Walkout sparks proand anti-gun debate
News | Page 3
2727 Fuller Road Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Dear Snapchat: bring back Why is #SynchroSkating the old layout! not an Olympic sport?
Seniors celebrate a bass-boosted prom
The Emery Entertainment | Page 6
Entertainment | Page 7
Feature | Page 9
Volume 3 Issue 5 March 2018
The Student Publication of Huron High School
Students and teachers react to first year of IB Julie Heng | Staff Editor
This year, on the 50th anniversary of the International Baccalauréat (IB), Huron joined 3,320 schools worldwide in implementing the Diploma Programme (DP) educational system. Huron, which now hosts the most DP course offerings in the state of Michigan, seeks to “[prepare] students for success in higher education and to be active participants in a global society.” As all first years do, the transition yielded mixed reviews. DP coordinator Eric Wynn says the “plethora of [unique students] at Huron” enrolled in the Diploma Program have definitely been excelling. “Students have been anxious about engaging with independent thinking but have grown individually as a result,” he says. “As part of the coursework in the Diploma Program, CAS, and Theory of Knowledge, students have taken on a lot of responsibilities and have become internationally minded.” Wynn, who worked as a classroom teacher in 2004, helped to found the fully-IB Washtenaw International High School in 2011. He then began building Huron’s IB programme in 2015. As the 11th and 12th grade DP coordinator, Wynn sits down with sophomore students and their counselors to go over the options and requirements for their “best fit” graduation track, whether that be pursuing full DP, CP, or a select few DP classes. While in his opinion all students would benefit from IB, Wynn says students must willingly embrace the learning track. “It’s all about whatever is the best fit for you,” he says. There are no prerequisites to the DP. According to Wynn, GPA is not the best predictor of success. Because the learning structure of DP is so different from the “traditional” rote education system, any student who wants to take on the “responsibility of critical thinking, an interdisciplinary learning style, and an internationally focused curriculum” is welcome. “We are looking for students willing to stretch and take risks,” he says. Sienna Blazevski, junior, was looking for that risk when she signed up for the DP. “I was motivated to take part in the full DP because I felt the teaching style fit my personal learning style better than the traditional method,” Blazevski said. While “IB is definitely harder than I expected...I really think IB has positively impacted my overall involvement in my local community through pushing me to achieve successful CAS outcomes,” she said. Huron English teacher Michelle Ratering used to teach at an IB Programme in Jakarta, Indonesia. She says the difference between Huron and the two other IB schools she worked with is the attitude students bring into the classroom. “Students at my school in Jakarta were like any See more | Page 2
Stay connected!
www.thehuronemery.com @thehuronemery Questions? Email us at thehuronemery@gmail.com
All Aboard?
Plans for new train station at Fuller Park cause controversy
Ritvik Jillala | Staff Writer
“Train 135, leaving for Jackson, is coming in at 8:15 a.m. Train 135 is coming.” The Ann Arbor train station is the busiest station in Michigan. Recently, plans have been made to expand the existing station, or to build an entirely new one. However, some historical knowledge is necessary to fully understand the controversy. Years ago, Ann Arbor was divided by the Huron River into two regions: lower Ann Arbor and upper Ann Arbor. There was always a rivalry present; each region sought to develop first and succeed. When the original station was built at the Gandy Dancer, it seemed as if upper Ann Arbor had won. Lower Ann Arbor, however, never stopped growing. The city has now decided to make a new train station at Fuller Park, in front of the University of Michigan hospital. The organization All Aboard on Depot Street, an organization that is deep into the current station issue, is against that decision. They believe
that the current station on Depot Street should be expanded instead. One of their reasons for going against the city’s decision is that the City Council does not have the authority to build on Fuller Park, which is public property. “The public owns this [land],” George Gaston, a member of All Aboard
on Depot Street, said. He believes that the park will lose its natural beauty and its potential to become more popular. “If it’s a park, then it should stay a park,” Rita Mitchell, another member of All Aboard on Depot Street, said. However, it is not the train station but the structures and changes that
are coming because of it that may cause the real problems. A new 1200 space parking structure is also being built next to the new train station. “This parking structure would have a huge effect on the area,” Mitchell said. Besides making it much more difficult for ambulances to access the hospital right behind the proposed station, the new parking structure could interfere with patients’ recovery. “I had a [hospitalized] friend who said that looking out at the park and the river had a profound effect on his recovery,” Gaston said. A new roundabout is also proposed. However, this will only slow down traffic due to the large amount of pedestrian traffic in the area. All Aboard believes that there are more reasons to expand the Depot station. First off, the old station was designed to be expanded, and there is room to add on to the building and create a new rail. The city, however, disagrees. The Ann Arbor City See more | Page 2
Getting down to business Turning a hobby into a Huron junior Nathan Lee named state BPA business: CS Buttons President out of 24 candidates Sami Ruud | Staff Editor
Nathan Lee (center) joined by Drew Rosales (left), Huron BPA president, and Shreya Banda (right), who ran Nathan’s campaign for the state presidency. Photo courtesy of Huron BPA.
