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ANTLERETTE THE MAIN SOURCE FOR SCHOOL NEWS
SEPTEMBER 2016
THE HERD IS BACK By Anna Serpa The Herd is back to school again! It is such a bummer that our summer days are gone. I personally look with minor regret at all the fun activities I missed! However, with school now in session, it means we have to keep the daydreams at bay and the music solely in our heads while we listen to our teachers drone on about school policies. Our days have become ones of listening in silence instead of a social session. The summer heat is still with us, but without the freedom to enjoy it. We chat with friends in the classes that we share, often getting so loud that the teacher has to resort to a cheesy attention grabber. Let’s curb the leisurely conversation and talk about our assigned classes that require all of our focus. School is
back already which means the croquet sets and beach trips are on hold for some time. Until then, we have to open our young minds and our notebooks. Going home and doing homework for the first few weeks is difficult and we slack ever so slightly thinking it won’t matter. Little things we think we can skip, like looking over our class notes daily, will eventually hurt our overall grades. Our education is not on the teacher's’ shoulders. The “no child left behind” system of education has been demolished and abolished. We have to be willing to help ourselves achieve the level of education we want to receive. The sun is out, but with school in much of the fun is gone, or so we think. As students, homework is required, but what if we played outside until dark? Or set goals with rewards for completing them. Being academically serious doesn’t mean a loss of recreational activities. Work hard, but remember to play. Study and release your inner child.
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SCHOOL TIME AND YOU TIME
A vital reason why so many students are so stressed is our lack of
By Sheralyn Laron
proper time management and motivation. Creating schedules to work on long time
It’s that time of the year again, when students have to learn how to responsibly
projects, completing homework, and taking time for well-deserved breaks will
balance school work and personal health. Many students face stress and lack the motivation to
definitely play a role in making school seem much less stressful. As far as
do well in school. Stress can be caused by numerous things including school work, small
motivation goes, however, everyone is different. It is important to remember the
amounts of rest, and even life in general. However, creating a plan to put into action at the start
relief felt once an assignment is finished. Other motivating factors can include
of a fresh, new school year can really be helpful to students dealing with stress.
small rewards for yourself such as, again, breaks between work time and
One of the best and most common ways to combat stress is to take time out of a busy something fun once all the work is finished. Finding ways to personally motivate schedule to rest. While it is definitely important to do school work, students also need to realize
yourself using things you enjoy can really make a difference. Although it may
that to produce the best content, they need to make sure to set aside time daily or even weekly
seem challenging and unrealistic at first, time management can really help to
for themselves. Stress can be reduced by catching up on sleep and taking time to “treat yourself”. make school less intimidating. Many researchers have discovered that students who get more sleep are significantly less
High school is a big change from middle school and can be difficult to
stressed than students who lack in the sleep department. Getting an ample amount of sleep at
students who are soon to be moving on, but finding motivation and ways to
night (which is at least eight hours) plays a vital role in making school life seem much more
balance all the ups and downs, seem to transform it into a much more enjoyable
manageable. It can also help to find a couple activities to engage in as an outlet when you are
experience. Balancing time for school and for yourself is an important aspect in
stressed. I personally find that doing things that I feel enjoyable such as making music or
living a more content lifestyle. After all, no one wants to spend all four years of
spending time with my family for at least an hour a day can really reduce my stress, even just for his or her school career feeling stressed. a while.
FIVE HELPFUL HACKS FOR SCHOOL By Hannah Faith Villareal and stay focused. Setting an alarm for things as simple as when to start homework or Summer’s over and it’s finally time to once again be able to survive the school year. It is best to develop good study habits before times like finals testing begins.
when to take that refreshing shower or a five minute warning to head to school, will really help to stay organized and keep a smooth flow in your schedule.
