October Issue

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Girls’ JV and varsity Principal Steve golf hits the green— Gabriel’s opinion see more on on GLHS’s ranking Page 12 Page 7

Grand Ledge High School’s

The Comets’ Tale

Schools Rules broadcasts live from GLHS

Snack attack

Volume 47 Issue 2 October 2014 820 Spring St. Grand Ledge MI 517-925-5848

Non-homestead tax is up for renewal in upcoming election

New health standards take effect in schools

Gone are the days of chocolate bars, greasy chips and sour gummy NEWS EDITOR worms—at least in schools.

When First Lady Michelle Obama passed the Safe Snacks in Schools initiative, it did away with any snacks that are over 200 calories or contain more than 35 percent fat calories, among other factors. The intention is to make students eat healthier. But the impact reaches farther than the students’ diets—and into the pocketbooks of the school programs.

For students at GLHS, the school store is a staple hangout place for lunchtime. Although their merchandise includes spirit wear and GL trinkets, their staple products are the snacks they sell during school—including drinks, cookies, chips, popcorn, candy and Cliff Bars.

Walk into the school now, the chips are replaced with Goldfish, the candy is obsolete and the lattes are no longer a part of the menu. Not only are students having their food options taken away, but Marketing teacher Marcee Laudick is afraid that students in her classes are missing out on opportunity.

“Last year the school store spent over $7,000 sending kids to DECA,” Laudick said. “Those kids got scholarships to college, they got opportunities that they’re not going to have because I don’t think the profits are going to be there [to send them].”

The student store has not only spent its profits on the marketing students, in the past they have donated money to the school plays, buying GLHS’ Winkey mascot and donating money to fund the electronic sign in front of the building.

“The money stayed here and did things we’re not going to be able to do anymore,” Laudick said.

Laudick says that about 60-70 percent of the profit in the school store comes from the candy and Arizona drinks that were sold before and after school as well as during lunch. Now that there are more regulations on foods, Laudick and her marketing students are going to have to come up with strategies to still get students in the store to buy snacks that are deemed acceptable. The student store already had many regulations they are not allowed to compete with the cafeteria, and for the past few years they have not been able to sell regular soda.

A problem with this is the cost of healthy snacks, and the food choices that adolescents will tend to make as well. Laudick does not believe that the initiative will stop students from eating the way that they please, especially in an open-campus setting like GLHS. “If somebody wants to buy sour gummies I don’t think they’re going to come buy a granola bar from us—they’re just going to skip it,” Laudick said. “I don’t think we’re stopping them, we’re just not benefiting from the sales.”

Health teacher Kellee Auge hopes that the nutrition standards will impact students’ choices now as well as into their adult lives.

“I think it has potential, but it will not cure everything,” Auge said. “While students are at school if they have only healthy options to get then I think they will learn some healthy snacks that they actually do enjoy. There are actually studies that show if you feed kids better food they perform better in school.”

Auge did admit that the swift passing of the standards that take away sugary snacks and drinks could negatively affect the school, who has little time to adjust.

“Politicians put in these laws for anything school related and initially they look at it as being good but then it’s like a spider web,” Auge said. “They don’t realize how far it’s going to reach in the negative.”

Instead, she thinks it should have been taken on a yearly basis, cutting out different snacks or sugary drinks every time.

“I think whenever you are trying to introduce something like this you need to take it small steps in order to initiate change that is going to last,” Auge said.

Through she is disappointed in the federal government’s passing of the legislation, Laudick is still hopeful that she and the marketing classes can make a profit this year. They are looking for that “one” product that will fit into the guidelines but will also be cheap enough and catch student interest to keep the store afloat. All of the marketing classes are also writing letters to Michelle Obama to express their dismay over the regulations and how it negatively affects their high school marketing experience.

“Elect a president with a smart wife who has nothing to do and she’ll find something to do” Laudick said. “I feel like [Michelle Obama] is legislating as a Washington insider and deciding what’s good for school districts across the country, and I’m not sure that she’s really making any kind of an impact.”

Bry Leach ‘15

The taste test

Members of the publication staffs blindly tested “healthy” and “unhealthy” products for quality and taste

94 % in favor

vs.

Regular

81% in favor

vs.

Regular

88% in favor

6in favor % Oven Baked

vs.

19% in favor

On Nov. 4, voters of the Grand Ledge community will decide MANAGING EDITOR whether or not to approve the Non Homestead tax again. This tax is renewed every 10 years and affects businesses, not homeowners. The GLPS district depends on these funds for 16 percent of the budget. The budget is 37 million total between state and the Non Homestead funding—Non Homestead accounts for nearly 7 million of it.

Every year the state funds roughly $7,200 per student, and if the Non Homestead tax does not pass then this number would be reduced to $1,333 per student. For GLHS that could mean cutting transportation and not having school funded programs.

“This isn’t an increase; it is a renewal,” superintendent Dr. Brian Metcalf said. “A continuation.”

In 1994, Proposal A was passed in Michigan. Proposal A took authority away from local communities and gave it to that state. It moved the majority of funding for schools away from homeowners responsibility to state funding, with the exception of businesses and second homes.

“We don’t have a decision on how to fund most of our budget,” Metcalf said. “We have to rely on politicians to stick up for our district. The only other option is Non Homestead tax, but it will not ever be an increase, but without it we will not have that money ever.”

This means that even though the burden of homeowners being responsible for school funding is gone, parents and the school board also do not have a lot of power to change the budget. So if the school board wanted to raise a tax and asked the community to vote on it, they would not have that ability because the school board does not have authority over how to get money.

Since Proposal A was passed, there has not been a district in Michigan that has not passed the Non Homestead tax for a second time. One of the most important facts is that it is not an increase of money, it is a continuation of regular funding from the past 10 years.

In 2000, the school district’s millage rate was reduced from 18 mills to 17.7 mills due to a Headlee Rollback. A Headlee Rollback occurs when local governments are required by law to reduce the millage rate when the growth on existing property is greater than the rate of inflation. As a result of a Headlee Rollback, school districts collect less revenue than is allowable under Proposal A. Now, Grand Ledge’s millage is at 16.7247 due to all the rollbacks, so the district is seeking renewal of 19.558 mills to balance out the total to equal 18 mills.

“If the Non Homestead tax doesn’t pass, survival of the school would be a big deal,” principal Steve Gabriel said.

If this tax is not passed the first time in November it will be on the ballot again, up until March.

Sarah Clinkscales ‘15

Whole Grain

Regular

Page 6

Diet How to calculate a millage rate

If a business is worth $400,000, divide by 2. Then take that number ($200,000) and divide by $1,000 to get $200. Multiply that number by the mils: 19.558

12% in favor

A business worth $400,000:

$400,000 = $200,000 2

$1,000

According to the Michigan Department of Education NEWS EDITOR (MDE), GLHS is worse than 74 percent of schools in the state.

Principal Steve Gabriel, however, would disagree.

The 2013-2014 Top to Bottom scores, released at the end of August this year, show a ranking of every school in Michigan – from kindergarten to high school and even including GED centers that a district (like GLPS) might run.

The list is compiled of important information regarding a school’s success: the individual school’s improvement over time, dropout rates, standardized test scores and attendance among other things.

At the surface, the scores represent a school in it’s entirety and can be used to choose where to live or send a child to be educated. But delving in deeper, it bewilders some, such as Gabriel.

When President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, the State of Michigan was required to develop a system to rank schools. It set the stage for schools to not only focus on their best students and majority populations, but also the worst students and minorities.

Although the ACT as a whole is not included in TTB scores,

certain components of the test are counted as part of the MME. For example, out of 60 math questions administered on day one of three for juniors’ testing, 45 of them will count towards their MME score when the state goes to grade schools. These are the questions regarding algebra and geometry, classes required by the Michigan Merit Curriculum. Pre-calculus and higher level math problems that are not required by state standards are omitted from the scores.

A problem that many see with the Top to Bottom system is that it is hard to explain. Education consultant at the MDE Dan LaDue said the formula used to compose the scores is too complicated to describe over the phone.

Gabriel is not even sure of the exact formula the state uses to generate the scores. A power-point he created to educate teachers on the subject lends some insight, but still leaves the nagging question: how is GLHS ranked so low?

On the subject of improvement ACT scores and MME scores have both gone up at GLHS. The scores actually average about 20 percent higher than the state’s average.

When Top to Bottom was introduced as a new grading system two years ago, they incorporated the NCLB principals - one way of doing this is by giving schools subcategories for

mills

= $3,911.60 annually

“Scorecard” ranks schools from top to bottom Bry Leach ‘15

x 19.558

their minority populations - breaking a school up further by ethnicity or disabilities when about 30 or more of their students fall into one of the subcategories. Along with that, all schools are given another subcategory solely for their bottom 30 percent of students.

This is where GLHS falls short.

For GLHS, 120 students were in the bottom 30 percent out of 401 tested in the MME last year. Of these students, none scored proficient in the social studies section. Whether it be because they did not know the material or because they did not try, on this thought to be “meaningless” exam that fell on the last day of a long three, the poor scores took a hit to GLHS’ rankings.

“The more diverse your school is, the tougher it is to get it covered,” Gabriel said. “We get hurt by the student proficiency in subgroups and students who do not graduate in four years.”

