Tri-Color Times 2017-11

Page 1

Granger high school

Tri-Color Times An open forum for student opinion and expression

TRICOLORTIMES.COM

NOVEMBER 2017 LX-III

Volleyball claims 5A region 2 title after beating Hunter Daylight Savings By Bryon Brinley with Hayley Rigby THE VOLLEYBALL team has done it—they won the 5A region 2 title. The underdog story has been completed. It was assumed that Granger High’s volleyball team was going to suffer the same fate that they have suffered for years and years, but thIS team was determined to prove the doubters wrong. “We come, and we surprise teams. We are the underdogs, but this new mindset we have has helped and so has the new coaching. We are told that there should be no pressure we just have to go out there and play,” Lily Yu (12), a defensive specialist, said. The players can feel the differ-

ence this year as opposed to the years before, and it has a lot to do with the new coaching that was introduced for the year and the philosophy that it brought to the locker room. “It was like there was no unity on the team last year. So this is a new year, and it was a new team. We came up with different sayings for each game that mainly focused on how we wanted our mindset to be,” Jennifer Taula (12), an opposite hitter, said. “We have a pregame ritual where we go to a private area and the coach plays audio that gets us into the right mindset. We also pray before the game because most kids on the team are religious, and it helps us come to-

gether,” Taula said. One of the struggles of the team was having to bring all the grades into unison so they could work together. There were inexperienced players on the team, and there were seniors who have been on the team since they were freshman. Chemistry is what the team wanted, and it was chemistry they created through one saying: “No pressure, just play.” “There was a gap between the grades, but we did not let that stop us we just followed our ‘no pressure, just play’ philosophy,” Rebecca Moleni (11), a team cocaptain, said. Although the players do all the work out on the court, they are

not the masterminds behind the whole game— that is up to the coaches. This year the Granger volleyball team coaches decided to start in a new direction for the season and see where it landed them. They ended up winning the region title, and Coach Gasper could not be more thankful. “We have a young program, and our girls have worked really hard and have sacrificed a lot from summer until now. Our region title came from that hard work and sacrifice,” Coach Gasper, varsity head, said. The next game for the Granger volleyball team is against American Fork on their road to the state title, and with another win, they will advance.

Several volleyball players get ready for practice as they advance from their 5A region 2 win on the road to state.

Truancy tickets: students’ fees and tempers are rising

By Aimal Esa STUDENTS are fed up with the number of fines placed on them here at school. One of the new policies this year is the truancy ticket policy. If a student is more than ten minutes late, they are forced to go through the front doors where a few faculty members are waiting. “Some kids have problems waking up or getting a ride to school,” Carlos Orozco (12) said. A lot of students don’t have access to a car of their own. They depend on their parents, so they usually have no control over when they get to school. Also, on Mondays, school starts at 8:20 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. like in previous years. This can cause many complications.

Students may wake up some days and forget that school starts 10 minutes earlier. However, Granger allows students a 15 minute grace period before getting a ticket in the morning, in contrast to the usual five minutes. The administration will wait by the front door and take a student’s information, which results in a ticket. The fine is $3.00. This does not excuse your absence either- because if you are this late to class, you’re considered absent and will be charged $5 to your account. A lot of students have picked up the mentality that if they are too late, they might as well just stay home. “I’m getting charged an extra $3, so I might as well just not go to class,” Leander Rodriguez (12) said. Although this is one student, it an example of the mentality many students at Granger may have. However, administration has confirmed that the truancy tick-

ets have improved student attendance. “Mr. Anderson has the data that shows that attendance has risen, absences are only a third of what they were last year, at this point in time,” Mr. Jackson said. Freshman and sophomores don’t get ticketed, they just get put in a room to do nothing during on-campus reassignment or OCR. They are not allowed to do homework, use their phones, or even talk. Most students believe that it’s a waste of their time. They believe that they should at least be able to do their homework. Administrators aren’t letting the students do anything in there so that the students don’t come late on purpose to work on homework. They want students to dread going into ISS (in school suspension), being too scared to be late at all. These truancy tickets are connected with OCR, which has also

been very successful according to administration- no matter how unfair it may seem. “OCR has been doing well, I think that’s kinda helped. Whether it’s just affecting the sophomores and freshman, but I think juniors and seniors have changed their attitude towards going to their classes,” Mr. Jackson said. On the other hand, juniors and seniors have no reason to get too comfortable with being late to class. Administration plans on expanding the OCR system across all grade levels, replacing the truancy tickets. “Our goal is, eventually, that we’ll implement it on the juniors and seniors. It just depends on the time frame and how much manpower we have,” Mr. Jackson said. There hasn’t been a set date to when OCR will start for the upperclassmen. In hope for the current and future Lancers, the overall message is this: just be on time.

By Yesenia Leon WHEN GRANGER students think of fall usually the first few things that come to their minds are fall break, Halloween and Thanksgiving. What many students don’t really think about is Daylight Savings Time—all in hopes to get an extra hour of useful daylight. A small change can make the biggest impact. Usually, around this time of year, students tend to have a decrease in motivation of students and a rise in attendance issues. Many students usually sleep in without realizing it because of how dark the sky is in the mornings. Some students stay up late to do assignments they didn’t get a chance to finish during the day because of activities after school like work or practice. “It’s tough to wake up on time because I have work after school, and don’t have time to do all the homework, so I stay up really late to do my homework,” Fatima Halilcevic (12) said. Many students lose all their motivation to come to school altogether. Having to wake up to a pitch dark morning sky and cold, snowy weather may be the things to blame in this situation. “I think it becomes even harder to wake up and come to school because I don’t want to leave my warm and cozy bed,” Isaiah Rascon (12) said. Some believe that Daylight Savings time isn’t necessary. This belief is strengthened with the facts that it can actually affect people in various negative ways. It can increase the rate of sleep deprivation among students which can eventually lead to other serious issues like an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Without Daylight Savings students can keep that hour of sleep which could make them healthier. Students believe that school should start like an hour or so later during the fall and winter months to help us get a little more sleep. “I think that school should start later when the sun is out. It can help us get more sleep and help us stay awake at school and feel more productive,” Sandra Gonzalez (11) said. Aside from losing sleep and becoming unmotivated there seems to be some benefits that come along when changing the clock back an hour. A big one is that it saves energy, it also adds an extra hour of useful daylight that could be put to good use. A study showed that it can make us safer. It makes the roads safer and reduces pedestrian fatalities as reported on thetimeanddate.com website. DST’s effects aside, an extra hour of sleep is a treat everyone can enjoy on Sunday morning.

Want more Granger High School news? Check articles at tricolortimes.com or add us on twitter.com/tricolortimes.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.