Issue 13

the

TOWER

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017 Volume 90 Issue 13 @thetowerpulse thetowerpulse.net

A weekly tradition since 1928

Grosse Pointe South High School 11 Grosse Pointe Blvd. Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236

‘Pale, Male and Stale’: District revamps English curriculum to diversify books JACK BELLAMY ’19 Staff Writer The English curriculum has been branded pale, male and stale by Maren Roeske ’18. It consists mainly of literature by white men, according to Roeske, and it isn’t comparable to the world we live in today.

The North and South English departments have begun reviewing their curriculum with hopes of incorporating a more diverse and approachable material to allow students to engage through a committee of parents, students and teachers, according to Danielle Peck, the English Department chair at South.

“We are doing a curriculum review right now, and that consists of looking at the entire curriculum, starting with something concrete: the texts themselves,” Peck said. “Our goal to teach students texts that are challenging, rigorous and contemporary literature that our students will be engaged in and lead to meaningful, insightful dialogue.”

According to Maureen Bur, the director of secondary instruction, the English department is currently in stages one and two of the five stages in the curriculum review process.

“At the high school level they are beginning to look at some of the core titles and novels that are being currently taught and identifying if there are other options or possibilities out there,” Bur said.

The review does not have a set goal in mind for when these changes will be implemented, but they are hoping for implementation in the upcoming years, according to Peck.

“We are currently looking at books, and we would like to decide on new texts by around February,” Peck said.

“The books would have to go through the Educational Professional Learning Community review for next year, so hopefully the 2019-2020 school year would be the first year we would start teaching the new curriculum.”

Roeske is a student advisor for the committee reviewing the English curriculum.

Roeske is working alongside other students reviewing recommendations on books made by teachers.

“The process right now is going through a list of book recommendations that were submitted by the English teachers during their professional development day,” Roeske said. “They came up with a list of books, so now it’s reading through them and selecting top choices.”

The committee reviewing the current curriculum is looking at how the text they currently teach engages students, and how they can bring out new voices and perspectives into the classroom, according to Peck.

“We looked at our texts and we realized there is not a ton of representation,” Peck said. “I think something beautiful about the world today is that we are embracing different voices and that is something that we are looking at as teachers; how can we reflect that and embrace voices that may have traditionally been marginalized.”

According to Roeske, the current curriculum gives students books that do not offer a diverse set of stories and fail to

GRAPHIC BY RILEY LYNCH ’18

accurately portray the world we live in today.

“We live in a world of everyone having their own story, their own point of view and their own tale,” Roeske said. “Great literature is to show humanity through different lenses, to share someone’s experience and give you an experience that you can relate to.”

This is not a time for the word diversity to be politicized, but the focus should be on how increased diversity in the curriculum will benefit students,

according to Roeske.

“This is not a political issue, this is about what books will widen our students horizons,” Roeske said. “What books will show our students and teach them lessons that they do not get elsewhere in our curriculum, or in our lives based on how we live or where we live in our affluent segregated community?

Diversity in literature is about diversity of the mind, diversity of the thought and diversity of understanding.”

According to Peck, it is

important for the English curriculum to reflect the ever-changing world students live in.

“I think that the world is constantly changing, and because that is the case, we should be looking at what we’re teaching students to keep our material relevant to the current day,” Peck said. “I want to be able to prepare students for the world the best that I can and as we all do as English teachers.”

Band prepares for annual concert ANNE MUAWAD ’20 Page Editor As the annual Band-O-Rama and Strings Extravaganza concerts are approaching, students from the entire Grosse Pointe Public School System are preparing their pieces for this yearly tradition, according to band student Andrew Fleming ’20.

“For the past couple of months we have been rehearsing our songs and having combined rehearsals with all of the bands to perfect the songs and get them concert-ready,” Fleming said.

According to orchestra student, Elizabeth High ’20, the best part of Strings

BASS BOSS Evan Braddock plays bass during class on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017.

PHOTO BY RILEY LYNCH ’18

Extravaganza is the number of different faces seen behind the instruments since this is a crossdistrict concert.

“It’s a really nice concert to come to because you hear a variety of music from a variety of students,” High said. “It’s short and sweet and a nice way to support your classmates.”

According to band student, Bashar Abouljoud ’20, Band-O-Rama is a good way to hear great music played by the students, and the concert is always a fun time for the people who come and watch.

“The music we play is really good this year, and I know the audience will have a lot of fun watching us play because we’ve been working so hard and it’s really coming together,” Abouljoud said.

High said she wants the audience to be able to see all the practice and dedication the students have put into the show. She thinks the performance will be worthwhile for the audience who comes and watches.

“The best part about having a show is how rewarding it is to perform music you have been working on for a long time,” High said. “I think the concert will reflect how much time has gone into these pieces.”

The orchestra will be performing holiday classics, according to orchestra director James Gross.

“We will be playing songs like Carol of the Bells, Greensleeves and Let It Snow, classics everyone loves,” Gross said.

High said the improvement in orchestras as the students get older is what makes the show so interesting. “The best part is you get to see all of the levels of orchestra students, from fifth grade to the symphony orchestra; it’s cool to see the progression,” High said. “It demonstrates to the younger kids how much potential they have as long as they don’t quit and keep practicing.”

IMPORTANT DATES dec.

22

School gets out for winter break at the end of the day.

jan.

03

IAN DEWEY ’18 Copy Editor Discussions on the Blue Ribbon Committee took precedence at the Dec. 11 school board meeting. Designed to discuss issues of declining enrollment and budgeting within the district, the committee has been working closely with Plante Moran CRESA, a consulting firm hired by the district to assess population parameters and spending in the district.

As the district is currently running under a deficit, the committee has proposed several solutions to the district’s “critical needs”, one of which has been the implementation of capital bonds, according to board president Brian Summerfield.

“Everyone knows we have critical needs.

Undisputed. And it has to be taken care of right away,” Summerfield said at the meeting. “So, it’s not surprising the recommendation is for a capital bond here, because it’s the only way you can fund (the district).”

School closures are also a possibility in solving the district’s financial woes. At this time, no closures are going to be enacted until 2022, but the committee has made recommendations to move this date up earlier, according to superintendent Dr. Gary Niehaus. It is the board, however, not the committee, which has final say over closures.

“A lot of people came to the committee believing the Blue Ribbon Committee was going

to be the ones who were going to close the school,” Niehaus said at the board meeting. “The Board of Education would have that responsibility if and when that ever came.”

In order to manage any decisions regarding closures or building management, Niehaus proposed the formation of an Oversight Advisory Committee, a committee formed of both citizens and employees which would report to the Building Facilities Committee, he said.

“The other thing we talked about in this advisory group is that we wanted them to be the ones that had an idea of potential closures,” Niehaus said at the meeting. “If there was a potential closure that needed to happen, then they would be the ones that would monitor and watch that we didn’t put any significant amount of money into any one of those projects.”

In the case of schools closing, board member Christopher Profeta believes that it is best to lease out unused space rather than selling it.

“I completely agree that in some instances it makes more sense to lease space or re-purpose space for continued revenue stream as opposed to selling for just a one-time influx of money,” Profeta said.

As for now, there will be no more future meetings of the Blue Ribbon Committee. The next regular board meeting will take place on Jan. 8, 2018 at Brownell.

GRAPHIC BY GRIFFIN JONES ’18

Winter break ends and students return to school.

jan.

16

Midterms begin on Tuesday and go until Friday Jan. 19.

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 12.20.17

2 | OPINION

Three days go a long way...