When there are more factors going into a school’s ranking, it can be harder to get a better score, and most of the higher ranking schools are in smaller districts - whereas GLPS covers 125 square miles, with students commuting to GLHS from Eagle, Charlotte and Lansing.

According to LaDue, the Top to Bottom rankings are based on how other schools are doing, which is a key aspect that

Jump to page 12

Junior MME testing update Bry Leach ‘15 NEWS EDITOR

Changes are coming to the Michigan Merit Examination that is distributed to juniors this year.

In the past, the assessment was set up as a straight three days of tests: the first day was the ACT, the second day WorkKeys and the third day the MME. This year, the program will be set up so that the ACT and WorkKeys are still on two consecutive days, however the MME will be distributed over six days throughout two weeks.

The State of Michigan does not know exactly how it will require the testing to be done.

Principal Steve Gabriel does not expect any answers until January. The MME is used for school funding and rankings.

Nw.

2

The Comets’ Tale • News • October 2014

Summer projects promote pride at GLHS

Last year brown goo leaked from the roof, dripping water in MANAGING EDITOR the cafeteria; the gym floors were scoffy and gross, carpets in the classrooms smelled like mildew; and one classroom could be sweltering hot while another could be freezing cold. This year students will not have to deal with most of these problems due to the new renovations that happened over the summer.

The new renovations include: re-roofing over the English hall, kitchen and pool area; the heating and cooling airlines in the basement were replaced; the new gym floor was completely refinished and has new wood, and completely new carpets in five of the English classrooms.

Comet pride for the new gym floor One of the most visible changes is the new gym floor.

The gym floor wood was original, dating back more than 18 years. Floors after 10 to 15 years need to be completely sanded down and when that happens, the paint is removed too.

The floor has not been sanded down since 1996.

“The previous paint had faded to the point that it was bluegreen and not even close to our school colors,” athletic director Steve Baker said. “Our new floor is all about Comet Pride — the big GL logo in the middle, Comets in huge letters on both ends and our Comet mascot in both areas on the floor.”

The new floor design also includes volleyball lines, basketball courts, 15 sets of agility dots and an agility ladder, which helps both the physical education department and school teams for training. The total cost of the new floor was just over $20,000, keeping in mind that next year and every year after, between $5,000 and $7,000 will be spent to scrub and refinish the gym floor.

“The feedback we have been getting so far on the new floor from students and community members has been great,” Baker said. “I think it is the best looking gym floor in the CAAC!” Above: This summer, new roofing pads were Cooler classrooms for students and teachers installed to protect the roof from being damaged If any students had John Ellsworth as a teacher last year, by ice in the winter. Icesicles form on the peaks they remember how hot his classroom was near the end of of the pool roof and can potentially puncture it. the year, but maintenance grounds supervisor John Piper said that this year, hopefully classrooms will have minimal issues. Over the summer, Piper and his maintenance staff replaced two miles worth of air lines down the main halls of the entire school; science, math, foreign language, English and social studies hall. The old air lines were rubber and became Right: After 18 years of constant use, the gym brittle over time. This created tiny holes in the rubber that floor was redone. The resigned floor shows allowed air leaks, so the right amount of air pressure was Comet pride and school spirit with the GL logo not being circulated throughout the building. The process and mascot Winkey. The floor will be scrubbed took a total of 60 days for the crew to finish. Most rooms in and refinished again every year to keep it mainthe high school are run separately with heating and cooling tained. valves, but six rooms are set on computers called DDC (Direct Digital Control ). DDC makes checking heating and cooling easier, as well as troubleshooting a problem. Converting the entire high school into DDC would be more expensive, but would also be easier and more reliable in the future. If the bond had passed last school year then the whole district would have been moved towards DDC. Piper hopes to see things go winter, Taylor’s univent had a frozen coil which leaked water all over the floor and caused a huge orange rust stain that smelled. more in this direction in the future.

“My new carpet is amazing,” Taylor said. “It smells lovely and makes New carpets for English teachers Lots of students complain about the musty smell of classrooms, the room look new and put together.” especially when it is humid out in the English hall. The blue and grey Re-roofing over the high school The biggest project that happened over the summer was the reconcarpet was over 20 years old. Five English classrooms had new carpets installed. Two of these teachers, Jeff Belding and Abigail Taylor, struction of the school roof over the kitchen and cafeteria, between requested new carpet. Belding requested a new carpet in 2012. Last pool and the gym, and just short of the library. Last year water leaked down into the ceiling because the outer membrane of the roof was Sarah Clinkscales ‘15

Sarah Clinkscales/The Comets’ Tale

Courtesy Photo

peeling away from the side walls, leaving pockets for water to fill and drip into the building. Also, added to the roof nearest to the pool was roofing pads, so that during the winter, when icicles form and fall, it will not puncture the roof. Modern Roofing, an outside bidder did the construction, and Clark Construction was the general contractor. The bid cost approximately $397,000. It was the longest and biggest project to manage, starting from the third week of June to a week before school started.

Juniors raising the bar in a new prep class

“The first week of school with, based on the stats from the test taken last year. went very well, which in my English will cover commas, judging relevance, expresMANAGING EDITOR class involved kids getting to sion choice and transitions - the four most missed know my expectations,” sci- types of questions on the English portion of the ACT. ence teacher Michelle Hamilton said. “We focused the In the science rotation, students will be learning parfirst lesson on how to utilize and read tables. ticular strategies focused on how to read different viStudents did hands-on labs, including a pH lab and sual representations including tables, bar graphs, line a student measurement lab. graphs, and multi-line graphs. For math, it is broken “It is my belief that students who learn how to make into three categories; pre-algebra, algebra and geomand construct these ACT like diagrams themselves will etry. Each section is broken into sub categories like have a better understanding of how to read and ap- fractions and basic trigonometry for example. proach these visuals when they see them on the ACT,” “One of the biggest areas we want to improve is helpHamilton said. ing students make In 13 weeks 160 the connection from juniors, who did not class to the ACT,” have a college ready Westen said. score on their spring The first week of ACT, will be rotated the ACT class went through three classes smoothly according focusing on the subto Pippin. All three jects covered by the teachers met with ACT: English, math their students in the and science. Students library on the first will spend four weeks day and asked them in one class; one rotato fill in a blank on a tion will be with Hampiece of paper about ilton focusing on scihow they felt about ence ACT strategies, taking the class. another with Jennifer “I think that this Pippin focusing on class will help a lot,” English and reading junior Amy Case strategies and lastsaid. “I just wish ly will be with Katie they had told me Sarah Clinkscales/The Comets’ Tale Westen, focusing on about it last year ACT English teacher Jennifer Pippin goes over practice test probMath strategies. when I was making lems as a warm-up for junior students. The class is meant to boost Hamilton worked my schedule.”

ACT scores for juniors. as a tutor at Sylvan For junior Madfor roughly five years die Loftus, one of teaching ACT strategy classes. the most stressful part about the ACT is that in one “My tutoring background has given me general test test she has to apply everything she has learned for the strategies including identifying the types of science past 17 years. passages; how to find information quickly, what stanStudents review the topic, correct their actual ACT dard vocabulary will be consistently used on the ACT,” test from last spring and practice new problems. At Hamilton said. “I will also teach appropriate pacing the end of the trimester students will take a practice and different methods of attack that limit the amount ACT again, and based on that score they could receive of time spent on each section.” a letter grade, which would impact their GPA. HowThe average for last year’s ACT score was 21, as- ever, if a student does not get a letter grade they are sistant principal Sarah Hamelink hopes this course happy with then they can choose to accept the credit will better prepare 160 students’ to score higher. The but not have it impact their GPA at all. Students will goal of the class is to help juniors better prepare for receive an elective credit for the course. the ACT and be more college ready. The curriculum Westen hopes that after this year the school will have in the class is based off of two things: the areas where enough money to be able to support offering this class the school wholistically struggled as well as what the to all juniors. group of students in the class individually need help Sarah Clinkscales ‘15

Sara-Beth Badalamente/The Comets’ Tale

During third hour principal Steve Gabriel presents information to the newspaper staff on how schools are ranked in the state. During the presentation there were examples activities such as blindly comparing schools to each other.

Comet-in-Charge Before the 20142015 school year NEWS EDITOR started, principal Steve Gabriel had already been through weeks of meetings in preparation for the new year.

Among other things, the school has had to prepare for junk foods being taken out of schools across America due to new nutrition standards, and introducing a mentoring program to improve students’ success at GLHS. Junk food - Due to the Smart Snacks in Schools nutrition standards that took effect this year, junk snacks can no longer be sold for consumption during school hours.

This includes vending machines, school stores and lunch lines as well as student Bry Leach ‘15

run fundraisers like bake sales. Snacks sold now during school hours must follow a specific health standard, including being under 200 calories.

Mentoring program - This year, GLHS is reaching out to specific students with a mentoring program targeted at those with below average attendance, behavior and/ or grades. A list was compiled of students in this criteria, and teachers chose those whom they want to help throughout the year. It is based off of the University of Minnesota’s Check and Connect program.

The goal is that they will meet with their recruits on a regular basis in hopes of improving their performance in school and making a connection that will help the student overall.

Take a photo of this QR code for a link to more information about the Smart Snacks in Schools nutrition standards that took effect in schools this year.

3

Op.

