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September, 2012
Volume 88, Issue 1
Meet the Technology Center staff! By: Dana Mefferd and Kaylinn Taggart
All students at T.J. now have a laptop; and with all of that technology, it is bound to break down. The TJ Tech Center, located in room B140, is the computer and technology solution center. So who is entrusted with all of that responsibility? The tech center is currently maintained by six technicians, along with seven student technicians, available to help students and teachers who have unresolvable issues with their computers. Mr. David Fringer is the Executive Director of Information Systems for the Council Bluffs Community School District (CBCSD). In the center, Mr. John Stile, Supervisor of Technology, oversees the department. He moved into technology after studying electronic management at Southern Illinois University. Stile has been with the CBCSD for 11 years. “I’ve been at central office for roughly eight years, so I like being back in the building where all the action is,” Stile said. “I’m also looking forward to directly working with students.” Mr. John Fuller is a district technician, and has been working here for seven years. He has been in the profession for the past 25 years.
By: Isabella Moore Reporter The day to get dressed up, to have some fun, and to go out with the one you like. Yes, Thomas Jefferson’s homecoming! It only comes annually, the first dance of the school year. Everybody is wondering what the theme is really all about, though. “ A Night In Neon” said head of Student Council, Mrs.Gray,“ I would say that it really brings the school, the student body, together. It unites everybody with a common purpose to win the game and have fun and have competitions and to really make high school memorable.” Students are excited but some can’t quite find the right thing to wear because of the difficult theme. “I don’t like it” said sophomore Hunter Hendrickson. “It’s really hard to shop for.” A lot of people agree with her in not knowing what to wear. “Kinda informal outfits. Some girls get cocktail length dresses, bright colors would be great, some people have some glow in
In this photo: Back row left; Jules Worl, Deb Lampman, Kelly Rounds, John Stile. Front row left; students Jacob Isaac and Jacob Higgins. Not pictured: David Fringer and John Fuller. Photo by Allie Townsend.
“I took accounting in college. And by the time I was out of school, computers hit in the 7’s. Accounting went to computers, and that made me want to go into computers, too.” Fuller is also looking forward to success with the one-to-one and tech center helping in both T.J. and Abraham Lincoln. Ms. Deb Lampman, another district technician, helps manage the daily activities in the Tech Center. This includes the students, walkins, and the Chromebooks. “The Tech Center is new, so it’s trial and error. We are having students with varying, to grand, knowledge work in the tech cen-
the dark glitter that they found.” said Mrs.Gray. People need to find what they’re going to wear quick though, because September 22nd is right around the corner! Students are trying to find dates whether they are asking on facebook or asking in person. They’re posting pictures on the site saying things like, “Me, you, homecoming,?” and tagging their crush in a status asking them to go. “Will you go to homecoming with me. -with Kelsey Rhianne Botten” said Devon Kermoade on August 26th. Kermoade was not the only student to ask this way. Other students asking over facebook included sophomore Nick Hammers, sophomore Gage Fisher, and junior Matt Raes. All of them, in turn, received yes’s. Not everyone is going with that special someone, though. “I’ll probably be going with a group of friends or something,” said junior, Kayla LeDoux. Homecoming is an experience that you can never have past high school. Enjoy it now, because you can’t get it back once it’s over.
ter. We also are managing the work tickets at the same time as teaching students, so it’s all-encompassing,” Lampman said. Work tickets are what staff members send to the IT department. The Tech Center help desk assigns these requests to different queues, where the techs can work with them. “I came to computers because there was a nee d for it, and it’s always changing. The information will always be useful to you, and you’re always learning,” Lampman said. She compared how to operate a computer being like putting oil in a car.