OUR VIEW || EDITORIAL

T

he holiday cheer has been cut short this year due to the shortening of Christmas break. This was caused by an increase from 175 to 180 days in school required by the Michigan Legislature in order to receive state aid. The Grosse Pointe Public School System had to add five days to the 2017-18 school calendar, and instead of adding those days to the end of the school year, it was decided Christmas break should be cut short by three days, according to Superintendent Dr. Gary Niehaus.

“When we were looking at adding five days to the school year, we worked with the Grosse Pointe Education Association on a final calendar. All agreed that adding five days to the end of the school year would not be a good thing,” Niehaus said via email.

We at the Tower believe that receiving state aid is essential to our district at this point in time, even though it may come with a cost. We also believe that while not favorable, the district handled the situation as well as possible under the circum-

stances. Extending the school year into the summer would ultimately be much worse than losing three days for the holiday.

Even though the revised Christmas break leaves limited time until midterms and can cause shortened family vacations, a longer school year

The school day does not end when we walk out of the doors at 3:05 p.m.

Homework, as well as school sports and clubs, all takes up our time and can create fatigue. Less than one percent of students say that homework is not a stress, according to a study published in The Journal of Experimental Education.

That means extending the days required in school would ultimately mean more homework, which correlates to more stress for students.

Because this cutback is not specifically the district’s fault, we feel the state should consider cutting back on days required in school in order to receive state funding. As important as education is to our fundamental growth, how much more will be accomplished in 180 days of school than 175? According to the Institution of Education Sciences, students were found to only be on task for about one-third of the hours spent EDITORIAL CARTOON BY RILEY LYNCH ’18 in school. Because of this, extending the school year by five days would be of litwould cause more inconvenience. Many summer jobs and other activities would come at the cost of tle benefit to our academic achievement.

As upsetting as losing a few days at Christmas an elongated school year. This elongation would also affect the district’s budget, increasing costs break may be for us, it is worth the price of keepfor things such as utility needs, administrative ing our full summer break and our district funded. planning and staff development.

Muslim student doesn’t celebrate Christmas spirit; still feels the spirit we have woken up early and driven down to a church in the heart of inner city Detroit. There, greeted by warm IMRAN SIDDIQUI ’20 faces, people ready to make someCopy Editor one’s day better, we are handed garbage bags full of gifts, all purchased through donations. For the rest of the Personally, I’ve never believed in morning, we drive around, dropping Santa Claus. This can probably be off the bags to families across the city. chalked up to never receiving a presEvery smile makes the blistering cold ent on Dec. 25. This, however, is not worth it. Then, of course, we go out because St. Nick forgot my house. I for breakfast; IHOP if we’re lucky. simply don’t celebrate Christmas.

This annual experience has shaped I have always loved winter break. my views on Christmas. I have seen Two weeks (usually) of nothing. No Christmas as a holiday of giving. By stress at all. A period of epic snowball passing out presents all over Detroit, fights against my siblings or domiwith the help of complete strangers, nating the annual Siddiqui snowman I have learned a lot about the power building competition. Not having to of charity. deal with buying gifts or prepare for I love Christmas time. The classic visiting family for me. movies and music are fantastic. One As a Muslim, I celebrate Eid. thing that has recently bothered me, There are two Eids each year. I usuhowever, is the lack of recognition of ally describe it as having a Easter and other culture’s holidays. For instance, a Christmas; they’re both great, but, despite the world religion unit in religiously, they signify two different freshmen world history, many peothings. One Eid, Eid-al-Fitr, is the ple have no idea what Eid is. It isn’t one that takes place after Ramadan, just for Islam; how many can explain the month of fasting. The other, Eidthe significance of Diwali or Rosh Hashanah?

Most high schoolers receive their news from their phone, and Snapchat stories are a prime source of knowledge. How can I expect people to wish me a happy Eid when there wasn’t even a Snapchat filter for my holiday this year?

In a world that considers the usage of “Happy Holidays” to be a war on Christmas, something as trivial as a filter that you swipe to add to your selfie plays a significant role in the perception of a holiday.

No matter who you are, and no matter what you celebrate, I wish you a great winter break and holiday season. If you get the chance, after opening up your gifts, step out of your comfort zone and learn more about someone else’s culture because not only are you benefitting yourself, you are validating the other person’s beliefs.

SANTA SIDDIQUI Imran Siddiqui ’20 delivers presents to those in need with his family and others. He delievers presents to families in Detroit.

MY VIEW

al-Adha, is connected to the pilgrimage to Makkah.

Another difference is that Eid is based on the lunar calendar, dependent on the moon’s phases. As a result of this, they’re placement changes each year, usually by about 10-14 days. This year, for example, both Eids are in the summer.

Just as there are Christmas traditions, my family and I have our own Eid traditions. Each year we make over 50 boxes of cookies and pass them out to friends and family. This tradition has educated people about my celebration. A lot of my neighbors know more about Eid solely as a result of the yearly treats we deliver.

My family has never celebrated Christmas, despite my frequent begging for more gifts. On the contrary, my family and I have participated in an annual charity each Christmas morning for the past few years. We have been volunteering for “Jimmy’s Kids”, an organization that aims to give every child a Christmas to remember.

Each year, on Christmas morning,

PHOTO COURTESY OF IMRAN SIDDIQUI ’20

Thank you,

Dr. Niehaus

MY VIEW LIAM WALSH ’18 Supervising Editor

It happened. The announcement which brings all in the district joy came to fruition at around nine p.m. on Wednesday night.

There was going to be a snow day.

The Grosse Pointe Public School District is notorious for having students brave the outdoor elements and come to school when every other district is closed, as has happened multiple times in the previous few years. I was very afraid the same situation was going to come to pass on Thursday and I was going to wake up that morning and have to dig my car out and slide across the roads to school.

So I sent an email, like many others in the district, to Dr. Niehaus requesting the day off and enumerating the different reasons why. In response I was told of how “with the Grosse Pointe communities all coming together, our cities have the ability to clear the main streets quicker,”. He said a decision would have to be made and it would be made early in the morning.

My hopes were crushed, I felt as if the man behind the decision was telling me to expect to come to school tomorrow as the snow was earlier in the day and the streets would be clear in the morning. I resigned myself to continue doing my homework as the snow contin-

ued to pile up inch upon inch onto the ground.

I was in the middle of working on my AP Lit presentation when I saw a notification of a text pop up on my computer screen. I scrambled over to my phone and to my, and many others, pure joy a snow day had been called. I immediately ran down the stairs to celebrate with my siblings, whose middle school traditions worked to perfection, to notify them of the temporary holiday.

My dad’s response was somewhat stoic, he smirked then told me to go shovel. I packed on my layers of long sleeves and headed out to battle the elements. I have never shoveled my driveway as fast and as efficiently as I did that night. My attempts to expedite my processes in order to go out with friends never came to light, as all my friends were snowed in, so instead we just had a night of XBox with the boys.

My actual snow day wasn’t too exciting either. I slept in until noon and I spent about 25 minutes digging my car out of the snow, and then went to Chipotle with a friend.

While nothing crazy happened, I must say that I deeply appreciate the day of rest to recuperate and catch up on some sleep. So thank you Dr. Niehaus for declaring a snow day.

SNOWED IN Lots of snow covers the front lawn of South.

Students in the districts had a snow day Dec. 14.

