INSIDE
PAGE 6 Varsity football team prepares to say goodbye to another season.
COURTESY OF JON JON PERKINS
POINTE
NORTH
GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
EVENTS
NORTH TAILGATE Friday, Oct. 12 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the parking lot FAFSA WORKSHOP Monday, Oct. 15 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. in B-116 PICTURE RETAKES Wednesday, Oct. 17 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the student union
INSIDE “THE ATTITUDE
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Hand-foot-and-mouth disease kicks way through football team
VENGAGE & HANNAH ZALEWSKI
By Hannah Zalewski & Kylie Duke PAGE EDITOR & INTERN Boiling fevers, mouth sores, and blistering skin out of a scary movie — the symptoms of Hand-foot-andmouth disease that varsity quarterback Brendan Cwiklinski and two of his teammates faced, forcing them to skip out on football practice. According to MedlinePlus, Handfoot-and-mouth disease usually presents itself three to seven days after a person has come in contact with the virus in the form of small-blistery rashes on the hands and feet, as well as painful lesions on the inside of the mouth. Other symptoms may include malaise, fever, loss of appetite and headaches. Senior Dominic Hadley, the varsity football linebacker, said he was more concerned about the performance of the team when vital players became sick than he was about catching the contagious virus. “It caused a little scare, some kids I know were scared to practice because obviously they didn't want to get it, like, who would?” Hadley said. “I wore long sleeves and gloves to make sure I didn't get it, but if I got it, I got it. It wasn’t gonna stop me from going to practice — I’ve got to get better.” Also named Coxsackievirus Infection, the disease can be caused by multiple different viruses and currently does not have a vaccine. Furthermore, the disease is often treated on a symptom-relief basis,
meaning there is no specific treatment to cure the sickness. Wide receiver, senior Sean Bly, said that it is up to every individual to make sure they personally do not get the disease and spread it to others.
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I wore long sleeves and gloves to make sure I didn't get it, but if I got it, I got it. It wasn’t gonna stop me from going to practice — I’ve got to get better. Dominic Hadley SENIOR
Bly and Cwiklinski both said the football program has taken precautions to prevent further spread of the disease. So far, the team has sterilized the locker room while trying to clean out the lockers and washing the football gear as often as they can. Senior varsity cheerleader Cicille Charles said she was worried about catching the disease and thinks that it is the school's responsibility to offer methods to prevent its spread further. “(The school) should always make sure that there is hand sanitizer in the dispensers in the hallways and that there is soap in the bathrooms,” Charles said. “Maybe wiping the desks down after students use them (will keep) the classrooms cleaner.” Although the origin of the outbreak is unknown, Hadley said he believes the varsity team obtained the contagious virus through other teams. The junior varsity as well as the freshman football team have both had recent outbreaks of their own. Now that the team is clean, Hadley said he doesn’t think it's impacted the team negatively at all. Rather, he sees the outbreak as being out of sight, out of mind. “I don’t think it's affected the way that anyone really has done anything, because when you're on the field you really forget about it,” Hadley said. “Then you get back to the locker room, like crap, there’s hand-footmouth going around. It's really no big deal.”
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UPCOMING
NORTHPOINTENOW.ORG
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“It’s not good for everybody, but it’s just, I think we should be washing our hands more and taking care of ourselves,” Bly said. According to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hand-foot-andmouth can be prevented by washing hands, disinfecting common areas, and avoiding close contact with those who have the disease.
