News Design Sarah Sims
Grand Ledge High School
ct Grand Ledge High School’s
The Comets’ Tale
The Sun Theatre is the perfect $2 night out
See more on page 7
Teachers take over Twitter See more on page 4
71 percent of students at GLHS get 2-3 less hours of sleep than they need
See more on page 6
Volume 47 Issue 5 February 2015 820 Spring St. Grand Ledge MI 517-925-5848
Now serving the bottom third
Photo by Mary Vu/The Comets’ Tale
A change in testing: the ACT becomes the SAT for class of 2017 Bry Leach ‘15 News Editor
Sam walks quietly into the crisply clean classroom on March 3rd with four pencils in hand, an extra eraser, a calculator with brand new batteries, and right out of the package black pens. She finally feels prepared to take the big test she’s been told about her whole life — the ACT. Except when she sits down at her lonely table, it’s not the ACT. It’s the SAT. After a year of debates and no answers, on Jan. 6 the State of Michigan announced that there would be changes to the statewide test, coming in Spring 2016. “[The state] rebids contracts on a pretty regular basis, a standard contract is three years with two one year extensions, so [it can last] up to five years.” Bob Kefgen, the Associate Director of Government Relations for the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, said. The choice was decided by a Joint Evaluation Committee (JEC) that was chosen by the State of Michigan. The JEC for this contract included a principal and superintendent from various schools across the state. JECs are chosen every time the state bids on a contract, so specialized persons can decide what contract is the best value — in this case, meaning which test had a better technical review score for the price of the test. The technical review score is in points out of 100, and rates each test in sections. No test that scores below 80 would be considered. In this case, the ACT scored 80 and the SAT scored 90. No other tests submitted bids for this contract. Soon after the decision was made to switch to the SAT, ACT filed an appeal with the state, saying the state “informally” changed ACT’s contract length, which “unfairly benefited College Board, the producers of the SAT.” The state denied that appeal on Jan. 26, and in a letter sent to ACT, stated that the SAT offers “the best value to the state of Michigan for the required services.” The ACT, however, will still be used for their WorkKeys test, which is a job skills assessment test, previously done on the second day of Michigan’s three day testing program. The recent changes for Michigan testing are the only major overhauls to the Michigan Educational Assessment Program in the past forty years. For 2015 testing, the state moved to the Math, Science and Technology Enhancement Program (MSTEP). This meant moving tests from paper to computers, including a listening exam, and adding several hours of testing into juniors’ school schedules. The SAT is the next major change to the program, since the ACT has been a part of it since 2008. In the same year that Michigan students will start testing with the SAT, the test will undergo a major overhaul. According to See SAT/ACT on page 2
Kindergarten teacher Kim Browning helps one of her students at Neff. Neff is the only kindergarten school in the district, which keeps class sizes standard and the curriculum the same. Keeping track of the students from the beginning can help the district follow and help the bottom third of students. Photo by Sarah Clinkscales/The Comets’ Tale
Neff Elementary caters to all ranges of kindergarten students Sarah Clinkscales ‘15 Managing Editor
T
wenty-seven busy little bodies rush around the classroom. They’re busy matching numbers in numerical order up to 100. Neff kindergarten teacher Kim Browning bends down to help a student. He is one of the youngest in the classes, only four-years-old. Some kids quickly match all the numbers, and even help their neighbor, others need a little more time. One out of three kindergarteners will not be ready for school according to a study by Sesame Workshop. From their very first day of school these kids will already be racing to keep up with their classmates, and hope they will not be “left behind” by the state’s demanding curriculum. Neff Elementary school is an all
kindergarten school in the Grand Ledge School District. Having one kindergarten school equalizes the class size and the curriculum. This makes it so that every kindergartner goes into first grade with the same basic skills and preparation. Neff is full day kindergarten, with a much larger focus on basic reading, writing and math. Browning believes the curriculum for young students is much more rigorous but that her students rise to the challenge. In September, students start working on DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills). DIBELS is a series of short tests to make sure students are on track for their level of literacy skills. “It’s so that we know where they are at from the very beginning instead of finding out that a child is really behind near the end
of the year,” Neff principal David Averill said. “If they are behind we can send them to our reading teacher Terrie Kosbar.” To get a jump on students being prepared for Kindergarten is Kindergarten Roundup. Kindergarten Roundup is in March so that the school knows how many kindergartners are enrolling the next year. A huge part of Roundup is giving parents information about how to help their child at home: one of the most basic is reading. “Kids who have a harder time in school sometimes haven’t been read to a lot or don’t have certain experiences,” Browning said. The GLPS district is one of the last districts to have teaching assistants and LREs in elementary and Kindergarten classrooms. This helps support kids and help make sure their needs are met. LREs give extra support to chil-
dren with disabilities. “A lot of people choose GL because of the special ed program,” Browning said. “We believe helping and giving the extra support to these kids early on so that they won’t be that much farther behind.” According to a report, Kindergarten Skills at School Entry, 44 percent of kindergartners enroll with one or more risk factors based on their home life. A risk factor could be a disability, poverty, parents with less than a high school education, English is not the first language in the home or living with a single parent. These could all be stressers in a child’s life. The study suggests that students in the 44 percent have lower elementary readiness scores.
Browning helps kindergarten students match numbers up to 100. All students regardless of level, get adjusted curriculum to help their learning.
See BOTTOM THIRD on page 2
A step towards the future: moving standardized tests online Jackson Vanderlaan ‘16 Staff Writer
The state of Michigan has decided that on top of the ACT that high school juniors need 11 and a half more hours of testing. The new test is replacing the MME portion of the ACT and will be what the state of Michigan uses to determine how much money the school will get, much like what the MEAP test was used for in past years. With little instruction on how to prepare, administration was left with the task to organize this brand new set of tests. One challenge was picking the test time and date within the window given to proctor the MSTEP. The AP exams, yet another high intensity test, also falls within the states testing window. This has several of the AP teachers concerned. “The (M-STEP) test is ridiculous,” AP U.S. history teacher Fred Hutchinson said. “It’s too long, the technology (Wi-Fi) will inevitably fail in the middle of the test, and the state was not thinking when they put it at that time of year. Students also have little to no incentive do well
on it.” The problem of the AP tests are partially alleviated by testing AP students after their exam, or exams in some cases, are over. But the potentiality of a hardware failure is still a very real concern. Because the test has to be taken on computers, there are worries about whether or not the high school’s infrastructure will be able to handle the new format. “The Wi-Fi has been a problem at the high school,” principal Steve Gabriel said. “The fear is that it could go down during testing. Right now we are looking at installing wireless hotspots to make sure that computers stay connected.” While the district has a perfect MTRAx score, the evaluation that the state uses to determine techreadiness, the tech concerns are still prevalent. “The high school score is based on three labs of 30 computers each with one dedicated Access Point,” director of technology Mark Deschaine said. “We intend to try to hard wire as many of the computers as possible to reduce the load on the wireless system.” Hardwiring is when a physical
cable is used to connect a computer to the Internet instead of using Wi-Fi. But all of that means nothing if the high school doesn’t have the room to test all of the juniors. “We’re going to have to buy two more computer labs,” Gabriel said. “Which is a cost that was not planned for in the budget.” That money will come out of the general fund, which means less money for repairs, less money for maintenance, and less money for any other unforeseen expenses. Because the M-STEP is going to be what the state uses to determine funding for schools, there is a fear that since the new test means nothing to students they will not be motivated to do their best. “Basing funding off a test that won’t directly affect students is just a recipe to have students not try,” junior Taylor McCrackin said “They need to base the funding off something that matters to students such as the ACT. Not to mention the fact that the M-STEP is in the same week as AP tests.” The states testing window starts April 13.
Check out a practice problem provided by M-STEP
Clayton puts 18 books in a bookcase. He puts the same number of books on each self. Move groups of books to the bookcase to show how Clayton could arrange them.
Answer: There are six selves and 18 books. Three books go on each shelf. Students must click and drag the books to the bookshelf to complete the answer. Question from http://aware.22itrig.org/
Design
When picking colors for the front page, it seemed almost perfect to pull colors from the dominant photo. The story about the new M-STEP at the bottom of the page had no graphic, so I took the time to research and re-create a practice question from the sample test online in Illustrator.
