Friday November 1, 2013
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Richmond High School
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Since 1908
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Issue 3 Volume 105
REGISTER RHSREGISTER.COM
Photo by Jaz Johnson
Photo by Keeley Vanderpool
Roller Derby Page 2
History of Richmond Pages 4-5
Cancer Awareness Page 7
Photo by Becca Pheanis
Mrs. Selm Page 3
Technology Page 8
DERBY
Page 2
Richmond’s
little secret
Derby For Dummies
KEELEY VANDERPOOL Roller Derby is a fierce sport. REPORTER The roller derby term for a game is called a “bout”. The rules are simple, though they may seem tricky. Roller derby is made up of different combinations of blockers and jammers. There is a total of five skaters per team on the track. The key player of the game is called the “jammer”, who can be recognized by wearing a helmet cap that has a huge star on it. The jammers are located in the back of the line up, starting behind the pack of blockers. The objective of the jammer is to weave through the pack of blockers. The blockers’ main focus is to prevent the jammer of the opposing team from making their way through the pack in order to become the lead jammer. The lead jammer is the first one that makes their way through the pack and then out. The lead jammer can call off the jam at any time. One pass around the track is just a free ride. Now the jammer has to attempt to move through the pack of blockers as they approach from behind the pack the second time around. This time though, they are trying to score points. Points are scored if the jammer passes blockers from the opposing team legally. Jammers get one point for every skater passed up. The jams last for exactly two minutes. However, it gets difficult to score because players are not allowed to use their hands, elbows or forearms to make contact. It’s all body force action. If players are seen creating contact illegally, they are sent to the “penalty box”, also known as the time out section. The more people there are from the other team in the penalty box, the better advantage the other team has to score points if their jammer is still in the bout. Each team has to be within 20 feet from each other when the bout begins. If a player is knocked out of bounds, they have to make sure that they do not come back in in front of any player that was ahead of them before they went out of bounds.
Skating Through The Decades
KEELEY VANDERPOOL Roller skate races, now REPORTER called “Roller Derby”, started back in the 1920s. Leo Seltzers stirred up the action more in the late 1930s with a touring, Transcontinental Roller Derby, which was a month long event at the Chicago Coliseum. It was a cross-country event where 25 two-person teams (male and female) teams skated a wooden oval banked track. The teams skated for 11 ½ hours a day for 3,000 miles. The sport changed from marathon roller skating races to more physical contact from skater collisions to falls. Once the sport began to be televised, Seltzer’s events drew in a larger audience. In the early 1960s as the skating continued Seltzer handed his business over to his son, and Roller Derby changed from a sport to more of a theatric event. As popularity waned the original Roller Derby organization shut down. Starting in the 1980s, there were many attempts to bring the sport back. Rollergames started which was a figure-8 shaped bank track that had some outrageous stunts. It included staged acts and storylines. It was the only event that was a close version of roller derby. Finally, modern women’s roller derby started up in the early 2000s in Austin, Texas. The flat track version was introduced and spread worldwide. It was much easier to have the ability to mark boundaries on a skating rink or on another flat floor venue than to take time building a banked track. This change made it possible to play almost anywhere. Over a few years, leagues started to develop rapidly. In 2010, there were 450 roller derby leagues around the world with women as well as men. (Information from WFTDA website)
Sports
“Dire”y Of A Team
A factory worker, college professor, hairstylist and social worker would not seem like they have a lot in common, but a select group of women, have a passion that ANDREW HOOVER brings them together. In 2010, women such as these got together with one common CO-EDITOR goal - create a Richmond roller derby team. The Jazz City Dire Skates were born. Susan Reynolds came up with the original idea. She contacted Chrisanne Austin about starting a roller derby team, first they had to have 14 committed girls to compete and started to reach out to other women mostly via Facebook. Once they had enough girls, they began practicing at the Townsend Center. It took a year for the girls to start competing. They utilized contacts on other teams to help them get the ball rolling. “At first nobody knew what we were doing, we had to learn together,” Austin said. Originally, they weren’t competing in the league, but followed the rules of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). They had to learn all the rules on how to skate properly, and how to fall so as to not get hurt. In it’s third season, the all women roller derby team compete as a WFTDA team. The girls have to pass WFTDA skills and written tests to be on the team. The women on the team keep it running. They buy their own equipment and pay their dues and WFTDA insurance Every bout includes an announcer and a DJ who keep things exciting. Most events include a halftime show with games or local performers from garage bands to even our very own Devilettes. The Dire Skates raise money from selling tickets to bouts and selling merchandise along with fundraising and advertising. The girls offer something called “Booty Sponsoring”, where an advertiser can place an ad on the back of a skaters shorts. The team also gives back a lot to the community with proceeds from ticket sales and raffles going to charities, including: HELP! The Animals, R-Shelves, BRAvo!, and St. Jude Children’s Hospital. “We really want people to know that we want to give back to the community,” Austin said. One important thing about the Dire Skates is that nobody is paid. The announcer, the DJ, even the coach and skaters are volunteer. It’s truly supported by the girls and supporters. The Dire Skate’s Terah Legg calls these supporters, “mega fans.”