NEWSPAPER

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TOWER

STAFF

PHOTO BY AIDAN WALSH ’20

Editors-in-Chief

Liz Bigham* ’18 John Francis* ’18 Online Editors-in-Chief

Henry Ayrault* ’19 Grace Reyes* ’19

Print Associate Editor

Alyssa Czech* ’19

Supervising Editors at Large

Ray Hasanaj* ’18 Liam Walsh* ’18

Supervising Editors

Katherine Bird*, Rachel Harris*, Riley Lynch*, Elena Rauch*, all ’18 Bianca Pugliesi* ’19

Page Editors

Chase Clark*, Kaitlin Nemeh* Cam Smolen*, JD Standish*, all ’18 Adrian Doan* ’19 Anne Muawad*, Lauren Nemeh*, Maura Shine*, Aidan Walsh*, Elizabeth Wolfe*, all ’20 Copy Editors

Ian Dewey*, Piper Eschenburg*, Phoebe Miriani*, all ’18 Sylvia Hodges* ’19, Elizabeth Flower*, Victoria Gardey*, Claire Sheeren*, Imran Siddiqui*, all ’20 Business Manager

Evan Skaff* ’18

Web/Section Editors

Arianna Pagenette* ’18, Kaitlyn Perkins* ’18, Katherine Costello*, Claire Koeppen*, Jaqui Mercier*, Audrey Whitaker*, all ’19 Dominic Dulac* ’20

Multimedia/Social Media Editors

Abigail Due* ’18, Erica Fossee* ’19 Tower Radio

Alex Acker* ’18 Zachary Heimbuch* ’19 Staff Writers

Margot Baer, Solana Bryson, Blair Cullen, Griffin Jones, Harper McClellan, Caitlin Miller, John Schulte, Lauren Thom, Brennan Zihlman, all ’18 John Bellamy, Isabella Craparotta, Allison MacLeod, Olivia Mlynarek, Sarah Stevenson, Arif Ulku, all ’19 Madeleine Allen, Julia Ambrozy, Daniel Klepp, Evelyn Kuhnlein, Charlie Matthews, Kari Ronning, all ’20 Eva McCord ’21 Adviser

Kaitlin Edgerton

“The Tower” is the weekly publication of the Advanced Journalism classes at Grosse Pointe South High School. It has always been a designated public form of student expression.

The Tower is located in room 142 in Grosse Pointe South High School. Please contact us at 313-432-3649.

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Factual errors will be corrected on the opinion page or in news briefs written upon request and verification.

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Letters to the Editor are encouraged and will be screened for libel, irresponsibility and obscenity. The Editorial Board may edit or shorten letters as long as the meaning is Opinion Pieces unchanged. All letters must be signed and Editorials represent the majority opinion of include a telephone number for confirmation. the Editorial Board and are left unsigned.

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THETOWERPULSE.NET | 12.20.17

Junior testing moves from paper to computers IAN DEWEY ’18 Copy Editor This testing season, upcoming juniors will face a departure from the normal schedule. As a result of the M-Step going digital this year, juniors will be taking the test on different days rather than a single one.

The reason for this, according to Assistant Principal Cynthia Parravano, is there simply aren’t enough available computers on any given day for the entire class to take the test.

“Before, we tested all in one day because it was paper/pencil and we could do that, but we can’t do that with the computers,” Parravano said. “Instead of one day for the science/social studies, it will take four days to get through all the students with the number of labs we have assigned for them.”

The M-Step, a standardized test designed for use in Michigan public schools, will measure juniors’ skills in both social and natural science. According to Principal Moussa Hamka, the test does a much better job of assessing these skills than the SAT does.

“I think the SAT does a It will take four days good job helpto get through all ing us identify the students with where our stuthe number of labs dent level is at in math and we have assigned English, but for them. regarding sciCINDY PARRAVANO ence and social Vice Principal studies, I think it measures the math out of the science and the social studies literacy, but not actual content,” Hamka said. “I think the M-Step will help us with that.”

Although the M-Step change will create extra scheduling work for school administrators, Parravano said she prefers the test going digital.

“There are no booklets you have to try and have to keep track of, there’s no answer sheets; you don’t have to worry about getting them all sent in the next day,” Parravano said. “I think it’ll be easier with the computer.”

There isn’t much of a change for the students, however, outside of remembering schedule changes; the test is still the same as before. Unless, of There’s something course, one is the different about type to be less parstaring at a screen tial to the prospect as opposed to of computer teststaring at a paper. ing, as with Miles Dearing ’19.

MILES DEARING ’19 “I hate computerized tests just as much as I hate paper tests, if not more,” Dearing said. “I don’t know, there’s something different about staring at a screen as opposed to staring at a paper. Some people say it’s the same thing, but I do think there’s a difference. If you’re actually handwriting, there’s that physical part of it, as opposed to clicking and typing.”

3 | NEWS

HELPING CLOSE TO HOME: library organizes fundraiser with Mittens for Detroit Laney Corrado, the circulation coordinator at the GPPL, organized the mitten drive, along with all the The Grosse Pointe Public Library other “GPPL Gives Back” efforts, (GPPL) is partnering with Mittens according to library director Jessica for Detroit to help provide those in Keyser. need with warm gloves and mittens “(The mitten drive) really ties this winter. in with our mission to connect the

community,” Keyser said.

According to Corrado, Mittens for Detroit is a non-profit organization that collects mittens and gloves, MITTENS for Detroit then distributes them to children and adults in Detroit and other Provides new, unused under-served communities. mittens and gloves for “They have volunteers children and adults who disperse all of these to Actress Erin Cummings different organizations that found the nonprofit in give them to clients that Detroit in 2010 they have,” Corrado said.

Collection containers “Some of them are hospitals, will be out from Dec.1 to some of them are shelters, Jan. 31 Over 200,000 pairs have schools.” been purchased in our According to Corrado, Mitfirst seven years tens for Detroit was founded by Erin Cummings, a once Detroit Get more information by emailing info@mittensfordetroit.org TV actress who had witnessed an act of kindness, which inspired IT.ORG Y OF MITTENSFORDETRO ELIZABETH WOLFE ’20 Page Editor

INFORMATION COURTES

GRAPHIC BY GRIFFIN JONES ’18

New club promotes de-stressing, strength OLIVIA MLYNAREK ’19 Staff Writer

A new club for those who love fitness and exercise has been added to the long list of clubs at South this winter season. The Strength Training Club is a club based around different kinds of exercises.

Founder of the Strength Training Club, Christi Scheibner ’19, said she started the club because she wanted students to have an opportunity to de-stress.

“I think a lot of people at this school are under stress from homework and tests and stuff like out of school like sports,” Scheibner said.

According to Scheibner, the main focus of the club is not only to promote fitness, but also to create a relaxing environment.

“I wanted something that could help everyone relax and spend time on themselves,” Scheibner said.

The club is taught by Marie Fachini-Kurily, an experienced strength trainer and Zumba instructor.

“I think it’s a wonderful way for students to get together and decompress and have a good time,” Fachini-Kurily said.

Some of the things the club does is weightlifting, aerobic exercises and muscular exercises.

Fachini-Kurily said she thinks students will get more from this club than just a good workout.

“From this club, I think they (the participants) are going to get some

YOGA POSE Annie Williams and Audrey Whitaker, both ’19, and Ashley Strong ’20 do different exercises at the strength and training club. The club meets after school in Cleminson Hall.

PHOTO BY OLIVIA MLYNAREK ’19

confidence in how they can deal with any type of frustrations or stresses they have in life,” Fachini-Kurily said.

Member of the club, Carly Orhan ’19, said she is happy this club has been added to the collection of clubs at the school.

“I joined this club because my best friend created it and we’ve been wanting to workout together, so this was just a fun way to do it with all my friends,” Orhan said.

Orhan said one of the great things

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her to create this charity.