Design
This page shows a way to make an infographic about an event with no statistics. Getting a picture of different tasks and recording the time helped me create this time graphic to show the lock down procedure. Not only that but I had I had to rely on on a different photographer to take the best photos at the event and communicate the information to me.
ct Grand Ledge High School’s
The Comets’ Tale
Find out why the Wi-Fi slows down
Bye-bye ACT: Class of 2017 will be taking SAT next year
on page 9
on page 2
The real cost of smoking on page 7
Lock-up and lock down
Volume 47 Issue 4 January 2015
Front doors were locked and signs that read “drill in progress” were taped to the doors
Green cards were checked
Entered in contest/ award “Front Page newspaper style”
820 Spring St. Grand Ledge MI
517-925-5848
Silent classrooms filled the high school Wed. Dec. 3, 2014 during a routine lockdown drill. Police officials came into the school and checked the darkened classrooms while evacuating the foreign language hall. There will be more lockdown drills during the school year, including a surprise lockdown drill during passing time or lunch. Photos by Mary Vu/ The Comets’ Tale
Checked the doors over by the cafeteria, they were not locked but should have been
With evolving security measures GLHS is updating their lockdowns and campus security Savannah Wear ‘15 Staff Writer
Evacuations began
Everyone who was evacuated was sent to the cafeteria
At 9:13 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3, two groups of officers were released down the halls of GLHS. Doors were rattled and green cards were checked as authorities peered through windows into darkened rooms. For about 30 minutes, an eerie silence filled the building as the only sound that echoed through the hallways was the feet of the men on a mission. About two years ago, GLPS upgraded its security measures across the district, from implementing more serious lockdown drills to installing keyless locks. Now, staff and students have noticed an impressive upgrade in their safety at school. Lockdown Drills For the first time ever, GLHS plans to have a lockdown drill
that will occur during passing time between classes instead of during class. This is due to new requirements to execute at least one drill per year either during passing time or at lunch. However, administration does not plan to inform either staff or students about when the lockdown drill will take place. “Realistically I do not think we should inform staff,” Gabriel said. “We want to attempt to make it as real as possible during that passing time.”’ The number one thing that administration has noticed is that both teachers and students have been taking lockdown drills much more seriously than in the past. “Things we used to see were unlocked doors, noise in the classroom, even in the past years we have had teachers continue teaching in the dark,” Gabriel said. “We don’t see that anymore, I think we’ve done a good job,
both the police department and the staff.” Evacuations GLHS has also began practicing the evacuation of a wing of the school during lockdown drills. Last year, and once this year, the math teachers and students practiced evacuating everyone in the math hall down to the new gym on the bottom floor. On Dec. 3, a handful of classes closest to the main entrance were evacuated to the cafeteria. “I think that is important in adding the realism to it,” Gabriel said. If GLHS ever were to go on real lockdown, administration and officers would not evacuate any classrooms until they were 100 percent certain that the entire building was secure and cleared by law enforcement. “What we’re really practicing at that point would be getting people
Officer Chris Chester and assistant principal Sara Sutherland escort classes during the lockdown to the cafeteria. In the case of a lockdown, the administration and officers would not evacuate students unless they were 100 percent certain that the building was secure for everyone. This year, during lockdown drills, the school is better enforcing rules like not teaching during drills and students being off their cell phones.
See SECURITY on page 2
Senior Adam Batz receives GLPS bond makes another appearance on the ballot Centralis Gold scholarship Sarah Sims ‘15 Editor-in-Chief
competition took place between October and November and competitors had to complete an Hundreds of seniors competed application, essay and a creative for 150 scholarships Central piece before their scheduled day Michigan University was giving of competition. “It took a long out along time to make with a spot in and it took a lot their honors of effort, there college during were several the Centralis items that we competition. had to make,” In December, Batz said. senior Adam Along with Batz found all the work out that he Batz also had received the to go to CMU Centralis Gold on a Saturday Scholarship, morning to which will write a timed give him a essay that was scholarship for judged along full tuition and with the rest of acceptance in his application their honors Senior Adam Batz playing that he college. the tuba during one of competed before To qualify for GLHS’ concerts. He will be the competition the scholarship attending CMU next year after started. competition “Even if I students must winning their Centralis Gold wouldn’t have have had a scholarship. Courtesy Photo gotten the minimum 3.7 GPA and at least a score of 27 scholarship I would still attend on their ACT. The scholarship CMU,” Batz said.
Jackson Vanderlaan ‘16 Staff Writer
The Grand Ledge Board of Education is hoping that the third time is the charm for their newest bond proposal. Last year, the bond vote was first postponed from November 2013 to May 2014, then when it was finally on the ballot, it was voted down by the community. Because of how close the vote come down to — 83 votes — it is being put back up for a vote this February. Several changes have been made to how the money is planned to be allocated. This time facility improvement is the emphasis, instead of technology. “We’ve looked at all of our needs and certainly building and infrastructure are at the top of our list,” school board president Brody Boucher said. “Three buildings in the district still have portables, and we would really like to eliminate those as soon as possible.” Portables are a liability because they are not as easy to secure in the case of a lockdown and they
are harder to maintain than the permanent part of the school. Technology will also be a central part of the bond again. With the new online M-STEP test replacing the MEAP, the need for more computers and a more reliable wireless network has become even more important. “Beginning this spring, all of our students will be taking the annual assessment online,” superintendent Brian Metcalf said. “So support of technology is an absolute must.” Other items kept the same are improvements to security and athletics. Something being done differently is communication. “There was some miscommunication among some of our community members about what the bond contained,” Boucher said. “ I heard from people in circles I’m in that they would have voted for the bond if it had not had turf in it. I can tell you that the bond had no turf in it and neither does this bond.” The athletics portion of the bond has remained virtually untouched. “The renovations to the soccer See BOND on page 2
Wed. Dec. 17 the high school staff meet with superintendent Brian Metcalf for their staff meeting. Metcalf let the staff in on the details of the upcoming bond this February. Photo by Jackson Vanderlaan/ The Comets’ Tale
Millage rates from around the region Location Dewitt Holt Waverly Haslett Potterville East Lansing Okemos Perry
Grand Ledge
Rate 10.0000 10.0000 9.2967 8.3300 7.3500 7.0000 7.0000 7.0000
6.9500
ct Grand Ledge High School’s
The Comets’ Tale
The high school Tech Crew lights up the stage See more on page 7 See more on page college week?
From scarves to outdoor activities, don’t miss out this fall
See more on page 6
A sprinkle of success
Volume 47 Issue 3 November 2014 820 Spring St. Grand Ledge MI 517-925-5848
After becoming a finalist in a local business competition, senior Brittany Belding expands her business Hooray! Cupcakes! after a previous attempt to run the business. Brittany uses local fresh ingredients to make all of her desserts.
Design This story package was featured on the front page of our November issue of this school year. I decided to do a small re-design of the pages after receiving advice from a professional for it. This basic package was the building blocks to the rest of the paper.
Entered in contest/ award “Front Page newspaper style”
Senior Brittany Belding bakes something sweet for her business Hooray! Cupcakes! Sarah Clinkscales ‘15 Managing Editor
T
he first time senior Brittany Belding tried to sell cupcakes, it went horribly wrong. At a MSU football game her younger sister, Olivia Belding, and herself sold cupcakes to people tailgating in the freezing cold parking lot, but most people flat out ignored her. Since her first cupcake adventure Brittany ’s baking business Hooray! Cupcakes! has taken off. Sales picked up during her junior year, now she gets orders for cupcakes at least once a week. Her most ordered item is chocolate caramel cupcakes. The purple cardboard wraps on the outside add a touch of elegance and the frosting swirls to a point. Brittany only accepts a minimum order of a dozen which costs $18, cheaper than the local bakeries.
