Warrior Sherwood High School 300 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Sandy Spring, MD 20860
35th Year, Issue No.2
the
December 13, 2012
Inside: News: 1-4, Lifestyle: 5-6, Features: 7-9, Humor: 10-11, Spotlight: 12-13, Opinions: 14-16, Wondering Warrior: 17, Entertainment: 18-20, Sports: 21-24
The End is Near
Revamping MCPS: Tailoring Education to the Students
The Warrior asks how students plan on spending the final days before the impending apocolypse.
The Warrior analyzes where our education system is headed by examining Curriculum 2.0, online learning and other innovations in education. pgs. 12-13
pg. 17
Petition Calls for Later Start Times As parents collect signatures, teachers weigh in on whether MCPS should start high schools later in order to give students more time to sleep.
by Connor Martin ‘13 High school students today face crazy schedules filled with school, homework, extracurriculars, sports and family obligations. With such busy schedules, time for sleep is often the part of the day that gets cut short. However, parents in Montgomery County are currently working on a petition that asks for later start times to the school day so that teenagers can get the extra sleep they need. But is the push for later start times necessarily a smart move? “There are a lot of benefits to [having later start times],” noted psychology teacher Christine McKeldin. “Since about the 1930s, students are getting on average about one hour less sleep than they did back then, and there are a whole bunch of things that seem to correlate with this ‘lost hour.’” The “Lost Hour” refers to a chapter in
the book “Nurture Shock” by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. The book explains the psychology and reasoning between different phenomena in the behaviors of children and adolescents, including why teenagers have difficulty going to bed on time and getting enough sleep to prepare them for the day. According to the book, other school systems have tried starting schools later with great success in terms of academic achievement. Bronson and Merryman explain that the overall improvement in academics in these school systems is because the schools accommodate teenagers’ biological clocks. The book explains that the biological clock in teenagers “does a ‘phase shift’ that keeps adolescents up later. In prepubescents and grownups, when it gets dark outside, the brain produces melatonin, which makes them sleepy. But adolescent brains don’t release melatonin
for another 90 minutes.” Then, the brain continues to produce melatonin after teens have woken up for the next school day. “It’s obvious why people are sleeping in first period,” McKeldin added. The petition parents are starting online at signon.org aims to change the time when high schools start in the morning so that behaviors like sleeping in class will happen less often. The petition requests for Montgomery County high schools to start the day no earlier than 8:15 a.m., so that teenagers can get an extra hour of sleep every night. If the school day starts later, then, according to the petition website, there will be a decrease in absences, tardiness, sleeping in class, traffic accidents and visits to the nurse as well as an improvement in overall academic performance. That said, problems could arise from starting high schools later. If high schools start at 8:15 a.m., students who ride buses
would be going to school slightly later than middle school students and earlier than elementary school students. Currently, buses transport high school students then go back for middle school students and again for the elementary school students. If high school students went to school at the same time as the younger ones, the county would need to have more buses and more bus drivers, which would cost a substantial amount of money. Alternatively, if middle or elementary schools switch start time with high schools, the younger kids would be waiting for buses in the dark. “I’d love to start my day later, but I think it’s impractical,” stated science teacher Glenn Miller. He explains that starting the day later does not solve any of the problems that teenagers face with the regular start times because everything
see TIMES, pg. 4
Making the Grade Community Mourns Death of 2012 Graduate School looks to balance students’ success with fairness. by Robel Wondimu ‘13 For the fourth year in a row, MCPS graduated 87.6 percent of its students, which is the highest rate among large school districts in the country. Last year, of Sherwood’s graduating class of 475, only four flunked out while seven dropped out, for a graduation rate above 97 percent. As impressive as that figure is, Principal Bill Gregory wants to reach MCPS’ goal of 100-percent graduation rate. “[2012] was a low year,” said Gregory. “Some of these kids may not graduate in June, but they will graduate in August, or they’ll graduate the following year, but most of our kids graduate.” As part of the effort that nearly all students at the school eventually graduate, teachers focus on high-risk students who are in danger of failing. A last-ditch action that teachers may take is “bumping” a grade at the end of the marking period. There is no school policy on bumping and it is left to the discretion of teachers. The lack of a firm policy has raised questions about the objectivity of grading and created tension, particularly in instances when a teacher has felt pressured to pass a student who has a failing grade or a large number of unexcused absences. “I do not feel it is equitable to all students if a student is allowed to not put in the requisite effort over the course of an entire marking period just to have exceptions or concessions made at the end of the
see GRADE, pg. 3
by Steffi Carrera ‘14 and Katie Mercogliano ‘14 On November 17, Sherwood graduate Olijawon Griffin was fatally stabbed at Woodley Park Metro Station. What started out as a robbery ended in the death of a beloved member of the community. Loved ones gathered on November 19 to honor Griffin’s memory with a candle light vigil. Friends, teammates, coaches, teachers and family members were in tears as they collected at the field adjacent to Montgomery General Hospital. Everybody circled around Griffin’s mother and listened to Rev. Barry Moultrie, the youth pastor at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Rockville, preach about the importance of not lashing out violently for revenge. The inspirational sermon was a lesson to the young generation about the violence that happens everywhere, and concluded with his powerful message, “This silent majority has to end—you guys have to stand up for what’s right.” The funeral service took place on November 24 at the Refuge Church. According to The Washington Post, Griffin was robbed of several items on the night of his death, including a name-brand jacket that he had purchased with his own salary, by armed teenagers. Shortly after these items had been stolen from him, Griffin headed to Woodley Park Metro Station with his two friends to go home. Upon arriving at the station, he encountered the same group who had robbed
Olijawon Griffin him. Police say there were around 12 people on the platform, including one wearing Griffin’s jacket. Griffin realized this and approached the teens to get his jacket back, which led to an attack on one of Griffin’s friends. One police officer testified to a surveillance camera showing the boys swarm the friend and kick him repeatedly. Initially, Griffin and the other friend ran to the station manager’s kiosk, but Griffin decided to go back and help his friend that was being beaten. While engaged in a fight with one of the teens, Griffin was stabbed in the chest by Chavez Tyrek Myers, who surprised him from behind. Myers, 17, is being charged as an adult for murder, and four of his companions also face armed robbery charges as adults. The search for three others continues as they can be seen
www.thewarrioronline.com
in the footage yet have not been identified. Griffin was an active student, participating in Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival and playing on the football team for all four of his years at Sherwood. Coach Mike Bonavia commented on the loss, “I only had this one year with him as a senior. I thought from the time that I came from the time that we finished, [I] saw a young man mature—as a person and a football player.” Griffin was admired and known for his dedication to the football team. Bonavia concluded his statement by saying he knew “[Griffin] was a passionate football player who wanted to make a difference on the field.” Former teammate Patrick Karngbaye (‘12) described him as “a passionate, faithful and hardworking young man who always strived to do his best.”