“In today’s society, you need to know to operate a computer to apply for a job. If you don’t, that limits you tremendously.” Mr. Jules Worl is originally from Arizona. He has been working in this school district for 13 years. He studied aviation and commercial flight, at University of Central Missouri. Worl is a district technician who works on network devices and peripherals on the west end of Council Bluffs. He normally sees around 20 to 35 people a day. Mrs. Kelly Rounds keeps track of every student’s login information, not only T.J. students, but all of the students in the school dis-
trict. “I have one of the most important jobs,” Rounds said. She and the student techs are the first line of defense when someone needs help. Rounds, along with her husband and three children, graduated from T.J. She has worked in the district for 10 years but just started working for T.J. this past January. “I love it,” Rounds said. Round’s title is Help Desk Technician; she assigns the technicians to tasks. Student technicians also help out in the tech room when there are problems with a computer. They are the first to look at the computers to see if they can fix it. If they are unable to, they send it to one of the other technicians. “Student helpers do everything we do,” Stile stated. “They are the first line of defense to first look at the computers and also to process in all of the work.” The students currently involved with the tech center include sophomores, Jacob Higgins and Jacob Isaac during second hour; junior Trevor Ceder and Sophomore Paris Hoang in third; senior Brandon Lawrence and junior Anthony Rea in fourth; and sophomore Elijah Fisher in fifth. There are currently student helper spots open during first hour and every hour for the second trimester. To apply for a position, speak with a counselor or talk to Mrs. Hoag for more information.
Laptop Mania
By: Kelsi Thurman Reporter
The Google Chrome laptops started off as a distraction for students and faculty. With the server not working, faculty schedules were in turmoil because the students are so dependant on laptops. In August, laptop orientations were held to provide information about the exciting new technology. Students were given the Chromebooks for educational purposes in and out of the classroom. But at the beginning, some people were concerned with being too dependent on technology. August 15th was the day the system was finally tested. The time had come to put the technological advancements
into play. Students walked into classrooms eager to use the Chromebooks, but the internet was not working. The complaints followed. Facebook had students protesting the system, teach-
“Currently, we’ve only got one of our Internet Service Provider (ISP) that is being utilized. There is a process for getting the second ISP working, which would create 300 megabytes.” Since the interview, we have tripled our capacity for information on our servers. Imagine regular size M&M’s trying to push through a small straw. The M&M’s would get stuck. If you got a bigger straw and put M&M’s in the larger straw, they would flow, and not get stuck. This Photo of Austin Taylor by Allie Townsend process is like the ers were unsure of the prob- ISP. lem, and the Tech Center The Chromebooks were givwas doing everything they en to help students and teachcould. ers to be involved more in John Stile, Supervisor of today’s technology. Technology in our building, “As far as technology in emphasized that it was not general, it’s the world we the computers. live in,” said Stile.
Truancy problem at T.J. By: Jonathan Wheeler Reporter There are almost 1300 students at Thomas Jefferson High School. For a twoweek period 11% of students were skipping or late. Between August 20th and August 31st (10 school days), data collected showed TJ was about 6% off from their goal of 95% attendance. “We as an attendance team have been working hard to find any students who have not attended and should be attending,” said Mr. Kevin Mills, Assistant Principal at TJ. “Our graduation coaches, counselors, teachers, and administrators are all working to ensure students get to school and stay in school, and we do this each and everyday.” According to Omaha news station WOWT, the daily attendance rate was 91% in 2010. At least for these two recent weeks, our rate has decreased from that number. On August 30th, Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan signed a proclamation addressing the problem to focus on increasing attendance for the all area schools in Pottawattamie County. Iowa law says that students have to go to school until they are at least 16 before they drop out (at that time only with parents consent), or otherwise the parents could be fined. “We spend a lot of time on attendance,” said Mills. “It is one, if not, the most important piece of education.”