“I’m just having fun,” Brittany said. “I get to do something that expresses my creativity and make people happy. I like to move around and work with my hands, not sit behind a desk and type papers much to the surprise of most GLHS students.” Brittany ’s dad, English teacher Jeff Belding, taught Brittany all the tips and tricks of the trade and encouraged her baking business. He started baking with simple ‘Elmo frost by numbers’ to more extravagant cakes. “I had an easy-bake-oven when I was little,” Brittany said. “I took it much more seriously than the other girls did.” Her cupcakes are made from the best local and fresh ingredients that she can find. The eggs Brittany buys are from a local farm on M100. She mixes her own dry ingredients for cakes and See BELDING on page 4
With frosting added to finish the cupcake, Brittany finishes an order of cupcakes. The cupcakes shown above are chocolate cupcakes with nutella frosting. To place a Hooray! Cupcakes! order you can call or find Brittney at school, she works in the school annex during third hour. Photos by Sarah Clinkscales/The Comets’ Tale
Cometin-char
Bry Leach ‘15 News Editor
This school yea changes have bee in the school settin safety procedure practiced in O and students hav restricted with th school fundraising hasn’t changed, er, is the school’s PBIS lessons, whic ed last year. On t day of school, a re 2013-2014 lesson presented, and in N ber more lessons introduced. Safety-As order Eaton county, s in October were r to practice an eva plan for a lockdow This is one of thr students will be this year, as opp the two lockdown in previous years. er improvement school’s safety pla introduction to an nounced lockdow which will occur lunch or passing ti er in the year. No t or students will b fied of the drill, wh hopefully feel mo to unexpecting pat Fundraising-As dered by the Safe in Schools initiati year, candy bags allowed to be s school along with unhealthy snacks sonal fundraising candy bags is also ited by the schoo because of the lac countability for wh money raised goes PBIS - The nex for the program th motes positive b in school will be ior at indoor even though he does no it has been an issu past, he wants to r the appropriate b at events in antic of a successful bas season overall.
Local pizza eatery slices a piece of their profits to GLP
109 Students at GLHS voted on what t favorite Hungry Howie’s crust flavor w here are the res
Taylor Kennaugh ‘16 Staff Writer
Everyone always hears about schools not having a big enough budget and that they are in need of more funding, and there is constantly some sort of schoolsponsored fundraiser going on. This year, the Hungry Howie’s in downtown Grand Ledge is joining in on these school fundraisers. “Schools are able to choose up to two dates per month as donation nights,” Hungry Howie’s director of operations Matt Jobson said. “On those dates, we donate 10 percent of the entire day’s sales back to the school.” The pizza franchise will be donating to a Grand Ledge school on certain days of the month, from September to May. The Holbrook early childhood center, Willow Ridge and Beagle elementaries, and Hayes middle school have picked days throughout the school year that they will be getting money. Every first and third Thursday of the month, the money will be donated to Holbrook. On the third Wednesday it will be donated to Willow Ridge. Beagle will get the proceeds on every second Thursday, and Hayes on every fourth Wednesday. “Our first effort only resulted in
Sesame: 0% Butter: 1.8% Ranch: 2.8% A portion of proceeds from Hungry Howie’s will be donated to GLPS. On selected dates the business will donate 10 percent. These donations will help benefit a variety of programs. Photo by Michael Wilson/The Comets’ Tale huge success for Willow Ridge, the proceeds tend to increase as more people find out about the program and participate. One school ended up increasing their proceeds by $300 on the second evening of the program. “Through fliers sent home with the kids, end-of-day announcements, the school newsletter, and wordof-mouth, we inform parents each time a donation night is coming up,” said Jobson. Some customers believed they would be getting a 10 percent
price for their order. “I do not believe that will stop people from taking advantage of the donation to their home school, it was just a misunderstanding,” Mangrum said. The program is just starting out this year in the Grand Ledge district, but there are high hopes for it to be successful in the long run. “Although this is a new program for Grand Ledge, we have been running it in our company for the past four years and it has been a
Butter Cheese: 33.9%
Cajun: 1.0%
Garlic H
55% Origina 3.7% Onion: 1.8%
Makenzie Chapin: Hungry Howie’s Employee
While working at Hungry Howie’s, senior Makenzie Chapin enjoys the relaxed environment. Sometimes when there is a high school football game they could provide close to 200 pizzas. They supply for the football team, the marching band members and the concession stand. The most difficult task i to make sure the right pizzas go to the right place with the rig toppings and cut. During her shifts she works with customer
ct Is it fair?
Check out the ‘14-’15 schedule options and possible elimination of trimesters on
Grand Ledge High School’s
The Comets’ Tale
Volume 46 Issue 3 November 2013 820 Spring St. Grand Ledge MI 517-925-5848
Page 2
“Traveling’ coaches leads to heartbreak for many basketball players on
Page 8
Read about the students who struggle daily with diabetese on
Page 10
No planning time impedes educational opportunities Student Enrollment (numbers from fall count day) from 2012/2013 school year to 2013/2014 school year
‘12-’13 5,049 Students
‘13-’14 5,013 Students
Last year there were 84 teachers in the high school, this year there are 78. We are down 23 students.
‘12-’13 1,729 Students
GLHS
Entire School district
Waverly
25 School districts keeping planning hours in Eaton, Clinton, Ingham and Ionia Counties in ‘13- ‘14 school year.
$9,148 $8,433
$8,489 $8,049
Holt
$7,714 $7,299
Haslett
$7,467 $7,057
$7,331 $7,026
$7,426 $7,026
‘08-’09
Okemos Lansing
$7,835 $7,368
$8,621 $8,049
E. Lansing Potterville
‘13-’14
**Based off the ‘12-’13 contract Salary
1 tri w/o planning 3 tris w/o planning
First year teacher:
$35,624
$2,374
$7,124.80
Seventh year teacher plus a masters:
$48,271
$3,218
$9,654.20
12th year plus masters plus 10 credits:
$62,520
$4,168
$12,504
What other school districts are saying about planning hours
Belding:
“Belding Area Schools is not in the process of cutting planning hours for teaching staff. As a matter of fact, this year we implemented four early release days, where the students go home two hours early and we provide staff two hours of collaboration time, which is additional to their daily planning time.” Superintendent Dr. Sara Shriver
Pewamo-Westphalia: “In terms of teachers’ conference periods, no we still have them here. We currently have one teacher who is teaching all seven hours but he’s paid for that additional hour of teaching. He’s been doing it for years and he’s a legendary teacher. We are currently in hopes to keep our planning hours. Teachers make full use of them and we want give them enough preparation time for them to do the great job that they’re already doing. We’re very thankful for the type of educators we have here.” High school principal Todd Simmons
Lansing:
When we asked schools who were considering eliminating planning hours, 25 districts responded no. 1.Bellevue 2. Charlotte 3. Eaton Rapids 4. Olivet 5. Potterville 6. Waverly 7. East Lansing 8. Haslett 9. Holt 10. Belding 11. Mason 12. Okemos 13.Webberville 14. Ionia 15. Lakewood 16. Portland 17. Saranac 18. St. Patrick 19. Bath 20. Dewitt 21. Fowler 22. Ovid-Elsie 23. PewamoWestphalia 24. St. Johns 25. Williamston --Leslie did not answer our calls
2 School districts eliminating planning hours
‘13-’14 1,706 Students
Per-Pupil funding from ‘08-’09 school year to present
G.L.