. One is Dave Snow, radio personality from G1013. Snow serves as the the announcer for the Dire Skates, and has done so for 3 years. “I really enjoy being the announcer for the Dire Skates because I think our roller derby girls are the coolest, toughest, most amazing girls around. They work so hard to be a great team. They sweat, they bleed, but never cry. They always get back up and keep trying,” Snow said. An important aspect to roller derby is that everyone has a unique stage name. For instance Terah Legg goes under the name “Terahrizin”. Some other names include “Maniac Jack” which belongs to Austin. She modeled it after her maiden name. Another is “DJ Smear-O” which belongs to radio personality Jessica Leigh. The girls are coached by a professional golfer of all things. Tim Appledorn in his second full season. His stage name? “The GolfFather”. The girls have come together as a family despite their differences in jobs, money and lifestyles. According to Leigh, they call themselves “Derby Sisters”. “Roller derby is a family not just on our team, but the whole league,” Leigh said. “I’ll get hit by a girl during the bout and she will hug me after and tell me she loves me.” For some, this is a family activity. Kellye Tenney’s whole family is involved. Tenney has been skating for more than 30 years. “My husband referees and our kids are ready to start with the junior league,” Tenney said. “It’s an awesome activity the Above: Trying to get past the blocker, the jammer Emily “KickNsum” Ross, makes the turn on the track. Emily is a nurse by whole family can enjoy.” Many women on the team use day , but goes by the name Emily “KickNsum” while she is on the track. Left: Skating around the track, Terah “Terahrizn” Legg ,PICT derby as a stress reliever from their busy Director at Richmond High School warms up prior to the bout. lives. These women all have full time jobs and Register photos by : Keeley Vanderpool families to tend too. “I feel it’s needed for adults to do something that makes them happy,” Leigh said. For some, it’s a balancing act. Austin has two teenage kids, both are very active in sports. One of which is Test middle schooler Riley and Richmond junior Bryce. Austin has to take both to volleyball and baseball and many other activities they are involved in. She always finds time to go to her own practices. Another very busy woman is Legg. Who currently is the PICT Executive Director, which means she is in charge of the Peer Helpers. Legg got into derby because she served as sponsor the year before. She tried out the next year and made the team. Legg currently helps a lot with the marketing of the Dire Skates, creating their fliers and programs. If you think you’d be a good edition to the Dire Skates, the requirements are rather simple. One, you must be a female - sorry boys - but you also must be 18 years old. Tryouts happen periodically throughout the year, you can find updates on their Twitter @thedireskates, Facebook or online at direskates.com. For any of you girls that don’t think they’re big or strong enough to get knocked around, Leigh gives you some advice. “Don’t be scared, go out and try your best and they will teach you,” Leigh said. When she says they will teach you, the team will show you how to improve your skating and even how to fall. If you aren’t a strong skater, don’t let that stop you. The ladies on the team will teach you the game. For any girls though, that are under 18, don’t worry. A junior league has been created for girls 11-17. Practices are every Sunday from 4-5 pm at The Skate on Commerce Road in Richmond. Junior league isn’t full contact like the big girls. It’s based on skill level, and no experience is needed to get started. Girls must provide their own equipment. The next bout will be on December 8th at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. The team will have a mixed scrimmage with a team from Gem City. The bout will benefit Toys for Tots. If you’d like to see Richmond’s Derby Little Secret for yourself, come see Ms. Legg in the career center.
Page 3 People
Aubre-Howard Makes Monsters MOLLY HOLT COPY EDITOR Our school is full of familiar faces, but it’s hard for us to know who everyone truly is. Senior Tuscan AubreHoward is one of those faces that you’ve more than likely seen around. If you have any interest in special effects or the annual Richmond Zombie Walk you have probably seen her work. Aubre-Howard has been working on special effects ever since she saw War Of The Worlds starring Tom Cruise. “I remember watching it and thinking ‘This is the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen.’ From that day on, I wanted to make the scary creatures. I wanted to be one who could scare people with fake monsters,” Aubre-Howard said. The scary-monster fan is involved in many forms
Tuscan Aubre-Howard displays some of her work on her own body. Aubre-Howard creates makeup for gruesome effects.