Upon entering high school, Nathan Lee knew he had an interest in business. In fact, he even considered attending Skyline because of the magnet programs there specific to fields such as business. Shortly into his freshman year, he joined the Business Professionals of America (BPA) chapter at Huron, and now, in his junior year, he is the vice president of the club. But something else also happened for Lee this year— something more selective and important. Lee became the president of the Michigan BPA Association of Michigan at their recent annual state conference this spring. Lee mentioned that when people think about business, they often associate it with just accounting and finance. That being said, he explained that BPA exposes students to skills they would not learn in the classroom. “BPA is a platform that students can use to learn about the world of business,” Lee added. The primary purpose every year is for students to participate in an event and make it through regionals to states and hopefully to nationals. Aside from this, Lee explained that he and the club have to work hard every year to fundraise. This year, the board worked hard to make the club interactive through bonding events. He explained that he wanted to be vice president because he is genuinely passionate about Jack Harrison | Staff Editor
the club and wanted to get more involved. But did he think he would ever become the student president of the state? Every year, the state conference begins with an opening ceremony led by the current year’s state board. And this year, Lee decided to at least run for a position because he wanted to be one of them. But he had a more important realization when looking around at the 2,000 students. “I was shocked that there was such opportunity for high schoolers to exercise their leadership at such a large scale,” Lee said. The process of running for president was quite strenuous and much like a presidential campaign. Lee said that at the start of this year’s conference, he had to give a speech at the opening ceremony and interview with the current board. Secondly, there was a meet the candidates session and on top of that, a campaign rally. In the end, delegates already decided confer and vote. When it was announced he won the presidency, Lee explained that it went by so fast he did not have time to think about the moment. He added that he actually focused on his walk to the podium. For next year, Lee’s main job is to preside over the conference in Grand Rapids and attend monthly board meetings. There is also a possibility that he may visit with high school chapters.
While looking for a hobby, juniors Celia Kent and Sonali Narayan stumbled upon a way to make things for their friends, make money, and advocate for issues that are important to them. In their art class, their teacher had a button maker, and the two became obsessed with using it. “We thought it would be really cool to get our own and sell them to raise money for depression awareness,” Kent said. Most of the people who have bought from the two are their close friends, but their business has started to branch out. They have gotten orders from teachers, and they also made buttons for the recent school walkout for gun control. Also, since they are trying to raise money for depression, they made buttons for Project Semicolon, which helps reduce suicide rates around the world. “Every month, we donate to an organization that supports mental health advocates,” Narayan said. “So far we have donated to Project Semicolon, but each month we also want to donate to a cause for that month. For example, April was Earth Day, so we might donate to a cause supporting the Earth.” Although the business is relatively small so far, they were able to donate a large amount of money to Project Semicolon, at about $84. Another aspect of the business is that Kent and Narayan are able to make their own designs to put on the buttons. “I like the political buttons the most. The design we did for the walkout and for Project Semicolon were some of my favorites. We made a design that has a semicolon and says ‘Your story is not over’,” Kent said. Although Kent and Narayan can create the designs for the buttons, people can also get their own pictures put on the buttons. The process to make the buttons seems like it would be complicated, but in only a few simple steps, they can make a professional looking button.
CS Buttons can customize the buttons with any pictures, as shown here. Many people customize their buttons with photos of themselves and their friends. Photo credit: Sonali Narayan.
Once they have a design or photo, they can just print it out from a software, do a few things with the button maker, and the button is done! “It’s super easy. We can make one button in about 20 seconds,” Kent said. Along with customizing the design on the button, buyers can customize other aspects of the buttons as well. “We have two different sizes right now,” Narayan said, “so we have two different machines. We sell the small ones for a dollar and the large ones for two dollars.” It is also easy to contact the two for a custom button, and soon anyone anywhere can purchase the buttons when their Etsy account is set up. “We have an instagram account, so a lot of people DM us, or they contact one of us directly. We are also setting up an Etsy account, but it’s not up yet, so people will be able to purchase from there in the future,” Kent said. They are also trying to expand their business to other products than just buttons. “We have plans to start selling patches, stickers, and other things like that,” Narayan said. “For now, though, we’re just working on paying off our debts from the machines.”