Check out the numbers regarding GL teachers’ lack of planning hour
(Everett, Sexton, Eastern): “We eliminated “planning time” from our district during the last contract negotiations in March. For the next five years of the contract, none of our classroom teachers will be provided planning time during the school day. In exchange for giving up planning time, we are paying them a healthy stipend. High school teachers have given up the onehour/day planning and now teach all six hours; elementary teachers were released for 225 minutes a week for planning and they no longer have that release time.” Superintendent Dr. Yvonne Caamal Canu
Based off the ‘13-’14 school year 1 tri w/o planning
On-step teacher: Off-step teacher:
When C h r i s Turner accepted a new job in Brighton, four social studies teachers were added to the 33 of the 80 teachers who did not have a planning period this trimester. Principal Steve Gabriel told the teachers that they would have to teach Turner’s classes during their own planning hours— and those classes were already three weeks into the trimester. They were informed on Sept. 23 and started teaching the new class three days later on Sept. 26. Among these four teachers was social studies teacher John Ellsworth. “Mr. Gabriel told me I was going to have to teach during my planning period,” Ellsworth said. “He offered me the choice of teaching one of Mr. Turner’s World History sections, or to teach another section of U.S. History A; I chose to teach U.S. History A. So, I did not actually pick up one of Mr. Turner’s sections, but because he left, I have to teach during my planning time.” Ellsworth had always felt a calling to help people, and saw that in teaching. Ellsworth’s planning hour allowed him to improve lessons, call parents, grade, complete paperwork required by the school and to finish other tasks required to be a highly effective teacher. Without the planning hour, Ellsworth worries that he cannot help his students as well as he did originally. When one looks at education holistically, Ellsworth believes that there is no question that his teaching quality will decrease. With Turner leaving, the sociology course that he was supposed to teach during second and third trimester was in danger of being dropped. After discussion with administration and the staff, Gabriel insured that the sociology course would still run. Social studies teacher Steve Krumm will be teaching the courses that Turner was supposed to have. On the other side, there were still sections dropped this year due to decisions made by Superintendent Dr. Brian Metcalf and the school board in the spring of 2013. Instead of hiring new teachers when there was an opening, they decided to cover the loss of personnel internally. Since that decision, the Family and Consumer Science department lost two sections of Nutrition Ed, one section of Family and Society, two to three sections of Physical Education and a section of Journalism was dropped. In addition, 12-14 art sections have been dropped since art teacher Sarah Berry was moved to Wacousta Elementary School. The remaining two art teachers Doris Thompson and Elizabeth Rudzinski are Rachel Rayl ‘15
FEATURE EDITOR
$1,000 $1,250
3 tris w/o planning
$3,300 $4,100
now both working without a planning hour. Other student losses occurred on Oct. 16. The freshman took the MEAP and the seniors had their senior meeting. Usually the sophomores and juniors took the PLAN and the practice ACT, but with the lack of staff, it was cut— even though these standardized tests grade GLHS as a whole. “GLHS should not be dropping courses as we try to build a strong academic program,” Ellsworth said. “I believe a new teacher should be hired so that students can take the courses they signed up for and so that other teachers can continue to do their job with an appropriate amount of planning time.” Although the number of teachers teaching on their planning hour is now much larger, and some of them did not have a choice, Gabriel is doing the best he can given the number of teachers and the number of classes that physically can be taught. “I am always concerned about student achievement, however it is important to point out that teachers teaching on their planning periods is not new to GLHS,” Gabriel said. “It has happened for the 13 years that I have been in the district. The biggest change has to do with the amount of pay teachers get on their planning period. In the past it was not uncommon to have 10 or more teachers per trimester teaching on their planning period and many lined up for the opportunity because it meant more pay.” Before this year, teachers were paid a significantly higher amount of money to work on their planning hour and it was on a volunteer basis. This year, teachers are required to work during their planning hours for less pay. According to Metcalf, 85 percent of the GLPS budget is spent on personnel expenses, but this number changes with the number of students that GLPS has each year. Based on what the state is doing with the budgets for every district, some districts are looking at a 10 percent pay cut for staff since the money amount per student has been reduced by $572 per year. With the amount of students in GLPS, the number multiplies to approximately $3 million a year from the state. “In order to afford the steps and percent increase, the decision was made that we would have to reduce teachers by loss of personnel,” Metcalf said. “Most districts go to this model of teaching on their planning periods, and then doing layoffs. We could have laid off 30 teachers, but we would rather reduce through attrition. We can fill these positions with the other teachers in the department.” Along with Ellsworth, Krumm picked up a class during his planning time
**These numbers are based off of knowing a teachers must have a masters by their seventh year, and by their 12th year they would have 10 more credits towards their education.
this trimester. Krumm agrees with Ellsworth that the teaching quality is diminishing, not only for the social studies department, but the other departments as well. “Math, Science, English and other teachers at GLHS are, or will be, teaching without a planning hour this school year,” Krumm said. “Some teachers are even teaching three different subjects, which combined with the lack of a planning hour, affects the quality of instruction.” Metcalf feels that although the staff believes they cannot teach as well as they would with a planning hour, the school district should stay positive. “We are in better shape today than we were three years ago,” Metcalf said. “The board was thinking about eliminating transportation and athletics. This contract has put us on more solid ground. We are in a lot better shape than the other districts.” Since contacting all of the school districts in Eaton, Ingham, Ionia and Clinton County*; out of the 27 superintendents and principals that were contacted, 26 of them responded (Leslie Public Schools failed to return phone calls). From those 26, only Lansing Public Schools have eliminated their planning hours, and Lansing receives an additional $342 per student which is approximately $4,500,000 per year more than Grand Ledge. The 25 other school districts in this area have not even thought about reducing teachers’ planning time. “Belding Area Schools is not in the process of cutting planning hours for teaching staff,” Belding Area Schools Superintendent Dr. Sara Shriver said. “As a matter of fact, this year we implemented four early release days. The students go home two hours early and we provide staff two hours of collaboration time, which is additional to their daily planning time.” According to Alejandra M. Varela’s article, “Three Major Sins Of Professional Development How Can We Make It Better?” printed in the Education Digest; planning time is a crucial part of education. “Common planning time should be used to examine student data and obtain teachers’ input on areas of greatest need,” Varela states. “But data alone should not be used to make decisions. Teachers have first-hand knowledge of strategies and programs being implemented and are an invaluable source when planning professional development.” *Go to http://gljournalismprograms. weebly.com/the-comets-talenewspaper.html to see what all of the superintendents and principals said concerning the elimination of planning hours in their district.
When asked the same question, only 2 said yes. 1. Grand Ledge 2. Lansing
Scan here to see per-pupil funding throughout the entire state of Michigan
What is a MPSERS rate? MPSERS stands for Michigan Public School Retirement System. For every dollar Grand Ledge pays to teachers, they owe a certain percentage of that dollar to the state to go into the retirement fund so teachers can receive their pensions once retired.
How do you find the MPSERS rate? To find the cost a district must multiply the salary with the retirement rate. Example: Salary: $50,000 X Rate 20%
District pays additional $10,000
Design
When this hard hitting news story came in with no photos, after great discussion with the editor-in-chief and reporter, I went for it and made the full front page all information graphics. It was a risk I was ready for. Honorable mention “News layout” 2013
Design
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Feature • October 2013
I created the monster character on the right of the page using Are you dressing up? No Adobe Illustrator. My Why not? design skills picked up Yes Are you both nerds? after I learned the pro- Are you a Don’t Yes No Yes want to gram at MIPA summer couple? Football player Thing One and workshop while taking and cheerleader Too cool Thing Two Karl Gude’s Illustrator No Slightly Do you like to make and infographics class people scream from Laughter terror or laughter? because I was able to Are you Start over creative? create any graphic I Are you weird? No needed for a page. Terror No Third place Grab a sheet Yes holes for eyescut and Superhero Yes “illustration” 2013 Santa be a ghost
Male or Female?
Male
Female
Yes
Are you trendy?
Princess or Prom Queen
Are you classy
Clause
Yes
No Buy or create a hideous monster mask
Are you nerdy?
Yes Harry Potter
Hardly
Twilight or The Walking Dead?
No
No
The Walking Dead
How inappropriate are you?
Very
Sumo Wrestler
Hockey Player
No
Twilight Vampire
Zombie
Afraid to offend people?
Yes
Lady GaGa Illustrations by Sarah Sims/ The Comets’ Tale
Savannah Wear ‘15 STAFF WRITER
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Erebus is a 4 story haunted house that held the Guinness world record for the largest walk-through haunted attraction from 2005 to 2009. Erebus features bottomless pits, crushing walls, a mutant gorilla that roams around the house and grabs visitors’ legs, “Uncle Freddy” who flies out of a casket, and, the most famous of all, the swamp. If you thoroughly enjoy being terrified, Erebus is the haunted house for you to visit this year.
Located on the acres of Wizard’s Orchards, it is rumored that Night Terrors Haunted Thrill Park rests on land that is actually haunted. It is no surprise that Night Terrors Haunted Thrill Park was rated the number one haunted thrill park in Michigan.
St. Lucifer’s Scream Park is said to be one of the scariest haunted houses in all of Michigan. St. Lucifer’s is rumored to be an old asylum for the mentally insane, which specialized in electroshock therapy. Stories of macabre events have scared many visitors away due to the disturbing stories told by visitors.
Exhibiting three unique haunted houses, it is one of Michigans biggest haunted house. The Niles contains a haunted hayride and the Field of Screams. While you’re trembling from fear, you’d also be helping a good cause for local charities.
