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LAUREN SEXTON
NORTH
LAUREN SEXTON
LAUREN SEXTON
GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
POINTE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016
SINCE 1968
District takes cautions measures after shootings By Josie Bennett & Tommy Teftsis
ending the open campus lunch customs. Ever y 10 years, Compliance One does a safety and security audit on the school system. “The Board of Education w ill accept a recommendation from Compliance One,” Niehaus said v ia email. “After the Board hears the recommendations, then we w ill begin to make decisions about what we can and cannot do.” After their investigation in the fall of last year, the company determined that one of the major safety breaches is the open campus lunch hour. Even though a closed campus lunch would ideally prov ide a safer env ironment for students, senior Nicole Valenzano said that the district is also aware of the complications of closing campus. A lthough the possibility of not going home or for fast food during lunch hangs in the air, Valenzano believes it’s too early to worr y about it especially after speaking w ith Nie-
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In an effort to increase student safety, the district hired Compliance One, a security consultant company that implemented a school system safety and security audit last fall. In light of the new contract w ith Compliance One, Superintendent Gar y Niehaus has considered new security measures, such as a phone notification system created by Virginia Tech and poss i b l y
haus when he came to talk w ith Student Association members. Niehaus explained to Student Association is that the possibility of having closed lunches would be strictly for the incoming class of 2020 and all classes following. Current students will not be affected by the change. However, this situation still requires solutions for ways to keep just the freshmen on campus. One proposed solution is scannable ID cards to be used upon entr y and ex it of the building. “In my opinion, there is still a lot to be figured out for our school to have closed lunch, like how to fit all the students, how to feed all the students and of course the loss of fundraising by organizations,” Valenzano said. “Therefore this is not that realistic of an idea as of now, but I can definitely see it becoming reality 10 to ten years down the line.” W hile the fate of open campus is undecided, the emergency notification system has been approved and will have its first test we today. Principal Kate Murray said that it’s supposed to give the school the opportunity to communicate with all the students simultaneously during a security situation. “At North, we protect this house, and this house includes 1,400 teenagers,” Murray said. “I’m excited that this new tool is going to allow us to do an even better job of protecting this house.”
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LINDSEY RAMSDELL
New alliance forms in Grosse Pointe community By Emma Puglia, Montana Paton & Asia Simmons SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR, ASSISTANT EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER
“One common goal.” That’s the motto of the Friends of the African American Parent Alliance and can be seen printed across their embossed f liers in bold letters. Gathered in the cafeteria, about 50 people attended the branch’s first meeting April 14 for an open discussion between parents and teachers. Founder Shalece Daniels created the group as a branch of the Parents Club with three goals in mind: to resolve challenges, promote participation and assist support for those who may feel as though they are not supported. “I suppose the main purpose is to bring together a group of people with common experiences,” Daniels said. “The group is completely open. The reason why it’s called Friends of the African American Parent Alliance is because it’s not just African American parents. It’s friends that support us and have the same goals that we have, such as (Principal Kate) Murray.” With these main goals in mind, the FAAPA promotes a sense of community that welcomes any members to speak openly, ask questions and raise concerns during the meetings. “I was inspired by the honest dialogue, and growth is the product of honest dialogue,” Murray said. “Honest dialogue where people try to first understand
someone else, and then to be understood, and really doing some great listening and ref lecting, connecting and understanding.” Other schools, through organizations such as the Oakland County African American Parent Network, established their own branch in 2008. Though this may not be the reason North adopted this new group, it shows that groups with similar goals and interests are growing throughout the community. Students are FAAPA’s main priority and although currently they don’t have a way for students to be directly involved, the organization is eager to introduce a student branch. “The students can contact me, because we believe that coming up soon, maybe June or July. We will have a meeting and have the children get involved
IDEAS - PAGE 7
as well,” Daniels said. “We don’t know what their role will be, and we may allow them to define it for themselves, but we definitely want to provide support for them. That’s why we’re there. We are there for the children. We are parents, and we all have the same goal: to make sure our children feel supported and secure and getting a good education.” Freshman Victoria Simmons learned about FAAPA from her mother, who plans on attending the next meeting. “My mom went to the meeting and told me about it,” Simmons said. “I hope that it will serve as a support for African American students academically, socially and emotionally.” Since the group is in the early stages of forming their vision, they plan to discuss future involvement in specific activities, such as educational
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REVIEWS PAGE 8
“This is no time to act tough or try to play cute: road rage can be a matter of life and death.” PT.WIKIPEDIA.ORG
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VOLUME 48 | ISSUE 13
seminars in certain topics (like cultural sensitivity and being an active parent) and support services, in upcoming meetings. For now, however, FAAPA hopes to increase membership and bolster parent involvement at North. “In terms of my personal hope for it, the main thing I think I would like to see is that parents see themselves as being even more integral to the process of student learning here at North,” English teacher Geoffrey Young said. “I would love to see the parents who are a part of this network be working together as they come to the school, be part of activities in the school and bring their expertise to whatever our issues are here in the school, whether those are issues of success or issues of struggle.”
News | 2 Calendar | 3
On Campus | 4 PTB| 5
Find out more about season two of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on page 8.
Life| 6 On Pointe| 7
IDEAS - PAGE 9
“We are lucky enough to be at a place like North, where students are able to be their authentic selves free of legal ridicule.” Reviews | 8 Editorial| 9
Sports | 10-11 In-Depth | 12