Veritas (Tiny News Issue 4)

THE VERITAS

A G U I D E T O Spring Break March 22, 2019

Covenant Christian High School

Article byJoann Ncube (‘21) I’m back with another guide, What to do and not to 4. Embrace death. Enjoy the time that you have left. do during spring break.

Your days are numbered, spend them doing things you won’t regret.

Spring break is one of the best breaks that school has to offer. It marks a time that says, “Hey, you’re actu- 5. Clean. Clean yo room. Clean yo backpack. Clean yo ally almost done with the school year” or “ hang in bodies, real hard, because we all know that y’all smell, there” it gives students, especially me, reassurance and clean yo minds. We can’t have y’all coming back that there are only two more months. Two more with dirty minds. You know what, go to church, too. months of studying for tests. Two more months of Take this time to deep clean yourself and your soul. writing essays, and two more months of fake laughing at your teachers’ “jokes”.

6. Get yourself a boo. Don’t spend spring break alone, spend it with someone who almost sort of matters.

Without further ado, here are eight things that you That way when you go back to school, you have can do to make spring break more fun or at least something to talk about. decent.

7. Start a business. Sell things either online or in per1. If you’re someone who doesn’t like socializing son. You could babysit, dog sit, or make things to sell. with people, then try to better your communication skills. Communication is a key skill that you need in 8. Use that money that you just earned to go shopyour adult life. ping. You have all day to do nothing, why not shop.

You can do it in the comfort of your own bed, or go to 2. Catch up on your favorite shows on Netflix and the store and shop in person.

Hulu, or start that show that you have always wanted to watch, but never got the chance to.

Here are 5 things that you shouldn’t do during spring break.

3. Go somewhere. Explore the many corn fields that Indiana has and get lost.

1. Drugs. If you haven’t learned anything about drugs

Tiny News Issue 4

from the freshman p.e. class than know that these are super bad. They might feel good, but let’s be real: that pleasure only lasts like 2 minutes.

2. Stay inside. You’ll never get to explore or find out anything if you stay inside. Sure you’ll Netflix, but your computer can only entertain you for so long.

3. Work. Don’t think about school, don’t be at school (unless you have to), don’t even do school work that isn’t due that week.

4. Leave with Strangers. While you’re taking you amazing vacation, living your life, don’t go anywhere with people you don’t know.

5. Don’t be super reckless. You can’t walk through the hallways with two broken legs.

These steps aren’t mandatory, but if you followed these steps spring break could be less sucky. But in all, have fun and don’t do anything that Jesus wouldn’t do.

Tick-Tock

Article written by Brie Schlienz (20’) and Tatum Julian (20”) How could we not get enough sleep? Our lives are provided you with 4 tips on how to manage your time simple. We wake up at 6:00 am to go to school for better.

7 hours a day, 5 days a week. We work for roughly 1. Prioritize.

4-5 hours or go to practice for 2 hours or volunteer for 5 hours. We have to balance our family lives and Decide ahead of time what is truly worth your time. our social lives. And we can’t forget to get at least 30 Too often we do not realize how much of our time is consumed by things not worthy of our attention and minutes of physical activity each day! energy. Evaluate what deserves and requires your enOf course, after that 30 minutes of physical activity ergy. or your long 2-hour practice, a shower is absolutely necessary. We can’t forget that family dinner and 2. Learn to say no. then, of course, we have the hours of homework that we’re assigned earlier that day. With all of that As nice as it is to spend every moment you can with added up that gives us about 5 hours to sleep, may- your friends, it is better to say no and rain check. Putbe! That’s close enough to the recommended 8-10 ting your priorities first before anything else will allow you to be productive and achieve your goals for hours, right? the week.

With such a busy schedule how can students be expected to manage all of their time and do it wisely? 3. Plan out your week ahead of time.

As students who know how hard it can be to fit everything into their schedules, we collaborated and Before your week even begins, write out what your

week entails. Write down any appointments, tests, time for yourself, and other important events. Having your week laid out in front of you can relieve some of your stress and worries that may come with a busy week. It also allows you to plan any activities and homework day by day.

4. Schedule time for yourself.

With all that we have going on in our lives, it’s super difficult to fit in self-care and not the typical face mask and candles and a hot bath kind of self-care; but instead, spending time doing things that you’re passionate about.

Right now is the best time in our lives to learn and start healthy habits. Encourage yourself to use this stressful and busy chapter in your life to grow and prepare yourself for what the future has in store for you. We hope these tips have been helpful with that!!

March 22, 2019

THE VERITAS

PROMPOSALS...

WHY? Article by Jerusha Long (‘20) In the year after that, though they didn’t use the term promposal, boys got more elaborate with their invitations. There are some records from 2003-04 of boys leaving trails of rose petals to school, or putting signs in girls lockers. The literal term “promposal” was popularized in 2007 when YouTube started getting high schoolers posting videos of their grand gestures according to The Washington Post. Of course, one must recognize that boys were more inclined to do creative, big, and expensive promposals to get some internet fame. However, it became almost expected in 2014 for a guy to do more than the old fashioned verbal question of “Will you go to prom with me?”

Photo courtesy of Student Publications

At Covenant, some teachers remember this year and how they felt about it. Mrs. Towles remembers a particularly cruel promposal story. A boy had been hyped up to ask a girl by his “friends” who knew she would reject him. He was encouraged, being told that she not only would say yes but wanted to go with him. Mrs. Towles recalls finding the boy in the chapel weeping because he was so embarrassed after doing the great promposal. It is clear that everything can be made evil. Just because some instances have been brutal doesn’t mean that promposals are necessarily bad, but the idea of promposal is controversial throughout different generations.