Erebus Haunted House (Pontiac, MI)
Night Terrors Haunted Thrill Park (Ypsilanti Township, MI)
Saint Lucifer’s Scream Park (Flint, MI)
The Niles Haunted House (Niles, MI)
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Jackson’s Underworld (Jackson, MI)
Rated as one of the largest and scariest haunted houses in the United States, Jackson’s Underworld is 3 stories, over 45,000 square feet. It takes an average of 45 minutes and just under one mile long of creature lurking, thrill seeking, adrenaline rushing, goose bump raising, heart racing haunted attraction.
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The Comets’ Tale • Feature • January 2015
A breath of smokey air A look at the life of a high school smoker Savannah Wear ‘15 Staff Writer
Richard* starts his morning everyday with a Marlboro Ultra Light before getting ready for school. A few hours later, he smokes another one. On his way home from school, he smokes another, and then a couple more by the time he goes to bed. Richard smokes about five cigarettes every day and spends an average of $14 per week on packs of cigarettes. And he is not the only student at GLHS who has developed this habit at such an early age. According to the American Cancer Society, each day in the US there
are nearly 4,000 kids under the age of 18 that try their first cigarette. Although the amount of teens who use tobacco has gone down over the past decade, smoking and chewing is still a problem among the youth. “Nicotine is one of the most highly addictive drugs out there,” Jr./Sr. survival skills teacher Amanda Hengesbach said. “I have had students who have been heroine addicts or cocaine addicts who have told me that the hardest drug for them to stop using is actually smoking tobacco, above all else.” According to Richard, smoking is something that is part of his everyday life.
“Sometimes it is a problem when I really want to smoke but I am in school or at a place where it is prohibited and I cannot concentrate on other things,” Richard said. As of 2012, more than 23 percent of all high school students had used some kind of tobacco product in the past month, according to ACS. Now, there are many more forms of tobacco to choose from, and more teens are choosing flavored cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookahs, pipes, and even electronic cigarettes. The trend seen by many teachers at GLHS is a slight decrease in students smoking cigarettes, but a sharp increase in (mostly guys)
chewing tobacco. “I think sometimes they feel chewing is not as bad as smoking, not really realizing all of the health effects that can go into it,” Hengesbach said. Despite the extent to which health teachers at GLHS teach about the dangers of tobacco use, there will always be a number of students who continue to smoke and chew every day. “Smoking is part of me now,” Richard said. “It’s my social thing and it makes me feel better.”
All statistics and information is from the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Richard* is an anonymous student at GLHS
What it really means to smoke The three age groups with the most smokers are also the youngest
Each day, nearly 4,000 kids under the age of 18 try their first cigarette
45 years+ 17%
As of 2012, more than 23% of all high school students had used some kind of tobacco product in the past month
25-44 year-olds 27%
15-18 year-olds 25%
19-24 year-olds 31%
Richard* spends $14 every week on cigarettes
One month will cost approximately $56
Eight out of 10 people who try smoking become addicted One in five deaths are linked to smoking
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Long-Term health effects of smoking according to the CDC
One year will cost approximately $672 Five years will cost approximately $3,360
Can cause cancer in almost every part of the body Smoking while pregnant can cause pre-mature birth Strokes Cardiovascular disease Blood clots
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Design
Part of design is to know when to use information graphics and how to use them correctly. This example of work is important because there are a variety of graphics made in Adobe Illustrator and they all flow together as one story package making it pleasing to the eye. Entered in contest/ award “Story Package”
nws.
Which bathroom do you think smells the worst?
“Art Hall” -Lexie Demarco ‘15
News •Feb. 2013
Comet-inCharge
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As the end of second trimester approaches, the newspaper staff conducted another monthly press conference with principal Steve Gabriel. Below are the highlights of the press conference. Alison Dible ‘13
NEWS EDITOR
Old pipes reason for restroom odor Every few years, problems arise in the bathrooms at the end of the art hallway; this was seen in late 2012, when the bathrooms smelled of sewage, causing the boys’ bathroom to close for weeks. One of the pipes in the boys’ bathroom busted and began leaking human waste in an area confined behind the wall, causing a stench so powerful that an art teacher had to move her class to the library for a few days until the smell lessened. Principal Steve Gabriel cannot prevent the problem, but he can protect students from the hazardous effects. Gabriel made sure to fix pipes and make sure students were safe from any disease. “The [art] wing of the school has been around since the 60s, and sometimes pipes fail,” Gabriel said. “When issues arise we attempt to fix them as soon as possible.” Though this has happened in past years, the problem – and odor – will be fixed as soon as possible. Katt Gonzalez ‘15 STAFF WRITER
Krystin Verran/The Comets’ Tale
When bucks and does take on motorists
After a night out seeing Les Miserables with friends, the last thing junior Courtney Hansen was expecting to do was hit a deer while driving home on Grand River Highway. “I was talking about hitting deer and how I never had before,” Hansen said. “We were coming home from the movies and it was dark. All of a sudden, 10 deer came running across the road. In drivers ed, they tell you not to slam on your brakes so I didn’t. I tapped them but the next thing I know I’m hitting the deer. I freaked out, had a headache, and it was scary; it did a lot of damage to the car.” Hansen was driving her aunt’s car, which suffered damage on the passengers side that caused the door to be unable to be opened. The risk of deer is nothing new for Michiganders - a study by State Farm Insurance shows that Michigan is the state with the second most car-deer accidents a year, and the Michigan State Police (MSP) says there are more than 60,000 crashes reported annually. Junior Michelle Ward is also one of those 60,000 people - hitting a deer during drivers ed. “It was my freshman year, my first time driving,” Ward said. “I think I was driving on Saginaw, and a deer just jumped out in front of me and I hit it, it didn’t die but it’s leg came off. I felt bad because the whole front of the car was just destroyed. I’m pretty sure the bumper came off the front. I don’t know if they fixed that one and then they got it back, but when I was there we had a whole new car for the rest of drivers ed.” While experienced drivers are used to the risk, novice drivers may not be, and are known to tend to get into worse accidents because they are unprepared and do not handle it as they should. Grand Ledge Police Department sergeant Anthony Gatewood said their office gets one or two to ten calls a week. Most of the time, the accidents are not bad - unless the driver tries to avoid the deer. “Inexperienced drivers will, not necessarily hit them more, but try to avoid them more,” Gatewood said. “An experienced driver will know, don’t try to swerve around the deer, just drive. That doesn’t mean speed up, that doesn’t mean slam on the breaks. Slow down - but you can’t try to swerve around them.” Hansen and Ward both used their breaks rather than swerving when they Bry Leach ‘15
GUEST WRITER
Ali Smith/Guest Photographer
Driving down M-22 on Dec. 31 to Benzonia MI, Ali Smith drives past a deer warning sign. Most Michigan citizens are accustom to seeing these signs everywhere they go. During the winter and fall months drivers have to be careful of the deer running across the road to avoid a crash.
Grand Ledge Independent: As a new project for writers on the school newspaper, the Grand Ledge Independent has asked for students to report on positive events going on in the Grand Ledge Public School District. The editing process of these stories would be identical to the one practiced in the classroom, and it could potentially enhance the publicity and professionalism of GLHS as a whole. Athletic Turf Bond Proposal: Because there have been several requests from athletes and their parents for new football turf and athletic fields, the Grand Ledge School Board has recently considered installing new ground in the sports environments of GLHS. If any progress is to take place on this suggestion, it will most likely occur during the 2013-2014 school year. Willow Ridge Bus Accident: We want to keep you updated on the two students involved in the auto/bus accident that occurred this late January. However, we want our community to understand that we respect the privacy of students and parents involved; therefore, we will only release information upon the family’s approval. We ask that any speculations or rumors about the situation not take place. One of the students has been released from the hospital and has returned to school. However, the other continues her recovery and is still hospitalized. Visitation is still restricted to only family at this time. The district will be providing opportunities for additional support to the family in the near future. By friends of the family, a donation fund as been set up through Michigan State Federal Credit Union. All proceeds will directly benefit the students and their family in their time of need.
saw the deer, which may have prevented a worse accident. According to streetdirectory.com, other actions that can be done to avoid hitting deer are scanning the sides of the road, slowing down, or simply avoiding the rural roads after dusk as much as possible. Also, remember that if there is one deer, there are bound to be more, so drivers are encouraged to watch carefully.