According to the website, Mittens “She (Cummings) saw someone for Detroit is looking for hand-knitgive mittens to a little girl who was ted or newly bought and used mitin need, and it hit her so hard that tens and gloves. she decided she had to do more of “We’re talking about warm gloves this,” Corrado said. and mittens that will help when it’s According to the Mittens for snowing and really cold,” Corrado Detroit website, the organization said, “They’re not just going into accepts donations from Oct. 1 to outer space, they’re going to someJan. 31, while one who really needs GPPL is acthem.”

They have volunteers cepting doAccording to Corwho disperse all of nations from rado, GPPL wants to these to different Dec. 1 to Jan. collect 200 pairs of organizations that 30. mittens and gloves “Here at this winter. give them to clients the library, “Just knowing that that they have. we only have people really are inLANEY CORRADO a limited terested, that they amount of care and they want Coordinator at the GPPL space, so we to do what they can decided to to help ease another’s give them a couple of months, but burden, that’s the main thing, and it’s we’re hoping to get a really good re- a very Grosse Pointe thing,” Corrado sponse,” Corrado said. “It’s still the said. dead of winter at the end of January, so it’s still a good time for people to be able to donate.”

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about this club is how the environment of it is much different from many other fitness-based sports and activities offered at the school.

“No one here is an expert, we all do what we can and have fun with it,” Orhan said. “If you are struggling, you can just look around and start laughing because you can see that other people are struggling too.”

In addition to making a schedule of the upcoming meetings, the Strength Training Club has been try-

ing other things to get the word out and have more people join.

“We’ve done some posters and we’re gonna do some raffles so people can hopefully win some yoga mats, hopefully more people should come,” Scheibner said.

Strength Training Club hopes to meet more in the future and also to fit into everyone’s schedule. The club encourages all students to join.

4 | FEATURE

DECK THE HALLS

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 12.20.17

The Tower set out to find out who exactly is behind the winter wonderland spectacle on the corner of Moross and Lakeshore with her strong Catholic faith and Mark’s holiday spirit. bad day at work, maybe things just aren’t going right, maybe “My motivation is also from childhood and actually I kind there’s an illness in the family, maybe they’re heading to one of work off his enthusiasm,” Denise said. “I love it and it’s just of the hospitals for an appointment or something,” Denise such a special time of year and I have more of a religious spin said. “It just takes their mind off of the troubles, just for a on it because the real meaning of the season is Jesus’ birthday.” little bit, just driving by.”

Mark and Denise continued this tradition in the Farms, The Van Siles’ neighbor, Victoria Berardi, has lived next to RAY HASANAJ & and their biggest holidays are Halloween, Independence Day the Van Siles for six years. Berardi said the lights do not bothJOHN FRANCIS and Christmas. In fact, Mark said they started their deco- er her or her husband at all and she thinks they look beautiful.

BOTH ’18 “My husband and I go over on Halloween as the Van Siles Supervising Editor & rations at their first house on Anita off of Mack. Since their home on Anita, their display has continuously gotten larger and I pass out candy,” Berardi said. “Every time I’m around, Editor-in-Chief I see people coming up to the house and they always seem to 600 dollars in electricity up to the point where they cannot add anymore.

“The display just gets a little bigger every year, the technollike it and keep coming back every year.” bills, 200,000 lights, 573 ornaogy, the lights dance, you can do a lot more with LED lights, ” The Van Siles take pride in their home but do not seek ments, seven trees, six weeks Mark said.

“It’s pretty packed now, I don’t really have a lot of attention, they said. Mark said they do it for themselves and and two people are what goes room.

If you start really putting stuff in, its like a department to continue the traditions they have had since childhood. The into Mark and Denise Van Sile’s store opposed to a display.

I keep usually what I have. ” two have both been interviewed by various news outlets, but more than 20-year tradition of extravThe couple divides up the decorating.

Denise does the as far as in their own community, they do not believe they are agant holiday decorations. inside and Mark does the outside, Denise said.

Contrary to very well known for what they do.

Mark and Denise bought their what most people believe, Mark said he does everything on Mark recounted a time when he and Denise were at the house on Lakeshore and Moross in the outside himself.

Eleanor and Edsel Ford Estate and they overheard someone 1995, according to Mark, but the tradi“I do the whole thing myself.

I rent a lift which gets me talking about them and their house. tion of decorating goes back even farup 60 feet, and for that part, my brother is on the ground so “We were riding somewhere and some lady was talking to ther. Mark has lived in Grosse Pointe that I don’t hit anything and he’s directing, ” Mark said.

“It’s no the driver and she said, ‘You know that house on Moross and for three generations and the tracrew, no nothing; I don’t want anybody stepping on my roof.

Lakeshore?’

She says, ‘Who lives there?’ and the guy says, ‘Oh dition goes back to his childhood A lot of people think I have a crew, but no.

That would cost a yeah, the guy who lives there makes neon signs,’” Mark said. home on Barrington and Essex in fortune. ” Mark said he didn’t care to correct the lady or the driver Grosse Pointe Park, he said.

Mark said he has a lot of experience working on houses because what him and Denise do isn’t for publicity or for the “A lot of times what you do is you and his family has been working in real estate and construcfame.

Denise said it simply warms her heart to know other take things from your childhood, tion for years.

He added companies will come by and give him people enjoy it even if they don’t know who puts it together. so something you loved and was Christmas for the Van Siles is a time for harmony and dear to you as a child, there’s a a quote for decorating the house and doing the lights.

“It’s kind of stigma because they think the home owner tranquility, they said. The two are proud Americans, accordtendency to take that with you,” wouldn’t be doing this here.

They think its got to be a compaing to Mark, and consider themselves extremely lucky for evMark said. “Holidays were real ny because most of them use companies, ” Mark said. erything they have, especially during the holiday season. special growing up for me and Mark said he checks all the lights and stores all the deco“One of my main things is peace on earth, good will tomy wife, so that’s just something I rations himself.

He also said he continues to pick up decorawards men.

On Christmas time, you want to emphasize that,” took.” tions throughout the years at various places.

Mark said.

“Christmas is a time to reflect. It’s like, ‘Hey, lets Mark said one of the most popu“If I see something I like, I’ll get it.

We drive down to Floreverybody get along and let’s be thankful for what we have.’” lar questions he gets is where he gets ida and we’ll stop at certain places.

I had the snowman on his motivation from. Christmas has PHOTOS BY JOHN FRANCIS ’18 always been a special holiday to the roof made from the supplier from Bronners in Frankenthe Van Siles and the lights dis- muth,” Mark said. “The wreath I made, I had somebody weld play takes Mark back to when the frame and I put all the lights on it and stuff like that, and it’s custom made for the pillars.” he was a kid.

Mark said he’s never hurt himself putting up decorations.

“Me, my two brothers, my He and Denise keep the decorations up from the Saturday afmom and my dad, we always ter Thanksgiving to Jan. 8, Mark said. They used to keep them loved the holidays, so I just up to Jan. 6, which is the Epiphany in the Catholic religion, took that with me,” Mark but Denise said since she’s a big Elvis Presley fan, she asked said. “It brings me back Mark if they could keep the lights up until Elvis’ birthday, Janto that time. It’s sort uary 8. of like a special time The Van Siles said one of their favorite things about their in your life; you just holiday tradition is the crowds it draws. They said it brings always want to relive them joy when visitors come and tell them about how the that.” house’s bright display has cheered them up, especially during Denise also said her difficult times. motivation comes from “Some people have said they love her childhood, along driving by our house if they’ve had a NEW ADDITION The

A LONGTIME TRADITION The Van Siles have been decorating their home on the corner of Lakeshore and Moross since they moved in over 20 years ago. “I’m 58 and I’m in good health, don’t smoke, don’t drink. I can see myself doing this for another 20 years,” Mark said.

Van Siles have added something new to their Christmas display: a direct form of contact to the man in red himself, according to Denise.