Nell Brings Talents To RHS
ANGEL GLICKMAN ONLINE EDITOR Just like the students in Richmond High School, teachers have lives outside of school, and they have hobbies and activities they are involved in too. One of these teachers and faculty members with interesting out-of-school life happens to be Aaron Nell. He works with students and staff around the school and also acts as a counselor to most of the students. “My main job is to work to help keep students from dropping out of school,” Nell said. “I sometimes go to students’ homes to talk with their families.” Nell attended Wilmington College in Ohio to study English. He says that he went to Wilmington to get his Master’s Degree, but he never finished it. He did end up having many skills and talents after going to college. “I can play a number of instruments,” Nell said. He can play the trumpet, violin, a little bit of accordion and hand percussion, which includes the drums. Nell is also quite involved with other activities with RHS, which includes the Poetry Club. “I also help with Challenge Day,” Nell said. “I don’t run the whole thing,
but I do volunteer for it.” He also says the reason he may be popular amongst some of the students is because he tries to be a good listener. “I try to listen before I talk,” he said. He also said it may also be that he has time to listen to students that have any questions or problems, so they have someone to rely on for any help. Even though Nell is more of a counselor and a teacher figure at RHS, most students know him from his work at the Richmond Civic Theatre. He has been a part of two plays and performances, which were Jesus Christ Superstar in 2005 and Les Miserables in 2013. While being in a few musicals and plays, Nell listens to plenty of musical genres. He said his favorites include funk fusion from the 70’s, improv jazz, indie folk and bluegrass. Some of his favorites include Patty Griffin, Amos Lee, The Roots and Over The Rhine, a local band from Indiana.
CANCER - continued from page 7 Not only does breast cancer take precedence over other cancers, we also tend to forget that it doesn’t only affect women. Men are just as likely to get breast cancer, but people seem to forget that fact. People tend not to stop and think about the fact that thousands of people are affected by cancer’s off all kinds, and it’s
He also says that aside from listening to music and being on stage, his favorite hobbies are kayaking, poetry and working as a bicycle mechanic. Overall, Aaron Nell would be a person to not only go to for help, but to discuss other things outside of school with. He is just like one of the students, as he has plenty of after-school activities he attends to.
not breast cancer awareness month’s fault. We just get caught up in the fact that this is publicized as huge thing. There are breast cancer name brand clothes and anything else you can think of. But why not of other cancers? Let’s start to take more time out of our lives to be aware of the other cancers as well.
of art aside from her special effects. “I love assembling visual media,” she said. “In my spare time you’ll find me doing design, drawing, searching movie soundtracks, putting together fake movie trailers, and watching horror movies. I hope to pursue visual design, film, and special effects makeup.” Through her busy schedule Aubre-Howard still manages to make time for all of her passions. She works as a food prep and caterer for Quaker Hill on Chester Boulevard and is going through all of her senior year priorities. “I just have to make sure I keep my schedule intact and maintain a steady understanding of time I have to spare,” AubreHoward said. She claimed that her greatest achievement was
when she was asked to do special effects for a zombie wedding. In the future her dream is to make her hobbies and passions into a career. “I would love to work in the film industry with making these synthetic nightmares and things of the sort. It’s something I want to do for as long as I can,” Aubre-Howard said. Though special effects is something she has a strong passion for, but she has also realized the troubles that go along with them. “I’ve had to take some time to figure out how to make all of the effects look realistic so they can be believable,” AubreHoward said. “Also, several materials are very expensive so I have to keep track of how much I spend.” Along with the financial struggle of special effects there’s also the struggle to
find a job in that area of expertise. “I’m afraid that many of these job opportunities are beginning to decline in popularity,” AubreHoward said. “Green screen and CGI (computer generated image) has become so popular that many special effects artists have run out of specific work. I’m determined to keep at it, though, because it’s the thing I enjoy doing.” For this passionate artist, the love of what she does keeps her going. “I would just like to make sure that people know that they will almost always succeed with what they love doing,” Aubre-Howard said. “This ‘hobby’ of mine is something I wish to pursue for as long as possible and I’m determined to keep at it no matter what negative feedback or discouragement I receive.”