Continued from page 1: Grand Ledge updates security precautions
inadequate for the high school building. Instead, the high school will be installing different security measures to account for the open campus. Gabriel has been working hard to install an improved security system. “We are going to go to an entirely keyless system,” Gabriel said. “The standard locks that exist will go away. All of the exterior doors and key parts of the building are going to be re-keyed.” The building is going to be rekeyed for many reasons. Over the years, many copies of keys to the building have been distributed to people who are not part of the high school staff anymore, including as old staff members, students who have had access to keys from coaches, etc. Therefore, there are excess keys floating around the community. In order to ensure staff and student safety, every staff member of GLHS will be distributed a key fob, which is an electronic swipe card. In order for staff members to enter the building, they will have to swipe their key fob, then enter a specific code into a keypad. However, depending on each staff member’s job description and needs, their accessibility areas and times will vary. Key fob entrances will also be placed at doors such as the auditorium,
pool and weight room. Few exterior doors will be accessible by traditional keys in case something goes wrong with the technology, but only limited people will have access to those keys. Gabriel hopes to install the keyless system by the end of the year.
Propping Doors A very important safety precaution for students at the high school is to stop propping outside doors. Every day, Officer Christopher Chester has to un-prop doors throughout the building after students wedge items like pencils or rocks in the doorway so that they can get back into the school without walking all the way around to the main entrance. “I un-prop doors daily, perhaps multiple times a day,” Chester said. Everyone’s safety depends on what people do, including propping the doors. By propping doors open, students leave the building accessible to possible intruders. In order to avoid this, students should only use the pool and main entrances. “We have to do a better job as students and as adults of the building of watching out for ourselves as well,” Gabriel said. “There are 40 or 50
doors that we can change the locks to, but if people continue to prop the doors open, that defeats the purpose.” Gabriel also hopes to install alarms for the doors. If they do get propped, there will be a loud, piercing sound that will prevent people from leaving doors propped open.
The Big Picture Lockdown drills, new technology, keyless locks and not propping doors are all big steps in security upgrade that Metcalf expects to work efficiently. As always, Dr. Metcalf’s priority has been to ensure the safest environment for both GLPS students and staff members. “I think everybody becomes a little more sensitive when you see something like that [Newtown] happen,” Metcalf said. “But even when those things happen, it’s a very tragic situation. We have to realize that the school is the safest place for any student or any person, anywhere in the United States.”
Design
This shows the growth I have made from my sophomore year to my senior year of high school. When I got the chance I re-designed the folios and bylines, which now look much cleaner and easier to see which you can see on the next page. Honorable mention “News layout” 2012
Design
After changing the folio and by-lines and following the grid more closely, The Comets’ Tale is looking cleaner, and is easier to read. This was a change I decided to make after getting critiques and advice from those who work in newspaper design.
Entered in contest/ award “News layout”
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2 The expense of being an artist
The Comets’ Tale • News • February 2015
ACT testing Art teachers work with outdated budget for art supplies switch to SAT continued from page 1 Kathrine Davidson ‘17 Staff Writer
Kefgen, College Board is going to start testing students more on knowledge than their raw potential, although that will still be the root of the test. “The SAT’s content is going to change,” Kefgen said. “For example, the SAT used to emphasize vocab out of context, like “Esoteric most closely means?” Now, it will be putting [words] into a sentence.” Although the SAT is working on informing students, parents and educators what the new test will look like, much of the information that outsiders are looking for will not be available for several months. “The first time we will see an aligned test is October 2015 on the PSAT,” Kefgen said. “College Board is making preparation materials available on Khon Academy, which is an open source online academy made to take classes for free for those who want to learn. [SAT] doesn’t want students to have an advantage who can pay for it.” This work will be available in May 2015, giving future test takers nine months to prepare. Kefgen says that the math portion of the SAT will also be expanded to include more math knowledge, such as algebra and trigonometry. Kefgen has heard several concerns from parents, students and other school administrators, one of which being the test starting with the class of 2017. “With the Michigan Merit Exam curriculum, it started with the eighth graders [at the time], so kids came into high school knowing what to expect,” Kefgen said. “When you do it midstream, students in tenth grade expect one thing — and then it’s not consistent expectations in high school.” Some lowerclassmen have already been thinking about the ACT, and now must refocus their test preparations. “I took a practice ACT, so now I feel unprepared [to take the SAT instead].” sophomore Aliyah Clark said. Another concern that Kefgen expressed is the ability for these students to compete for spots in college, and potentially have to take both the ACT and SAT to do so. “If a student is competing [for college acceptance] and can’t afford to take both tests that could have a negative impact,” Kefgen said. However, he does not think taking the SAT rather than the ACT will negatively bias colleges, and has faith that Michigan schools will be able to prepare their students in the next year. “It shouldn’t’ impact the ability to get into college. We’ve been successful giving every student a test and prepping them for it — on the ACT, the average for Michigan went up every year.” Kefgen’s advice for student’s can be summarized by just a few words: “Keep trying, don’t let it get you down, try your best. Teachers and principals want you to do your best. Take advantage of prep opportunities. You can’t control it, so you just have to raise to the challenge.”
Every hour, the art class works busily, each student keeping a quick eye on the time. Each one wanting to finish before the bell sings a song. It is always a race against the clock. Just one more stroke, shade or little detail. Yet the supplies are limited. A good amount of students cannot finish their project because the tool they need in order to do so lies broken in the trash. Many of the supplies soon reach this fate. Lines soon form just to use one tool or another. This is what the art classes experiences daily. While art supplies prices are increasing the art budget is solid as a rock, meaning the teachers cannot get any more funding than what they have now. Therefore teachers require students to help out by paying a small price for the class. “If it is a jewelry class, I ask students to pay $15 for copper and brass, or silver which is $25,” art teacher Doris Thompson said. “If it is a ceramics class, it is usually $15. If it’s a drawing class and/or art 1, it’s $5.” Students can choose to create more or stay at minimum in their art classes. “You need materials and materials are so expensive, because I buy my own materials a lot, I spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars just on myself,” sophomore Alyssa Clark said. Clark loves artwork, and enjoys art class a lot. She has pursued art for a while and has improved quite a bit. She is a natural artist, and constantly comes up with new pieces. “It has impacted me because its something that I get to look forward to throughout the day,” Clark said. “Whenever I have art class I am like ‘Yay!’ but with all my other classes I am like ‘Wow this is horrible; worst day of my life.’” Other students enjoy the class too. They want to lend a helping hand and improve the way the system works. For them art is everything. “It lets me express who I am and people get to know me better through my art,” sophomore
Freshman Emily Glasgow creating a paper maché chicken in Art 1. Budgets in the art wing run tight so students must pay five dollars to create their projects. The money goes towards art supplies and tools that the students get to use. Katie Twarozynski/The Comets’ Tale
Maddie Merkel said. As a student, there is not much they can do to help, but that does not stop them from doing just a little bit to help out. “The only way I can think of is donating some of my materials that I don’t use anymore or just donating $5 even makes all the difference,” Clark said. Then there are the students that are only in the class to get their two art credits. Tools tend to get mistreated and not taken care of properly because they do not really care. “You always lose some tools, some you lose to breakage, some you lose to theft, and some tools be lost because students are careless and sometimes it is because its deliberate,” Thompson said. “Like during class last hour, I had a student bend a little tool I have to use for enameling and they took the end and just folded
it in half. No one would admit to it, but I am assuming it was one of the kids waiting by the soldering tool for me to help them. So yeah there are always kids that break things and it is unfortunate, but that is just how it is. Some students do not respect the material. And as I say in the classroom ‘They should respect all material and that we are here to create not destroy’, and that is my motto and I would like all my students to follow it.” This can be costly. It happens quite often and overall makes everything seem like less. “The tools are kind of crappy, because a lot of them are really old,” Metal and jewelry student sophomore Cassidy Clevenger said. Teachers try to give their students the best tools they an offer but sometimes it is hard to stay within budget. Teachers often
improvise to provide for their students with workable tools. “I try really hard to stay within budget, but sometimes I have to cover things myself with my own money, similar to most teachers, I would imagine,” art teacher Sarah Collins said. “I am currently trying to get an Art Boosters Club going so the entire district (elementary, middle and high school art programs) has access to funds in case they need more money than what their budget allows. I plan on having a few fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for this.” Other departments in the school also have a specific budget. In the math department teachers have a budget of $50 to $100. In the English department teachers only get $50 to spend on school supplies for the whole year. Students find the art program
rather important to them. “The tools are kind of crappy, in the least, because they don’t give the art department like any money, and miss Thompson is always talking about me, and I just wanna donate money because there is not enough money for anyone, and we could definitely use better things,” Clark said. Many think that the budget could use a nice boost. What they don’t realize it that it can be hard at times to get funding to pay for this. The money comes from the general. There are not many alternatives though to pay for the art program. Chipping in just a few dollars, like Clark said, can help a lot. “It’s important because it allows students to express how they feel, and it allows people to show their artistic side, and they get away from all the academic stuff,” Clark said.