The Comets’ Tale • Opinion • October 2014 Katie Twarozynski/ The Comets’ Tale

Scan here to see the speech E m m a Watson gave on HeForShe

Hear the difference: Spotify vs. 8tracks

MCT Campus

Letter to the Editor

Taylor Kennaugh ‘16

comes in.

Spotify is a saving grace for someone in need of listening to their favorite music. The home page allows users to browse popular playlists, newly released albums and different genres of music. Specific tracks or albums can be saved to “Your Music” or users can follow playlists made by other people and professionally made ones by Spotify. Purchase the premium package and saved music can be played offline; but the free version is still worth the download.

8tracks is a popular music app as well, but it pales in comparison to Spotify. Playlists cannot be created on the mobile app. They can only be made if a user has logged into their account on their computer. Also, the set up on 8tracks is confusing at times and it is difficult to maneuver from one thing to the next.

The shuffle option is a must-use in the free version. Specific tracks cannot be chosen to play whenever, but that is the beauty of making playlists. Users can pick out their favorite songs and add them to a playlist, just shuffling that playlist. It is a small obstacle that can be avoided.

Spotify is available for both Apple and Android platforms, so put down iTunes and open up Spotify. iTunes has a radio, the ability to create playlists, and buy music. And so does Spotify. Except with Spotify, users can get all of that for free just by sacrificing the ability to choose which songs play in which order.

Spotify is up to date when it comes to song and album releases. When a single or an album is released, it is very likely that Spotify will have that track on that day or in the days to come. Also, Spotify is great for discovering music if people get bored of the same old tracks on the radio. They offer new music playlists to follow and recommend artists and songs users should check out.

Spotify is one of the best music apps out there, and everyone should give it a try. Hardly any other apps can compare; it is its standalone icon for music apps.

Dessert that is good for you When I first discovered Quest Bars from following COPY EDITOR body-builders on instagram, I knew I just had to try them as well. My mom drove me to Complete Nutrition located at the Eastwood Towne Center, and I purchased a cinnamon roll Quest Bar. I had to wait until I arrived home to try it, because those who had posted about the bars inspired me to broil it in the oven. While the bar did not please me as much as I thought, I decided to give the bars another try and it was a good decision that I did.

Quest Nutrition has one particular flavor of bar that really out-does itself in flavor and chocolate goodness: Chocolate Brownie. In a shiny brown wrapper with the famous Quest logo, the bar appeals to you even before opening the package. When I took the first bite of a baked chocolate brownie bar, the inside oozed out into my mouth, tasting like brownie batter. The outside was perfectly baked, tasting exactly like the outside of a crisp brownie. This flavor of Quest Bar does not have the dreaded taste of a protein bar, but Katie Twarozynski ‘17

On Sept. 20, 2014, Emma GUEST WRITER Watson gave a speech at the United Nations advocating for gender equity under the auspices of a new program called HeForShe. Yes, the actress best known for playing Hermione Granger, the oft-portrayed stereotypical lovestruck sidekick of the male Harry Potter. We, the audience, all knew that Hermione was the true hero, “the greatest witch of her time,” who pulled Harry’s bacon out of the fire more times than we can count by means of her intelligence, perseverance and dedication to education.

But it’s Harry who gets all the credit, who ends up with the Elder wand, the most powerful ever created, who defeats the villain. The symbolism isn’t lost here about the “manliness” and power of Harry’s wand, and what it states about why Harry is the hero. Ironically, J.K. Rowling, a woman, admitted that Hermione should have received more credit.

Jeffrey Belding

Everyone is always looking for new ways to listen to free music, STAFF WRITER and there are a lot of great music streaming apps out there. But the best free music app has to be 8tracks. It offers a unique way to listen to free music. And since it is available on both Android and Apple products, anyone with Internet connection can download this easy to use app.

Spotify, Pandora and iHeart radio are other popular music apps, but they do not compare to 8tracks. Specifically, Spotify does offer playlists; there is not as much variety within them. That makes it harder for users to find a playlist they enjoy. Spotify also plays ads in the middle of playlists, making it hard to enjoy the music being played.

8tracks offers a unique way to listen to music with themed playlists made by other users. Just search for a certain genre, mood or a specific artist and you are good to go; the app will bring up different playlists based on those search criteria. 8tracks will even tell you how many minutes the playlist runs for and how many songs there are. The ability to like playlists makes it easy to listen to them over and over again. 8tracks saves your listening history, making it easy to find specific playlists again. The app will also suggest new playlists based on past search history, making it easy to find new music. Following other accounts allows users to get other users’ playlist likes and creations on their news feed, making it easy to see what other users are listening to and the playlists they make. 8tracks has a large variety of music, so everyone can find something they like. This large variety of music also makes it easy for users to discover new artists to listen to.

Just like any other free music streaming app, there are a few cons to the app. One con is that users cannot see which songs are on the playlist before listening because of 8tracks’ music license. The app allows you to skip a few songs per playlist, so it is not a problem. Another con to this app is that there are occasionally ads between playlists, but users have the option to purchase the ad-free version for ten dollars a year, if it bothers them.

Even with some of its downfalls, 8tracks is a great app for users to listen to free music. Whether you want to discover new music or listen to old favorites, 8tracks is the way to go.

Searching for good music apps can be a pain. There STAFF WRITER are many well-known apps, such as iHeart Radio or Pandora. The problem with these apps is that you have to listen to random music at times and cannot save the music you actually want to listen to. This is where Spotify Gabby Cushman ‘17

Emma Watson arrives at the 86th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles. Watson is a spokes person for HeForShe (Wally Skalij/ Los Angeles Times/MCT)

instead, the taste of a decadent dessert. When you take a bite of the bar, all the harsh thoughts of the day melt away and you are left feeling marvelous and warm.

Since 2010, Quest Nutrition has been creating yummy, nutritious bars packed full of protein. From flavors such as cookie dough and cookies and cream, to lemon pie and raspberry cheesecake, Quest has been fulfilling the dreams of students trying to gain muscle and improve in their sport.

The bars are not only for those trying to put on muscle. They can simply be a snack, or a swap for a healthier dessert. The bar has 20 grams of protein, five grams of fat, three grams of net carbs, and 17 grams of dietary fiber.

Even though I love each and every Quest Bar I have tried, chocolate brownie takes the prize. The bars can be purchased at health stores around the Lansing area or on the Quest Nutrition website. With chocolatey goodness at every bite, the bars do not disappoint even for the pickiest customer.

But I don’t want to talk about Harry Potter. And I’m not one to normally jump on the bandwagon of a celebrity endorsing a cause that has been fought for centuries by tens of thousands of others who have gone unrecognized.

But, as an English teacher, I couldn’t resist the obvious juxtaposition and irony. But, I am not only an English teacher, but also a male one. A minority in this field.

And the premise of the HeForShe platform, that in order for there to be significant change with regard to gender equity, is that men must have buy in, and men must be actual vocal advocates for that change. If you have had me for a class, you know that I have been promoting gender equity for almost twenty years at Grand Ledge High School. Much of my English 11B class is purposefully, thematically focused on this issue.

So, I don’t want to talk about Harry Potter. I want to talk about Powder Puff football, and Buff and Tuff volleyball.

All of the ‘uff’s. And what you young men should be thinking about. Like this: why do we use the nicknames of domesticated, consumable, or “cute” animals for women and girls, like “cow”, or “little goose”, or “old goat”, or “chick”. While men get tough animal nicknames: “he’s a little monkey”, or “horse”, or “tiger/lion”. When women show some mettle, the only animal nickname they get is “bitch”. How about this: men who show sexual prowess are “studs”, “players”, “pimps”. Women? “Sluts”, “tramps”, “whores”. See the difference? Same activity, polar opposite connotations.

Language is powerful. How we speak is a reflection of how we think. In order to change how we think, we need to change how we speak. Powder Puff. Buff and Tuff. At GLHS, Powder Puff is girls playing football, a traditionally male sport. Buff and Tuff is males playing volleyball, a female sport (at least here in Michigan). Again—see the point? Powder Puff implies softness, easy to disperse, fluffy, insubstantial. Buff and Tuff implies strength, tone, muscle. The message that gets sent here is obvious: females playing a “male” sport is an amusement, not to be taken seriously. Males playing a female sport is about conquest and machismo. And, if the message is obvious, why do we keep doing it? What if we reversed it? I bet the same number of girls would sign up for Buff and Tuff football, but no boys would sign up for Powder Puff volleyball.

I love sports. I have been a varsity coach of both boys’ and girls’ sports here in the past for thirteen seasons. I don’t want to get rid of these fun fundraisers.

Keep the games. Change the names. Powder Puff? Buff and Tuff? Enuff.

State needs to find a better way to judge schools’ effectivness It is hard to imagine a community based school such as Grand Ledge to be ranked so poorly when the Michigan Department of Education released their rankings for schools. While it was a hot topic community members were talking about in a negative light, the reality is that the scoring system is misleading and non-transparent. If schools are to be ranked, the state needs to categorize schools with similar sizes and schools who offer the same programs so they are not compared like apples to oranges.

The first factor that needs to be changed with the Top to Bottom scoring is listing elementary schools with middle schools with high schools. High schools are like apples, while elementary schools are like oranges. Elementary schools won’t have dropout rates and most won’t have problems testing all students, which are problems a majority of high schools face.

