THE VOLUME 52 ISSUE 5
Sports, Page 3
1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
Twenty CFHS staff lend hands to Extreme Makeover project Izzie Hayes Staff Writer
By this time, almost everybody in the Cedar Valley knows that the Gibbs family of West Union was chosen to be on the hit show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. But what many don’t know is that 20 members of the CFHS staff volunteered to work on the Gibb’s new home. The producers of Extreme Makeover never had so many people willing to volunteer. It was said that they had to turn down about five times as many people as they have had to before. However, through the outpouring of help, members of the CFHS staff were fortunate enough to be able to work on the Gibbs’ new
Izzie Hayes photo home. Among them was math teacher Ethan Wiechmann and science teacher Scott Bolhmann. Wiechmann acted as the ring leader of the group, even asking students to urge other teachers to sign up. “Mr.
Wiechmann called me about the event shortly after he left the rally. He thought it would be fun and asked me if I was game, to which I said yes,” Bolhmann said. The group of teachers left
at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6 and returned home around the hour of 4 a.m. The staff worked on the installation of concrete. “Laying the concrete was the hardest part for me because it was so close to the end of our shift,” Wiechmann said. Teresa Martin said, “I’m sure they all felt it is much better to give of oneself than to receive from others.” Martin wanted to attend the building of the Gibbs’ new house, but unfortunately had a last minute change of plans. Audrey Gibbs is the mother of six children; she lost her husband to cancer in 2000 and seven months later she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Gibbs turned down
See MAKEOVER, Page 3
Branstad proposes exit exams Sara Gabriele Editor-in-chief
Governor Terry Branstad has released a blueprint for overhauling Iowa education. Included in the Governor’s plans is a measure that will directly affect Iowa high school students: a new graduation requirement in the form of exit examinations. The proposal calls for end-of-course exams in core subjects such as algebra, biology, English and U.S. history/ U.S. government. Students will take the exams after completing the course in question and, in the event of failing the exam, will be given opportunities to retake the tests after receiving remedial help. Linda Fandel, special assistant for education to Branstad, said that education leaders backed away from a previously proposed compre-
hensive exit exam because they felt end-of-course tests would provide a greater opportunity to test in-depth learning. “We want to make sure high school students are getting a strong foundation,” Fandel said. “It’s critical that students graduate from high school ready for college or career training.” Twenty-one states currently implement variations of such tests. Although not all states link the tests to graduation, Iowa officials are currently leaning towards this model. “Students must take responsibility for making the most of the time they have in school,” Fandel said. “We want students to take these end-of-course exams very seriously.” Many CFHS teachers have mixed feelings about the
exams. Math teacher Rich Strike, who teaches pre-algebra and algebra I, said that he can see benefits that exit exams would present for lower-level classes. “As a teacher, it will make me pinpoint exactly what students need to know and make surethey have those specific areas mastered,” Strike said. However, Strike added that this will also mean taking a lot of the exploration and creativity out of his courses, so from a teaching perspective, he is not enthusiastic. Chemistry teacher Lynn Griffin, who teaches honors and AP chemistry, echoed Strike’s claims that the tests will most likely affect lowerlevel classes more than midlevel or honors classes. “It probably won’t change much in the high end of the spectrum because we’re
already surpassing the benchmarks,” Griffin said. Although few details have been released, Fandel said education leaders are looking at modeling the exams after the system in Virginia where students take Standards of Learning (SOL) exams in core areas and must pass them to receive a diploma. Lina Zimmerman is a high school senior from James Monroe High School who currently takes the SOLs in Fredericksburg, Va. She said that, although the tests do help keep students on track with learning material, they force teachers to teach to a test that only requires fact recall-based learning. “Unlike the SAT, which is a reasoning test, SOLs require memorization of facts and figures. A student could
See EXIT EXAMS, Page 3
Marching band earns division one ranking Katherine Mayhew Staff Writer
The marching band received a Division I ranking in the 2011 IHSMA State Marching Band Festival competition last Saturday, Oct. 8. The event was held in Waterloo’s Central Stadium. The band played music adapted from Phantom of the Opera, including “Phantom Overture/Angel of Music,” “Masquerade/Think of Me,” “Phantom Chase” and “All I Ask of You/Music of the Night.” The group gave a highly rated performance, combining complicated choreography, flawless playing and pageantry. The marching band performed at 2:30 p.m. but started rehearsal at 9 a.m.at the high school. Their performance ended with a special effect of the Phantom, who happened to be trombonist John Paul Sevcik, disappearing. They had some technical difficulties due to the wind, and the effect did not go as well as planned, but the complications were unavoidable in the outdoor setting. The Tiger marching band had been preparing for this competition since two weeks before school began. Just prior to the competition, the band worked on its skills nonstop during fourth hour band. Another band that competed, South Winn Marching Band, 0 also performed selections from Phantom of the Opera, and very similar ones to those of the Tiger Marching Band. They, however, are placed in two classes below Cedar Falls, and were ranked in Division II.