Teacher Kim Browning helping one of her students with math while in class. Photo by Sarah Clinkscales/The Comets’ Tale
Bottom third of kids not ready for school continued from page 1 “There is a global statement I have noticed in my three years at Neff,” counselor John Coleman said. “I think the academic expectations are higher, and that there are more stressers outside of school that more kids are dealing with on a day-to-day basis.” The bottom third in elementary school can reflect the bottom third at GLHS. Students who struggle from the very beginning are likely to struggle throughout their education, from middle school and into
high school. At GLHS the bottom third is a large focus in standardized testing. GLHS principal Steve Gabriel wants to bridge the gaps between each school when it comes to instruction. “We need to communicate better between schools,” Gabriel said. “All the schools need to be on the same page. There needs to be a consistency in curriculum and teaching.” Browning’s classroom is full of energy and possibility. During
their matching numbers activity, Browning makes an exception for one student who can only reach 70. She recognizes that although the curriculum is meant to be equal for every student, that each individual kid has their own strengths and weaknesses. There will always be a bottom third in any grade and in any school, but closing the gap is the goal that GLPS administrators hope to do across the board.
drive, so people who are scared to fly don’t think about that rationally - they are just fearful of that event, like not wanting to be in an elevator.” However, 2014 was not even close to being one of the worst years for deaths relating to aviation crashes — 1972 came in first place, and the most recent year in the “Top ten worst years for deaths,” according to CNN, was 1996, in eighth place. In fact, 2013 saw the fewest deaths in flight accidents worldwide, which made it the safest year since 1945, when records started, although flight departures are generally increasing. Senior Lucija Matkovic is flying to Mexico with friends for spring break, but has no fear of flying with her travel background. “I have gone multiple times overseas to Croatia, so I have no
reason to be afraid of the plane going to Mexico,” Matkovic said. “[The only trouble] I have had is slight delays and I can honestly say I’ve flown over 25 times.” GrandAir Aviation runs out of Abrams Airport on M100 in Grand Ledge. Their work mainly includes training pilots, but also flying private charter planes. Many customers choose private flights out of concern for time and money spent. Although sources will debate whether private flights or commercial are safer, many agree in the convenience and luxury of private flights. “Often we have companies that fly several employees to places and it can be faster and cheaper than flying airlines,” Helen Hagg of GrandAir Aviation Inc. said. “Private charter gets rid of waiting in lines for security checks and gets the passengers to where
they need to be in the minimum amount of time, whereas if they went with an airline they may have several hours of layover or have to stay the night which costs more.” However people choose to travel, Hagg thinks it is important to make decisions rationally and have trust in pilots, reiterating that flying is safer than driving. “People may be wary to travel but they should know that the pilots are trained and tested to high standards and that safety is the number one priority for any pilot,” Hagg said. “Even though these recent tragedies have occurred people should not be afraid to fly. They should have confidence in the pilot who is flying because he or she has been trained for all kinds of emergencies and situations.”
Early in the month during third hour, principal Steve Gabriel meets with The Comets’ Tale to discuss upcoming events at the high school. Photo by Mary Vu/The Comets’ Tale
Comet-in-Charge Bry Leach ‘15 News Editor
The month of January was a busy one for administration at GLPS — preparations were being made for the MSTEP, new steps were being taken to promote Comet PRIDE, and plans for GLHS’ prom were being made. PRIDE — Students noticed many new PRIDE posters around the school at the beginning of January. The promotion for school
spirit will continue into the end of the school year, although more lightly as administration’s focus is going towards MSTEP preparations for the junior class. However, another lesson will be held in the coming weeks, focusing on school safety and how to respond to an emergency outside of the classroom environment. Prom - GLHS’ prom will be held at Spartan Stadium on Friday, April 17. School will still be in operation for the day.
Fear not for flying this spring break: flying safer than driving Bry Leach ‘15 News Editor
2014 was a tumultuous year for airplanes in the news. The world watched for weeks as many nations searched for Malaysia flight 370; the world was shocked less than five months later when another Malaysian plane, MH17, was shot down by a missile and found crashed in Ukraine. And just before ringing in 2015, AirAsia Flight 8501 was reported missing after crashing into the Java Sea. All of these incidents were highly publicized, and brought into question the safety of aviation and travel in general. “A lot of times right after the disaster people are skittish,” Lauri Knutson of Knutson’s Travel Port in Delta Township said. “As far as air safely, it is safer to fly than
Located on M100 in Grand Ledge, Abrams Airport sits a 1977 Cessna 172N Sky hawk. A single engine four seat plane used primarily for flight training. In recent years flight safety has been under question due to missing and crashing planes although flying is safer than driving. Photo by Bry Leach/The Comets’ Tale
The Comets’ Tale • Feature • October 2014
Our colors are
Principal Steve Gabriel addresses the issue of Top to Bottom rankings
School ‘B’ is ranked higher in Top to Bottom. School ‘A’ is GLHS and School ‘B’ is Webberville
Design
Jump from page 1: school rankings
GLHS by the numbers:
School ‘B’
School ‘A’
20
MME
20.4 percent
MME
13.2 percent
ACT mean score
20.7
ACT mean score
19.7
College ready
23.3 percent
College ready
15.1 percent
Graduation Rate
92.4 percent
Graduation Rate
80.9 percent
Drop out rate
3.1 percent
Drop out rate
10.6 percent
Can you guess which school ranked higher in Top to Bottom? And which school GLHS is? See the answer in the bottom left corner
School Reportcard
In 2014:
In 2014:
2009/ 20.0
2009/ 19.9 2010/ 2011
2009/ 2010
2011/ 2012
Percent
Yellow
68.8
Focus
Dewitt
Lime
68.8
Reward
Holt
Okemos Orange 80.3 Red
66.7
Waverly Red
80.2
Haslett
80.8
65
Yellow
2012/ 2013
2013/ 2014
Status Top to bottom rank
Color
GLHS
School
2009/ 20.7
2009/ 20.5
2009/ 20.4
20.5
} }
Do you know what makes a school great? The Michigan Department of Education believes they know. In August, the state of Michigan released its latest “school accountability” report. This year’s version is called the “scorecard.” Calling it a “scorecard” suggests that the state has the ability to identify school winners and losers. After all, isn’t that why we keep score, to see who wins? In each of the past two years the winners and losers were identified by a color: Green (Best), Lime Green, Yellow (Average), Orange and Red (Worst). Additionally, schools were given a label: “Reward”, “Focus” and “Priority” and ranked from top to bottom against all schools in the state. The reward label is given to the highest ranked schools and/or schools that have demonstrated substantial growth. The focus label is assigned to schools needing improvement and the priority label is designated for the schools considered to be among the worst in the state. The top to bottom list ranks all schools, regardless of the grade level served. In other words, elementary schools are ranked against high schools. High schools are ranked against middle schools, etc. I have been told that the new “color coded” system is not designed to compare schools. The state would say that it is based on goals met and goals not met. But each school is different. Each school has different goals based on subgroups. If you have few subgroups you have few scores. There is a nuance to the system that clearly gets lost in translation and is not communicated to the public. To have a system that so fundamentally miscommunicates to the public, to parents, to school staff suggests that it is broken. This is unfortunate because the reality is that the system is used to compare schools. Every year newspapers across the state announce the scorecard release with frontpage coverage and it was the lead story on many television and radio broadcasts in the days immediately following the release. Schools and districts are named along with their colors and their rankings. The reality is parents and community members look at the color and ranking of their schools and the do compare it to the color and ranking of other schools. Many assume, incorrectly, that schools with yellows are worse than schools with green and that schools within yellow are all the same. As the High School Principal, I am often asked how I interpret the results. Is Grand Ledge High School truly “Yellow”? My answer is simple; our colors are Blue and Gold. Let me explain. I don’t care what the state “scorecard” reveals because it does not tell the whole story. I know the whole story. I know that Grand Ledge High School is a good
High School. In many areas we are great. The fact is our students learn. Our faculty and staff care. We offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses, dozens of after school clubs and activities, highly qualified and certified staff, new technology, successful athletic programing, community partnerships, support systems to combat drop outs and help struggling learners, alternative education programming, job shadowing and employment internships. I know that Comet PRIDE is more than a slogan to our students and staff. We strive to be Positive, be Responsible, have Integrity, be Determined and be Engaged in everything we do. As a result, our school is a clean, safe and welcoming place. I also know we can do better. We do have achievement gaps between the bottom 30 percent of our students and our population as a whole. Some of these gaps are quite large. We have put in place a variety of supports to address these gaps. We have created year-long courses for students who struggle in Math and English. We have created conceptual courses for students who struggle in Chemistry and Physics. We have made adjustments to curriculum and classroom instruction that is based on our data and research on best practices. We have Intervention rooms and intervention coaches in Math, English, Science and Social Studies. We have reading support classes and ACT skills classes. We have created a “Check and Connect” program at the high school to connect students in smaller groups with a teacher who cares and who can help focus them academically. We have teachers who run help rooms before school, after school and during their lunches. We have teachers who come in early and stay late to tutor. We have teachers who call parents and encourage students every day. We are creating a rich, internal accountability system that will allow us to us to focus attention not only on the state measurements but also our own internal assessments to give parents a clearer and more accurate picture of their child’s achievement. So do I care about the state “scorecard?” Not really, because I know our school. I know the whole story. I know the students, teachers and the staff. I know that we are making progress and that a state “scorecard” cannot truly capture the good things that happen in Grand Ledge High School every day. Grand Ledge High School is a wonderful, rich, vibrant, and exciting place to learn. It has been the focal point and a source of community pride since 1886. Many adults living in our community graduated from Grand Ledge High School (myself included). In fact, it is not uncommon to have several generations from a family graduate from GLHS. Our goals will continue challenge us to help each student make a year’s growth in a year’s time and perform at a high level. We accept that challenge and together we are working hard to ensure that each student is challenged to reach his or her potential. Proud to be a Comet!
