Thursday, October 24, 2019
Volume 110 Issue 2
Students explore interests in class Curriculum provides upperclassmen with academic freedom
by Tessa Voytovich @tessavoytovich A complaint made by many students about high school is that they are not studying exactly what they wish to study. However, what they may not know is that LT offers an Independent Study course in which curriculum is dictated by the student, for the student. “An independent study gives students the opportunity to go deeper into a topic of their own interest,” Director of Curriculum and Instruction Scott Eggerding said. “It teaches time management as well as independence.” Independent Study is considered an elective course. Each student with an IS has a teacher sponsor who advises and monitors the student’s progress. A student goes to a place such as the library or Discovery Center and conducts their research or works on a project on a topic of their choice. For instance, Claire Bradley ‘20 is researching organ transplants and the latest surgical transplant technologies. “Because I already took biology and anatomy last year, I wanted to have a medicine-focused and outside-the-box class during my senior year,” Bradley said. Bradley’s IS entails not only research, but hands-on experience. Later in the semester, she will be working with a nephrologist (kidney doctor) at RUSH hospital in Chicago. She will shadow and observe ethics committees focused on organ transplants. “My friend had a kidney transplant sophomore year,” Bradley said. “So, it is a bit personal to me. I’m also really interested in future technologies—the purpose of my IS is finding out the best ways to create the perfect match for organ transplants.” Some other seniors took their IS in a different direction. Three members of a robotics team, Tim Sands ‘20, Justin Squire ‘20, and Leo Levato ‘20, have an IS to work on their improving their robot for competitions. “At the end of last year’s [robotics club] season, we qualified for the state tournament but got crushed,” Sands said. “We realized we needed to spend more time on our robot, so we asked Mr. [Blake] Sauders if we could spend more time on it in an independent study rather than just two hours each Monday.” The three of them work together in the applied tech lab to construct and to program their robot.
“I definitely enjoy going to school a lot more because I know there’s something to look forward to,” Sands said. “It’s definitely made my school days a lot more enjoyable.” One student is doing an IS for the second year in a row. Last year, Braeden Norris ‘20 took a class that did not have enough students and turned it into his independent study along with another student. His physics teacher, Joseph Barker, approached him about using his coding skills to enhance the physics class curriculum. “My culminating project is me making a ton of lessons in terms of introducing programming into the physics department,” Norris said. “Ultimately, I want it to help understanding in physics classes.” Norris is an avid coder and has always been interested in computers. A summer internship, along with computer science classes and his IS, are preparing him for his future, he said. “It transfers to what I want to study in college,” he said. continued on page 5
Leo Levato ‘20 and Tim Sands ‘20 work on constructing their robot during their indepdendent study period. Their third team member Justin Squire ‘20 is not pictured (Voytovich/LION).
Local elementary, middle schools transition to updated standards-based grading system
Standards-based grading system in LT district offers new approach to learning
know specifically where they are in the pathway towards learning a specific skill.” At Field Park, the report card format is new, Burger said. by Anna McCormick The report card will consist of a two-page document with @annakmccormick a breakdown of each skill in each reporting area. Students Beginning this year, some local elementary and middle will receive a mark in that particular area, and there will be schools in Districts 101 and 102 began using the stancomments on their progress. dards-based grading system. This system focuses on proAlthough Field Park, Laidlaw and Forest Hills schools viding students with feedback to help them master specific have transitioned into standards-based grading, the middle standards. school of District 101, McClure Junior “We believe very strongly that High School has not. grades should be about the communi“[The committee] is not sure what we [Standards-based cation of progress and that kids, staff, will do with McClure,” Burger said. “We grading] is not about and parents should use grades to show want to make sure we are preparing our progress,” Field Park Elementary kids. We expect our kids to be able to self-worth. principal Ashley Burger said. grow and be applicable in any grading -Field Park Elementary In standards-based grading, stusystem.” dents receive a mark (a number rangIn addition to District 101 schools, principal Ashley Burger ing from one to four) for a specific all District 102 schools have gone in this learning goal instead of a letter grade, Burger said. A four direction, including Park Junior High School. District 102 demonstrates above and beyond understanding of the skill. schools have begun a pilot standards-based grading system “[Standards-based grading] is not about self-worth,” and plan to implement the revised program in the 2020-21 Burger said. “Feelings are often associated with letter school year. grades, but in standards-based grading students and parents At LT, many teachers have implemented the stan-
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dards-based grading scale in their classrooms, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Scott Eggerding said. Many teachers in the science and math department feel [standard-based grading] better reflects how students are learning the different skills in the science area. “I started using [standards-based grading] because of a conversation at a math conference with a former administrator [from a different school district] who authored several math books,” physics teacher Joseph Barker said. “He suggested some articles to read and consider. After a fair amount of research and thought, it seemed a very logical approach.” In Barker’s class, students are able to retry specific skills on tests until they receive the mark that satisfies them, Erin Dickett ‘20 said. “If I did poorly, I had the opportunity to get a four [the top mark],” Dickett said. “It was stressful, though. It was time consuming to study for another unit while still studying for the previous one, but it was worth it.” The way teachers grade their students at LT is based on teacher discretion, Eggerding said. The classes currently using standards-based grading are experimenting with it. “Everybody has a different version of [standards continued on page 5
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Look here for a preview of our second issue
News
Opinions
Sports
Check out page 2 to see how your peers have made a difference.
Look at the grid on page 7 to find out your classmates’ favorite smells.
To discover new opportunities, look at page 3.
Is Hollywood still creative? Read point-counterpoint on page 8 and choose your side.
Flip to page 10 to read about the girls cross country team’s plans for the state meet.
Ever complain about being hot in school? Open page 4 to read about what could be done. Open up to pg. 16 to read a review of the new Joker movie. (see pg. 13-16 for more)
North Campus
Flip to page 5 to see what unique topics your peers are studying.
Did you register to vote at LT? What effect did it have on you? Find out LION’s take on page 9.
Turn to page 6 to read about the talents students at LT share with us.
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The Weirdos are an LT institution. Find out how this year’s Weirdos are promoting school spirit on page 11. Look to page 12 for a preview of the heat LT plans to rain down at the Devil’s football field.
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