T. J . U n d e r S u p e r v i s i o n reward students for their good work, to convince more kids to try harder when taking the test. That could have helped back when I had to take those tests,” said Gustavo Espinoza, a graduate of TJ. Parents can help by communicating with their children and teachers about future goals, and encouraging their children to assist their classes with no tardies. Helping with homework at home is a key factor for a students success. Getting more involved with their child’s
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Athletes missing classtime
tioned. They are being supervised by the government for ame Thomas Jefferson High lioration (improvements). School has been viewed as a The school’s staff have School In Need of been working to find ways for Assistance (SINA) by the enrichment in the students Iowa Support System. A por- participation and knowledge. tion of our students did not “It depends on the kids and participate in the ITEDS, or their levels on how they perdid not achieve proficiency form. A lot of kids in the goals on their reading and country are struggling, and mathematics tests for two thats hard to avoid in schools. consecutive years, as well as The better you do in not meeting the graduation something, the more pride standards and future goals. you will have,” said Ms. The Federal No Child Left Christina Nelson, an English Behind (NCLB) Act requires teacher schools to assess at Thomas Jefferson. students every year to meet a The school will be student’s goals. If the school using strategies such does not meet those goals, as Gradual Release of identified as Adequate Yearly Instruction, silent Progress (AYP), the school is reading (TJ Reads), 20 put on a list for minutes of math reimprovements. mediation 3 days per If the government does not week, new math see improvements, the school curriculum, literacy will be subjected to strategies for advancefederal sanctions with the ment in vocabumost severe having the school lary, and tutors after shut down . Students are school 3 required to meet 95% partic- days per week (Homeipation rate for assessments, work Help). their achievement goals, The Iowa Departand to exceed graduation ment of Education and rates during the time they’re Council Bluffs Comon the list. munity School District However, Thomas Jeffer- is providing technical son is not receiving any Fed- assistance to T.J . as a eral Title 1 funding that is a necessity by the NCLB benefit to those not on the Act. list, so they will not be sanc- “The school could
Welcome back to another year at TJ! We hope you enjoy this first issue of The Signal. Any feedback or suggestions please bring them to Mr. Lindquist in room C128. You can also order your yearbook online at: www.Jostensyearbook.com
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school and volunteer or finding ways to spend more time with them. “We welcome and encourage parent involvement in their childs education, and it is a lot easier when everybody is working in the same direction to achieve graduation. We never use poverty as an excuse, dealing with the future of a student,” said Kevin Mills, an Assistant Principal at Thomas Jefferson. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, what matters is how dedicated you are.”
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between 12:00 a.m. and 2 a.m.. Yet, students are still expected to On August 28th, the Varsity be at school on time the next Cross Country team left for their day. first meet in Glenwood, “There are some kids who Iowa. The team got out of school aren’t getting enough sleep,” early for the meet, much like said English teacher Mrs. Sandra many other sports do. But aside Leaders. “There is actually one from being able to skip a class, student who is a complete mess have you ever stopped and won- some days. You can tell when he’s dered how many hours students been out in a sport too late.” are out of classes for activities? “I’ve slept about two hours “I’ve gotten out of school ear- during school the next day, at the ly for a sport too many times to most, after a night like that,” count,” said sophomore saidHendrickson. volleyball player Hunter Hen- Although the absences were drickson. Many excused, this other students did not keep agreed with Henthem from drickson’s falling a day statement. behind in Sports are the class(es) a huge part of that they had school and a stumissed. dent’s life. They Hencan be used as a d r i c k s o n ’s way to keep statement kids out of shows that an trouble, release event can take stress, or a way away from not to just have some only one, but fun. But some- Photo of Mr. Stuckenholtz by Allie two school times sports can Townsend days. run over into This school time, kind of schedquickly blurring the line in the ule can cause a student to fall bedefinition of the phrase student- hind in a class very quickly. athlete. “It’s hard to catch up after “We get out of school for away missing a day of math, or an adgames a lot,” said sophomore Ra- vanced class. Some classes you fael Vargas. can make up easy, but other’s are There are times when the really hard.” said Hendrickson. events run late, and students could “I mean, it’s a problem somearrive back at their houses times, especially if I have a food
lab and it’s hard for them to make up. But I realize you can’t really avoid that sometimes,” said foods teacher Mrs. Cathy Straub. Many other teachers have adapted to the students getting out early as well. “I wouldn’t say I give them longer to turn the work in. I try to get them to make up things as soon as possible. But yes, sometimes they miss a lot of work and I understand it’s hard to make up that much stuff, especially if it’s a lab,” Straub said. “I try to make sure that they’re out of class time for as little as possible,” said Activities Director Mr. Jeremy Stuckenholtz. “We want them to be in class as much as possible, so that really factors into the decision of how early they get out.” Just this season the cross country team will be spending around six hours and fifteen minutes of school time at meets. Our current school day runs seven hours long. But that’s not the only problem. They get out at around the same time for each away meet, causing them to miss the same classes each time. Each class is one hour and ten minutes long, so, with the amount of time missing, it is really like they are missing about six contact days of the same class. Junior Brian Collinson adds that getting out of school early “forces you to become a better organized student. And that’s a good thing.”