College readiness
Steve Gabriel GUEST WRITER
blue and gold GL ACT Mean score
Ft.
Focus
36 percentile 94 percentile
92 percentile
58 percentile Focus
49 percentile 78 percentile Percent of students at GLHS who meet college readiness
56 48
Percent of students in the state who meet college readiness
41 38
33 25
23
22
18.1
English Reading Math Science All four
12
K-12 stakeholders wanted when the system was made. “It is important to understand the system is normative,” LaDue said. “99 percent of the reason is that it’s political in nature.” Another component of NCLB was a standard set for schools to be at 100 percent proficiency in a certain period of time, challenging GLHS to increase by an average of 4.85 points in math, writing, reading, science and social studies scores. By 2014, there should have been 100 percent proficiency, but at 58.29 percent, it is expected now to be at 85 percent in 2021. Our district in the Red Zone Although all of GLPS’ elementary level schools are in the 50-60th percentiles of Top to Bottom rankings, the district as a whole is in the Red Zone under the Accountability Scorecard rankings. According to Gabriel, the Accountability Scorecard is based on student participation and proficiency on state assessments, graduation or attendance rates, and the school must prove that all teachers have been evaluated as well as report a School Improvement Plan and diagnostic report yearly. LaDue says the same students who are counted in Top to Bottom Rankings are used for the Accountability Scorecard, which is only Full Academic Year students (students who did not transfer schools at any time during said school year). GL’s rendering of the GED program on Saginaw Highway was a weight to that score this year. Students up to the age of 22 who attend there are counted as students in the district. When they decide not to test at the end of their courses, GLPS loses points because these students count as dropouts and 5-year students. “99 percent of these students are not from Grand Ledge,” Gabriel said. For the students who are under 23, GLPS gets some state funding - which is why their lack of testing effects the scores. This year, nine did not show up on their GED test day. Compared to other schools Although GLHS has higher scores in many of the fields considered, Potterville is the only other school in Eaton county that is ranked lower. There are many cases in the state where schools with better scores overall end up with a lower score, as shown in the graphics. LaDue could not comment on the topic, but did comment on school performance in the state overall. “You’d be surprised at how many schools are not doing well,” LaDue said. Still, Gabriel holds strong in his view that GLHS stands apart from other schools, no matter what ranking they receive. “Is it fair to compare us to Grand Haven?” Gabriel said. “I don’t think so. I don’t think we should be compared to Potterville. We should be compared to us. Whether it ever gets changed in my career, I don’t know.”
The largest obstacle was collaborating with our principal on this page. He wanted his voice to be heard about how our school was ranked and it was my job to make it visual to the students and community. The graphics I had made to go along with the page are what help define his story and make it easily transparent to readers. Entered in contest/award “Feature layout”
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The Comets’ Tale • Student Life • October 2014
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1. “Calculus is probably the most important one,” senior Jared Babcock said. He praised GLHS’s 11 AP classes offered at the school while fellow classmates Chris Occhiuto and Jake Devlin donned AP Chemistry sweater vests as a tribute to teacher Ben Lorsen’s top of choice. 2. GLHS varsity cheerleaders perform a cheer in front of the student section for the camera. 3. WILX reporter Haley Nelson gets ready to interview various groups at GLHS, such as the girls’ basketball, the equestrian team and the archery team. Groups were hand picked by principal Steve Gabriel to show Comet Pride. 4. Performing “We Go Together” is the cast of “Grease.” Tickets are now on sale for the musical that is in November. 5. Senior drum major Ryan Gerhardt conducts GLHS’s marching band and drum line to rally up student section. 6. Senior Hunter Locker talks about the volunteer work members of the National Technical Honors Society participate in.
Bry Leach/The Comets’ Tale
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Comet P.R.I.D.E. goes live
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For the second year in a row, students filed into the new gym at 5 a.m. on Sept. 19 for WILX’s “Schools Rule!” program. After impressing WILX’s staff last year, the broadcasting station decided to showcase GLHS at the kickoff of their program this school year. “We looked over footage from different schools and Grand Ledge was really cooperative and we had a good time there, it was stress free for us,” video journalist Haley Nelson said. Noticeably more students were present at this year’s event, with the whole east side of the bleachers filled, even while band and other clubs were on the floor. Last years attendance of roughly 400 was easily beat, with principal Steve Gabriel estimating over 500 students were in attendance. Another distinct feature that GLHS offered Bry Leach ‘15
NEWS EDITOR
Sarah Sims/The Comets’ Tale
to WILX was the variety of sports teams, clubs and performances showcased during the shoot. The Madrigals sang the Star Spangled Banner, the “Grease” cast performed “You’re The One That I Want,” and the band pumped students up throughout the event, as well as getting their own block on the show. Gabriel was pleased with how the program turned out—from the attendance to the pepped up student section. “‘Schools Rule’ was awesome,” Gabriel said. “I was very happy with the way it turned out—not only how everybody performed and represented us here but also the way it came across on TV. I hear there were some audio problems with the first couple sections that had nothing to do with us—but the stuff that I saw as well as the story that ran at 6 o’clock put us in a pretty good light.”
Photojournalism WILX Schools Rule had chosen GLHS to feature for a second time this year on their morning broadcast. Just like the year be fore I woke up at 4 a.m. and got to run around and take pictures of the entire event. I then got to lay out the page design in the same day. Entered in contest/ award “Photostory”
Writing With everchanging school systems I felt it was necessary to report about some of the key issues in the system including standardized testing and common core problems. I got to interview professionals in the field to report this story.
Web
After taking Besty Rau’s Digital Story-Telling class at the MIPA summer workshop The Comets’ Tale designed and went live with a website this year. On top of printing once a month we posted stories online. When a student at GLHS got a scholarship to CMU I wrote a fast brief to be posted online to showcase this achievement of one of our graduating seniors.
Writing After a bond proposed for my school district failed to pass I wrote the staff editorial based on what should have been done different and offered advice for the district if they were to propose this bond again in the future. Entered in contest/award “Editorial