THE COUPLE BEHIND THE LIGHTS Mark and Denise Van Sile are the homeowners of the holiday light display that thousands of commuters pass daily. They have a total of seven Christmas trees in their home.

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 12.20.17

5 | ENTERTAINMENT

ADMIT ONE:

Redford Theatre review MY VIEW

VICTORIA GARDEY ’20 Copy Editor

O v e r 1,000 people broke into song singing ‘It’s a White

Christmas’ in unison.

This was the Redford Theatre for their annual holiday screening of the 1954 film ‘White Christmas.’

On Dec. 16, I went to the Redford Theatre on Detroit’s west side to see ‘White Christmas.’ From the moment I walked in the whole theatre was brimming with holiday cheer.

Santa Claus was in the front for pictures and all the concession workers wore Santa hats, but it wasn’t just the attire that made for the Christmas spirit, it was something about stepping back in time that really did it.

The theatre was built in 1927 with the Japanese motif. The architecture is beyond amazing. The walls soar dozens of feet to the ceiling designed to look like the nighttime sky, complete with stars. Even the exit signs are exquisite--they are made from stained glass.

In the front of the theatre, a Barton organ stands with three rows of keys and countless foot pedals. One of the best parts of the show was the wonderful organ playing before the show and at intermission. And most impressive about the classic Christmas carols was how they were all memorized by the organist who has been playing at the Redford for 42 years.

In the front of the theatre during their holiday shows, they have an incredible train display. There were multiple trains, sets of tracks and snow-covered houses. The train set alone would have been enough entertainment for the night.

Seeing a movie at the Redford is different from any other movie theatre experience. At

the Redford, it truly is about the experience not even so much about the movie itself. In the theatre everyone laughs out loud together, and it’s not frowned upon as being weird.

When I was sitting in my seat watching the 35mm film I truly felt like I was back in the 50s.

The concession stand was a major bonus of my evening. The popcorn had real butter and all the snacks were very reasonably priced, especially compared to other theaters today. On the subject of price, the tickets were only five dollars apiece making my evening very affordable.

The only downside was the drive and parking. The Redford is about half an hour away, but well worth it. It was difficult to find parking since I arrived fairly close to showtime, but next time I would just arrive earlier that way I could hear the organ longer and avoid the stress of parking.

One of the unique features of the Redford is having an intermission in every movie, I love it. It gives you an opportunity to refill snacks or use the restroom, without missing any action.

The best part of the entire show was at the end when it started to snow in the movie, then the entire theatre broke into chorus together to ‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.’ Now there’s something you don’t get at AMC. Everybody seemed so full of joy and the whole experience just came together in that moment for me.

I definitely plan on returning again in the future. I would 100 percent recommend it for any time, but especially at the holidays.

It’s the perfect place for date night, family night or to go to with grandparents.

The upcoming show this weekend is “It’s a Wonderful Life” Dec. 22 and 23. Tickets and more information are available at redfordtheatre.com.

TRADITION AT HEART The Redford Theatre has featured its famous Barton Organ since it first opened.

ORIENTAL The Redford Theatre was originally designed around a Japanese motif.

FESTIVE The performance of ‘White Christmas’ is an annual tradition at the theatre.

A STEP BACK IN TIME The Theatre’s vaudevillian design gives visitors a look at show business culture in the 1920s. The Redford Theatre was founded in 1927.

PHOTOS BY VICTORIA GARDEY ’20

2017 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE It’s that time of year again where everyMARGOT BAER ’18 one is scramStaff Writer bling looking for the perfect gift for their friend, family member or significant other.

If you’re gift buying for a long-term girlfriend or your mom, a nice pair of running shoes is a perfect gift.

Right now APL running shoes are a big hit, but classic Nikes are always in style, too. APL shoes range from $140-$300, while Nikes range from anywhere between $50 and $200 .

For that special guy in your life who you feel like splurging on, New Balance sneakers are huge right now. Whether he’s a high top or low top kind of guy, New Balance has got you covered. These stylish sneakers turn out to be around $100.

No matter the age or gender, a nice speaker is always a safe bet. At around $130, you can get a quality JBL speaker from Amazon that your secret Santa is guaranteed to enjoy.

If you’re looking for a nice gift you know anyone will love, but you’re not trying to break the bank, a Yeti cup or any portable drinking vessel is always a good gift. Yeti cups are super popular with people of all ages currently, and for a good reason. These are

MY VIEW

COMFY COZY Fuzzy socks are a reliable gift for anyone looking to stay warm this holiday season

TRENDING New Balance sneakers have become a popular brand for teens recently

quality cups you can keep for years on end and they come in at just about $30 from Amazon.

A no-risk guarantee gift is a classic pair of aviator sunglasses. Ray-Ban sells their classic styles ranging in three sizes priced from $150-$200 depending on if you get a polarized pair or not. You can still cop this classic look for as low as $5 at Amazon. Just keep in mind with a brand like Ray-Ban you are paying for quality.

Another great unisex gift for any 16-year-old or up is a nice keychain. What is on your keychain can say lot about you. Smathers and Branson’s “Key Fob” is a great gift for anyone who is a little preppy and wants to have a little piece of their personality on their keys. They have Key Fobs with American flags on them all the way to a sassy cheetah print. They all cost around $30 and are quality guaranteed.

For a more trendy girl who loves to spice up her keys, ban.do.com has great options with catchy quotes and cute tassels. Their chains range from $8$28.

On the cheaper side of the spectrum, perfect gifts for little cousins or even great stocking stuffers are things like fuzzy socks, around $4 at CVS, Bath and Body Works lotions or hand sanitizers, EOS chapsticks, or even some Nike Elite socks for your little brother ($14), will guarantee a smile on Christmas morning.

FUNCTION AND FASHION Yeti water bottles both look and work great

OLD SCHOOL Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses have been in style NEW KICKS Nike brand shoes have been a staple holiday gift for since their emergence in 1937 teens many years now

PHOTOS BY MARGOT BAER ’18

6 | FEATURE

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 12.20.17

Musical Mediums

49% Spotify What music streaming platform do students prefer?

38% Apple Music 10% Other 3% Soundcloud JOHN SCHULTE ’18 Staff Writer

Ever since the good old iPod days back in the early 2000’s, portable music has never been easier to share and access. According to a Tower Pulse Twitter poll, 38 percent of students use Apple Music, while 49 percent of students prefer Spotify and just 3 percent use SoundCloud Go. All services require a monthly payment of $9.99 and each have their ups and downs.

As a part of 3 percent minority of SoundCloud Go users, John Kyle ’19 has been using the service since last summer.

“I had a bunch of songs on SoundCloud before it turned into a pay to listen to certain songs service, and I didn’t feel like switching over to anything else, so I just started paying for SoundCloud Go,” Kyle said.

Kyle explained that SoundCloud can still be used free of charge, but SoundCloud Go offers similar perks to Apple Music and Spotify.

“Before upgrading to SoundCloud Go, you can still listen to all the SoundCloud rappers and most popular songs that people post on their accounts,” Kyle said. “By paying for SoundCloud Go, you have access to mainstream artists. You can listen to all their songs and follow them so you always know when they release new music.”

According to Kyle, SoundCloud Go offers a more diverse selection of music than other services do. “(SoundCloud Go) has more amateur and unknown artists. I’ve always liked to listen to SoundCloud rappers like Jack Hodges and Migo Domingo, but I didn’t want to have to pay for more mainstream music on a separate app and switch back and forth between that app and SoundCloud,” Kyle said.

Kyle acknowledged the lack of SoundCloud Go’s popularity.