The second factor is comparing GLHS alongside smaller schools, with less programs. The should be put into different categories. GLHS offers programs such as band, choir, art, student council, journalism,

EDITORIAL

Mission Statement The Comets’ Tale, a newspaper produced for and by students of Grand Ledge High School, will provide the student body with information pertinent to events, activities and issues that affect GLHS students.

Editors-in-Chief Sarah Sims Jake Thomann Managing Editor Sarah Clinckscales Business Manager Mary Vu Copy Editor Katie Twarozynski

sports and a wide-variety of after school clubs. Some schools around the state may not even have enough people to field a football team.

The rankings are telling the community, people who do not connect with the district on a daily basis, that the school is struggling and in trouble—when in reality the score does not represent the experiences and the programs. The awards won by different student groups are instantly shattered when the school is associated with a failing grade.

It is forgotten that GLHS’s gymnastics program has won six state championships and was runner up last year and is recognized statewide for excellence. The archery team has competed at Worlds, the girls’ basketball team made it to the state semifinals last year and The Comets’ Tale Newspaper has won the Spartan Award from Michigan Interscholastic Press Association the past three years in a row. Not only that, but GLHS has a large LINKS program to help serve students with autism, there are numerous exchange students each year and the high school has been on the AP honor roll two times in the last four years.

The rankings between schools are made by a variety of different cat-

News Editor Bry Leach

Staff Writers

Gabrielle Cushman Katherine Davidson Taylor Kennaugh Brianna Martin Bobby Mitchell Angela Pontius Savannah Wear Michael Wilson

Adviser Sara-Beth Badalamente

egories, one being testing. Our sub-groups, which include minorities, bottom 30 percent and special education need to score as well as the rest of the student body. From past years scores at the high school level have actually been improving although our Top to Bottom score has decreased. According to the scores, there is still room to improve, especially in the bottom 30 percent and the special education programs.

Those low scores greatly affected our ratings when compared with other schools. While the scores could be better, how can a school with a special education program be compared to a school without one.

Pick a random school from the state and it will need improvement.

Novi High School for example was ranked highly at the 89.3 percentile, but they were still labeled as a Focus School—not a Reward School. Every school needs improvement as education evolves. While the scores influence the public, it is important to not lose sight of all that GLHS achieves everyday. It is time to stop comparing schools who are apples that excel in a specific area and oranges, who specialize in a different department. It’s time to find a better way to rank and judge schools’ effectiveness.

Letters to the Editor are encouraged by The Comets’ Tale staff. Letters may pertain to an article written or simply act as a form of student expression. All letters must be deemed publishable by the Editorial Board including the adviser. They should be 200 words or less but may be edited for content of length. All letters to the Editor must be signed. To send a letter to the Editor, students may drop them in the publications room (room 113).

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The Comets’ Tale • Entertainment • October 2014

Photo from Square Enix/Rise of the Tomb Raider Illustration by Jake Thomann/The Comets’ Tale

The exclusivity war between consoles is a detriment to gamers

Gaming has always EDITOR-IN-CHIEF brought out the competition in everyone, both in and out of games. One of the most remarkable examples of inner-industry competition is the rivalry between Sony and Microsoft: the companies behind the Playstation and Xbox consoles. For years, each company has tried to one-up each other and convince gamers to buy their console over the other. They have used methods like introducing exclusive games and features available for their brand alone. Although unnecessary, this type of competition has become a common practice in the gaming industry.

These exclusives, however, have caused these major gaming companies to misuse this type of business practice. There is a point where competition becomes a detriment to the consumer and the rivalry between Sony and Microsoft has gotten to that point. The major factor in this problem is exclusivity, and because of the selfish tactics of both companies, gamers are having to face the consequences.

It’s not that exclusive content for each console is a bad concept. First-party content, which is content that is exclusive to a specific brand, is a great way for companies to convince consumers to buy their product.

“The Last of Us” and “Halo” are example of first-party games that have helped promote the consoles they were exclusive for. There are also third-party games, which is content created and released on multiple platforms.

While it may not give one brand an advantage over the other, it is still a good way for the game to reach as many consumers as possible.

The award winning 2013 “Tomb Raider” game was a third-party developed game and was available on the Playstation, Xbox and PC platforms. “Rise of the Tomb Raider” is the upcoming sequel to the game and is set for a holiday 2015 release date. A majority of gamers assumed that the sequel would be multi-platform and everyone would have the opportunity to play the highly anticipated sequel to the game in 2015. But it later turned out that this assumption was inaccurate.

During a press conference in August 2014, Microsoft announced that “Rise of The Tomb Raider” would be timed exclusive for the Xbox One and Xbox 360. This deal between Microsoft and Crystal Dynamics, the developers of “Tomb Raider,” meant that Playstation and PC fans would have to wait for an indefinite period of time before the game would become available to their platforms. This decision was extremely unexpected and outraged a majority of the gaming industry.

Microsoft probably made this decision because “Rise of the Tomb Raider” is what the Xbox brand is using to try and compete with Playstation. Sony reported that the Playstation consoles outsold Xbox 3:1 in the first quarter of 2014. Microsoft realized they needed something to convince gamers that their brand was the better deal, so they made an agreement with the “Tomb Raider” developers to make the game a timed Xbox exclusive.

Not only is this selfish of Microsoft and Crystal Dynamics to do, but it is unfair and inconsiderate to the other gamers that were expecting “Rise of the Tomb Raider” to come to the other platforms. Fans of the series have the right to be upset, and they only need one simple fact to justify it: “Tomb Raider” was not a first-party developed series to begin with. This deal was incredibly uncalled for and it was also a bad business tactic on Microsoft’s part. Xbox boss Phil Spencer even said in an interview with Eurogamer that he wants “Rise of the Tomb Raider” to be a substitute for a first-party action-adventure IP [intellectual property] exclusive for Xbox.

Microsoft isn’t the only company using this business tactic. Nintendo, the company that owns the Wii console brand, made a deal with the game developers behind “Bayonetta 2,” an action-oriented video game, to make the game exclusive to Wii U. This caused major controversy in the gaming industry considering the fact that the first game in the series was also available for the Xbox and Playstation platforms. There was also the deal between Bungie, one of the most popular game development studios in the industry, and Sony that resulted in exclusive Playstation content for the recently released sci-fi shooter “Destiny”, even though the game was also on Xbox.

Exclusives are good for competition, but making content that was originally made for all platforms and converting it into exclusive content is not. The gaming industry is starting to decline into a state where exclusivity means everything to major companies and the effect of these decisions greatly affect consumers.

Consumers should not have to buy another console, which costs hundreds of dollars, just to play content they expected their brand to provide in the interest of the gaming community. The major gaming companies need to think of the consumer in these situations and keep third-party content open to other platforms.

Jake Thomann ‘16

Georgia Florida Lines opens up the Allegan County Fair on Sept. 10 with one of their number one hits, “Party People.” Audience members took pictures of the band during the performance.

Here’s to the good times

Photo by Angela Pontius/The Comets’ Tale

Florida Georgia Line shakes the stage and wins hearts at the Allegan County Fair

Lead singers Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard are the STAFF WRITER dynamic duo of the famous country band Florida Georgia Line. The band first came about in December 2011 when the guys signed a management contract with Big Loud Mountain records. The band’s first demo, “Anything Like Me,” was the band’s first album produced.

“Anything Like Me” has produced hits such as “Your Country,” “Black Tears,” and “Now That Shes Gone.”

On Sept. 10, FGL put on a spectacular performance at the Allegan county fair. Despite the inclement weather, thousands packed into the grandstands to watch the twosome perform hits like “Cruise” and “Dirt.”

The party started when the opening band, Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys, kicked off the show. Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys is a Michigan native band from Kent City. This grizzly group of guys is made up of friends Rob Mason, Shane Grehan, Chris Newberg, Joe Connolly, and lead singer and founder of e decent for an amature group of musicians.

After Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys performed, Parmalee graced the crowd’s presence. Parmalee is an all American country band made up of brothers Matt and Scott Thomas, along with first cousin Barry Knox and long time friend of the family, Josh McSwain. Parmalee opened up their set with a party song, Musta Had A Good Time and ended their performance with Carolina, their first number one hit. The band performance was upbeat and exciting, but after the first few songs, though, Parmelee’s performance dragged on and grew dull.

After hours of anticipation and over a dozen songs played, the familiar melody of “Party People” come over the surround sound system. When FGL finally showed their face, the crowd went wild.

Many people started to push and shove to try to get a front row glimpse and others climbed onto their significant others shoulders to see past Angela Pontius ‘16

everyone. Personally, people could have done without the nasty remarks and impatient sighs of those who could not see nor get to the band.

With the crowds attitude aside, FGL’s performance was superb. Every song they sung sounded as if you were listening to it on your Ipod.

I am not saying the band’s performance was lip synced, just simply mentioning that every note sounded perfectly on pitch and no lyric was forgotten. Not to mention the boys’ stage presence was one that would make a young girl swoon. Every time I heard them saying “You Michigan girls” come out of their mouth, I think I felt my heart skip a beat.

Towards the middle of the show, the band dedicated a special song that they wrote back home to their families in Florida and Georgia.

“This one is for my family and the way that I was raised,” lead singer Hubbard said.

Hubbard went on to say how much they love and miss their families back home, how both families are a great support system when it comes to their musical career.

When it started to get near the end of the show, I started to wonder if they were not going to play “Cruise,” but the band did not disappoint.

