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2014 Hall of Fame
By Parker Raes Reporter Thomas Jefferson High School has always had great staff members willing to help the community. But the ones that have truly made a difference were inducted into TJ’s Hall of Fame on March 28th, 2014. In 1997, the first eight were inducted, after that, new members were added almost every year. This year, one of the most well-known and recognized inductee is retired teacher, and still coach, Douglas Muehlig. “Coach Muehlig is a very humble man,”
stated sophomore Kenneth Foote. Muehlig has helped many through his 42 years of teaching and coaching. Students and staff here at TJ consider him family. A figure that everyone can count on to be honest, and motivating.
“He is my idol,” said business teacher, Deb Goodman. “I admire him and hope to be one-fourth of the teacher that he was.” Muehlig spent twothirds of his life here at TJ; the building and the people will always have a special place in his heart.
“I helped kids be better people, better citizens. I wasn’t their friend, but I tried to be a good guy,” said Muehlig. “It’s not easy to try and get kids to believe in themselves; make the potential the reality, to make them do more than they can can do. It’s been a lot
of fun.” It is safe to say that Muehlig has touched many students and teachers in the district. Those who have had the opportunity to work with him will miss him dearly. “My biggest fear is that I stay around too long; so I can’t help kids any longer, that someone can do it better than me.” The other inductees were Abbie Barton Crawford, Dr. Jack A. Shere, and Ron “The Fox” Clinton. The Signal staff is grateful to have so many wonderful people coming in and out of TJ.
the lines are memorized and recited correctly, the show goes well, or the test scores are admirable. And that is what I think is wrong with the system. Public schools are set to a curriculum of things that have to be taught to every student, and it is the schools’ responsibility that the
students all learn the curriculum the best they can, and standardized tests reflect the school's’ success in this area. As in theatre, there are review on the performance. The harshest critics being the performers and directors as always. Patrick Nepple, a counselor at TJ said
that memorization is, “ultimately not helpful because you won’t retain it in the long run.” Nepple went on to emphasize that “retention is the big thing” with test scores. When asked how he thought we could improve our way of learning, Nepple mentioned that schools should move more towards “project based learning”. “I think it’s necessary to memorize background information,” said Kristy Harris, an English teacher at TJ. “But higher level learning takes place when students employ this knowledge through projects, and studentcentered learning. “District officials
should trust their teachers’ education and knowledge, allowing them more freedom in deciding how they teach the subject matter,” said Harris. “Thomas Jefferson needs to take a more holistic approach to education, and not focus solely on assessments to gauge student learning.” Mrs. Shannon StusseGrote, a special education teacher, pointed out that, “Our advanced courses are dong a nice job of helping students understand the seriousness of post secondary education.” To solve the problem not addressed by our advanced courses, Continued on page 4
All that matters By Eric Garringer Opinion
Tests are a normal, and a necessary part of schooling. Many students groan about taking tests and do not enjoy doing them at all. What the students and teachers often miss, is that our tests are basically training actors. Obviously the tests are not questioning acting techniques or theatre, but the format is very similar to an actor learning their lines for a show. The teacher, or director, gives out lines to be memorized. There are rehearsals, or study days, where the actors go over lines and correct mistakes. Finally, everything comes down to the performance. If
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Behind the scenes: Teacher edition By Alejandro Vieyra Reporter It may be hard to believe, but outside of school teachers have lives to tend to. Some teachers at TJ most likely have hobbies that students do not know about. Students do not typically think about teachers outside of school. And it is a bit awkward to see teachers off school
grounds. “I think students feel that it’s weird that teachers have lives outside of school because they always have areas in the school that we are used to seeing them in and it’s just different to see them in public and open areas,” said sophomore Ashlee McDowell. When it comes to school, teachers ap-
pear mainly as educators and not everyday people that students could bump into before or after school. There are teachers that may do cool stuff outside of the classroom. Spanish teacher, Ms. Miriam Smith, states she loves video games, and is addicted to them. Then when it comes to students thinking that teachers do not do interest-
ing things outside of school, she claims she does not know why. “It surprises me, when they see teachers out in public, they freak out like, “what are you doing here?,” said Smith. But there are many teachers in this school that do something you may not know about. Journalism teacher, Mr. Rob Lindquist plays both guitar and bass, history teacher, Mr. Ben Tworek also plays the guitar, and graduation coach Mrs. Ashleigh Weaver plays the keyboard and sings. Students can be oblivious to what teachers do in their free time. So next time do not be afraid to ask them if they do interesting things outside of school. Many kids could even be fascinated by some of the hobbies or abilities teachers in our building have.
