ways of doing things is it forced me into a place where I had to adapt things I did in the past,” Walsh says.

Some of these changes will even be carried into the future beyond the musical and pandemic.

“Some of the things that I’ve been doing differently, in the musical and as a teacher, I plan on continuing to do afterwards,” Walsh says. “It has made me explore new ways that have been effective and will still be effective after the pandemic.”

Overall, this musical has served as a learning experience for everyone involved.

“Every year that we do a musical, part of the goal is to learn and to grow and that is still happening,” Walsh says. “Even though the presentation isn’t what we would normality want it to be, all of the important things are still happening.”

Organizing and performing a musical over Zoom is, of course, difficult, but it allows for everyone involved to explore new ways to be creative and connect to each other.

The Grappling for glory: Cottey captures state title; five more place at Banker’s Life NASTY There are a few goals for ship.

NINE any athlete: Build bonds with They earned a 23rd SectionBy Evan Taylor

106 lbs.

Toby Billerman (10) 3rd Place 113 lbs.

Alex Cottey (12) 1st Place 120 lbs.

Keaton Morton (10) State Qualifier 145 lbs.

Brady Mckivitz (12) State Qualifier

152 lbs.

Matthew Koontz (11) 3rd Place

teammates, create memories, and help the community.

But most vital is winning.

And one sport more than any other at PMHS, winning has become a tradition.

“Dynasty” is another word to describe the wrestling program’s success over the past 25 years.

The Falcon wrestlers have been practicing since summer in preparation for this year’s state tournament and went 16-2 along the way in their regular season duals.

They also grappled a MidState Conference Championship and took third place at the Team State Champion-

al title and additional Regional and Semi-State championships en route.

With nine wrestlers competing at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, this year also tied the school record for the number competing at the state tournament.

Led by head coach Matt Schoettle and six experienced seniors, the “Nasty Nine” traveled to Bankers Life to continue a 24-year state qualifier streak and a 20-year state placer streak.

All of the hardships and adversity faced during the season led up to continuing the PMHS wrestling dynasty.

160 lbs.

Jakob Sheets (12) State Qualifier 170 lbs.

JaJuan Dale (12) 4th Place 182 lbs.

Aiden Warren (12) 3rd Place 220 lbs. Jeff McClure (12) 4th Place Alex Cottey after winning the State Championship at 113 lbs.

Photo by Emily Steinmetz

Winter guard begins competition

By Genevieve Holt

On Feb. 6, and Feb. 13, the winter guard held their first two competitions. Their show theme, “Fields Of Gold,” performed to the song, “Fields Of Gold,” by Sting, featured a captivating rifle and flag feature, with plenty of dance and saber work in between.

In their first competition at Franklin Central, the guard placed fourth, scoring 61.62, placing them .36 points from the top three and .73 points away from the state qualifying score. The winter guard has not scored this highly since the 2015 show, “I’ve Never Felt This Way.” Rehearsal ran from noon until 2:00 p.m., when they left for the dressing rooms and prepared for the first show. Donning makeup and uniforms--velvet maroon dresses for the girls, and a jumpsuit for sophomore Joe Ashbrook-the team began its ride to Franklin Central, dressed in the show’s colors of maroon and gold.

“I was feeling really nervous,” junior Frida Hernandez said. “It was my first winter competition and first competition in general on rifle. As we got closer to performing, I got more anxious.”

After arriving at the school, the winter guard warmed up for their performance at 5:17 p.m.

Stretching, waiting for permission to start spinning in the warm-up area, all was silent and nerves were high.

Almost too soon, it was time. In single file, the guard entered the gym, equipment in hand, unfolding the tarp to reveal the picturesque scene of a wheat field in

The winter guard place in both their first two competitions this season.

Photos by Genevieve Holt

front of a sunset.

The first performance began and was over in minutes.

“I think we did amazing, especially considering we had fewer total rehearsals yet still placed high,” Ashbrook said.

The second performance did not go as smoothly, especially after a week without practice due to the weather.

It was Feb. 13, and the winter guard was expected to perform at 3:45 p.m. at Brownsburg High School. Practice started at 9:00 a.m. and did not end until noon.

Spirits were low, many frustrated with the lack of rehearsal before a big performance. Still, the winter guard readied and loaded the bus, and made their

way west.

Their problems had only begun, however, as upon their arrival they discovered that there was a logistical challenge with the truck, meaning the team would have to perform without their director.

Despite these challenges, the show went on, although a bit later than planned, and the winter guard performed its best.

“I believe we all did the absolute best and performed our little hearts out,” Hernandez said.