Hearing “Cruise” at the end of the show was the icing on the cake for me. Other than being their number one hit, the song sets a feel good type of melody and the lyrics really speak to those who live out in the sticks.

For this being my very first concert, I have to say I picked a good one to see. All three bands had a good stage presence and the atmosphere inside the arena was one I have never felt before. Very few country bands are able to possess the pop melody FGL has and have a healthy amount of country mixed in. What I would recommend to those who are interested in country music is to listen to a few of FGL’s songs. I am sure anyone would enjoy their music.

The life of an Amish teenager Book explores leaving modern society Katie Twarozynski ‘17 COPY EDITOR Fans of the hit t.v. show “Breaking Amish,” this one is for you! The popular Amish writer Beverly Lewis has recently released a new book in her Home to Hickory Hollow series: “The Secret Keeper.” The book starts off with an Englisher, Jenny, who has dreamed of living the Amish lifestyle since she was five years old. She pursues her ambitions by writing to her Amish pen pal, asking if she can stay with her for awhile. Once Jenny has joined the community, she is welcomed and meets a fun loving Amish man, whom she soon falls for. The only twist that Jenny experiences is all of the secrets her host

mother is keeping from the local Bishop and the community.

Since her daughter was banned from the community five years ago, Jenny’s host mother has been sneaking around, meeting up with her, and breaking the Bishop’s laws. Before Jenny can officially join the community, she must confess all the secrets she knows; and that includes the secrets her host mother has been telling her. Will she bow before the Bishop and join the Amish or leave before she breaks her host mother’s heart?

“The Secret Keeper” is a joy to read for any avid reader who is interested in the drama and heroics of a simple lifestyle. I suggest going to your local library and checking out this book, as well as the rest of the series, as soon as possible.

A quick look at the features on the newly released Apple iPhones

Ft. 5 New café seeks high school crowd The Comets’ Tale • Feature • October 2014

Sarah Sims ‘15

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Soft patterned chairs and roasted espresso beans fill the small coffee shop. Along with meal options and a case filled with a variety of treats, Maybelle’s Cafe’s atmosphere makes it feel like

home.

The name of the cafe comes from her great-grandmother Maybelle. Maybelle loved to cook and bake for everyone.

“She was like the whole neighborhood’s grandma; all the kids called her Grandma Maybelle,” Maybelle’s Cafe and Sweets owner Amy Zander said.

May 3 of this year Zander opened her doors to a new business located in downtown Grand Ledge.

With GLHS around the corner Zander had noticed that there were very few places around Grand Ledge for students to gather after school had ended.

“One of my main goals for this place is to be the local hangout for high school students,” Zander said. “I enjoy kids; I am young at heart. I love the energy and the artistic ability like kids have. I just think a coffee shop is a cool place to hang out and I want to create an atmosphere like that.”

Artistic ability has the golden opportunity to shine the second Saturday of the month when Maybelle’s holds an open mic night. Anyone can participate from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“I hope I can get the kids working on the Grease musical to come in and do a debut for us,” Zander said.

Other than open mic night another special feature of the small town coffee shop is that they take their food on the go to local businesses.

“A thing that we do, that nobody else really does, is that we do bicycle deliveries down here,” Zander said. “So with our bike, we will deliver food and coffees to businesses. We started that this summer and we got a few takers on it.”

Zander hopes that next summer, businesses and individuals will take advantage of the bike deliveries so they can be out.

Downtown Grand Ledge gives them the advantage of deliveries, but also the location and the old building. It was built in the early 1900s and the entire building used to be a bank, including the beauty shop next door and the small expansion in the back that was previously a sewing shop.

“Where I bake is the original bank vault where all the money was kept so that is really cool,” Zander said. “And then there are the four apartments upstairs and with my expansion and rent comes that back outdoor garden patio. People like to sit out there and take advantage of it, which is dog friendly.”

With Zander’s oven, she bakes all her treats fresh everyday and collaborates with the owner of Great Harvest Bread for all the bread she uses for her sandwiches.

“One of the breads we use is my recipe that he makes for me,” Zander said. “He and I, the guy who owns great harvest, worked on the recipe together. I came to him with the idea and then he and I tweaked it, but he makes it for me so I sell loafs of bread here and then I make sandwiches on it, but you cannot get it at a store. Sometimes people come here just to buy that bread.”

Maybelle’s is not the first business Zander has owned. Before opening the cafe she owned a hunting lodge in Ludington, Michigan with her husband.

They had owned the lodge for six years before she decided to open the cafe.

She said her door is open for everyone to come in and enjoy–treat the cafe “like your own living room.” Zander wants to encompass her Great Grandmother Maybelle.

“She made everyone feel special and welcome so that is why I named it after her,” Zander said. “I want people to feel that when they come in here.”

Courtesy Photos

Photo above: The new café in downtown GL, Maybelle’s, had their ribbon cutting on May 21, 2014. Mayor Kalmin Smith was in attendance during the ceremony.

Photo left: 2014 GLHS graduate Jaylond Sawdon performing at Maybelle’s open mic night on Saturday Sept. 13. The second Saturday of every month the café holds their open mic night

Academic draft to help students succeed With nearly 1,800 students at GLHS, some tend to “fall STAFF WRITER through the cracks,” finding it difficult to connect with their teachers and activities at the school. This year, administration is implementing a new program called the Academic Draft, where teachers may “draft” one or two students who may struggle with academics, attendance or behavior and become their mentor throughout the school year. The program was derived from the University of Minnesota’s Check and Connect Program, which has proven success in multiple schools across the nation.

“What we are trying to do is build connections so that kids feel more comfortable and connected in school, and will hopefully do better academically,” principal Steve Gabriel said.

The students who were chosen to be drafted had to fall under one or all areas of struggling in academics, attendance and behavior. For the most part, many of the administrators and teachers already had an idea as to who these students would be due to frequent interactions with them.

Many of the drafted students also proved to have struggled on the practice ACT or on one sub-component on their composite score that was lower than the average.

“I wanted to pick a student I already had because I already have a connection with them,” PHW teacher Kelly Auge said. “I also have her in one of my classes second trimester, so it will be easy to connect with her then too.”

Teachers are expected to make appointments to stop in Savannah Wear ‘15

with their drafted students. They will have access to the student’s schedule so they can communicate with their teachers.

“I think that for teachers who have time in their day and are used to building those kinds of relationships on a more regular basis will find it easier for them to impact a specific student,” assistant principal Sara Hamelink said.

Five years ago, Sawdon High School was an alternative school for GLHS students who struggled in academics, attendance and behavior, similar to the students who are being drafted for the Academic Draft program.

“We made connections with students there,” English teacher Shawn Bronson said. “They called us by our first names, it felt like a family, and we knew everything about them.”

However, now with most teachers having 150 students per trimester and some with no planning hour, many find it difficult to find enough time to connect with every single student.

“We make connections every day in the classroom, and I think we need to strengthen those connections,” Bronson said.

Teachers and staff alike are prepared to help students in any way possible. By building bonds with these students, staff members hope to improve all aspects in students’ learning lives.

“By feeling connected, we hope that kids will be comfortable more often and have better attendance and do better academically,” Gabriel said.

Bobby Mitchell/The Comets’ Tale

Junior Brock Storlie stand proudly with his lowered black 1987 Chrysler Conquest TSI. He drives it to school every day and parks in the trucklot. The car gets around 16 miles per gallon.

Monthly Motors: Brock Storlie The Chrysler Conquest:

The Chrysler Conquest, produced by Mitsubishi and sold as a Chrysler in the United States, was a turbocharged rear STAFF WRITER wheel drive sports car. It was produced from 1983 to 1989 in two body styles, narrowbody and widebody or otherwise known as a TSI. The widebody had an intercooled engine that produced 176-188 horsepower, 31-43 horsepower more than the narrow body version.

Junior Brock Storlie is the proud owner of a black 1987 Chrysler Conquest TSI widebody. Storlie has it lowered two inches, sitting on stock wheels. The body has seen better days as it is starting to get rust around the rear wheel wells and the paint is getting faded, but that all comes together to give this particular car a lot of character.

These cars are known for being pretty fast with a light rear end as Storlie has found out.

“It slides around really easy,” Storlie said. “I have not gotten in trouble with it yet. I have come close though.”

Having a car that looks like it means business and having a reputation for speed, with many people running under 12 seconds in the quarter mile with mostly stock examples, Storlie has raced it a few times.

“I have raced a Charger, a Mustang and a Fiero,” Storlie said. “I beat them all out of the start but then down the road they ended up getting me in the longshot except the Fiero, I beat that.“ The 1987 Chrysler Conquest TSI has a top speed of 127 mph.

“I have topped out at 120 so far,” Storlie said. “That was not as fast as it would go, that is just as fast as I have gotten it up to. There were too many cars in the way.”

As far as the future of this particular car goes, Storlie plans to fix the rust and get the car repainted. As far as driving it goes, Storlie has not had many issues.

“It gets 16 miles per gallon, if you are driving it good, but I do not do that,” Storlie said. “It has been reliable so far, except for the transmission. After having the car only a week, I put it into second gear, and it got stuck in second, and I could not get it out.

My dad and I replaced the transmission and I also had to replace the muffler.”