Junior and Senior Prom
Prom is, Saturday May 10th, from 7-11 p.m at the Durham Museum. No tickets will be sold at the door. Tickets will be on sale in the main office beginning April 7th; $25 per person. Also, don’t forget to buy a $10 Prom t-shirt.
Jacket Backer
By Kelsey Nelson Reporter
In April, all activities at TJ get together and hold a dinner/auction which allows them to raise money. This is known as Jacket Backer. This will be the 8th year of Jacket Backer. It focuses on a friendly competition between the different sports. It is not a win/lose situation, it is more along the lines of who can gain the most money for their individual teams. Companies like Midwest Sporting Goods donate different things to raffle off so teams can earn money for
equipment. Jacket Backer can be a beneficial experience, depending on what is have had donated to you.
“Vacation packages, car dealerships, any kind of fun packages would be a wonderful thing, even if it’s a small. It’s really impor-
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tant to get the community involved,” said coach and P.E. teacher, Mark Puev. All activities are brought together for
this event, creating bonding experiences and providing opportunity for teams to become more dedicated. Tennis player, Sydney Clark stated that she likes the Jacket Backer because it helps the whole team. “We raise money so we need to get new equipment and various items,” said tennis athlete, Sydney Clark. Many groups of people are hoping to have a lot of success this year. With enough luck, TJ can raise enough money to help out the school’s activity programs.
Be your Buzz’s Best
By Megan Carroll Reporter For the last several months, Buzz’s Best has been a recent buzzing topic at TJ. With support from many student leaders, as well as Dr. Plourde, this principal advisory group is a positive and encouraging activity. There are eight teams that take place in this friendly competition and only the top four teams have received prizes. Due to separate freshmen celebrations, TJ students push others in tenth through twelfth grades to progress in many areas such as, GPA’s, attendance, participation, and decrease in ISS, OSS, and F’s. “Each team has a King Bee, Queen Bee, Prince Bee, Princess Bee, and multiple Lil’
Bees. Those are the leaders for each team,” said sophomore Corey Mulvania. This school function had various student involvement leading to more success in education. Different students have their own way of handling Buzz’s Best. While some students went above and beyond, they not only made themselves better, but their team. Other students who did very little action, showed in their academics and their team placement. With it being Dr. Plourde’s first year at TJ, creating an additional program that connects with the students, shows the pride that he has for the school. “He wanted the up-
By Angela Gardner Reporter Social media is a part of everyday life for many students and teachers. As Facebook is fading #veryrare, more students are being caught on Twitter. With over 645 million users and about 200 million tweets posted every day, Twitter seems to be the most active social media connection. Junior @apatchejoe (Kameron Brown) is a very frequent user of Twitter. “Twitter just gets me. I’m on twitter right now during this interview,” said brown. He went on to say, “I haven't had a Facebook for 8 months. I’m actually really glad I don't get on Facebook anymore.” Brown believes he gets on twitter about
1,000 times a day. Many teachers use this social media for class activities. That is why Twitter is not blocked on the school provided Chromebooks and Facebook is. Which might be contributing to the downfall of Facebook usage here at TJ. @ms_sheehan (Erica Sheehan) is one of the many teachers who use Twitter for teaching purposes. But @ecsheeh, Sheehan’s private account, is used for a more personal experience, but she still prefers Facebook. “I like to keep up to date with Facebook and I don’t want to lose that ability, I don’t have that on Twitter,” explained Sheehan. “Teens don't think of it as a tool, there interactions don't have very
perclassmen to be rewarded for their hard work,” said Mulvania. Buzz’s Best really showed students’ true colors. Having this program be continuous,
gives the students of TJ a more advance chance in achievements. It helps students be better for the future. So make sure you do your very Buzz’s Best.
#WhereIsFacebook deep meanings. Adults make it a bit deeper and use it to maintain long distance relationships or connections.” These social medias outlets can be used and perceived in different ways as people now can see. Students seem to feel more free
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with what they say and do on Twitter because it is less personal. Facebook might be fading out as MySpace did, but maybe it is not getting older. Perhaps our generation is getting older, and it’s society changing, not media.
