The
Dancin’ the Night Away
Tiger HI-LINE
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Students enjoy their special night at prom, page 3 Follow us on Twitter @ tigerhiline, Facebook at TigerHilineOnline and on our website at www.hiline.cfschools.org
Volume 53 Edition 26
Administration hears students’ voices During November and December, Student Senate members visited classrooms during Related Class Time, pursuing student input to make the school a better place. They compiled the ideas into a list, with recurring issues receiving tally marks; this method indicated the most important student concerns. The student officers met with administrators and individually went through each concern students had raised. One of the most surprising demands was a stricter dress code. After speaking with administration, senior and treasurer Hanno Fenech said, “Usually parents want it enforced. It’s usually not students raising the concern. They [the administration] think that is a very responsible thing for students to have taken notice of.” Senior Rex Ju said he thinks the dress code needs to be more strict. “It’d be more professional and therefore create a more focused atmosphere,” Ju said. Sophomore John Nicol also said our school needs a stricter dress code. “They need to enforce what we have, stronger. I see a lot of people who break the dress code and don’t get punished, so I think if we were to enforce our current dress code more, it would be more effective,” Nicol said. Not all students think a whole new dress code is in order. “The school doesn’t necessarily need a stricter dress
code but instead needs to make sure the current code is made clear and is enforced by all staff,” senior Laura Schwickerwrath said. Senior Madie Judisch disagreed. “High School prepares us for the real world, and in the real world, you have the freedom to do what you want. However, you are also held accountable for your decisions, and that is something we high schoolers need to learn,” Judisch said. Another suggestion students proposed to Student Senate was reading announcements over the intercom during the day. However, this will not be happening next year because it takes up class time. Announcements are on the high school website, and they can be tweeted or emailed daily to students who sign up for these features. Students also stressed their desires for the school to enforce teachers parking in their designated areas. Although brought up every year, the parking situation will not change because even though it sometimes looks like there are empty spots in teacher lots, the lunch staff and traveling teachers need them for when they arrive. The school administration is looking into two more student requests currently: offering Subway sandwiches in the cafeteria and a coffee bar. Junior Katie Meier said the addition of a coffee bar
would benefit the school’s atmosphere. “It would give people the chance to get coffee in the morning and help them be more awake during the school day and help them pay attention,” Meier said. Other suggestions such as getting rid of the CPR requirement and the Healthy Kids Act cannot change because they are state and federal laws. But one suggestion that shows promise is more access to technology, such as iPads or laptops in class. Sophomore Arianna Mitra said students need more access to technology at Cedar Falls High School. “Technology is changing the way we learn and get information. Students should have access to computers, tablets and other various sorts of multimedia resources to do their homework and class work,” Mitra said. Students requested an early dismissal day of the week for next school year, but it has already been decided that there will be late start Mondays for Professional Development next year. Students also want an outside student area with picnic tables. “It would give people an area to hang out,” junior Laura Ralph said. Senior Lex Redfern agreed it would benefit the high school. “Students are not allowed to eat on campus except in the cafeteria, but when it’s nice out, some might want to eat out without having to leave campus,” Red-
fern said. Junior Alyssa Voung is enthusiastic about the proposal. “With the lack of seating we have downstairs, we should definitely consider getting picnic tables. It sounds like a great idea. If we had those outside picnic tables, the number of students that eat in the hallway would be less. With less students in the hallway, there’d be more room. It’s a win-win situation,” Voung said. Another piece of advice from students was to have finals before winter break next year. This was already taking place after Superintendent Mike Wells and the school board set up next year’s school calendar. Student Senate wants the dialogue between students and administrators to continue. Starting this month, the fourth Thursday of every month at 7:30 a.m. will be a meeting time between officers and administration to discuss student concerns. Students can go onto the CFHS website and pull up the tab “Be Heard. Get answers, get results.” Students are welcome to post questions or concerns for the administration. All students are welcome to attend the Thursday morning meetings to make their voices heard.
By Editor-in-Chief Maya
AMJADI
School safety discussion continues Since the recent tragedies and growing number of school shootings and violence, many schools have been strengthening options to keep people safe. From local governments to the federal government, ideas from metal detectors to guns in the classroom have been proposed. In the Cedar Valley, Officer Chad Walderbach and Lt. Joe Tyler began teaching a training program at UNI for students and faculty to learn about how to be prepared in the event of a violent incident. “The program Joe and I teach was created in Texas in 2000. It was created to provide a better solution to lockdown protocols after the Columbine shooting in April of 1999,” Walderbach said. With this new program, the goal is to get the public to feel more prepared in the event they are caught in a dangerous situation. “The training we offer is Violent Incident Defense Strategies. This training is not Gun Safety training. It
does focus on active shooter incidents, but this training can be applied to any type of violent incident. Lt. Joe Tyler and I began instructing the program in the fall of 2012,” Walderbach said. In many ways, this program is very unique and stands out from the typical lockdown drill, which focuses on waiting for help. “The training is a more proactive approach than anything we have done in the past. Most of the training when it comes to active shooter incidents is how law enforcement responds where this training is focused on the public’s response,” Walderbach said. Instead of just hiding under a desk, this program gives people more solutions when faced with a violent situation. “I think the biggest thing people can take away from the training is there is more than one option when being confronted with a violent incident. Furthermore, having options will allow people to make a choice given the circumstances in front of them,” Walder-
bach said. While this particular training is only open to students and staff at UNI, other Iowa colleges have similar programs. Associate Principal Dana Deines and the CF District Safety Committee have discussed exploring a similar safety approach for our school district. “The CF District Safety Committee has discussed holding a Staff Training/Active Shooter Training Plan,” Deines said. “We have been proceeding cautiously in making changes to our emergency procedures due to the controversial nature of the proposed ALICE response to active shooter plans.” Since the beginning of the year, administrators have been discussing this option. “Our school district administrators also attended a safety conference earlier this year to learn more and discuss our response to these types of emergency procedures.” The committee has discussed a pro-
gram that involves taking action against a shooter, much like the UNI training. “One program being considered is call the ALICE program. We are continuing to discuss these ideas as an additional response to our district lockdown and evacuation plans,” Deines said. However, it is a concern whether or not younger students should be involved with this type of program. “We are aware of the controversial nature of teaching (the ALICE Response to) our young students to engage/distract/ fight any active shooter.” The next steps in this plan will be discussed at a board meeting in early May.
By Staff Writer Amanda
HARWOOD