They once again placed with a score of 61.65, placing fifth.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is going through a major change in government control. The military of Myanmar, led by commander Min Aung Hlaing, conducted a military coup on Feb 1, 2021 and has taken over the country.

This coup was influenced by the most recent election results, in which the National League for Democracy, a political party led

by Aung Sang Suu Kyi, won by a landslide. The military, however, believes the result of the election to be fraudulent, although there has been no evidence to support these claims.

Across the globe there has been condemnation of this coup as it further frustrates Myanmar’s long fight towards democracy.

The military in Myanmar has had a long history of corruption and abuse of power. However, through the power of social media, people around the world have been able to raise awareness.

Two protests have taken place in Indianapolis so far, one at Monument Circle and another at the steps of the Indiana War Memorial.

Many students and staff from Perry Township participated in these protests and stood in solidarity with the people in Myanmar.

“The protests made me ex-

tremely proud of how far we’ve gone in terms of being able to protect our culture and stand up for it,” junior Elly Kimbual states. “In times like this, it is important that we’re able to be there for each other,” Kimbual continues on.

The Burmese community is overcome with heavy emotions in seeing community support for their homeland. Numerous concerns are being faced in the community about what has happened to their family and their country.

“The memories and connections with people I made back in my homeland has really shaped how now I view my culture,” junior Van Sui states. She recalls the memory of her visit back home, where she stayed there for the summer of 2019.

“When I first arrived back to my homeland, I wanted to leave immediately; however, I was flooded and overwhelmed with the beauty of my homeland and now I feel as though I took so much of it for granted.”

Sui further recalls her worries on the night of the coup when phone lines were temporarily cut out. Her family was not able to contact any of their relatives and friends back in their homeland.

“It made me realize how easily it was to lose contact with people that I held so dearly and I worry

that I might never be able to contact them again” she states.

Members of Perry’s Chin community have heavy hearts, worrying about what may or what has happen to their loved ones back home. They are left pondering the potential outcomes with uneasy thoughts and emotions.

Yet, some still hold onto hope.

“I do think that democracy will active again in Burma eventually,” states social studies teacher Ryan Teverbaugh. “Education is key.

To understand what people are going through and then to emphasize with that, that’s how change takes place.”

The overwhelming support and empathy from Perry Township have made students and parents in the Burmese community feel supported.

“It’s amazing to see the flood of support from our community at school, and makes me feel hopeful for the future knowing that people like me are welcomed and safe here,” sophomore class president Chan Za Lian states.

While the future is still uncertain, many take steps in the present to make impacts that will shift the future. In the words of Lian, “We need to raise awareness so we don’t take a step back into the past.”

Dr. Tint Swe has lived quite an extraordinary life, living now as an emigre from his home country of Myanmar. He is an activist, a doctor and a former member of the Burmese parliament. After living in India for several decades in exile, Dr. Swe has since resided in Indianapolis, giving regular interviews to Burmese news outlets located in America and the United Kingdom.

Born in 1948, he grew up to become a doctor and work in his township. In 1972, Dr. Swe graduated from the Mandalay Medical Institute and began work as a civilian medical officer for the Burmese government. During an uprising in 1988, however, Dr. Swe began politically subversive work, providing various forms of aid to protestors.

“In 1988 there was a nation wide uprising, asking for a fall of the one party system,” he says. “That was when I decided to join the movement.”

During the 1990 elections, Dr. Swe and his allies from the National League for Democracy (NLD) overwhelmingly won their respective townships. Feeling their waning power, the military ousted and prosecuted the NLD party members. After fleeing to India, he continued his support for the NLD and other democracy movements in Myanmar.

“We knew the military regime would not hand over to the elected members of parliament and did not allow it to convene in parliament,”

he says. “I fled to India because my township was closer to the IndiaBurma border.”

With the coup that occurred in February of 2021, the ex-parliamentary member shares his reflections, hopes for the current movement and the similarities with the movements in ‘88 and ‘21. “[In 1988], the socialist party government suppressed education and did not allow the educated people to take part in government positions,” Dr. Swe explains. ”In 1990 I decided I wanted to be a part of that change because I was one of those educated people. We wanted Burma to be led by the educated.”

Dr. Swe also remarks the difference in attitude and education with the protestors.

“In 1988 the people protested out of anger and disappointment against the dictatorship. So all the people took part and shouted for democracy and human rights even though they did not know what those things were,” he says. “This new generation, they are not based on emotion like in 1988.”

Dr. Swe further applauds the new generations use of modern technologies to educate themselves and to work past obstacles placed upon the country such power outages, firewalls and internet shutdowns.

Despite his confidence, two key issues remain apparent in the current situation: money and China.