Netflix; The
Revolution By Alejandro Vieyra Reporter
1997; a start of a new revolution that would take the world by storm: Netflix. The movie/tv show subscription service was founded, and over the years people have centered a lot of their time, outside of school or work, around it. Now, Netflix allows people to watch shows that would ordinarily be on television whenever they want and for as long they want. Sophomore, Bethany Olson, thinks Netflix is very useful and entertaining. “If people don’t have cable or can’t afford it, then it’s a source of TV, and entertainment, and that’s why I use it,” said Olson. Not only does Netflix allow people to watch shows at will, unlike cable, you can watch anywhere, as long as you have a mobile device. “The advantage for me is that we are saving anywhere between $50 to $100 a month,” said history teacher Erica Sheehan. “By the time we cut the cord for DirecTV, we weren't watching all that much.” Sheehan later explained that when they switched to Netflix, they were only paying $8 a month and watching the same amount of television that they watched when having cable. Netflix is becoming the powerhouse of shows and movies. It will continue to bring entertainment to people all over the world. When will you subscribe?
Standardized testing By Kelly Espinoza Reporter Standardized tests were made to measure and predict students performance in an educational setting. The ACT and the SAT tell how well high school students will perform in college. With predictions of how well a student will do in college, standardized tests are limited in influencing how students character and passion will affect society intellectually. Many students believe that standardized tests measure intelligence in academics, but standardized tests were never intended to measure intelligence. But they don’t measure intelligence in art, music, history, etc. According to skyview. vansd.org there are nine different types of
intelligence; Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”), Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”), Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
Smart”). “There is a great deal of research that goes into the college and career readiness spectrum in terms of
(Number/Reasoning Smart), Existential Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart”), Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”), Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart”), and Spatial Intelligence (“Picture
reliability and validity of the test results correlating with the success rate of students,” said counselor Carla Hartenhoff. “It really comes down to motivation and work ethic. If a student struggles, they need to know that they are
“Matters” continued students need, “more student accountability,” and to go, “back to semesters to allow more time to dive deeper into the curriculum,” she said. Some students disagree with the memorization-style of teaching. Mike Wilkinson and Antonio Wood, both seniors at TJ agree that the curriculum limits student creativity. “District assessments don’t make much
sense, it’s all preplanned,” said Wood. “We don’t get to think, we go off of what they want, and then get a grade.”
But some students don’t realize that district assessments aren’t graded by the district. The teacher gets to decide if the task will be
going to have to work harder to make up any deficits that may exist.” College choices should reflect values. If the school is serious about their upcoming freshman, the administrators should take time to consider students with various amounts of criteria: personal interviews, reflective essays, or letters of recommendation. “I think the biggest factor for students who earn good grades but do poorly on standardized tests, is time,” said ACT Prep teacher Elizabeth Busch. “Another factor is the length of the test as a whole. Kids aren't used to sitting there testing for over three hours, with a 10 -15 minute break in the middle.” Many students think that the ACT will de-
fine whether they will get into a college they desire. “Stress and fear affect the way I test,” said junior Lindsay Blackford. “When there is no pressure involved I can understand the material given, but when they tell me that the test is important and it can affect my future, my stress builds up and I do not do as well.” In reality, there are thousands of careers out there that may not touch the basis of some of these standardized tests. My advice to my readers is, do not let a basic test score define who you are or what you are capable of. There are plenty of people out there that have made it very far in life and never once took the ACT or even graduated high school.
scored. To get students to participate, most teachers use some sort of grading. Wilkinson added that, “The grading system is strictly, ‘do this, do that,’ the teachers don't get to teach too much.” In relation to district assessments, standardized testing, and memorization in general, world-renowned scientist, Albert Einstein said, “Everyone
is a genius. But if you judge a fish on it’s ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid.” The school district itself is becoming more and more like a theatre. The students are learning what they’re told and being told to repeat it correctly to give an exceptional performance.
Birthright of Council Bluffs 427 E. Kanesville Suite 303 Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503 The Signal is a school-sponsored publication of Thomas Jefferson High School 2501 W. Broadway Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501. The Signal’s office is located in room C128. The Signal is printed by OH-K FASTPRINT in Omaha, NE. The Signal is a school-sponsored-publication and therefore recognizes its responsibility to stay within the boundaries that the school administrator sets. The Signal will therefore inform its readers using a high standard of morals and ethics. The Signal encourages readers to respond in the form of letters to the editor, which can be sent to room C128. The Signal’s editorial staff reserves the right to edit the letters for grammatical errors and to remove any profanity. The editors also reserve the right to exclude letters that are false in their statements or accusations. The Signal will not accept advertisements that promote activities illegal to minors. Advertising rates are available upon request.
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