Contributing: Julia Magnan
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Research evaluates effectivness OVER TO MY of suspensions, racial factors HOUSE FRIENDS
By Brooklyn Mcwhorter & Farrah Fasse WEBMASTER & INTERN
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Suspensions have been one of the most utilized forms of punishments in American schools over the past 20 years, but a 2018 study says this form of discipline may not be a step in the right direction. The study was conducted in Philadelphia schools by the University of Pennsylvania. The result of their experiment showed a low rate of standardized test scores in reading and math, which were correlated with the rate of suspensions given that year. The effect of suspensions on students’ test scores varies based on the use of suspensions in each district’s metaphorical “toolbox.” Some districts use it very often, but others use it less frequently and for more serious behaviors. Sophomore Marco Peretti believes that instead of suspensions, extra schoolwork would be more effective as a punishment for poor behavior. “I think they (students) should do extra schoolwork instead of just letting them go home,” Peretti said. “Even though you have to do your schoolwork when you get back, they should do some extra things instead of just sitting at home for three days.” Deputy Superintendent Jon Dean believes that Grosse Pointe Public Schools is one of the latter districts mentioned, having already utilized
@thenorthpointe www.northpointenow.org
various consequences. “GPPSS already implements alternatives to suspension,” Dean said via email. “Removing a student from school is typically the 'last resort' after a series of other, alternative options.” On page 16 of the Student Code of Conduct, there are 20 other consequences listed rather than suspensions. These include, but are not limited to, lunchtime detentions, referral to a mental health specialist, and required and regular attendance at a smoking, substance abuse, and/or alcohol workshop/clinic, if applicable. Dean believes that suspensions do serve a purpose in schools that benefit both the school and the students themselves. “Suspensions serve a variety of purposes. They certainly can serve to make a school, and the students in that school, safer by removing a student that can negatively impact the safety of others,” Dean said. “Suspensions also can serve as a “cooling off time,” to allow emotions to calm after or during a time of emotional upheaval. They also serve the punitive function of removing a student who has violated the Student Code of Conduct from the privilege of attending and engaging with a school. Suspensions also make it clear to all students and the school community what is acceptable behavior.” However, as far as this form of
VOLUME 51 | ISSUE 2
punishment is concerned, the factor of race must accounted for. According to a 2014 study by the Department of Education, black students in K-12 are three times more likely to be suspended or expelled than a white student. While there are statistical differences in the way that students of color are punished, they are most prominent in the South, according to a 2015 University of Pennsylvania study. In 84 school districts in the South, 100 percent of students being suspended were black. 55 percent of black school children being suspended throughout all of America were out of school districts from the South as well. The same study also reported that while 37 percent of children enrolled in Georgia schools are black, 67 percent of kids who are suspended are African American. Dean believes that subconscious racial bias does exist, but that the school district makes sure that discipline is not given based on race, but on behavior. “As a society we are struggling with this issue not just in schools, but also in law enforcement situations and even in the workplace. The nature of subconscious bias is that the person exhibiting it doesn't realize it is occurring,” Dean said. “As a society and as a district, we need to constantly be reviewing our practices and data to ensure that discipline is being assigned not based on bias, but on the basis of student actions.”
News Life
Wednesday, OCT. 10, 2018
KNOTS host Breakfast for new members
By Sofia Ketels & Victoria Wittenberg WED-EDIOTOR-IN-CHIEF & INTERN Although Friday, Oct. 5 marked the third official Kids Need Opportunities To Socialize breakfast, junior Zoe Graves experienced the event as a member for the first time. As a new addition, she looked forward to meeting her fellow KNOTS members, along with finding out who she would be working with. During first hour on October 5, the KNOTS team members all met in the cafeteria for an opportunity to get to know each other, ask/answer questions and start building personal connections for this year. In addition to a morning snack, members were given their yearly assignments. They will also be expected to meet with their team and work out the details of their new projects. “This is a huge effort,” Kuhl said via email. “Every staff member signs up to pick food up and do a job at the breakfast. We work hard behind the scenes, so that it all comes together and hopefully appears seamless to all of our participants.” According to Kuhl, the breakfast is more than an ordinary KNOTS meeting. Rather, it is a way for members to get to know everyone, as well as getting vital new information about the club while laying out the whole year for both new and returning members alike. “It sets the tone for our whole year in KNOTS,” Kuhl said via email. “It allows our students to begin making connections with their peers.” KNOTS participants take part in a Peer-2-Peer type program throughout the year, being friends with and helping out other students in special needs classes. This can be accomplished by KNOTS members through their lunch hour, a tutorial, an independent study, in addition to their other extracurricular events that take place over the course of the school year. Along with the breakfast, the club holds an annual barbeque. This year, KNOTS also will be hosting game lunches every quarter, where members will host a game lunch in the student union to bond with their peers. Over the three years that KNOTS has hosted the breakfast, the club has since grown to over 100 members, according to Kuhl. One of those new additions was Graves, who heard about the club, and decided to join after remembering her positive experience with the Peer-2-Peer program at Monteith, her former elementary school. Though she has only been to one event so far after going to the breakfast, Graves already has a positive feeling about the program. "First impressions are really important. So (the breakfast) gives you that first impression,” Graves said. “It's a way to make a good one, since it's pretty laid back.” Kuhl emphasizes the importance placed on the meeting, saying it sets the tone for the whole year, and that it is one of the only whole-group mandatory meetings, so it was vital to have everything set up smoothly. Graves believes that it was, and that the meeting was a great precursor to the work KNOTS members will continue doing throughout the rest of the school year with their peers. “(It) just gives you a chance to interact with the students and make better connections with them outside of the classroom,” Graves said. “I think it's important that you make those connections.”
1 Editorial 3 Reviews 5 2 Indepth 4 Sports 6
By Hannah Zalewski & Kylie Duke