Bobby Mitchell ‘15

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The Comets’ Tale • Student Life • October 2014

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Sarah Sims/The Comets’ Tale

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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

Sarah Sims/The Comets’ Tale

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Comet P.R.I.D.E. goes live

Sarah Sims/The Comets’ Tale

Bry Leach/The Comets’ Tale

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For the second year in a row, students NEWS EDITOR 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

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.”

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The Comets’ Tale • Feature • October 2014

Life On The Green

1. Freshman Maddie McKingley practices her swing at the Grand Ledge Country Club.

2. At Walnut Hills Country Club, freshman Celia Ridsdale is about to swing her club to hit her drive.

1.

Katherine Davidson/The Comets’ Tale

3. Freshman Jamie Schafer and freshman Celia Ridsdale stretch after a long practice.

Personal best scores Amia Webster: 56 Cassidy Clevenger: 55 Aspen Locker: 47 Jamie Schafer: 49 Katie Ransom: 46 Kaylee Hirschman: 47 Lauren Mida: 45 Veronica Mills: 44

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

What is your favorite swing in golf?

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Katherine Davidson/The Comets’ Tale

Katherine Davidson/The Comets’ Tale

What is your most memorable moment this year in golf?

• “When all of the JV team went to Sir Pizza after our first match.”

- freshman Amia Webster Courtesy Photo

From left to right: Junior Kitt Sharp, freshman Amia Webster, sophomore Katherine Davidson, sophomore Katie Ransom, freshman Maddie McKingley, junior Veronica Mills, Coach Miller, senior Ashlee Wells, freshman Jamie Schafer, Coach Boev, sophomore Cassidy Clevenger, freshman Celia Ridsdale, sophomore Lauren Mida, sophomore Aspen Locker, and freshman Kaylee Hirschman.

37.5%

Putting

50%

Driving

12.5%

Chipping

• “Car rides and the team bonding.”

- junior Veronica Mills • “Working on the homecoming float.”

- freshman Jamie Schafer • “When the team won the Portland Invitational.”

- sophomore Lauren Mida

What is your favorite club to use playing golf?

“My favorite club is my driver because it helps set me up to be successful on the rest of the hole.”

“My favorite club is my seven iron because I can hit farther than all my other irons.”

“My favorite club is my seven iron because it is my go to club.

It is what I use when I do not know what to use. It is also my straightest club.”

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The Comets’ Tale • Student Life • October 2014

Drone takes flight for video production class Junior George Dines likes to take pictures COPY EDITOR from the ground, and he can now do it from the sky as well. Since April 2014, Dines has had a drone of which he uses to take shots from an aerial view.

“It takes amazing videos,” Dines said. “I can fly it wherever I want and the cool thing is that no one I know has one.”

Drones are mainly used in the military to scope out enemy territory and watch out for a surprise attack. Dines has a different use for his drone though.

“I take photographs for different events,” Dines said. “I have taken photographs for some car shows recently and they really appreciated the different angles the drone took.”

Dines is currently using the drone for a project in his media class. Tracy Clark, the teacher of the video production class, has been over-seeing Dines’s project so far.

“The video is a practice video,” Clark said. “We use the opportunity for learning shot set up and to practice editing.

The drone has a 10p8 video ability, and Katie Twarozynski ‘16

a very good photo quality. It also can fly 1,000 feet into the air and can go far enough away from the controller so he cannot see it anymore. The drone is connected to Dines’s iPhone so he can save the pictures he takes right to his phone.

“I can use the drone to help tweet out the photos I take too,” Dines said. “I have an album on my phone with where I store the photos as well.”

With all of his technology, Dines needs to be tech savvy. The drone cost 1,200 dollars so he needed to make sure he could handle it. His parents gave the approval once they saw how he could be responsible with his new device.

“Basically, it is the best device I have ever had,” Dines said. “My parents did not raise any concern, only making sure that I follow the flying rules. I cannot fly it in some places like airports or large crowds of people too.”

Dines plans on continuing using the drone for his enjoyment and to take photos at events. Any interested students wishing to see more of his projects can go onto his youtube channel or search for the name “George Dines” in the search box.

Michael Wilson/The Comets’ Tale

Junior George Dines flies his drone on school grounds. The drone has been very useful for hard to reach shots, and he is using it for a video-production project.

Michael Wilson/The Comets’ Tale

Camper gets Spartan Beachnau receives award for “Most advanced Design”

Jackson Vanderlaan ‘16 This past sum- page.” mer at the There was also a lot of texting.

STAFF WRITER Michigan Inter“I was included on their group messages scholastic Press where the girls brainstormed and pitched Association’s (MIPA) summer workshop, ideas to each other,” yearbook adviser Sarajunior Bella Beachnau won the highest hon- Beth Badalamente said. “I taught the beginor in her class — the Spartan Award. At the ner design class for newspaper so it was fun end of the week at the closing ceremonies, to watch Bella grow with another adviser. every class gives out excellence awards to Beachnau’s teacher was actually top particBadalamente’s ipants and former newspathe highest per adviser from award being her high school the Spartan. in Novi, MI. “I took the “Bella’s Advanced teacher Lydia Design class would show me at MIPA,” Bella’s designs Beachnau at the end of said. “It realeach day so that ly helped me we could really learn how to refine her laymake my deouts,” BadalaJackson Vanderlaan/The Comets’ Tale mente said. “It signs cleaner.” really paid off The class During her fourth hour yearbook class, junior Isabella in the end, and I also taught Beachnau works on a divider page for the yearbook. know this year’s how to pack- Beachnau won the highest award at the Michigan book will be a hit age pictures Interscholastic Press Association’s camp this past with students.” together to August.

The theme of make them this year’s book more visually is Something appealing. As design editor, Beachnau is re- More, and that theme can be seen throughsponsible for coming up with the templates out. for the pages in the yearbook.

“All of the mods, all of the questions “In the past we’ve had a super tradition- have something to do with doing more,” al yearbook with everything lined up in Beachnau said. “All of them have something straight lines,” Beachnau said. “Not every- to do with going beyond yourself and giving thing is perfectly lined up this year. It looks it your all.” a lot more modern and less streamlined.”

The yearbook staff is also planning an adBeachnau also had to take into account ditional tip-in for graduation, prom and sethe changes that her fellow staff mates were niors’ last day that would be available at the making to the design elements in another school over the summer for seniors to add to class at camp. So communication was key. their yearbooks.

“I wasn’t in the group that came up with The yearbook, titled Something More, is the theme,” Beachnau said. “But since I was being sold for $65 until Oct. 11 when they designing the page templates, I needed to be increase to $70. kept in the loop. Our staff had meetings together every day so we were all on the same

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The band practices every Monday for Exhibition. Saxophone section leader George Marshall, sophomore Rachel Arking and senior Destin Phifer rehearsing one of the songs for the show.

GLHS band performed at their annual marching band exhibition

For the past four years, senior Christian Guild has been a member of drumline in marchSTAFF WRITER ing band. For the current marching band season, Guild has been learning drills and attended band camp over the summer. This paid off at their exhibition performance on GLHS’s football field.

Guild first learned to play the drums back in middle school. He chose to learn percussion because it was fun to play instruments like cymbals and xylophone.

“I could not learn any other instrument when I was younger,” Guild said.

When Guild was born, he had a mild case of Cerebral Palsy in his brain, which caused the right side not function properly.

“I can’t move individual fingers that well and I have a higher pain tolerance on my right side,” Guild said. “Basically, my right side is ‘just there’.”

This was Guild’s fourth and final Exhibition performance.

Exhibition is crucial to the marching band because it gives the students an opportunity to put on a spectacular show and strut their stuff in front of five clinicians, who are there to oversee the competition and give recommendations.

What Guild looked forward to most about exhibition was getting to see other bands play relative to them.

“This year we’ve been musically better than we have in the past four years I’ve been here,” Guild said. “I would love to see how the other bands have evolved in the past four years.”

This year, the bands biggest competition was PewamoWestphalia hs marching band. In the past, PWHS has had one of the best performances at exhibition even though they are a small sized band. PWHS was one band to look out for this year.

Exhibition not only gives GLHS a chance to perform but other bands were welcome to attend the event.

“This event gives bands around the state the opportunity to come and perform for an appreciative audience,” marchAngela Pontius ‘16

ing band director Risa Hsu said. “They provide great observations, suggestions and feedback that the bands use to help make improvements to their shows.”

On the other side of the spectrum is sophomore color guard member Alaina Humphrey, who performed for her first Exhibition. For their performance, Color Guard wore leopard print tunics and as for their routine, it was roughly 10 minutes.

What Humphery liked most about Exhibition was scoping out the competition.

“I liked seeing other bands perform and seeing what they did during the show,” Humphrey said.

After camp, the band has been rehearsing every Monday and Wednesday night for their show. This year the students played songs such as I want to be like you and welcome to the jungle.

After all the marching bands performed, they get to have a special treat presented by the MSU. “The best part of Exhibition is that the Michigan State University Spartan Marching Band performs at the end of the night,” Hsu said.

Hsu went on to say how spectacular it is to be able to see a Big 10 marching band perform in person. The spartan marching band is one of the oldest bands in the big ten conference today.

GLHS is a top honored band in the state of Michigan. Over time, the band has gained a national reputation of excellence and so far Grand Ledge is the only band is Michigan who has had the honor to take home the Louis Sudler Flag of Honor. Louis Sudler flag of honor is an international award that recognizes a bands musical talent and the award is presented by the The John Philip Sousa Foundation.

