November 2019 Pepper Box

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SAYING CULTURAL THANKSGIVING THANKS

RHS staff and students share the reasons for being thankful

Turon Philippines

SPOTLIGHT Pg. 4-5

ATHLETE PROFILES

Students combie their culture with American tradition during the holiday

Winter sports have begun and some returning athletes have set high goals

SPORTS Page 8

A&E Page 7

THE PEPPER BOX RITENOUR HIGH SCHOOL

ISSUE 3, VOLUME 97

9100 ST. CHARLES ROCK ROAD, ST. LOUIS, MO 63114

NOVEMBER 2019

ACT offers online testing and section retakes for next year Students have been given new opportunities to improve test scores on the standardized test KAITLYN BROOMFIELD Pepper Box Staff On October 8, ACT announced that there will be new changes coming to the ACT test in September of 2020. The ACT test is a standardized test used in the college admissions process throughout the United States which is given out by the nonprofit organization, ACT. It is made up of four sections; English, math, reading, and science. ACT will be implementing three changes to the ACT test. These changes include online testing, choosing one section of the test to retake, and superscoring. “The changes coming down the pike are related to students being able to retake certain portions of the exam that they are trying to improve on, hence allowing students to focus their studying efforts on one subject at a time,” College and Career Counselor Cabrina Noonan said. “I do not know a whole lot about it yet, but I do know that it is a huge change, even from the current “superscoring” practices that some universities use today.” Not much at the moment is known about how the ACT plans to implement all of these changes, which leaves unknown territories

and questions, but in late November, Ritenour counselors will have a meeting discussing in further detail these upcoming changes. In the past, the ACT has always been administered on paper, with each student having to look through a paper booklet and fill in their answers on an answer sheet using a number two pencil, but in 2020 the ACT plans to switch to online testing. The ACT has been asking test takers if they would be interested in online ACT test-taking in an end survey, even asking if they would be interested if certain criteria were met. “I do not really like taking tests on computers, but I am not totally against it. Staring at a screen for a long period of time starts to hurt my eyes and I am just used to testing on paper,” sophomore Lanz Robert Dungo said. In the past, students have had to retake the whole test if they wished to improve their score, but the way students improve their scores in the future will be different due to these changes. ACT will allow students in the Fall of 2020 to be able to retake one section of the test if they wish to improve a specific section score. “I think that the ACT changing to allow you to

retake only one section that you want to is a fantastic idea,” senior Harry Zossoungbo said. “It allows students to only focus on one specific portion that they want to improve upon, and it helps save time for those who only want to take one portion of the ACT.” One route students have used in order to take the ACT is fee waivers. Ritenour students have been allowed two fee waivers in the past, but with the upcoming changes, it comes into question on how this might affect that route to be able to test. “Until the counselor ACT meeting later in November, we will not know how fee waivers will work in this process,” College and Career Counselor Julie Kampschroeder said. “It could end up being a financial barrier for students who attend Title I schools like ours, where everyone is allowed free lunch and breakfast based on average family income. If this ends up helping higher-income families and hurting our families, I will be highly upset, but I do not want to speculate on that until they give us information.” Superscoring is another change the ACT is using to innovate the way their test functions. Superscoring is

Photo by: Abby Richardson Senior Zakija Goree works in the College and Career office in preparation of taking the ACT. The test is adding some new features, including a new way to retake a single section.

when ACT takes the best section test scores from every time a student has taken the test and combines them to get a better score. This has been an option to take with some colleges in the past such as Bucknell University, but this is now becoming an official part of the ACT. Superscored ACT scores in the past have helped students get into colleges that are looking for a score higher than the composite score that they received on their test. “Superscoring is a really good method used for scoring the ACT I believe that every student should keep their highest scores for each

section no matter how many times they take it,” junior Camille Fuller said. In this time of the new changes students will have to look at the ACT in a new perspective, but this does not mean that they can slack off. “I can see students being more strategic in their study habits on the second and third test. But my advice would be, unless they are earning scores in the 30’s, they should be retaking all subtests again. Every point counts,” Kampschroeder said. “Especially because now every college and university will probably be superscoring.”

Local universities offer aid to low income students Washington University, UMSL, and Eureka College have created full aid opportunities LIZBETH HERNANDEZ Pepper Box Staff Recently, many colleges in the St. Louis area have been focusing on helping low-income communities to help students further their education. In their search for college scholarships, prospective freshmen hope that they will be able to cover their college tuition. With certain criteria a student must pass in order to receive a full ride to any university, more students have a chance of graduating school debt-free. Washington University has recently stated in their pledge that they are able to provide 100% coverage of room and board for any low-income student in the Missouri and Southern Illinois region, but only after they have met

IN THIS ISSUE

all requirements. This has attracted more high school graduates in their search for a brighter, higher education. Although Washington University announced this as a new initiative, College and Career Counselor Julie Kampschroeder said that the school had already met full financial need for recent Ritenour graduates. “I do not believe Washington University will change anything for our students. We have had numerous students attend Wash. U since I have been here and I do not recall any of them paying more than $3,000 a year out of pocket, including room and board,” Kampschroeder said. There are other nearby programs who have also made public their plans to benefit students from

low-income communities, including The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership at Eureka College and the Opportunity Scholars Scholarship with UMSL. The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership program was created by Eureka College to cover tuition for their students who meet full financial need and meet all the requirements of the program. It is used to help low-income students in the regions surrounding Illinois. The Opportunity Scholars Scholarship Program with the University of Missouri St. Louis is supported through local donors in the surrounding St. Louis Metropolitan area. This program is focused on helping first-generation lowincome students who need extra financial support. A

student must meet two of the three following criteria: rank in the top ten percent of their high school class, earned an accumulative of 3.5 GPA or higher, or have a composite score of twenty-six or higher on the ACT. An alumnae from Ritenour earned the Opportunity Scholars Scholarship in Spring of 2017. This student, Emma Norman, began the fall of 2017 with a full ride at UMSL. This scholarship covers tuition, room, books, meals, and more. With this opportunity, Norman has recently begun her sophomore year during the Fall of 2019. “(Without the scholarship) I would probably be in community college or stressing about affording school. I would have been having to work a job and

WORD ON THE “R”

TOXIC MASCULINITY

THANKFULNESS AT RITENOUR

SCHOOL SAFETY

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go to school, which can be a lot. It has given me so much freedom to focus on school and invest so much in my college years. Also, living on campus is such a great experience, and had I not gotten the scholarship I would still most likely be living at home,” Norman said.

Photo by: Mackenzie Davis Eureka College is one of the schools offering programs, like the Ronald Reagan Leadership Program, to help low income students.

THANKSGIVING WINTER SPORTS FROM OTHER ATHLETE CULTURES PROFILES PAGE 7

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