Whether you’re studying for a quiz or test, or typing up an essay, slacking off is not an option if you want to do well in school. Here are a few tips to adjust back into the school mode and improve your grades. Color coding is a major assistant in staying organized. Color coding your binders and notebooks helps to differentiate between class subjects when you’re franticly
Some teachers have said that reading your essays out loud helps you to find and edit your mistakes. However, many get too lazy or perhaps ill with voice or throat issues to actually heed this advice. All is not lost. After you type up an essay, copy and paste it onto Google Translate and listen to it to find mistakes. In doing this, your ears can catch any error that your eyes fail to see.
rushing to get items out of your locker to get to class on time. It also helps when you are taking notes. Not everyone is skilled at note-taking, let alone highlighting. By
Before going to bed, preparing things like your outfit and lunch for the next day
labeling your highlighters, you develop an easier way to organize your notes and to
will decrease the chances of being late to class. Timing is everything when it comes to
remember information when studying for a test. Also, if you have a planner (which I
school, and even a few minutes can make a big difference. Also, you will most likely be
would personally recommend) you can use different colored pens to distinguish due
more relaxed because the flow of getting ready in the morning will run so smoothly that
dates, thus helping you in prioritizing your activities.
you don’t start out your day with stress.
Studying or working on assignments is not exactly everyone’s favorite past time, So there you have it, 5 helpful hacks you might need and/or want to use in order to
especially when there is a lack of motivation to get things done. The Pomodoro Technique advises students to work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. Do this 3 times, then take a longer 20 minute break. Repeat the process until all work is
be successful for the school year. Education is important in order to reach many career goals, and development of good habits in school to reach those goals is just as important.
done. This can definitely increase chances of productivity because in a way you set up rewards to look forward to when completing school work or studying. Similar to the Pomodoro Method, you can set alarms to manage your time throughout your morning and evening in order to make sure you get to school on time
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WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND RALLIES? By Chelsea Planesi Rallies all focus on one thing: bringing people together through school pride
EGHS has several different performing groups and each is distinct in their own
and class spirit. The Cartwright Gym is always buzzing with energy during rallies and
unique way. The groups can stretch from cheer to Rhythmical Madness; but, no matter
it’s a shame if you miss one of these rowdy events. Each one is unique, yet filled with
which group performs, it is bound to be spectacular. They all make sure to bring their
boisterous excitement from the students. If you can’t find a reason to attend one, I’ll
everything to the gym floor for their fellow classmates’ entertainment. It is wonderful to
give you some.
watch them perform as all of their hard work in practice begins to pay off. Witnessing
The whole idea of a rally revolves around the act of coming together. When we
them all do something they love is a great experience. The performers are a big part of
are present in the Cartwright Gym, we unite with our respective classmates and with the rest of the school as a whole. Throughout the rally, we are divided by our classes and we
the rallies and the fun radiates off them during their acts. Being involved with various things can help boost your happiness. One of the
try to out-cheer the others; but, at the end, we assemble together as a school to sing the
ways you can get involved is by going to the rallies. With class spirit and herd pride,
Alma Mater. It is a long-standing tradition to sing the song of our school and it
rallies are a perfect way for you to connect with your peers and also meet new friends. It
completes the unification of rallies.
also shows you our different performing groups. If you are interested in what the various
On rally days, it is an unspoken code that you wear your class t-shirt to show off
groups do, you can definitely find out at the next rally.
your spirit. The shirts are a way to connect with our fellow classmates. They create a
Everything about rallies is exhilarating and I would strongly recommend going to
bond that only intensifies at the rallies. If you are looking for a way to feel like you are
them. They are a exciting way to get to know your peers better and spread positivity
part of the crowd, wear your class t-shirt on rally days and join in all of the fun.
throughout the school. It is also incredibly magnificent to watch the various groups perform. The feeling of excitement and unification I feel after rallies is almost
The class spirit, herd pride, and excited buzz of your peers add to the fun of rallies. Positivity floods the gym to the point that your cheeks hurt from smiling so
overwhelming. Get your class spirit on and be ready for the next rally because it will
much (and your throat hurts from screaming in your highest volume). The chanting of
definitely be a good one!
each class’ graduation year helps loosen everyone up to a rally filled with pure joy and excitement. The only thing that truly matters during one of these special events is that everyone has fun and feels an overwhelming sense of happiness. The spirit representatives from each class make sure that every individual leaves the gym with a positive feeling bubbling inside them. The screaming, chanting, and positive vibes are the perfect recipe for a fun-filled rally (and a great afternoon to follow).