As for the future, Guild is not sure if he will continue pursuing music in college. One thing is for sure though, if Guild is going to continue with band, it will definitely be with a rock band rather than a marching one.

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The Comets’ Tale • Feature • October 2014

When a Grand Ledge STAFF WRITER community member thinks of GL, they may think of all the familyowned businesses on Bridge Street: restaurants like Cugino’s and Cancun; the Comet apparel stores: Comet Corner and First Place Sports; and the pottery place: Piece of Mine.

Come Dec. 1, Piece of Mine will no longer be on Bridge Street. Due to an interest in the pottery studio from other parts of Michigan as far as Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, Piece of Mine will be going “on the road.”

“We will be taking projects to locations now,” Piece of Mine owner Autumn Spencer said.

For example, instead of taking a class field trip to the studio, Piece of Mine will pack up their art supplies and engage the classroom in an art project at the school. Any party of six or more “artists” have the opportunity to book a date, time, place and type of art project through Piece of Mine for birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers, and anything in between. Spencer hopes to book parties all over Michigan, from East Lansing to Grand Rapids to Ann Arbor.

“It is going to be like the studio, but accessible all over the place,” Spencer said.

“That way we reach a lot of people.”

Spencer also hopes to set up pottery parties at venues that people can attend every month, such as a mug painting project at Maybelle’s. Anyone who attends will pay a ticket price that covers the price for the pottery, and the hosting venue will receive a partial profit from the tickets for the rental fee.

“You can give a place like a bar or a café some business on a Monday or a Tuesday when they normally would not get a lot of people,” Spencer said. “They will get a little bit of business off the ticket price and Savannah Wear ‘15

whatever drinks or food that people get when they are there. So it brings them business on a slow day. It is very marketable.”

Although people will no longer be able to go in to paint starting Dec. 1, projects will be available to pick up through to Dec. 24.

Anyone wishing to create a Christmas gift for someone at Piece of Mine will have to do so before then. However, every gift giving holiday, such as Christmas or Mother’s Day, Spencer will throw a pottery party for people to make gifts that correspond to the upcoming holiday beginning next year.

“Unfortunately, you will not be able to wander in and make a birthday present for someone,” Spencer said. “Unless, say, you watch our website for an event, like a coffee mug at Maybelle’s, and your mom’s birthday is soon, you can make it for her instead of for yourself.”

The previous owners of Piece of Mine attempted to maintain both a studio and going on the road — doing so proved to be too costly. Now that Spencer will no longer have to pay to keep a studio open, the business will be able to afford to employ various artists.

“I am basically just going to put them on my website and get them jobs,” Spencer said.

In other words, say a high school student was looking to make money off of teaching people how to watercolor paint. They would contact Spencer, and if Spencer liked the project idea, she would set up the student with whoever was interested in having the student bring their creative lesson to them.

“All I am really trying to do is just get people creating stuff,” Spencer said.

After being on Bridge Street for the past 12 years, Spencer is ready to expand her business rooted in her love of pottery to other areas of Michigan.

Piece of Mine’s studio will no longer be open, but will soon be going “on the road.” Pottery and paints will meet people at parties in places as far Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids. It will expand the business to people who would not normally stop in the studio.

Savannah Wear/The Comets’ Tale

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The Comets’ Tale • Feature • October 2014

The cost Y r e a o i r of senior n e $ year

SELF CHECKOUT

THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING SENIOR YEAR

6/29/2015 7:00 P.M. XXXX -------------------------------------

Bry Leach ‘15

NEWS EDITOR

Ledge chool

2015

When a student finally reaches their senior year, they’re often in a stage of looking forward to the future and living their last year of high school in a carefree, excited manner. However, a roadblock to this carefree-excitement can be the tremendous costs that come up throughout the year. From Prom and Banquet to college applications, and other senior costs like cap and gown and senior pictures, the bill for a high school graduate can easily reach thousands of dollars. However, many people are unaware of the high cost, since it comes up at different times throughout the year. Senior pictures are paid for in the summer before, college applications are due in January, and in May open house plans are moving quickly - pay for the caterer here, order more pictures, and rent a few tents.

Since they hit at very different times, seniors and their parents rarely add up, or even realize, how much they’re spending just to make the last year in the nest perfect. Although it is hard to avoid most of the senior activities, there are ways that students can tackle the cost. By doing a little research and paying close attention, thousands of dollars can be saved - and senior year can still be ‘the best year of your life.’

Yearbook

$80.00

Prom

$835.00

Applying to college $153.56

(considering 4 colleges at various prices)

Comet Grad Pack

$224.25

Retaking the ACT + Writing

$52.50

Senior pictures

$711.00

-------------------------------------

Graduation

Cap and gown, ‘Class of’ merchandise, senior portraits, yearbooks, and other costs come up throughout senior year. They are all things that many students want, and spend money on without a second thought. GLHS is represented by Herf Jones, who supplies all the materials students need for graduation - at a cost, of course. They offer many graduation packages to students including everything from only the graduation attire to event invites to senior shirts. The packages go from $168 to $301, and then there are other add-ons to get. Alongside that, do most students actually send out 50 invitations to come to graduation?

Total $2,056.31

Open house

ITEMS PURCHASED: 9

Hosting an open house is a great way for graduates to make money before heading off on their own. However, they can be a heavy cost if not well thought up. Caterers can run a couple hundred dollars, as well as the location. Whether a hall is rented or the event is in a giant tent the backyard, a host usually has to pay some amount for the venue. Churches and VFW halls often have cheaper rental rates, and for fewer people a restaurant setting can also keep the cost low. If a cousin or long-time friend is graduating the same year, hosting a party together is also a way to make it as cheap as possible. For the invitations, many senior photographers offer cards as part of their package, but this can be extra-costly - as much as $3 a card. For less expensive cards, try Wal-Mart (as low as $.28) or Snapfish.com (starting at $.50). By making the open house as cost-efficient as possible, grads and their families can save money earned to go towards the biggest cost, college.

Pre-college

Before heading off to college, there are lots of fees to pay and things to buy. Many students take the ACT one or more times outside of school, paying $52.50 for every extra test. The average cost to apply to college in the U.S. is $38.39 and this can add up for many students who plan to apply to four colleges. Visiting colleges can also be an expense that many don’t consider when going into their senior year of high school, especially for students hoping to go out of state and taking an extra trip to see the campus of their dreams. To save money when headed to college, check out the different ways to apply to colleges - some colleges charge less for those who apply online - like George Mason University, who’s mail-in app fee is $90, but online application is comparably $60.

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Pictures

3

Every family member is going to want that one special, professional picture of their favorite niece, cousin, grandson, etc. Although a great way to capture the memory of one’s transitioning from a nested student to an independent adult, senior pictures are easily one of the most costly aspects of the twelfth grade. On average, a family will spend about $711 for the studio fee and prints.

However, some photographers are more expensive - with their clients spending thousands of dollars on the snapshots - by getting their hair and make-up primped, traveling far away for the perfect pictures, and getting hundreds of prints. However to avoid spending too much, many will go to up-and-coming photographers in the area who charge as much as half of the normal cost.

Class trip

*Customer Copy*

Senior trips can add up for students who have to pay for a passport, plane ticket, resorts and food for the week on their own.

However by looking on Groupon, hundreds of dollars can be saved. Some of the packages have all-inclusive resorts that may include airfare, and many below $1,000.

Taking down the biggest cost: senior prom Prom is considered an important event for teenagers in the United States. Whether it’s seen as one’s first formal event of just a right of passage for the student, families everywhere spend hundreds to

thousands of dollars on the night - the average cost for Prom in the Midwest is $835. When considering GLHS’ two formal events, Prom and Banquet, some could multiply that by two if they chose

1. Sell the old dress, don’t buy a brand new one.

There are many ways to get a great dress without spending $500 on it. Facebook offers pages to buy and sell used dresses. By ditching the junior year prom dress for a little bit of cash back or buying someone else’s dress, one can still get recent styles, without breaking the bank. Trunk sales and consignment shops can also be a resource to get a dress cheaper. Dowrey Bridal consigns dresses for a small cut of the profit. Cinderella’s Closet offers girls can get free dresses that have been donated.

to go all-out for both. The routine is simple: buy a dress, pay for hair and makeup, rent a tux, rent a car, go out to dinner, and go “dance the night away.” Although it may seem hard to save money

2. Save on dinner Restaurant.com sells many gift cards to local restaurants for lower than their face value. This can help pay for the could-be costly dinner by offering $25 gift cards for only $10 or $100 cards at sale for $40.

If a group of 5 pitches in, nearly half the cost can be wiped away.

on the culture rich event, there are many resources to help students. Below are some tips to save for the big night

3. Hair and makeup Hair and make up are a big cost for girls going to prom. Salons charge $50 plus for an updo alone, but by going to a talented friend or a nearby beauty school, roughly half can be saved. Locally, Protege Academy offers updos for $30 and make-up for $12, as well as a mani-pedi special for $25.

Sp.

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The Comets’ Tale • Sports • October 2014

Cross Country team pushes through fall season When most athletes tryout or join a sport, they STAFF WRITER attend practices knowing they will participate in a match, game, or meet later on in the season. For junior Mike Glasgow, it will take over a year before he sees the finish line.