“I don’t know anyone else who uses SoundCloud Go, and sometimes people give me a hard time about using it, but I don’t really care what they say,” Kyle said.

“SoundCloud Go, Apple Music and Spotify all accomplish the same goal of giving people access to millions of songs. As long as you have access to what you want to listen to, does it matter what you use to listen to music?”

Other students, such as Will Frame ’18, prefers what he called a more boujee streaming service, such as Apple Music.

“I already had iTunes so I just wanted to keep all my music,” Frame said.

Frame added that he also liked Apple Music’s accessibility.

“Apple Music is already built into your iPhone so you don’t need to download a separate app,” Frame said.

In addition to that, Frame explained

how he enjoys how easy it to share music between devices on Apple Music.

“You can share music easily because it has an iCloud for it and I like that you can text songs to your friends and share albums that way, I don’t think you can do that with other services,” Frame said.

Frame said in a recent update, Apple Music became even more of a social platform.

“I think it’s really cool because you can see what your friends are listening to, you can follow them. It’s sort of like a social media account, I really like that aspect and the access to a lot more music,” Frame said.

Apple Music is Frame’s streaming service of choice, but he does have one idea he would like implemented in the future.

“I think if they let people post their own remixes or songs like they let people do on SoundCloud, that’d make it a lot better,” Frame said.

With almost half of South students using Spotify according to the Tower Pulse poll, it was a

no-brainer for Elise Whitney ’18 to pick Spotify over Apple Music.

“I had both Spotify and Apple Music, then I realized I only needed one so I asked my friends’ opinion. They said Spotify, so that’s what I went with,” Whitney said.

Whitney said in addition to the majority of her friends using Spotify, the layout and feel of the Spotify app is more pleasing and enjoyable to use.

While she enjoys Spotify, Whitney said it is not perfect.

“It’s harder to share playlists. On Apple Music, you can share playlists with people, but on Spotify you have to search the name and it has to be public. The whole process could be made much simpler,” Whitney said.

GRAPHIC BY ADRIAN DOAN ’19 STATISTICS COURTESY OF TOWER PULSE TWITTER POLL

Local student finds passion, recognized on iTunes showing people what I can do with music, but this album, I want people to hear this album and say, ‘I knew he was going places, but now it’s a fact set in Rockim Williamson ’18 is a passionate artist who is dedicated to stone.’” expressing himself through music. According to Williamson, he writes Singing and songwriting has been a part of Wiland produces his own songs, hoping to share relatable messages with liamson’s life since kindergarten; he is convinced the others. first thing he wrote was a lyric. According to WilWilliamson has shared his music through many platforms, includliamson, when he became passionate about music, ing Instagram and Snapchat. He has even released his own EP, or short he decided what his style was by listening to artists album, called The Rise, that is available for purchase on iTunes. Wilon the radio and at home. liamson continues to pursue music with his upcoming album.

“I would go back and forth from singing to rap“I’ve never been so dedicated and motivated to write as many songs ping and then eventually I just thought, ‘Why can’t I as I am now,” Williamson said. “I released the EP with just four songs do both?’” Williamson said. “That’s how I made the decision I’m not just a rapper or a singer, I’m an PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROCKIM WILLIAMSON ’18 artist.”

According to Williamson, he is inspired by artists who not only rap and sing, but who put messages into each of their songs. He believes MUSIC MIXING Williamson ponders over music as he stands in the studio. He no matter what people sing, people won’t listen has released seven songs on iTunes to date. to it unless it’s relatable. Williamson strives to do the same. with others and trying to understand how we function altogether in “That’s what I try to do in any of my songs no matter what I’m this world.” talking about, no matter what the mood is,” Williamson said. “I try Jessica Boehmer ’18, a close friend of Williamson’s, notices characto make sure at least one person can relate to me.” teristics that bring out his individuality and the dedication he has to Williamson mentioned one of his popular songs, ‘Waves,’ an achieve his goals . upbeat energetic song from his EP, and the message behind it.

“He’s really passionate about what he is doing; I think that sets him “I wrote that song to basically let people know that I’m here and apart because he does (singing and songwriting) all on his own, but he music isn't just a hobby for me, it’s my life,” Williamson said. “I has that passion to get everything done and he’s really successful with tried to be really creative with that song; I didn't want it to define it,” Boehmer said. me, but I wanted people to know that’s my song.”

According to Williamson, he is committed to moving further in According to Elizabeth Lulis, an English teacher at South, evhis music career due to the love and support he receives from friends eryone knows Williamson for his creativity and putting everyone and family. Williamson realizes how he has come so far from the bebefore himself. Lulis believes Williamson puts a lot of effort and ginning. thought into each one of his songs.

“The growth that I have is obvious. It’s amazing now that I’m seeing “He is incredibly dynamic and a great listener. He cares so much my dream become true more vividly,” Williamson said. “It’s even more RISING STAR Williamson poses for his “The Rise” album cover. about what other people have to say,” Lulis said. “His passion for motivation for me to work harder and make sure that this dream isn't The album contains his most popular Spotify song, “Waves”. music, I think, is about expression; he enjoys having conversations just some dream; it’s already marked on my calendar.”

KARI RONNING ’20 Staff Writer

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 12.20.17

7 | FEATURE

South remains unaffected by state substitute teacher shortage; possible challenges ahead ADRIAN DOAN ’19 Page Editor As the state experiences a shortage of substitute teachers, as reported by the Detroit Free Press, South appears to be in the clear, according to Principal Secretary and South’s sub coordinator Linda Schultz.

Although South experienced the scarcity early in the year, it has since stabilized; however, the “I can be here every school may face challenges day because they need in the future if incentives for people so badly. They substitute teachers remain the same. call me to sub while I “In the beginning of the am subbing.” year, we had a lot of unfilled Anne Cook classrooms,” Schultz said. “It has Substitute Teacher gotten a lot better; I think we have a lot of new substitutes now so a lot of our positions have been picked up now.”

The shortage in Michigan has caught the attention of the state legislature. Rep. Jim Tedder introduced legislation recently approved in the Michigan House of Representatives to cut the required college credits for substitute teachers, according to statements released by his office. “(The Bill) is intended to expand the pool of eligible substitutes to fill the vacancies,” the Legislative Analysis stated.

The Bill came about after two other House Bills were introduced, which also deal with the problem, according to the House Fiscal Agency.

“Reportedly, fill rates-- or the percentage of substitute teaching positions that are able to be filled-- have dropped from 95 percent to 85 percent in 2015,” the House Fiscal Agency said. “This means that for every 100 classrooms that are in need of substitutes, only 85 are filled.”

But as the problem is dealt with on a state level, Schultz must address it as the substitute teacher coordinator for South; although,

Valerie Sacchetti is the coordinator for the whole district which runs through the company EDU Staff.

“EDUStaff provides comprehensive substitute services for public school districts,” EDUStaff reports on their website. “EDUStaff places over 20,000 educators and support staff on a daily basis.”

The company also reports the open positions available at a school, along with their salary. According to EDUStaff, South pays substitute teachers a salary of 17 dollars an hour, which may be a partial cause of the abandoned field.

“Ever since I started to substitute, I have never had a pay increase, only pay decreases,” Anne Cook, who has been a substitute teacher in the Grosse Pointe Public School System for 15 years, said.

Cook said she has seen a decline in the amount of people interested in becoming a substitute teacher.

“I used to get called in to substitute once or twice a week when I first started,” Cook said. “But now I can be here every day because they need people so badly. They call me to sub while I am subbing.”

