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TH Gold Cards:

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Sara Strever News Editor

Students were feeling just a bit confused about semester finals this year. In previous years, students who earned a 3.8 GPA or higher were classified as being in the Gold Star Renaissance program, which allowed them to exempt one semester final in a class that they had already earned a straight “A” in. ”It was frustrating to not be able to exempt a final this year because I feel it’s a little reward at the end of the semester for working so hard. It would have allowed me to focus more on my AP classes’ finals,” said senior Natalie Takes. Junior Colin Ashwood was also in favor of the exemption plan. “I had to study for a class that before I did not need to, which took away from studying for classes that my grades (where my grades are) in much worse shape. Also, I had one less reason to study a little harder to make sure I got above the 3.8 mark,” said Ashwood. However, this year, a group made up of students and staff decided to remove the semester exemption plan. Head principal Dr. Rich Powers made the final call on the decision. “We have been looking into finding

a new program for about two years. In the end, the conflict and problems that it created for students and staff were not worth the benefits of the program,” said Powers. Unaccommodating teachers were not the only problem with the system. One staff member that was very involved in the Gold Renaissance program was counselor Ryan Flaherty. “I don’t know if there was one main reason, I think it was a collection of reasons. The program was creating some communication problems between students and teachers on deadlines, who was eligible, criteria for being eligible, and other details. Also, teachers use semester finals as a way of assessing how effectively they delivered their curriculum, so it is helpful to have all students take the final and have complete data to evaluate,” said Flaherty. However, Flaherty believes that there will be another plan in action for next semester. “At this time we are working on obtaining Renaissance Discount Cards from Jostens (the corporate sponsor of the Renaissance program) which will include discounts for some local businesses,” said Mr. Flaherty. This is the first year that eligible students will not be able to exempt a final. This program has been around

Feb. 18, 2009

Volume 49 Issue 14

1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613

Renaissance program fate in process of being decided for 2009 semester final tests

Aubrey Caruso Staff writer

Cedar Falls High School is bringing new changes to next year’s classes. High school English classes are changing names: Communication Skills is changing to English Funda-

mentals, Intermediate Language Arts is changing to English 10 and Language Arts Enrichment is changing to Honors English. Another change is a new Industrial Technology class. Introduction to Engineering Design is a Hawkeye Community College contracted course that is a full year. This class is an introductory course that develops students problem solving skills with emphasis placed on the development of three-dimensional solid models. Physical Education classes will now be changed to Lifetime Wellness

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Advanced Placement Test

All Advanced Placement (AP) students at Cedar Falls High School can now register for AP exams, which will be administered in May. Registration for the exams runs through Thursday, March 5, with English teacher Teresa Martin in the English Department. The fee is $86 for each exam. All checks must be written to CFHS AP Exam. Students and parents should check with prospective colleges and universities to be certain which AP scores are accepted. Not every college or university treats AP credits and scores the same way. While taking an AP exam is optional, Cedar Falls High School encourages its Advanced Placement students to take the AP exams. Earning college credit through the AP program clearly helps in reducing college costs while giving students a head start on their college course work as well. Cedar Falls students maintain an excellent record of success in the AP exams.

ACT Deadline

The next ACT test date is April 4. The registration deadline is Feb. 27.

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Katie Dexter Cartoon

for many years. “It was a part of the Renaissance academic recognition program designed by a specific committee of CFHS staff members eight-10 years ago. It is important to make a change when you recognize something is

not working the way it should,” said Flaherty. Powers and Flaherty are encouraging student input. Students are welcome to go to a Student Senate meeting on Wednesday mornings and share their ideas.

Next year’s curriculum brings few changes New tech class added, English titles changed and Physical Education developed into two semester-long classes

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and Strength & Conditioning. Lifetime Wellness is a P.E. course that provides students with a wide variety activities and the mission of this class is to give students the opportunity to acquire physical skills and knowledge that can be useful to them for the rest of their lives. This class will run every day for nine weeks in one semester. Strength and Conditioning is a class that students wishing to take it should have experience lifting and have a desire and overall goal to improve significantly in strength, athletic movement and explosiveness. This course

focuses on explosive and athletic based lifts, proper lifting technique, weight room etiquette, agility training and flexibility exercises. This class meets Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays for one semester. “P.E. is an opportunity to get a half credit and plan for a SASH for a whole semester if needed,” counselor Susan Langan said. By bringing new classes to the mix, it offers change for students and extra choices for Physical Education.

Those having problems logging onto the server from home should check the instructions that are posted on the library web page (http://library. cedar-falls.iowapages.org) under “Technology Help”. Students should entering their usernames and passwords as they do here at school no longer works. Check this web page for the correct way.

College assistance

For seniors needing assistance for college, the Iowa College Goal Sunday will provide free assistance on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the UNI Center for Urban Education in Waterloo from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit the website at www.IowaCGS.org or call ICAN at 877-272-4692.

All-State speech

All-State speech is Saturday, Feb. 21. Choral reading will perform “Girls : A How to Handbook.”

Theater tech

If you are interested in helping with tech for the spring musical Guys and Dolls, please come to the theater Wednesday, Feb. 18 after school.


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