Selm’s Academic Journey BREE WALTER PAGE DESIGNER As many of us know, Denise Selm, one of the tech teachers, won teacher of the year for Richmond Community Schools which led her to compete to win teacher of the year for the state of Indiana. With being nominated as teacher of the year, Selm had to go through some preparations. “One of the first things I did, was I had to create a portfolio of things I’ve accomplished and things that I do with students and faculty here and in the community,” Selm said. She had to make two portfolios. One was for the nominations for RCS’s Teacher Of The Year, and then another for the state. “There was a committee that reviewed the portfolio and from the 50 portfolios that were submitted to the state, they picked the top ten,” Selm said. If you made it to be in the top ten finalists, you were then interviewed by a committee with the previous teachers of the years for the state. Selm interviewed with 15 former winners. They chose from the top ten to the top three.
“In the state portfolio, I had to write seven different essays including my philosophy of teaching, the things I’ve done in the community and what I would promote and speak about if I were Indiana’s Teacher of the Year,” Selm said. In these portfolios, the teachers were assigned multiple essays explaining their accomplishments, things they have done for their school, and their services in the community. At the end of the sections, Selm included being recognized by students at the academic excellence celebrations, the professional developments she had worked on, all of the awards that she worked on with students from BPA at the district and national level, and she included the lost program she worked with IU East instructors on for students and entrepreneurship, which she had taught in South Africa for that.
She helps put together the shamrock 5k runs and she works with the BPA program, Although she went through quite a bit to become teacher of the year, she did not finish in first, but she did finish in third.
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Page 5
City of Richmond Feature
City Of Murals
Downtown Tragedy
MOLLY HOLT MEADOW WEHRLEY COPY EDITORS At 1:47 p.m. on April 6, 1968, tragedy shook the streets of Richmond and destroyed the popular downtown shopping plaza. “It was a nice warm Saturday, my mom and dad were going to go downtown, but our washing machine quit and Dad stopped to work on it,” Richmond native Pete Wehrley said. “All of a sudden we just heard BOOM, both our front door and back door blew open and our whole house shook.” He was 10 years-old at the time. T h e explosion of d o w n t o w n R i c h m o n d happened on the corner of 6th and Main Street where Marting Arms, a local gun shop, rested. Most of the town’s first thoughts were that it was protestors due to the severe racial tension of the time from the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination. Later, it was found out that gas pipes owned by the Richmond Gas Company below the Marting Arms store perforated due to corrosion and caused the explosion that shook the town, but before investigation, the town was full of chaos and confusion. After the first gas explosion, another quaked the streets. Gunpowder from the gun shop had ignited from the gas and caused further devastation. “Buildings for blocks were destroyed,” Wehrley said. “My dad said there were body parts laying everywhere and there was blood just running down the street. People were scattering everywhere.” The blasts killed 41 people and more than 150 people were injured, many in critical condition. “The TV showed all the names of people that died and my good friend Jeff Gabbert was on the list.” Wehrley said. “I thought, ‘no, that couldn’t be.’ I went all around looking for him. I was just riding bikes with him two hours earlier. Him and his mom both perished.” Wehrley’s own family had a few closecalls with the explosion. “It was a good thing that the washer messed up because my
parents would have been school shopping downtown.” Wehrley said. “My brother was supposed to be down there with his friend, too, but they had (luckily) snuck off to the park without permission. It was meant to be that my dad took the time to fix the washer and my brother broke the rules that day.” The damage was devastating. 20 buildings were condemned from the blast. Gas leaks were found two months later in the buildings and may have contributed to the explosion. The 1968 Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act was implemented to ensure safer gas and imposed stricter regulations. Despite the tragedy, the community truly pulled together that day to lend a hand and help their neighbors. There were heroes made out of locals that day and blood donations were given to the hospital. There were many acts of valor that couldn’t have been noticed or noted in the chaos. “My Dad took the station wagon and hauled two or three people at a time to the hospital.” Wehrley said. “There were a lot of people that were injured, everyone did the best they could to help out.” After all of the commotion died down, the promenade became a dark spot in the city and the business of the area began to die out. In 1972 the downtown area was rebuilt, and then expanded in 1978 by Ken Paust. The promenade was made over into a pedestrian mall which had been considered before the explosions and was implemented in hopes to keep the area alive. The street got closed off to cars and was complete with fountains and benches and “mushroom” canopies. The promenade was a huge success and even won the “President’s Award” in 1974 for urban landscaping. After fire and devastation the town was able to turn ash to diamond. The shut off of main street to cars, however, was a huge conflict in the town and the streets reopened to traffic in 1997. Throughout the many changes of the street, on the corner of South 5th and Main a memorial has stood reading, “In memory of the forty-one persons who lost their lives in the tragic downtown explosion April 6, 1968 and with everlasting gratitude to those who helped give rebirth to this city.”