Cook’s concern that the salary may be dissuading potential teachers is one shared by other schools around the country, some of which offer higher salaries. EDUStaff reports the salaries of school “The percentage of districts close to South: the substitute teaching Bloomfield Hills Public School positions that are district pays substitutes 105 dollars for a full day compared able to be filled have to South paying 85 dollars. dropped from 95% to “Some schools are a lot kind85% in 2015.” er to substitute teachers,” Cook HOUSE FISCAL AGENCY said. “Other schools do not treat you so well; they see you as very dispensable.”

Rick Ethridge has also seen a change in the field over the years. He has been sub-

Hanging up the Christmas stocking: students who celebrate alternate holidays EVA MCCORD ’21 Staff Writer

The gentle flashing of rainbow bulbs. A soft flurry of snow. The ever-persistent Mariah Carey. All are staples of Christmas itself, with about nine out of ten Americans celebrating the holiday, according to Pew Research Center.

However, those who don’t celebrate the holiday feel a little out of place during the rush of the Christmas season.

“We celebrate Hanukkah for all eight days and nights,” Miranda Freedman ’21 said. “But on Christmas we just get Chinese food; it’s the only thing that’s open.”

According to Freedman, being Jewish amidst the festivities results in a fairly quiet-spirited celebration, with her family often sim- CARTOON BY EVA MCCORD ’21 ply renting a movie togeth“We celebrate fairly similarer or making different types ly, except we don’t go to church,” of hot chocolate. Freedman occaAbouljoud said. “Some people sionally feels as though she must make a pretty big deal out of it all.” defend her own holiday to others.

Despite admitting to the sim“For Hanukkah, people get ilarities, Abouljoud feels the way gifts, but gifts shouldn’t be the fohis family celebrates during the cus,” Freedman said. “The story holiday season is special in its behind Hanukkah comes specifiown way, with the primary focus cally from celebrating the oil that fueled the Temple’s menorah; it’s being on emphasizing the closeabout being together and cele- ness of family.

“I get to see a lot of my cousbrating what the miracle gave to ins that I don’t get to see that ofthe Jewish people.” ten otherwise,” Abouljoud said.

On the other hand, some fam“It’s really fun, and it’s nice to be ilies prefer not to celebrate any around my whole family.” holiday at all, and rather have the According to a study conductevent center around harmony and ed by Pew Research Center, the togetherness. According to Abradifferences in the ways people celham Abouljoud ’21, some pay too ebrate Christmas stems primarily much attention to the concept of from age, with younger children Christmas itself, rather than who less likely to incorporate religious they are celebrating with.

elements into their celebrations.

The study went on to claim that eight out of ten non-Christians in America also celebrate Christmas, with most viewing it as a cultural holiday rather than a religious occasion.

According to Freedman, one must remember the season is a time to be dedicated to not the presents, but the love shared among family members.

“When I was younger, my family would have a giant party where we would have a giant game of dreidel, and all of the younger kids would have fun for a while,” Freedman said. “Eventually the adults joined too, and everyone felt really connected and a sense of togetherness. It’s what the holiday season is all about.”

bing since 2008, when he retired and decided he would rather help the school than stay at home.

“I think it can be a lot harder for them to find substitutes now than it used to be; there just aren’t as many people,” Ethridge said. “I don’t remember them having this much trouble trying to get teachers covered.”

Ethridge wasn’t sure what has “(Substitute teachers) caused the decrease in available are a vital part of the substitutes, but he hopes the foundation that makes school can fix it and ensure the substitutes don’t drift away. up our education, and “I think we have a lot of realthey should be treated ly great substitute teachers here,” as such by students Ethridge said. “I hope the school and schools.” can keep the amazing substitutes JAMES STEVENSON ’19 they have because it’s important that they prevent the kids from missing any valuable class time.”

Despite the apparent problems with the substitute system in Michigan, Ethridge enjoys what he does because of the students.

“I enjoy subbing a lot because I get to see how the kids grow and progress,” Ethridge said. “Sometimes I will substitute for teachers in middle school or elementary school and then a few years later I’ll see the students in high school; it’s really inspiring.”

Cook also cited the students as an inspiration for becoming a substitute teacher; students like James Stevenson ’19 return the appreciation.

“I honestly think substitute teachers are as important as our normal teachers,” Stevenson said. “Without substitute teachers, all the normal teachers would be panicked whenever they miss school. They are a vital part of the foundation that makes up our education, and they should be treated as such by students and schools.”

GRAPHIC BY ADRIAN DOAN ’19

District makes essential cuts to traditional holiday break ADIAN WALSH ’18 Page Editor Holiday breaks always seem to come and go too fast for high school students, this year even more so as Grosse Pointe Public Schools administration decided to cut six days off of winter break.

While it is seemingly a disturbance to students in Grosse Pointe, the cut is a necessity, according to GPPSS Public Relations Specialist Rebecca Fannon.

“The State of Michigan required we add five days of instruction to our calendar, and there are really only a couple places where we can do that. There is currently a state law that you have to start [school] after Labor Day; you can request a waiver but it’s unusual to do that,” Fannon said.

Choosing which days of school break to cut was a calculated process, according to Fannon.

“The idea was to protect business because so many families travel and it would help industry,” Fannon said. “So, our options then were to look at our different breaks and the end of the school year.

So we actually usually would end either Wednesday or Thursday in June and we go all the way to Friday now.”

Winter break also isn’t the only change that came for days off, according to Fannon.

“We also usually at the high school level had a day off in December, and I believe it’s for professional development, but it’s also the day we do our holiday tea over with the North and South choirs,” Fannon said. “Usually there isn’t any school that day, until we added a half day that day. The big change though was the cut to winter break.”

The decision to cut winter break was actually based on community opinion, after a poll of parents and students was conducted to find that the overall preference was to cut the break in December rather than the alternative of completely losing mid winter break in February, according

to Fannon. Student Jay Baer ’20 weighed in his opinion on the effect of cutting break will have on families.

“I don’t like it because I wish there was more time to spend time with the family, because everyone’s coming in from different states or countries to visit each other, and this is a time most people celebrates what their beliefs are in,” Baer said.

Cutting the break also affects traditions like traveling, according to Baer, who explained the interference of a shorter break in his own family.

“We usually go on trips to either Florida or probably Canada, but now we can’t because we have to be cut down a week,” Baer said.

Although the length of the break will be shorter, the effect it has on holiday traditions taking place this time of year seems to be minimal, according to student Benjamin Pidgeon ’20. Pidgeon, a member of the Jewish faith, described how the length of the break has little to do with Hanukkah celebrations.

“Since the Hebrew calendar is based on the moon cycle and is different from the regular Christian calendar, Hanukkah is not always on the same week; sometimes it might intersect with Christmas break and sometimes it doesn’t. The break doesn’t really effect Hanukkah celebrations simply because Hanukkah is celebrated at or after sundown and only for about twenty to thirty minutes at most each night,” Pidgeon said.

However, cutting winter break is not the best way to account for the required additional instruction days, according to Pidgeon.

“I am a little disappointed Christmas break was shortened because I, like many other students, look forward to a long break from school,” Pidgeon said. “I don’t believe we do need extra days for teachers to teach the material. I believe they have enough time to teach it to us and a few extra days don’t help that much.”

FAIRFAX QUALITY MARKET

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8 | SPORTS

M d e i r n r d u l s

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 12.20.17

B Approximately 5.3 million Americans live with a traumatic brain injury-related disability

the possible long term effec g n i n i m ts E xa m u a a r a t n n d i a t r h b e e a v bsence titi of repe t i a o l n e ships in its nd effect r a e field. s u a of c i e n b g y c l o t nducted i is curren h n the c r a e t e t Res r e u b n o t d r e e r stand th in ord E T is fiel C f o a d. e ar

47% of all reported sports concussions occur during high school football

INFORMATION COURTESY OF CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

S

KATHERINE BIRD ’18 Supervising Editor

unday and Monday nights are denoted as football days.

