NORTH GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
ON CAMPUS Band and orchestra students take a trip to Toronto to perform at the York Mills Collegiate Institute. page 4
District incorporates new technology into classrooms with Apple TV co-editor-in-chief & staff reporters
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“I used IDEAS
to shy
away
from the idea of stepping out of the norm.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014
SINCE 1968
luke sturgill
By Anu Subramaniam, Mallika Kanneganti & Alex Batts
SPRING BREAK STARTS
POINTE
Library Media Specialist Karen Villegas finds the opportunity of having an Apple Television in the classroom one that can help expand students’ learning process. “It’s kind of like a connection point for mobile devices. So, a lot of (students) have (their) own mobile devices, so ultimately if we create the spaces where they have signals to do that kind of sharing, you could share something that you created on your mobile device with the rest of the class and have conversations and learning can take place in that fashion,” Villegas said. The Apple TVs are each a $99 box that can be connected to a projector or SMART Board so that it can wirelessly pick up any Apple devices’ signals and project the image to the board. “We’re kind of piecing (the funding) together from different places. So some of us got it from the Parent Club here, some people got it from the Grosse Pointe Foundation, that’s all like charity-type grants and things like that,
and some people actually bought their own,” social studies teacher Sean McCarroll said. The objective in purchasing the Apple TVs is to engage more students in classroom activities by allowing apps, images and anything that can be done on an Apple device to be projected in front of the class. “In some subjects, that’s probably how they use it. I know in subject areas, for example, there are apps like in science where students can manipulate things or perhaps write ideas, group ideas, and this would allow the teacher to then choose individual students and then project their thoughts onto the screen so they could then be discussed by the whole class,” Spanish teacher Jennifer Spears said. To get the new device, teachers are adding their names to a district-wide list. As the funds become available, more TVs will be purchased and will go to schools all over the district. “One of the things that we’re trying to do is, you know, modernize or update the way that we teach and learn at North,” McCarroll said. “By using the Apple TVs, the goal is that teachers can use it and still be able to move around the room easier. Students can connect to it to share things, so it’s more of like a collabora-
Student Juniors on Association track to graduate early reintroduces By Patricia Bajis & Radiance Cooper senior ASSISTANT EDITOR & staff reporter
Having completed almost all of his required credits, junior Jacob Kemptom found himself in a unique position at the end of his sophomore year. He discovered that he would be able to graduate early, after attending high school for only three years. “I wasn’t planning on doing it all of high school, but at the end of my sophomore year, I was talking to my counselor, and they told me that I had all of my credits, so I could take anything that I wanted senior year,” Kempton said. “So I just decided if that’s the case, I was just gonna take the extra year off, maybe work or see what my options were, essentially.” For students who choose this path, required classes must be completed in three years, and they must appeal to administration about their decision. “They have to meet all of their graduation requirements, (and) they have to appeal to the principal to be allowed to graduate early. They have to be able to explain to Mrs. Murray what their plan is and what they want to do after they graduate,” counselor Barbara Skelly said. “It can’t be that ‘I just wanna lay at home and sleep in.’” Early graduates spend their junior year completing both their junior and senior year requirements and sometimes have to work into their senior year to finish their classes. “They have to (get) four years of math in and three years of science and three years of social studies and four years of English. They continued on page 2
@myGPN
positions to students By Emma Puglia Web Managing Editor
When the postion of historian in the Class of 2016 student council opened up, sophomore Kayla Gallant jumped at it. “I’m good at taking pictures, and also, people already thought I was a ‘stuco’ kid, so it just seemed fitting to try,” Gallant said. Student Association and the Class of 2016 student council are each reintroducing positions for this upcoming year. The positions will be filled based on an application, and applicants do not need any experience. “We thought because there were so many students that were capable and that just happened to not get elected but who were still interested in working with the Association, that we would reinstitute these positions,” Student Association adviser Jonathan Byrne said. SA is opening up the positions of historian, student activities director and public relations. The historian will be responsible for taking photos at Student Association’s events, the student activities director organizes the events themselves, and public relations communicates with the media. Members who hold these positions do not receive a vote in Student Association’s decisions. These positions have existed for many years but were not publicized to the entire school before this year. “I don’t know that it was a conscious decision to not make them
www.myGPN.org
tive.” The Apple TV is a teaching method that doesn’t require every room to have wifi or all students to have Apple devices. As long as the Apple device projecting and the Apple TV are on the same wifi network, then the projection can be made. This allows students who do not have Apple devices at home to experience the same learning techniques as those who do. However, the abilities of the Apple TV are limited, as the device is relatively new. “My one concern is that it’s a proprietary device. It works with other Apple products, and so, you know, if a student has a phone that’s not an Apple phone, then it’s a little more limited. There are ways, but it’s more difficult to use it,” Spears said. The TVs also need a Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector or cable to connect to the specific projector, but the connector is wireless. The TVs will be purchased and installed in classrooms over the course of the next few years. North and South High Schools will each receive an equal number of TVs in the next year or two, and the middle and elementary schools will begin to get them afterwards.
publicly known before,” Byrne said. “It seemed like there was more interest, and so instead of ... just these few people who I already know, I needed to make it more available to anybody who might be interested in it.” The Class of 2016 took similar action by creating two historian spots and two student activities/ public relations positions. “We had a huge turnover this year, as far as old members to new members, and some of them still want to stay connected, so we found a way to involve them if they still want to and still bring new people in student council. If others don’t want to stay, new
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(The ideal candidates are) students that are motivated, work well with others, bring fresh ideas, but that are also willing to take charge of situations when needed. Jonathan Byrne
student Association adviser
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people have the option to fill out an application,” Class of 2016 adviser Marylyn Withers said. Having two people for each position aims to take pressure off students by sharing the workload. As an historian, if one person can’t make it to an event or a meeting, the other can fill in. “The other job, public relations and activities coordinator, is a
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busy job, and therefore they can share the work and find out who’s better at what,” Withers said. The executive board of Student Association, Byrne and student activities director Pat Gast will be taking an internal vote after interviewing each applicant individually. Likewise, Withers and the Class of 2016 officers will narrow down people for the four spots based on students’ applications. The Classes of 2015 and 2017 already allowed the additional members, and they will now receive formal titles under their respective positions. Although the positions were introduced due to the large number of candidates who ran for a limited number of spots in the recent elections, some former candidates are not interested in applying. “I would rather be on student council than taking pictures for them and stuff. I’d rather be in it or not in it. That’s kind of like a middle thing,” Maddy Tompkins, a former Class of 2016 candidate, said. Since the applicants are not limited to previous student council representatives, Student Association and the class student councils are looking for ambitious students throughout North to apply. “(The ideal candidates are) students that are motivated, work well w ith others, bring fresh ideas but that are also w illing to take charge of situations when needed,” Byrne said. The reinstated positions w ill continue to be available, based on application, in upcoming years. “It will help people see ‘Oh look, that’s our student council’ and ‘That’s what they’re doing,’” Tompkins said.
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