www.royalpage.org
GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE
Thursday, Feb. 28 2013 Volume 31 Issue 6
PROJECT FOCUS
page theROYAL
good karma project earth club
THE CHANGE MAKERS
OPERATION SMILEC-spread C-spread8-9 8-9
People have come to misuse the word, ghetto. The definition is a part of a city, occupied by minority groups. This ignorance has become real.
-Caroline Ravits
opinion 6
A new take on hot or not
variety 5
Royelles dance their way to the Target Center By Bradley Kaplan Staff Reporter Thirteen teams lined up in single file lines, each dancer squeezing the hand of the girl in front and behind her. The gym was silent, hundreds of fans were on the edge of their seats awaiting the results. Suspense filled the air while all of the teams were waiting to hear if their school’s
name would be announced. “All I was thinking was ‘Hopkins’ and hoping to hear my team’s name. I knew that if we didn’t hear our name for third place in Jazz we were out. I was so anxious and had never felt more nervous,” said Emily Costa, senior captain. The Hopkins Royelles Dance Team got the news they hoped for. They had won third
Emily Costa Sydney Rosenzweig
Tate Brown Sedona Timm
place in the Jazz competition in the Section 2AAA meet at Wayzata High School, and were headed to state. This is the first time the Royelles had made it to state in Jazz since 2007. “Hearing our name called for third place was amazing. The best part was the excitement in my teammates eyes and hearing our fans go crazy, all of our hard work has paid off,” said Sydney
Sedona Timm Photos by Roxanne Kreitzman
Rozensweig, junior captain. In the Kick competition, the Royelles finished in fourth behind Wayzata, Maple Grove and Chanhassen. Chanhassen beat out Hopkins for the third and final state qualifying spot by three points. With eight judges in the Section 2AAA meet, each judge scores every dance out of 100 points. The Royelles Kick dance was graded out of a total of 800 points, and was three points away from making it to state in Kick as well. The Royelles normally practice six times a week, which is a big commitment for the girls. “We ask a lot of each dancer and expect nothing but their best every day. They are eager and coachable dancers, which makes my job easier,” said Ms. Marit Green, head coach.
Before qualifying for State, the Royelles felt like they already had a very successful season. Hopkins finished 2nd in most Lake Conference meets competing against Edina, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and Wayzata in both Jazz and Kick. “We found our groove in our first meet we had in Shakopee when we finished second in Jazz. It showed us our potential for the season to come and gave us high hopes for the future,” said Rachel Hall, sophomore. The Royelles were one of twelve teams to qualify for State. The Royelles were ready to compete against the top teams in Minnesota. “Dancing at Target Center was intimidating but having so much energy in the building was amazing,” said Maddie Renneke, senior captain.
Hopkins wasn’t fazed by the big stage of Target Center and advanced to the final round with six teams advancing. “We thought we had a chance to make it, but when they actually announced our names I was in shock,“ Renneke said. In the final round, the Royelles finished in fourth place behind Maple Grove, Wayzata, and Eastview. “Finishing in fourth place put the finishing touch to our season,“ said Claire Miller, senior captain. The Hopkins Royelles Dance Team feels accomplished with how their season turned out, which was capped off by a trip to state. “This has been the most amazing season I could ask for. The dances, the coaches, the team, everything was amazing,“ Miller said.
methods of teaching, educators throughout HHS have begun experimenting with the flipped classroom, delivering instruction on-
line outside of class and transferring reinforcement into the classroom. In this new learning environment, learning is available at any time, in any place, and at any pace. By implementing the
flipped classroom, students are continuously connected with resources and communicating with peers and teachers via online discussion. The classroom is redesigned to provide more collaborative group-work, imitating the University of Minnesota collaborative model. Flipped classrooms function to develop critical thinking and problem solving, initiative and self-direction, and productivity and accountability. In a traditional classroom, students depend on teachers and do not develop the ability to apply knowledge nor analytical thinking. Preparing you for the future, the flipped classroom forces independence, a skill future employers and businesses search for.
Flipped classes present a new method of learning
cla ss ro om ...
a software and training program endorsed by Bill Nye the Science Guy. Finding an alternative to the traditional
to the computer
th e
As Jacob Elias, sophomore, leaves his science classroom, he is relieved and stressfree. Like everyday, he has finished his homework in class. To justify Elias’s productivity, his science class models a flipped classroom, a newly established teaching method. In a flipped classroom, content is presented outside of class, and “homework” is completed during class, using the teacher as an individual coach rather than a lecturer. Many factors influenced the creation and adoption of the flipped classroom model. However, two specific innovators, Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams, played a key role by ini-
tiating the Flipped Learning Network, writing a book, and producing momentum. Locally, a company in Minnesota, Sophia Learning, has operated with Capella University to create
Fr om
By Tobie Soumekh Staff Reporter
Sam Bloomfield, senior, and Eli Badower, junior, illustrate the changing nature of our classrooms. Bloomfield works with paper and pen, while Badower works on a laptop. Photo by Ursula Arhart
-FLIPPED CLASSES continued on page 3