Richmond is decorated with tons of colorful murals. Many of this is due to the Festival of Murals that was held in Wayne County. The Festival gave local artists an opportunity to showcase their work and compete with other locals. It was held every summer for three years.
Richmond High School in 1978 before Tiernan Center. Tiernan Center was built in 1984. Photo coutesy of Pyle Photography.
Richmond’s Local Metropolis
“JazzCity”
MOLLY HOLT COPY EDITOR Gennett Records was founded by Starr Piano Company in Richmond, Indiana in 1921. Prior to taking the name Gennett after the top managers they originally recorded under the name Starr Records. Gennett had a record studio set up in New York, and then later expanded a second studio right here in Richmond. Many famous jazz artists recorded right here in Richmond. Some of these include Louis Armstrong, Gene Autry, Chocolate Beau Brummels, Hoagy Carmichael, Sam Collins, Jaybird Coleman, Duke Ellington, Frank Ferera, Jelly Roll Morton, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, Joe “King” Oliver, Otto Gray and his Oklahoma Cowboys, Posey Rorer, and the Wolverines. In 2007 Gennett Records began to recognize a few of their most important artists. Along South 1st Street at the site of the Gennett Piano Company there is the Gennett Walk of Fame, which is part of the Whitewater Gorge Trail connecting to the even longer Cardinal Greenway, helping to make up the American Discovery Trail, the only coastto-coast non-motorized trail. The markers of famous musicians are made out of colorful mosaic in the form of 78 rpm phonograph records. They contain the Gennett logo and the picture of the artist/musician. A small bronze plaque contains the name and accomplishments of the inductee. The Starr-Gennett records has made Richmond a well known town, and helped to give up the nickname “The Jazz City.”
MEADOW WEHRLEY COPY EDITOR Taking a stroll down the streets in Richmond’s Depot district may provide the feeling of home and nostalgia for any Richmond native. The buildings are colorful, local businesses are thriving and the area is a social hotspot for town residents. Only a few years ago, Richmond’s Depot District was a wasteland. Few businesses were thriving there and the streets weren’t highly trafficked by pedestrians. Richmond Furniture Gallery owner, Roger Richert, remembered it from his past, “When I was young you would not walk on the depot district.” Richert said. “It was a very bad area. Former Sheriff Dennis Andrews told me that when the jail was full, he would tell his deputies not to go down North E because he did not want them to pick up any more drunks because there was no place to put them.” Richert moved into the old Miller Brothers building after it had been closed for 33 years. “It was boarded shut a n d had no heat or electric, 277 broken windows and walls covered with slime,” Richert said. When Richert
began construction for the Gallery, the district was in a bad state. Most of the buildings were in similar condition to the Miller Brothers building. A few businesses were being worked on, but other than Little Sheba’s and a few more smaller shops there were no booming businesses. Since the days of drunks and construction, the depot district has undergone a huge makeover. “Now there are 7 restaurants: a women’s salon, a yoga studio, a therapeutic massage salon, a professional CPA office, and a builder’s office. Little Sheba’s has grown into 4 buildings with Outside Dining, Book Store, Roscoe’s Coffee Shop, Kids Paint the Town pottery shop, Country Store, Firehouse BBQ And Blues and so much more!” Richert said. “It is the unique nature of each business that makes the Depot District a great place to eat and shop.” With the very highly attended Christmas Festival and Oktoberfest and the District being named Richmond’s College Village it is safe to say that the Depot District is well past its slums. The District is a huge part of Richmond’s culture. It has again become the local metropolis that it was in 1902 when the Pennsylvania Railroad Station was built. The large railroad station is a standing piece of Richmond history. Richert restored it from the worst shape it’s ever been in and is now a symbol for the Depot District as a whole. The area has come out of horrible conditions to become a social hub that any Richmond citizen could find their niche in.
