Granger high school
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TRICOLORTIMES.COM
MARCH 2022 LXIV-4
Teachers tackle truancy by targeting tardies By Jonah Newton OVER THE years, Granger High School’s administration has addressed low student attendance in many ways. Last month, the administration initiated the latest attempt at getting students to class on time by revamping the On-Campus Reassignment (OCR) policy. Each time a student is late, they must get a check-in pass from an administrator before going to class. Penalties increase with each subsequent offense. Mr. Adams, an assistant principal, says the policy has been successful so far. “The halls have
been clearer; students have been rushing to class like they should,” he said. Adams feels that it is important for there to be a system for students to check in. He said, “Legally, we supervise the entire school, so we need to understand where students really are.” Adams also believes that this policy can help students in many ways. “We’re trying not only to help students get to class, but we’re trying to help students learn life skills. It starts here; having an urgency to go to a place on time,” he said. Upon first impression, Siaosi
Nuusila (9) supported the policy. On the second day of the policy, he was given a check-in pass. He says it will affect how Lancers behave. “It will help people put time and effort into going to school. It’s going to help people who slack off and guide them,” Nuusila said. Nuusila also suggested that the policy be stricter for a student who is late multiple times within a week as opposed to a student who is late occasionally over the course of the school year. Other students like Marwa Aslami (11) feel less positively about the attendance policy.
While Aslami has not been affected, her friends have been. She pointed out that juniors and seniors who know they will be late, just go home instead of getting a pass because older students often have cars. “If you’re five or ten minutes late, you’re missing a whole lecture. Why are the kids who are a little bit late, and want to be in class, being punished more than the kids who skip class?” Aslami said. Daniel Allison (11) also feels that the policy is unfair. He explained that he was late to class continued on page 3
After a 15-minute grace period for unpredictable traffic situations, Mr. Adams and his colleagues issue tickets to tardy students.
Self-care practices prevent academic burnout
By Emily Butcher MANY of the students at Granger High School are currently facing academic burnout. “I think it’s just like the pressure of always being expected to achieve certain grades, and that burns me out; trying to make sure that I have everything that others expect of me,” Anna Olascoaga (11) said. Olascoga says that she feels the most burned out when she has many important deadlines that are very close together. She says that when she has an overload of work that all needs to be done at once, it makes her feel overwhelmed. Olascoga mentioned that being burned out really impacts her social life. “Sometimes being burned out makes me less bubbly at events,” Olascoaga said. “Once the quarter ends, I take a week to just take it easy,”
Olascoaga said. She says that she takes time for herself to recover and return to her normal routine. Ms. Cosgrove says that she has noticed a pattern with students becoming burned out. “Second quarter is always known as being ‘the big struggle,’ where we’re trying to get kids to turn things in and come back to school.” Cosgrove says that in general, burnout tends to happen around the time each quarter ends. Cosgrove also mentioned that the end of the quarter is intense and stressful for teachers. “The end of the quarter is the time when students who have been procrastinating all quarter realize their grades are about to be finalized.” she said. Cosgrove says that when students wait until the very last minute to do their assignments, it causes students to be in a situ-
ation where they’re doing twenty assignments in one night as opposed to two assignments per week. Cosgrove says that she continues to come across burnout in her present life. “Honestly I’ve been hardcore meditating for like two months, and meditating twice a day has been so beneficial.” Cosgrove recommends practicing self-care and emotional wellness to avoid academic burnout. She has even compiled a list of varying free resources that she recommends for de-stressing. “I’ve literally dealt with school for all of my life,” Marwa Aslami (11) said. She says that the routine of going to school and repeating the same day over again has been a major cause of burnout for her. She says that the repetition of doing the same thing consistently for as long as she can
remember has caused her to lose motivation. Aslami also complains about how early school starts. “The fact that we have to wake up at six in the morning to get to school is draining.” She also says she’s expected to go to college after high school and it makes her feel stressed. Aslami says that all this pressure piled on can significantly affect a student’s personal and social life. “It sucks because sometimes I’m canceling all of my plans because I’m feeling so much stress that I don’t even want to be around my friends.” Aslami says that her best piece of advice for other students in the same situation, is to take it slow and focus on self-care. It seems that students and teachers deal with school burnout is by spending time working on self-care.
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Morning routines help kids By Mapu Fuatogi WAKING up early is a must for most students. Brittany Hernandez (11) is waking up around 6:00 a.m. every morning for school. School start times in the U.S. vary between 7:30 and 8:45 a.m., according to the quora.com website. Alarm clocks are lifesavers for most kids, especially when they don’t have anyone to wake them up. Whether a person is a heavy or light sleeper helps decide how many alarms they should have. Jacqueline Gonzalez (11), has an extra alarm just in case she snoozes the first one. “I have two alarms set up; one at 6:00 a.m. and another at 6:20 a.m.,” Gonzalez said. Other students either rely on their siblings, or just their parents. It really all depends on which is more effective. Showering in the mornings is a factor for some students. “The first thing I do is take a shower; after that, I get dressed and do my makeup. The very last thing I do is get in the car and go to school,” Hernandez said. It’s challenging for some students to get to school on time when they don’t actually live in the school boundaries. Joseph Molina (11) lives all the way in Tooele, so getting to school on time is a hassle. “I usually just get to school maybe a couple seconds before the bell rings. My mom is the one who drops me off, and she’s really slow sometimes, so I’m just always bugging her to speed up,” Molina said. Traffic is also something to keep in mind when thinking about getting to school on time. If some students live near a traffic light, getting out of the driveway would be difficult. The times people wake up during weekends changes, too; some students wake up early and others just sleep in. Hanging out with friends during the night is also a possibility. Gonzalez does exactly this and has such a great time with her friends. “Sometimes I do hang out with my friends on the weekends. It’s mostly later at night, so I don’t necessarily have to wake up early,” Gonzalez said. Mornings can be tough sometimes, and things do occur unexpectedly, but with practice and some dedication, comes perfection and relief.
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