The idea of prom has been around for over a hundred years. But it was only fairly recently that the phrase “promposal” came into being. The first time a major newspaper used the phrase and recorded a story of a boy asking a girl to prom was in 2001.

The Dallas Morning News had an article about a kid who used the school intercom and sang a part of the song from “The Wedding Singer” to invite his date to prom. He changed the lyric “All I wanna do is grow old with you,” to “All I wanna do is go to prom with you.” The girl didn’t understand what he was saying completely, resulting in some con- The older generation has a different opinion tofusion. But, in the end, the boy did it again over wards the idea of promposal, but where does this the phone and she accepted his corny gesture, and difference come from? Mrs. Shields answers this thus, the first printed promposal story was born.

STOPOpinion A ND S M E L L T H E OU TD O O R C LA SSR O O M Piece by Hannah Mossbarger (‘20) trying to focus on cognitive health, we should imListen my students and you shall hear the truth on an issue that we all hold dear On the 22nd of March in 2019, There’s hardly a student that can revive The memory of when the outdoor classroom once thrived so harken an ear and here we go…

As busy high school students, it is no secret that we are increasingly disconnected from the outdoors and the proven benefits that time spent outside can bring. Sunshine! Fresh air! FLOWERS!! These are welcome breaks from the confining walls of the school. Though we are allowed to eat lunch outside in “the mall” (front of the school where students sprawl outside at lunch), it is a popular opinion among students that we should utilize the outdoor classroom more.

Personally, I have found (and I’m sure that my friends could attest to this) that even going outside for a few minutes at lunch can drastically alter my mood and make me happier throughout the rest of the day. According to Ellie Jones (‘20), “It’s really pretty and I think the garden club does a good job of taking care of it, but we don’t use it as much as we should. It kind of seems like a wasted resource.”

Other students agree, saying that going outside is a great way to implement the “cognitive breaks” that teachers are now trying to give students.

Erin Wright (‘20) says “There’s something really healthy about going outside to learn. Since we are

plement it (the outdoor classroom) more often.” Additionally, when asked about their opinion on the usage of the outdoor classroom, students responded, “It just sits out there. We need to do something with it,” says Junior Avery Fowler. “I want to eat lunch out there, but can’t.” Skylar Stone (‘19) comments that “I’ve only gone out there with a class once in my four years here.” More than one student even responded “What is the outdoor classroom?”

Based on a poll of 175 students taken from Covenant’s Instagram, 97% thought that we should be able to use the outdoor classroom more. These opinions are supported by a study from the book Frontiers in Psychology, “Students who participated in an outdoor education program as part of their science curriculum reported significantly more intrinsic motivation to learn and felt more competent” (Psychology Today).

It isn’t that we don’t use the outdoor classroom, but the common opinion among students is that we don’t use it enough. The lovely Mrs. Jones comments, “I love our outdoor classroom. There are lots of studies out there that reveal how important aesthetics and beauty are to learning. The outdoor classroom provides a natural beauty that students can surround themselves in.” She enjoys utilizing this resource for her classes and says that “As the biology teacher, I enjoy using our outdoor pond to take water samples and do labs using the bacteria and protists that live there. My classes also have

Tiny News, Issue 4

question saying, “Getting asked to prom in 1986 was simpler. The guy would ask the girl’s friends if she had plans for prom. He may even ask if the friends thought he had a chance. Depending on the answer, he would make the decision. Then the big question usually came during passing period at the girl’s locker. No audience.

No poster. No photos. No pressure. Just the question, ‘Do you want to go to prom with me?’”

Because the question was so casual, there was less stress on the boys and the meaning behind going to prom with someone. Mr. Tripple is quoted saying, “Promposals are an unnecessary extravagance. If you wanna go to prom with someone, just ask them. For the benefit of finding out if they’ll go to prom with you. Not so you can get likes on social media. Kind regards.”

There you have it folks. Be wise in your prom decisions and don’t let the pressure of grand gestures scare you into not having a fun date to spend the remarkable evening with.

1986

the opportunity to dissect flowers that have grown there and learn the anatomy of angiosperms as we view them under the microscope. We can collect pill bugs and learn about animal behavior or take a walk around the outdoor classroom to learn about different trees, shrubs, and invasive species that grow there. My classes can also do plot sampling for ecological studies in the outdoor classroom. Many biology songs and presentations have been filmed in the outdoor classroom providing just the aesthetic touch needed. I am thankful for the outdoor classroom and for our CCHS garden club who keep it looking beautiful throughout the year.”

We do use it but there are many more opportunities that myself and may other students feel we should implement it for.

The main question “ What exactly is the policy on the outdoor classroom?” Dr. Goodwin responds “The outdoor classroom is meant to be an extension of academic space and should be treated as such.” The way it is used should be the same as any other classroom. It is mostly an issue of supervision. Like a classroom, it should have a beneficial purpose- which can be being in nature. Art classes use it, the environmental science class used it when they were here, and science classes still use it.

Its different parts were all contributed throughout the years it has been here, by a lot of people. But because teachers and administration are not able to see students from the front of the building, which is a genuine expression of their concern for us, it isn’t a place that we commonly congregate.

So, teachers: who wants to sign up?

STUDE NT S H O U T-O U T

Student Publications reached out to the teachers, asking them to send us a paragraph about a student that they appreciate — one who they think deserves more recognition. Here’s what one had to say: The student that I chose to highlight is Josiah Allman. Josiah models the scholarship and christian character our school values on a daily basis. He comes to class with a great attitude, ready to learn, and with an intense curiosity about the world around him.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say a mean word to anyone and he is always willing to help a classmate out. He brings joy with him wherever he goes. He may be quiet in class but his character certainly doesn’t go unnoticed.