Page 6 Culture
Respect: What Does it Mean to RHS Students? My Opinion
Savanna Goble Editor in Chief One of the five R’s in our school’s principles is respect. It is a word we hear over and over again every year at the first school assembly. Our administrators have been grinding this word in students heads in hopes of creating the perfect classroom and overall school environment. Maybe this word has stuck in some of the heads of students in Richmond High School, but there are some who seem to ignore the idea. Almost every student has a peer in class they believe negatively disrupts and disrespects other students and even the teacher. As a part of high school, it is something we cannot avoid, and is inevitable. No matter how many assemblies we have to sit through about bullying and respect of others, it is always going to be a joke to some students. As frustrating as this is, there is no solution that has been useful so far. Perhaps it is time for a different approach. It is still extremely immature and distracting when students at this point in their high school career are still being rude to one another. Missing out on education from others not caring about their own is very tiring.Teachers can only do so much to discipline the problem students. In the end, it might be the students themselves who can teach one another a thing about respect. Peer learning is proven to be the best way for young adults to understand something. If we could all just stop for a second and relate to each other, problems could possibly be solved. Richmond has been taking steps toward respect, however. When RHS brought Challenge Day two years ago, students reacted with a sudden sense of realization. They walked around for about two weeks with positive attitudes and open minds. Although, it did not last for everyone, it was something positive students were involved in. Change was probable for some students and a miss with others. When we realize that we cannot change our peers, we may need to learn how to tolerate and deal with the disrespect. This problem is going to extend beyond high school and it is not something you really learn to deal with unless your parents have talked to you about it. Instead of preaching about change in our community, maybe we should start hearing from students at assemblies who can tell us how to overcome these obstacles in the classroom. While I know this is something that teachers have a hard time dealing with by themselves already, it is time to look at the students point of view as well. With that in mind, I ask you Richmond students, what can we do to stop disrespect in the classrooms? Maybe taking a step back and realizing how each of us really treats our teachers and peers is the answer.
Photo illustration by Ian Riley.
The Movement: What are they doing? BECCA PHEANIS REPORTER We hear a lot about The Movement and how the students apart of it try to make a difference at Richmond High School, but do not know what they really do. The members of this group wanted to give the students outside of the meetings a little notice of what is happening. If you are not sure exactly what The Movement is, it is a group of Richmond students that gather once a week to discuss a “word of the month”. Every Monday, they try to figure out how they can use this word to help make a difference in a high school student’s life. Their goal in the end is to make this school a better place to be. This month’s word is “Wisdom,” which is the attribute of having knowledge and experience as well as having the quality of being wise. The Movement has been asking students during lunch how they have wisdom and showcasing what the student’s
replies were. As you are walking to class, you can see The Movement everywhere. The goal to get students involved is a positive way to bring the students together. “We promote a group of core values to the students,” senior Matt Sheridan said. These core values are the words that they choose which help encourage students. Sheridan is a current member of The Movement and is an active participant of the group. He has been to elementary schools to perform shows for younger students and goes out on weekends and involves himself in the community through The Movement. Not only do members of The Movement discuss the word of the month, they also were actively involved in Challenge Day. Leslie Bolser, the leader of both The Movement and Challenge Day has played a key role in the change we have seen at Richmond High School. Bolser makes sure that the variety of students involved all can help
organize and support school events. “I would say that it is in line with the efforts of and supported by The Movement leaders,” group leader Pastor Brain Derrer said. As far as becoming apart of this group, it is pretty easy. If you are interested in joining, you can start going to the meetings every Monday during your lunch in the conference room across the cafeteria. If you want talk to someone before going to a meeting, you can contact Leslie Bolser. “There are around 50 or so students that are in the group and anyone can join,” sophomore Sara Steele says. The Richmond community also has a contribution to The Movement. They use the same words and definitions through the United Way’s, “More Than Words” campaign. It is important for the students to be connected to the community and vice versa. It keeps everyone in the know and improves a lot in the community in general.
Progressive and Traditional Teaching Styles JALEN SLEET CHIEF COPY EDITOR
In recent years, traditional teaching styles and methods have come under fire as modern alternatives gain popularity. The distinctions made between the two systems are primarily focused on the ways in which students receive, retain, and reuse information presented to them. The issue with traditional education is that, generally, a simple format is followed in which students obtain knowledge from a higher source, such as a teacher, textbook, video, etc. The simplicity of this one dimensional, “sit and get,” method results in significantly lower test scores, learning retention, etc, according to gettingsmart. com. Skeptics of traditional education, like Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal’s Edward Garcia, often point to pitfalls of the public classroom. “The secondary education system for the most part offers a one-size-fitsall educational methodology. Teachers stand in the front of the class with 25 to
“There are so many ways to continue traditional teaching methods with practices. For example, asking students to interact with their notes during lecture - or stopping to check for understanding.”