Due to transfer rules, Glasgow switching from New Covenant Christian School to GLHS means he can practice but not compete in cross country meets until his senior year.

“I’m hoping that my work this season will pay off next year when I can compete,” Glasgow said.

Now halfway through the season, Glasgow has improved. He used to run a couple times a week for about three to five miles, and he is currently running six miles a day six times a week.

Coach Tim Hoshal pushes the cross country boys to train hard for every meet. Glasgow and the other runners go through numerous types of exercises to practice.

“We do a one mile warm up and then depending on the day, we do a long run and go to the weight room afterwards or we do a speed interval workout and cool down afterwards,” junior Nathan Goschka said. “We continue running all year and bump up training as much as we can, and run in the summer and winter.”

After strenuous training, the boys put their training to the test at their meet. This is where they evaluate their running abilities against other schools.

“We won our first meet against Ionia and Potterville,” senior Jack Twarozynski said. “We went 1, 2, 3, and 4 in that meet. The team is doing very good so far this year.”

Cross country is not all competing and training. Every year, the team goes to the Holland Cross Country Camp to participate in team bonding and other fun activities.

“Our Holland Cross Country Camp that we go to every year is the best memory of mine,” Goschka said.

“We jump off the pier and have amazing traditions that we do every year and every day.”

The team grows close throughout the year, and they appreciate having other team members there to run with.

“My favorite part of cross country is definitely being a team with all the other guys,” Glasgow said. “It just makes it a fun experience.”

Cross country practices every day after school. Their next meet is scheduled for Saturday Oct 4.

Gabby Cushman ‘17

Courtesy Photo

Sat. Sept. 27 the cross country team went to Brighton to compete. The GLHS runners from left to right are (front) Nathan Goschka, Jack Twarozynski, Christian Hubaker, Andrew Casteneda, (second row) Zach Kemp and Nathan Werner. The top four runners were Christian Hubaker, Jack Twarozynski, Nathan Goschka and Tyler McCartney. They all ran under 17 minutes.

Teen Athletes score better in classes at Grand Ledge High School Being involved in school-sponsored sports is the most popular extracurricular activity STAFF WRITER for high school students across the country.

In the United States, nearly 60 percent of all high schoolers play on a school-sponsored team. Often times, participating in school sports is associated with higher GPA’s, lower dropout rates and stronger ties to the school when compared to nonathletes. GLHS policy states students who are not passing four out of five of their classes are not allowed to tryout or compete in school athletics pushing athletes to balance sports and their education or they are not allowed to participate.

Even with the statistics saying otherwise, for some students, it is a struggle to juggle daily practices and games with their everyday school work.

“After a practice I would be dead tired, or if we had a game we wouldn’t get home until really late at night,” junior Caitlin Clouse said. “By the time I would have gotten home I would just want to crash.”

While playing volleyball in middle school, Clouse had grades hovering in the C range. It was hard for her to balance all of the different responsibilities involved with being a student and an athlete. She made the decision to quit volleyball before freshman year so that she could focus on her grades.

“There is no question being involved in sports puts a lot more on their plate, but our students have proven with hard work and organization you can be a great student and athlete,” athletic director Steve Baker said.

Overall, student athlete grades are not a major problem at GLHS. Most athletes have no problem keeping their grades up. Around 40 percent of Grand Ledge’s varsity athletes earn All-Conference Academic honors.

October

Sports Calendar

Taylor Kennaugh ‘16

6.

This means that they hold a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

“When compared to the number of athletes we have at GLHS we have very few students who are ineligible to participate,” Baker said.

“Grand Ledge athletes do an incredible job balancing their academic requirements with their athletic pursuits.”

To be a Comet, a student must have passed four classes from the previous trimester and be passing four out of five classes during the sport’s season. To make sure everyone is able to participate, the athletic office runs weekly eligibility reports every Monday that detail student grades and their attendance. If students are ineligible they are not able to play until they get their grades up.

“I really like that policy, because if an athlete is failing a class and if that means they can’t play, it will motivate them to work harder and get their grades up so they’ll be able to play,” Clouse said.

Being involved in extracurricular activities such as athletics forces students to be organized and stay on top of their academic responsibilities.

“When a student chooses to be involved in any extracurricular activity they do need to develop a balance to stay on top of their academic requirements, which I think is a very important life lesson,” Baker said.

“Student athletes must be organized and committed and I think this can only benefit their performance in the classroom.”

But sometimes it is hard to choose doing homework over watching that new episode of a favorite television show. Varsity basketball coach David Jones is also a teacher at the school and supports the policy.

“Use your class time and moments at school to get as much done as you possibly can,” Jones said. “Then you will lessen your workload after games and practices.”

Coaches also agree with the school’s policy. Although, for the most part

Tuesday

Monday

1.

7.

Girls’ varsity swim @ GL v. Eaton Rapids

14

Boys’ Water Polo @Holt Boys’ varsity tennis v. Holt/East Lansing @Fowlerville

20.

27.

Friday

Thursday 2.

Girls’ varsity golf @ Portland

Boys’ varsity tennis @Mason

Boys’ varsity water polo @ Haslett

Girls’ varsity swim @ Dewitt

4.

3.

Homecoming @GL v. Lansing Eastern

Saturday

Cross country meet @Portage Boys’ varsity soccer @Lansing Catholic

Boys’ varsity water polo @GL v. BHam Groves

Boys’ Water Polo @Holt Boys’ varsity tennis @ GL v. Fowllerville v. Holt/East Lansing

13.

Wednesday

they do not have athletes who miss playing time. Most of the studentathletes here are excellent students.

“A student-athlete’s first priority is to be a successful student,” Jones said. “If they do not meet that standard set by our school then they should not be involved in athletics.”

Some argue that student-athletes are not the only students who should be affected by this policy. They argue that the policy should affect all students involved in school organizations and teams.

“I don’t think a student should be allowed to do any extracurricular activities if they aren’t passing their classes,” JV basketball coach Deborah Traxinger said. “That includes band concerts, marching band, the musical, debate or any club activities. Why should only athletes be affected?”

This is true for students participating in the musical. Their grades are also pulled to ensure passing status.

“My advice for balancing is “no excuses,” Traxinger said. “Life is about making choices and trying to balance everything you want to do with the things you have to do. Life is hard, make your own bed and don’t play the blame game.”

Student-athletes know that they must keep their grades up and that can be a huge motivation. Athletes understand that academics come before athletics and they must keep up their grades. Sports become a motivation for students to keep up their grades.

“I think participating in school sports or any extracurricular activity has an immeasurable positive impact on students,” Baker said.

“Extracurricular activities teach life lessons about commitment, dedication, teamwork, adversity and sacrifice while also developing a sense of pride for school and community.”

8.

Boys’ varsity Polo @Portage

9.

Water

15.

Boys’ varsity water polo @Okemos

Girls’ varsity swim @ GL v. Eaton Rapids

21.

Girls’ varsity swim @ GL v. Waverly

11. football

Girls’ varsity swim @ GL v. Okemos

16.

@ Cross Country duel meet v. Okemos and Mason Girls’ varsity swim @East Lansing

17.

18.

24.

25.

Varsity cross country @ Varsity football Gl v. Okemos @East Lansing Girls’ varsity swim @East Lansing Boys’ varsity water polo @GL v. Grand Blanc

22.

Varsity cross country @Waverly

23.

Girls’ varsity swim @ Varsity football @GL v.

GL v. Jackson Holt

Boys’ varsity water polo @BHam Groves

28.

10.

Varsity Cross Country Varsity meet @East Lansing Everett

Cross country varsity regionals @Uncle John’s Cider Mill

29.

30.

31.

Varsity cross country regionals

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!

School ‘B’ is ranked higher in Top to Bottom. School ‘A’ is GLHS and School ‘B’ is Webberville

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

GUEST WRITER

Steve Gabriel

Principal Steve Gabriel addresses the issue of Top to Bottom rankings

School ‘B’ School

20

20.5

See the answer in the bottom left corner

Can you guess which school ranked higher in Top to Bottom? And which school GLHS is?

10.6 percent

Drop out rate

3.1 percent

Drop out rate

80.9 percent

Graduation Rate

92.4 percent

Graduation Rate

15.1 percent

23.3 percent

College ready

College ready

19.7

ACT mean score

20.7

ACT mean score

13.2 percent

In 2014:

MME

20.4 percent

MME

In 2014:

Lime

80.8

Haslett

56 48

38

2012/ 2013

2013/ 2014

33

Focus

Focus

Reward

Focus

25

23

22

18.1

Percent of students in the state who meet college readiness

Percent of students at GLHS who meet college readiness

78 percentile

49 percentile

58 percentile

92 percentile

94 percentile

36 percentile

Status Top to bottom rank

2011/ 2012

2009/ 19.9

2009/ 20.5

2009/ 20.7

English Reading Math Science All four

65

41

80.2

Waverly Red Yellow

66.7

Holt

Red

80.3

68.8

68.8

Yellow

Okemos Orange

Dewitt

GLHS

Percent

2010/ 2011

Color

2009/ 2010

2009/ 20.0

2009/ 20.4

GLHS by the numbers:

blue and gold

School ‘A’

Our colors are

The Comets’ Tale • Feature • October 2014

School Reportcard

College readiness

Ft.

GL ACT Mean score

} }

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.”

Jump from page 1: school rankings

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