Student Jobs 06. Xello

inside issue. this February 2022 let’s get social. 04.

COVID Chaos

Comfort your friends, stay in contact with them. Try your hardest this year, because with enough effort anyone can get through these difficult times.

AVANT Testing

AVANT is a test offered by the school district. By taking this test, you can get up to 4 high school credits! You score the amount of credits for the score out of four you get.

11. 07.

ASB Corner

Happy Spring Trappers! Here’s a few updates on what’s been happening in ASB and what we’re planning on bringing to a reality.

Crockpot Cookin’

The crockpot is one of the most versatile cooking devices ever created. You can cook darn near anything in it and we have three recipes to get you started.

14.

theRest

of the stories. 03. Student Jobs 06. Xello 08. New library reads 10. Black History Month 12. Boys Swimming 13. Spring Sports

Students with Jobs

At some point, all students will have to get a job, be it after college, high school, or even having a job already. The struggle of keeping up with school and a job can seem daunting to many people but from the experiences of students with jobs, it isn’t as bad as one would think.

These students often work on school days and not just weekends or breaks but from their experience, they can keep up with school work effectively while still working. The places that these students work most often are supermarkets and fast-food restaurants. Around half of the students that are working will continue their working at the same location after high school while the other half will go to college and work at a different job.

Of the students that don’t have a job already, many of them wanted to get a job before graduating. The drive for these students to make money is a diverse mix but much of the reason is to have money to spend. The other common reason was to pay for college or a car.

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BOXING CLEVER

THE CHAOS OF COVID

Covid. It has been a YEAR though. Things have broken, things have been lost, and people were lost. But people should take a second for the people here. I’m worried about the students and staff. I am going to talk about the effects of covid, grades, social, emotions. Interviews with teachers and counsellors who will share their thoughts. A story from an anonymous student too.

Isaac Dennett Editor in Chief

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rades, they dictate it all. Jobs, colleges, even simple things, and bigger things too. Immigration requires good grades. Kids have lost their grades. Tough year for all. “[It] definitely impacted my grades in school. I used to be on top of everything but have fallen so much behind” Kids have said this, and if you are beating yourself up, don’t! Get support from classmates and friends over the phone, work together on assignments, you can do this. But, there is a point where you can’t do much else. You shouldn’t hold yourself responsible for this. Take the good parts and do the best you can on the bad. Friends have had a whole different turn.

Some people haven’t been able to see their friends outside of school. Depending on who you are, this part might not even apply to you. For me at least, I know I already spent a lot of time on the phone playing videogames with my friends. But some of you out there have had different problems. “Not being able to see my friends “ “Covid caused my grades last year to be terrible and has made my high school experience turn into something different than I thought it would be.” But, you are like everyone else. Everybody is having this problem, but there are other options! Try to have fun with your friends cause right now it will mean more than anything.

Emotions. We all have them, no matter how much somebody may try to have them. Some kids, a lot actually, have been feeling very depressed and sad. I used to feel that way too, but I invested myself in things. If you are feeling depressed, doing things helps. One student said “anxiety and horrible grades with a little sprinkle of depression” If you are feeling this way, you just need a plan. Plan out your next few days, for a sense of purpose. I promise you, it will make your time worth it.

Teachers care too. They watch and help their students that are having a hard time. It is harder to tell though when a student is going through something especially hard right now, because masks can hide your emotions, and having one larger wave of feeling in a sea can make it harder to help a student.

I interviewed several teachers, and I will include notable things. “Right now, things are harder than ever. I think that student’s morale is harder than ever, which is why I try to be more social and funny than usual.” Several teachers are doing this to lighten and relieve some of the stress that is being put on students right now. “I think it is harder to connect with students right now, but some things haven’t changed. I am still there for my students, and they can still come to me for help. I try to make a lot of work time so I can walk around and ask my students how they are doing, and do my best to connect with them. It just means we have to try harder right now to help students out.” Remember guys, you still have people there for you.

I also interviewed some of the counsellors. Counsellors see the most students. They said that grades have been lower, but all of the counsellors are personally doing their best to reach out to their students and make a success plan. In an interview, they had a message for you, the student. “You still have time.” In Ms Riordan’s office, she has a poster up that says, Excuses are like buttholes, they all stink. And it’s true, I think most of you out there, if you can’t fix it now, can still try harder and do your best later.

Below is a story from an anonymous student, they wanted to share how they felt, so other students don’t feel as alone. This story will show you that we need to get together as students and comfort each other right now.