- Karri Polk-Meek
45 students, read from textbooks and lead from workbooks based on predetermined curricula,” Garcia said. So where do Richmond High School faculty members stand in the rivalry between traditional and modern approaches, and what do they do to make the classroom a more individual experience for students? According to English teacher Cory Irwin, efficiency in the classroom is dependent upon a balance of the two. “Effective teachers aren’t one trick ponies - they have a lot of different tools to utilize in the classroom and know their
students well-enough to know what to employ in a given situation. That said, the most important thing a teacher can do, regardless of the different approaches at their disposal, is to consistently pose higher-order questions,” Irwin said. This concept of posing higher-order questions can be referenced to Bloom’s Taxonomy, in which lower levels of thinking include knowledge and comprehension, while the higher levels of thinking are associated with more complex thought involving application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is a necessity to the holistic learning experience needed in the classroom, but the characteristics of more traditionally styled learning activities do not allow for the more complex levels of the taxonomy to be fully exercised. “I tend to select a method that I think will most effectively convey the information or skill that I’m teaching. If i want a student to think critically about material then I will tend to use either a Socratic-style discussion or critical thinking activity or some type of research. If I want a kid to think creatively, I’ll give them an arts-oriented approach. But if I simply need them to either get a concept really clearly or a lot of information at once, I’ll lecture,” Irwin said. Karri Polk-Meek, pictured left, makes similar remarks when questioned about her personal teaching style. Polk-Meek also incorporates technology, in addition to critical thinking strategies, to bridge traditionally structured activities to more modern standards.
Page 7 Opinion
What’s Up With Government Shutdown? We the people of the United States, we who moved to form a more perfect IAN RILEY oriental, have government issued health care, or are at least working towards union, we who moved to establish justice, we who moved to ensure domestic COPY EDITOR it. The national debt is a deterrent to many politicians because of the fear that tranquility, we who moved to promote the general welfare, might be screwed. “Obamacare” is not fiscally responsible. This belief is held by both house GOP As a citizen of the United States it seems to me like the country’s stability is members and moderates, who are behind the motions to destroy or delay always hanging by a thread, ready to drop into calamity. Whether it be the “Obamacare” for the near future. national debt or an insane dictator with nuclear weapons threatening This has brought many old feuds and tensions up among our way of life, the government always seems to be able to politicians and political observers. Unfortunately, the avoid certain disaster by a hair, leaving the country intact. Affordable Care Act was already passed into law and The government shutdown was an exception. proved constitutional by the Supreme Court, to the Why was it an exception though? It is not the first dismay of many hardocre conservatives. Senators government shutdown and it likely is not going like Ted Cruz (R - Texas), attempted to take a to be the last. In this era of heightened party stand against the bill a few days before it’s tensions, political skirmishes such as this one, debut date. are likely to become common place until a This effectively locked down the long term solution to our national debt is legislative process, keeping a budget found. from passing and leading the nation to Why is any of that political mumbo the brink of armageddon. jumbo important to an Indiana town? The We did manage to survive however, far reaching economic consequences of in what capacity, is up to the history even approaching the debt ceiling like books. The debt ceiling has been we did are more or less incalculable, so pushed back to February 2014 and we won’t worry about them. The closest a tentative compromise has been relatable scenario that we have seen in reached regarding fiscal matters. recent years would be the sequester crisis All of that nonsense is in DC in which we danced with the debt though, so what is happening ceiling, but even then the conditions here? Indiana government were too different to draw direct employees took a hard hit with parallels. The sequester, for those their salaries, essentially, being of you who don’t remember, was a cut until a solution was found. couple of months ago at the start of Now that one has been found, the fiscal year when a budget was many employees are still gun not passed because our congress shy of another situation like couldn’t decide what things they this, because it has shown the wanted to cut. It doesn’t take an weakening of their job security. expert to see the great fissure between In addition, credit agencies have the democrats and republicans which taken a look at the shifting stability grows larger with each clash. For most in the United States and also noticed of our lives it has been that way, so then the economic instability. A downgrade why does it mean anything now? Political in credit rating indicates to other countries discourse is all well and good when it is required, that loaning money is unadvised, sort of like but more than anything action and a solid leader are a national credit rating. This will damage the required for this situation. Whether or not President stock markets and the nation’s economy as a Obama fits that bill is up for you to decide. whole, including Indiana. So then why is this happening? Besides ethical So now, as a nation, we stand on a precipice, dilemmas, the Affordable Care Act is the ground-zero and even in these turbulent times, both politically for the problem. and economically, we need to stand together as The problem is not government healthcare, many people, not as parties or ethnicities, to weather the of the world’s leading countries, both occidental and great storms ahead.