Dr. Swe gives the example of the recently placed firewall and the

Chinese made tanks as an example.

After Yangon international airport closed down, Chinese computer personnel were seen arriving in private planes.

“There is strong Chinese influence and they are strongly supporting this regime. It is a danger for our country,” Dr. Swe laments.

“These tanks are made in China and the drivers are Chinese; they don’t know the traffic of the cities and they don’t even know how to read the signs of the roads.”

Money is also a concern Dr. Swe has for the protestors. Many will lose their jobs after the protests and many more will be arrested and blacklisted.

“Our problem is: where is the money for salaries?” he says. “After they take part in the movement, they will be fired by the government. So what will their work be?

How will they continue financially?”

Despite the odds, Dr. Swe is optimistic and thankful that there has been support from the local community and abroad. He mentions the effort by local schools encouraging “red out” days in show of support for the current movement.

“I am reading and listening to all the news and interviews… when the schools wear red, the protestors feel that they are not alone in their struggle. And doing that is more realistic than sending warships,” he remarks.“We do believe that we will succeed finally.”

A Positive Direction

Compass Education Center guides students in credit recovery

By Hannah Hunt Across every school, within every township, there is a wide diversity of background, of identity, of ability in the student body. Perry is no exception.

As with any township, Perry is home to many students who face significant disadvantages, be it from their family relationships or their lack of motivation to attend school.

It is these students that are served by the Compass Education Center (CEC), minutes away from the Perry Township Education Center, which is equipped to help them earn credits and successfully attain a high school diploma.

Founded in 2018 by a committee headed

by Robert Bohannon, assistant superintendent, and now led by principal Tim Lovejoy, the CEC is an alternative to the traditional “alternative” school.

“Everybody believes this is a ‘bad kids’ school,” Lovejoy states. “What our goal is right now is to try to change the perception of that.”

Ultimately, the school seeks to serve those students who are in need of credits in order to graduate.

Serving primarily sophomores, juniors and seniors, the CEC is providing credit relief to 111 students this school year.

Where PMHS students earn

five to seven credits from their classes over the 18 weeks in one semester, Compass students work twice as fast, earning five to six credits every nine weeks and setting them on track to graduate with their class even if they have had difficulty earning credits in the past.

“There are attendance problems, they have trauma in their life, something’s happen-

ed that t h e y just can’t attend school, or they don’t want to attend school,” Lovejoy remarks.

Regardless of these hindrances, each Compass student is treated with care and respect, and it is instilled to them that they are valued.

“Our guidance from the superintendent, Mr. Bohannon, was that we had to be the most lo-

ving, caring, kindest, compassionate school in the district, and that’s our ploy,” Lovejoy cites.

Compass students receive individualized attention that specifically tends to their needs.

Prior to COVID-19, the CEC offered a Student Care Center, where student parents could receive childcare while furthering their education.

Lovejoy himself takes personal responsibility for the success of his students, greeting them each and every morning and even providing them with transportation when they are in need.

“I know every single student in our building... I wrote every single student a letter over Christmas.”

“We want to make it a family-type community to where those kids can come and talk to us about anything that they need,” he claims.

Lovejoy’s emphasis on community and support is felt throughout Compass students, including in Emily Robey, a former PMHS student graduating with the class of 2021.

Robey attends the CEC as part of the Compass Academy program, which students complete online at their own pace, for a little over one year.

Concerning the community,

CARING COMPASSION COURAGE CONVICTION

THE FOUR CORNERSTONES OF CEC

Displayed prominently throughout the CEC, inspirational sayings fulfill the Center’s goal of reminding students of their worth and power. (Photo by Hannah Hunt)

she acknowledges the supportive atmosphere.

“It’s just like normal school, everybody’s a lot closer,” she confirms. “You get super close with your teachers.”

Robey has found a great deal of success from her work at Compass.

“Since I’ve started going there, I’ve gotten my head on very much straight,” she acknowledges.

“I’ve completed 6 classes within like 3 weeks... it really changes your mindset of how to do things.”

Robey recognizes the support and efforts of Compass teachers and staff.

“They’ll literally sit you down and be like, ‘Why are you acting this way?’ Like, instead of punishing you, they’re like ‘What can you do to make it better?

How can we slowly help you get

to the point that you need to be at?’”

She addresses the often negative stereotype that is held against students of alternative programs, that they are inferior or more inclined to cause problems.

“There’s never any fights or anything, nothing bad ever happens, and it’s like, it’s really not bad at all.”

Lovejoy confirms this finding.

“They’re just regular kids, except their lives are a lot more hectic,” he claims.