“It broke my structure of succeeding in school. I stopped having my best interest in school and made me think of dropping out and just finding a job. I stopped shining like I used to. Maybe, it is not covid to blame for bringing me back down, but entering high school from middle school. That transition was like from being valued in school and knowing your place to being lost and feeling out of place. I used to be a good student and a good example for the people around me with my positive attitude towards learning and accomplishing my goals. Now it is like I’m doing work, but it does not have value to it. I’m like a spider building a web that is easy to break. At first seeing people wearing masks all the time made me feel like they were hiding something and being suspicious. Now, without seeing people smile, there is nothing to keep me alive and thriving. Sports was another problem, I was not doing any last year because my grades were not good even though I later on fixed them. Now when I do wrestling it is hard to have Secret Santa. People would be there to practice and then others won’t be, I never get to see my team together or have the schedule full of matches. Other schools have been closing wrestling, leaving us with no one to compete with. It’s sad because this year it is someone’s last year to wrestle. I’m seeing my counsellor once a week, just to keep myself away from dropping out and to believe that I have a value in life.

I don’t want to blame covid, because it is not like it was an intentional cause of some sort. I don’t feel safe going to school, knowing that many of the students and staff have covid and are quarantining. I go to school instead of staying home and doing it remotely, because at home I’m at my comfort zone. School is a major print in my life that will affect my future. With all of the stress and doubt that school has left a scar on me because of covid, I don’t think that is something I want to continue doing. I thought about if my problems were because of covid or school in general. It is kinda both. If there was no covid there was no masks, no going home when you have symptoms, no covid testing, full sport schedules, no social distancing, no remote learning, more hands on projects, more students going to school, more smiles to see, and finally I would meet up with my friend that lives in Oregon. This will make students safer to go to school. This would make me enjoy life better and who knows maybe have all A’s like I used to. Traveling would not have been a problem and going to public places. For people to go to doctor appointments or hospitals would have not been so difficult. I hope this has been worth my time sharing with you.”

Some students are going through a tough time, but I do believe that someday this will be pseudonormal again. I think that together we can overcome this year, this terrible year. Comfort your friends, stay in contact with them. Try your hardest this year, because with enough effort anyone can. Belief and believing in yourself is half the challenge.

A xenagogue for XELLO

Are you confused with xello? Many people share that opinion. It can be a mess sometimes. But, this guide is going to help guide you through the process, and maybe teach you some new tricks.

You might want to do this right away when you first log in (through classlink!), and you should. Make sure to do all the things on the right column. They are very important! These are the core lessons that might help you find a career path for the future.

In this column on the right, you can see many columns, but in the My Plans section, you can see the course planner. Here you can plan out what classes you want to take so you can see the credits you still need, and to see what options you have. You also go to this section when forecasting, so you can prepare it early. That way you don’t have to worry about it then!

In this picture, you can also see more lessons. Here you can see more of what might help you for the future, career wise. It’s also rather fun in my opinion to learn about different jobs.

Still wondering what the heck a xenagogue is? It’s a guide or instructions. That makes this a guide for Xello. Good luck!

AVANT TESTING

Language Credits Isaac Dennett

Do you speak two or more languages? Are you good at speaking them? Do you need high school credits? If 1 or more of these questions are a yes for you, then read this article! In this article, I am going to talk about the benefits of AVANT, how to take the AVANT, and some details about it. AVANT is a test offered by the school district. By taking this test, you can get up to 4 high school credits! You score the amount of credits for the score out of four you get. So, even if you are not fluent, you can get one or two credits. If you get four credits, you also get a license on your high school diploma that says you can speak two languages. It is called a stamp of bi-literacy! So, you are sold on the idea of taking this test. But, you don’t know how. That’s fine! By talking to your counsellor, you can find out if the AVANT test is right for you. Your counsellor will help you figure that out, the next time for taking it, and help you prepare for it.

The AVANT is a test composed of four parts. You can take it for a language of your choice, but the largest percentage of people who take it take it for Spanish. You don’t take these parts in any particular order, it’s up to you, but I’ll list them in order of what I remember.

Reading is first. You read a paragraph, and later some larger texts, and answer some questions. Reading is the easiest part of a language in my opinion, so you should take that first.

Next is listening. You listen to some audio, and then answer the questions.

Next is your choice, but I recommend speaking. You are in what I like to call ‘Spanish brain’ and you are ready. You have a prompt, and then you speak about it. If you don’t remember the word, describe it in Spanish, extra points for never dipping into English.

Last is writing. This one should be less stressful, cause you have more time. You write an essay about something the test gives you. That’s the test! In my opinion, it won’t be too hard if you know the language alright, it can be very forgiving. That’s the AVANT! You now have extra credits on your transcript, and if you want, you can take extra electives. Good Luck!