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Page 8 Feature
Technology:
It’s Running Our Lives Technology Affecting Our Brains Imagine sitting in class or at home, BY JENNA SAYLOR then all of a sudden there’s a buzz, PAGE EDITOR buzz, buzz. One would immediately check their phone, excited for a news message. Sometimes, though, they end up being disappointed seeing that they do not actually have a text. Technology is affecting the way all generations think and act. How many people find it hard to read long passages? The brain has become accustomed to reading short and choppy paragraphs that do not require more than a few seconds thought. There is also the ever present ‘text lingo’ that our generation, and now older and younger generations, use every day of our lives. Things like ‘lol’, ‘idk’, ‘brb’, and other acronyms very similar to those. Because teens tend to talk like that in their texts, their brains become accustomed to using those acronyms. How many times do people say, ‘lol’, or ‘omg’ out loud? That’s because teens use them so much their brain has filed them away as actual words. “I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was until my eighth grade english teacher, Mrs. Raper, made a whole lesson out of it. After that day I realized how it affected my writing; that I was shortening words that didn’t need to be shortened.I also realized that I started saying things like “lol”, and “omg” out loud. I was horrified with myself and so I started to type with correct grammar,” Junior Danielle Cooper said. Technology also affects the parts of the brain related to addiction. How many people wake up and check their phones first thing in the morning? According to, androidauthority.com, 62 percent of people check their phones in the morning even before acknowledging other people. That’s over half of the population of the world. 89 percent of people aged 18-24 years use their phone
within the first 15 minutes of waking. On average, 79 percent of people have their phone on them for all but two hours a day, 25 percent of people have it with them continuously. Nomophobia is the fear of losing your phone, which affect 66 percent of people. Is all this a sign of addiction? It could be. They list 12 signs that you might be addicted your cell phone. “I don’t think that I’m addicted to my phone. I use it to text and listen to music mostly,” Senior, Sully Elleman said. “I don’t think it’s fair to imply that someone is addicted to their phone when most of their lives are in their phone and computers these days. I mean thats where they keep all their notes and it’s how they get a hold of their friends and family. You can use your phone for anything, it has the power of the entire internet on it. I just think that, since our phones hold so much of our lives in them, it’s not fair to say one is addicted to their phone. Though, I guess, people can easily get addicted to their phone, just as easily as anything else.” According to onlinedegreeprograms.com, technology is physically changing our brains. On average we take in 12 hours of media a day, and young developing brains are especially at risk. We’re more able to tune out distractions, but less able to think abstractly. The neural pathways are affected, and it makes us less able to understand and process information. We are losing the ability to contextualize, and are able to process visual information easier. Technology is dramatically changing the way people think and act today. People don’t like to leave the house without their phones being charged. They are constantly checking their pockets for their phones, or looking for it when it’s right there in their hand.
Technology Plays Bigger Part In Daily Lives Think back to when you did not have the internet in the palm of your hand. Who remembers booting up an old desktop computer at their house? Could you live that way now? Most people would answer no. Not many people nowadays will know the troubles of having to wait for an old box to turn on nor would they want to. Instead of sitting at home on a bulky computer, we have the ability to travel while surfing the internet. Since technology has become more advanced, we rely on it more. Over time, society has changed from not having a computer at all, to basically everyone having a BREE WALTER REPORTER
mini computer sitting in their pocket. Everyday, there are discussions about what has happened on the internet, whether it be a funny photograph or some sort of social media drama. We as humans thrive for new technology. How often do you see someone with an old flip phone instead of an iPhone or smartphone? We constantly want the next big thing in technology. According to U.N. studies, more people have access to cell phones than toilets, meaning, there are more people with cell phones than there are people with toilets. If you were surveyed with a question like, “How often you are on your phone?” What would your answer be? We rely on
R u addicted? Take this quiz to find out. 1)You reach for your phone first thing in the morning. o Yes o No 2)You check your phone last thing at night. o Yes o No 3)You check your phone in the middle of a conversation. o Yes o No 4)You take your phone to the restroom with you. o Yes o No 5)You play with your phone while someone’s talking to you. o Yes o No 6)You find new reasons to use your phone to legitimize your attachment. o Yes o No 7)You check your phone while watching a movie in the theater. o Yes o No 8)You refuse to turn off your phone. o Yes o No 9) You keep your phone visible and in reach at all times. o Yes o No 10)You look at your phone, even when it isn’t doing anything. o Yes o No 11)You panic when you misplace your phone, even for a minute. o Yes o No 12) You have to charge your phone more than once a day o Yes o No If you answered yes more than nine times, then you may be addicted to your phone.
technology to deliver our messages, to access our personal information, and other necessities. The online schooling that is available is a form of technology that students and teachers rely on. They are relying on assignments to be over the computer or by email. With a situation like that, the assignment being sent can be lost just as easily as an assignment handed in on paper. The teacher can accidently delete the email, or it can be sent to the spam folder. Technology is everywhere and everyone uses it in one way or another, whether it be for socializing, a job or schooling.