What he believes is most admirable about his students?

“Their ability to succeed when no one thought they could... our kids, they are so resilient, it’s ridiculous,” he finds.

Lovejoy narrates the story of a former Perry student who entered the CEC with little motivation and almost no credits, yet

was able to successfully graduate early, ahead of his class.

“That’s one of our school’s biggest accomplishments, is to see this kid graduate, you know, when no one would have given him a fighting chance... that’s what we look for, we look for those kids that we can touch all the way around their life” “A lot of these kids have been let down all through their lives, so we can’t be that person,” he concludes.

“That person” might doubt the talents of a student in need.

“That person” might refuse to listen, to care, to empathize.

But “that person” will never be found in the halls of the Compass Education Center, where students are welcomed every day and encouraged to be the best versions of themselves.

It’s teachers’ turn for the vaccine Krissy Brzycki

Co-Managing Editor

After nearly a year of lockdowns, COVID-19 vaccine administration has finally begun in the U.S.. It’s up to the states to decide who gets to receive their doses first. And although I definitely agree that healthcare workers and elderly people should have top priority, Indiana is overlooking a crucial group in this prioritization: teachers.

The current state distribution plan is limited to say the least.

There’s Phase 1-A, which gives eligibility to frontline workers, residents of facilities like nursing homes, and first responders.

And Phase 1-B granted Hoosiers 65 and older the chance to get their vaccine.

But right now, there is no timeline for the rest of us to get our dose, but there needs to be.

And at the top of that list should be teachers.

Teachers have had no say

in the process of returning to school. They’ve been forced to teach in-person, albeit with some precautions. Yet the CDC still says that schools have “distinctive factors” that heighten risks for teachers, such as extended contact and shared spaces. So why aren’t they on track to receive vaccines?

So many politicians have emphasized the importance of returning to school. But that’s only going to be a safe option when teachers and staff get their vaccines.

The Indiana State Teachers Association has been vocal about getting the state’s teachers vaccines. As a statement on their website states, “We need teachers vaccinated and safely teaching in person to best serve students and to move forward with restoring our state’s economy.”

I reached out to the ISTA to ask what students can do to

voice their concerns for their educators. We rely so heavily on teachers and must actively seek to ensure their health is a priority in the eyes of the state.

“Ask the superintendent to write a letter to the local health department in your community and put teachers on the vaccine standby list,” suggested Director of Public Affairs Kim ClementsJohnson.

Indiana is literally surrounded by states that let teachers get their vaccines. Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio all include educators in vaccine distribution. So when will the Hoosier State catch up?

Indiana’s Department of Health needs to outline a plan for future distribution. It’s no secret that vaccine demand is greater than supply. But at the very least, they should be actively showing us who will be next in line and it should be our teachers.

The Great Divide

by Blake Hall

In his farewell address of 1796, George Washington willed the people not to separate among political parties because it would divide the nation.

Today, Generation Z is bearing witness to the distasteful etiquette between opposing worldviews, such an etiquette that should not be put into practice. With George Washington’s will in mind, the cycle of political persecution must cease to continue.

In a country deeply wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, the simultaneous epidemic of political divide ravages the country. Families watched in horror on Jan. 6 as domestic terrorists stormed the United States Capitol, some chant-

ing their intent to kill, because of the political divide.

In the year 2020, a year that seemingly made history each day, prominent pleas for climate change policy and nomasker support rang out.

The debates about LGBT+ rights and anti-immigration covered the media.

The pleas regarding abortion from pro-choice citizens and anti-choice citizens made headlines.

However, no matter the topic in question, the “debates” were almost always littered with acts of bullying and the unwillingness to see the other perspective. Being students from different walks of life, Perry Meridian Falcon’s can have valuable conversations

once they learn the value of acceptance.

Senior Mikayla Bausley believes there is “value in having peaceful conversations with the opposite viewpoint,” which begins by accepting that other people follow a different perspective. The point is, a yearn to peacefully discuss opposing views should be sought after by every citizen, a practice very uncommon in the current state of this country.

According to senior Cara Hutson, “the only way to grow in this world is to hear what others have to say.” Here in the Home of the Falcons, a school with the most diverse student body, opposing views should be expected and accepted.

Acceptance is how this country carries on towards a harmonious society. Communication is how problems find solutions. Common ground is found when opposing views reflect from a different perspective.

As a rising generation, each and every Falcon is on the cusp of adulthood to practice their beliefs in the real world. The goal is to understand that it is completely acceptable to disagree, as long as alienation and bullying are not incorporated into the discussions. Respectful conversations are what every citizen should seek, and that is achieved through acceptance across the aisle.