They are the nights when dads hush everyone to be quiet, yet break the silence when their team of choice inches closer to scoring a touchdown. They are the nights filled with the sounds of hitting pads and the release of adrenaline firing up fans across the country. But those hits come with consequences.

Irreversible consequences.

“The belief is that, in the long run, repeated concussions can and do lead to memory and/or cognitive impairment, behavioral changes, depression, etc.,” Dr. Pat Bishop, professor of kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, said. “There is also believed to be a link between repeated concussions and CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), an extremely high buildup of tau protein in the brain that leads to nerve loss.”

Tau protein is a normal protein found in everyone’s brain, according to the DNA Learning Center. However, the buildup of this protein can result in the clumping and death of cells, leading to CTE. It is unknown what the cause of the buildup is.

In 2014, the American Medical Association began a study involving the examination of 111 brains of deceased National Football League (NFL) players.

Of the 111, 110 were found to have CTE. “CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s that usually affects three different domains,” Dr. Robert Cantu, clinical professor of neurosurgery and co-founder of the CTE Center at Boston University School of Medicine, said. “Cognitive, so that you have trouble with memory and trouble with attention span, insight and judgement. The second domain is mood and there, it’s primarily issues with depression or anxiety. Lastly, (it causes) difficulties with behavior. The one that is most common is lack of impulse control like explosive verbal and physical activity.”

But here’s the kicker: players don’t have to be in the NFL to get CTE. It is possible to develop it at the high school level.

Dr. Cantu’s CTE Center examines the brains of deceased people that had experienced repetitive brain trauma, such as athletes and military personnel.

According to Cantu, among the brains used for studying and research, 17 of them played no higher than the high school level of football, and three of the 17 were found to have CTE. There hasn’t been a documented cause-and-effect relationship between concussions and CTE, Dr. Michael Stuart, orthopedic surgery professor and chair of the Division of Sports Medicine at Mayo Clinic said. Although there isn’t solid evidence of this relation, it’s not a good idea to have multiple blows to the head because there will still be consequences, according to Stuart.

Along with not knowing the cause-and-effect relationship, the percent chance of getting it is unknown as well.

“The problem is, (we don’t know) how many people in high school, how many people in college, how many people in the NFL have CTE,” Cantu said.

With high school football accounting for 47 percent of all reported concussions, we need to strive to reduce the risk of concussion in the sport, according to Stuart.

“I think there are many benefits of team I think we have sport participation related to the physical, emotional and psychological growth of our to step back for a young athletes--not to mention, sports are minute and make fun,” Stuart said. “I think we have to step back for a minute and make sure we are not oversure we are not emphasizing risk. So certainly, in the sport of over-emphasizing football, there is risk: risk of concussion, risk of orthopedic injury, etc.. So my take has risk. always been that we don’t want to get rid of sports, we want to make sports safer.”

DR. MICHAEL STUART The Grosse Pointe South varsity Orthopedic Surgeon football team focuses on how players tackle each other in order to reduce concussions.

“Every technique we teach are head-out-of-contact techniques,” Tim Brandon, head coach of the varsity football team, said. “The old days where they used to say, ‘lead with your face, lead with your head’ is gone. (Now) it’s completely head-out-of-contact. Plus, our equipment is better technologically than it used to be and again, the procedures and even the rules of the game have changed.”

Coaches of the Grosse Pointe South varsity football team preach tackling with your head up and not to hit with the top of your head, Alex Saurbier ’18 said.

According to Bishop, the most logical way to prevent concussions is

to ban helmet-to-helmet contact.

“It is important to remember that a concussion is a brain injury, and, as such, is not ‘repairable’ as are the other organs in the body,” Bishop said. “No two people have the same response to a concussion, so it manifests itself with different symptoms and different responses or reactions depending on the person.”

Bishop added that cognitive impairment can persist for a long time and can affect a student player’s ability to complete school work. Since a child’s brain is a developing one, it doesn’t react to injury in the same way an adult brain does.

The area of CTE research is not completely developed where there can be an understandable cause-and-effect relationship, Stuart said. As of 2009, only 49 cases of CTE have been studied and published, according to Cantu’s CTE Center. As a result, the disease is poorly understood.

“There is certainly a chance, and it is a concern, that repetitive blows to the head and multiple concussions with participation in a sport like football could conceivably lead to these progressive neurodegenerative diseases in the future, like CTE. However, we don’t understand it yet because there’s probably It is important to multiple other factors,” Stuart said. “For example, there is probably some individual remember that susceptibility based on genetics that may predispose a concussion is a athletes.”

There’s new research being conducted in order to connect these dots, brain injury, and, according to Bishop.

“There have been as such, is not several recent developments in concussion research,” Bishop said. “Some centers are looking for blood markers “repairable” as are for concussions, some are looking for better diagnostics the other organs in the form of fMRIs and diffusion tensor imaging, and some are looking for better treatment and return to play/ in the body. learn protocols.”

L o n g i t u d i n a l DR. PAT BISHOP research is being conducted where athletes are followed Professor of Kinesiology and monitored over time, Stuart added. Stuart hopes this will result in diagnostic measures for the living since CTE is a disease diagnosed post mortem.

Although CTE has been found in many athletes’ brains, it’s not just unique to sports, according to Cantu.

“The highest risk factor (for CTE) is exposure,” Cantu said. “CTE is very much like cigarette smoking--if you play football or have repetitive head injuries that doesn’t mean you are going to get CTE. Not everyone gets it, but it is dose-related, so the more head hits you take over a longer period of time, the greater chance you have of getting CTE.” With the field being quite unknown, Stuart warrants that we shouldn’t be hasty when pointing fingers as to what the true cause is.

“There could be other mitigating factors that would contribute that we don’t understand yet,” Stuart said. “Many of the pro athletes who have been diagnosed in an autopsy with CTE had a lot of other issues. They had emotional issues, psychiatric issues, drug and alcohol abuse, but did the concussions or traumatic brain injury or the permanent brain damage cause them to have physiatric illness or lead them to drug and alcohol abuse, or were they unrelated factors? I think we have to be careful about assigning risk to sports participation if somebody has issues later in life.”

It is important to keep in mind that playing through a concussion will do more harm than good, according to Bishop.

“There are several risks related to playing through a concussion, including loss of awareness, loss of cognitive ability, etc., which can place a player in harm’s way,” Bishop said. “The most important concern, though, is that of the player receiving another head blow while the brain is already injured, and this can have disastrous consequences.”

Brandon relays the same message to his players.

“First of all, we train the athletes to know the symptoms, so them knowing to self-report is a huge aspect of it,” Brandon said. “Sometimes it might be a normal tackle where you get jarred, so if we observe any kind of behavior in that athlete we can send them to Rochelle (South athletic trainer); the officials in the game have the authority to notify us and then we send them to Rochelle. There’s a whole process which was built around the fact that we want our athletes to be safe.”

With all the risks and concerns that football and even other sports pose, it’s important to keep in mind the benefits of them, Stuart said.

“I would say, as an orthopedic surgeon, sports medicine specialist and father of three former NHL players and now a grandfather, that I am very concerned about concussions in sports. But, again, I am driven to try and make sports safer and it’s a multifactorial and a very challenging solution, and it has to do with prevention. It has to do with more accurate diagnosis, it has to do with better treatment and it has to do with probably understanding risk better so that we can continue to reap the rewards of individual and team sports without trying to eliminate them,” Stuart said. “We can’t lose sight of the fact there are a lot of benefits to sports and I really think we ought to keep that in mind.”