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IS SCHOOL MAKING US STUPID?
help but get distracted when reading. We basically ruin our ability to delve into text or
By Landon Parkinson
learning and think deeply about it.
It’s the first week of (Oh hey, I forgot to text Billy Bob Joe Junior) school
So can we do anything to save our brains? On the internet: not really. With
and you can’t seem to (hey wassup, Joe!) focus. You try reading (DANG, that snake just
the blaring ads and notifications vying for our attention, it’s bound to be a losing battle.
swallowed a flippin BEAR) your English book but you keep on getting distracted. Turns
Mrs. Stickert, the APUSH teacher at EGHS, advises that we “...commit to giving up our
out there’s a reason for your inability; you’ve reprogrammed your brain! You know that
phone for one or two hours a day while we study”. I know this can sound daunting, but
saying, you are what you eat? Maryanne Wolf argues that we are also “what we read”
in the end your homework will get done faster if your brain is more focused.
and even “how we read” as well. When we try to do our homework by skimming
Reprogramming your brain definitely won’t come immediately, or even after a few days,
through the textbook or sparks noting an English book, our brain becomes rewired to
but it shouldn’t take more than a couple weeks to reprogram your brain. Read that
catch snippets of data at a time, processing the data quickly to retain it without even
textbook until you can’t read it anymore, take a break, and go at it again. It’s just like
analyzing it.
working out a muscle, if you consistently try to increase your attention span, you’ll get
School is a major culprit of reprogramming our brains. Our lives are CRAZY busy in high school. Six classes a day with homework is busy enough, but
better and better each time until you can sit down and actually learn and develop new ideas from your homework.
throw in Honors and AP, maybe a sport or two, not to mention church or spearfishing
If you don’t want school to make you stupid, sit down, relax, and really do
and we get used to making every second of our time count. According to Nicholas Carr,
your homework. When you sit down to read that English book, remember why you're
author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, this is ruining our ability to focus on
going to high school. Are you going to school six hours a day to get really good at
something for a long period of time. Instead of reading the textbook deeply and
cheating yourself by sparks noting your way through? If you are, just remember that
methodically, taking notes and adding our own thought and knowledge to them, we tend
you’re probably not getting any smarter; school may be making you stupid.
to skim through ASAP, skipping to where the next answer might be or writing down topic sentences for notes (hey, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do). Our brain gets used to absorbing very small amounts of information at a time. Then, if we try to sit down and read a book or this whole gigantic article (props to you if you made it this far) our brains get tired out quickly and look for something different. That’s why we can’t
START YOUR YEAR WITH A TEAM OR CLUB By Katie Goldman Elk Grove has some amazing athletics programs that allow students to push Elk Grove High School offers many clubs and sports that can help every
themselves to the limit at each practice for a chance to taste victory at the games or competitions. If you have ever loved playing a certain sport or just wanted to try one out, some options you may want to try are: football, volleyball (boy and girl teams),tennis (boy and girl teams), golf (boy and girl teams), and cross country. Elk Grove also has amazing clubs, if sports are not your first choice for an extracurricular. Some clubs you may want to try out are listed below and each one is
student meet others who share the same interests. So there is an option for every student to participate in an extracurricular that captivates his/her interest. Extracurricular activities are important because they help students to manage their time appropriately and they look great on college applications. Students should join sports teams and clubs because they make high school a more fun and memorable experience.
specific to a person's interest.
Drill Team performs in rallies/ games/ competitions Cheer Team performs in rallies/ games Rhythmical Madness (RM) performs in rallies/ competitions French learn about the language and culture BSU (Black Student Union) educate others and yourself on issues Unity Herd inspires diversity and togetherness Flying Hands learn about sign language and its culture Antlerette student newspaper (now online) Japanese learn about the language and culture German learn about the language and the culture Rotary Interact community service with friends Key Club encourage learning and helping others GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) supporting those who are apart of the LGBT community FEA( Future Educators of America) helps future teachers to be successful CSF (California Scholarship Federation) notices student achievement and scholarship potential CyberPatriot Mathematics cyber education
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