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Friday, Jan. 29, 2016
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Volume 56 Edition 15
CF, West collaborate to fight cancer Those who walk into the CFHS gym for the basketball game at 7:30 p.m on Friday, Feb. 12, and glance over to the student section will set their eyes on a sea of blue. Students will be wearing the blue shirts designed for this year’s Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser, which Sophomore Leadership is organizing. Sophomore Leadership adviser and math teacher Linsey Zimmerman remembered last year’s Coaches vs. Cancer T-shirt success when thinking about ways to raise money for this year’s fundraiser. “Last year the Sophomore Leadership group had designed a shirt and raised quite a bit of funds for this event, so we thought we could try it again,” Zimmerman said. And looking closely at the T-shirt design on that upcoming night in February, attendees will notice the CFHS school logo is not the only one that makes an appearance. Traci Lake, social studies teacher and co-adviser of Sophomore Leadership, explained for this year’s fundraiser they will be teaming up with Waterloo West High School. “This year’s event is a collaborative effort with Waterloo West to raise money
T-shirts for the Coaches vs. Cancer event are available in the office fro $10 until Feb. 2. for the American Cancer Society,” Lake said. “Each school will be hosting its own event and fundraisers to raise money to be both competitive in who can raise more money, but knowing in the end that all of it is for a good cause.” Even though Cedar Falls High School
Administrators ban extra credit from all classes
As students log on into their Infinite Campus accounts, one striking difference that they may notice while checking their grades is the lack of any type of extra credit listed in the course workload. With the beginning of the second semester, Cedar Falls High School has now also officially eliminated any use of extra credit in any classes. For the past four years, the topic of extra credit has been an ongoing discussion for the school administration while putting its focus on effective grading practices. Since the topic first arose, the administration came to general consensus that giving extra credit wasn’t best practice in grading, but they hadn’t decided to take a hard stand against it until very recently. The school district’s work in the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process is a large reason why Cedar Falls High School shifted to this change. Cedar Falls High School is one of many high schools moving to a system where grades are reflective of student learning and extra credit is not supported. Principal Jason Wedgbury said that this approach isn’t necessarily brought up to increase academic performance, but rather that it’s based off of a philosophical drive. “We want grades to be an ac-
curate reflection of student learning and what you’re supposed to know and understand, not on the amount of work that you’re doing. Extra credit is more about grade inflation just to improve a score,” Wedgbury said. “We have practices right now where a student makes some errors on an assessment and students seek additional work to earn some points, so it doesn’t look like they did so poorly. More often than not, it’s a chasing of points, not going back to demonstrate stronger learning. I think students should chase their curiosity and learning within a classroom.” Wedgbury also emphasized the notion that the removal of extra credit does not mean it’s impossible for students to improve their grades. “The one thing that we do encourage is when students make mistakes on something that was graded. You have opportunities to go back and improve on that learning,” Wedgbury said. “Maybe it’s a retest. Maybe it’s a different assessment, but you can most definitely earn points back, only in relation to what you didn’t demonstrate in your understanding the first time.” By News Editor Sarah
STORTZ
is teaming up with Waterloo West for this fundraiser, both teams will be competitors on the court on Feb. 12. “We liked the incorporation of the ball, the ‘vs’ in the middle to show Coaches vs. Cancer and that the game is CF vs West,” Zimmerman said. “They also all agreed on keeping the same quote as last year’s shirt on the back, as it went well with the event. It shows that even though we are competing with West on the basketball court, we all are supportive of the fight against cancer.” The color was chosen to support prostate cancer, and the halftime speaker is math teacher Rich Strike, who recently overcame prostate cancer. “They [Sophomore Leadership] asked Mr. Strike to speak at the event due to his battle against prostate cancer and wanted to show him their support as well,” Zimmerman said. Anyone can also continue to show support at the game by stopping by the bake sale, bidding on the autographed basketball from the UNI men’s basketball team in the silent auction or donating $1 to join the Fans vs. Cancer wall. Leading up to the game, supporters can order a Coaches vs. Cancer shirt for $10 and pay for it in the main office by Feb. 2. There will also be a bake sale
Caucus Crunch Time
throughout the day on Friday, Feb. 5 in the Tiger’s Den. All of the proceeds from the Coaches vs. Cancer event will be donated to the UNI Relay for Life and then sent to the American Cancer Society. “Everyone knows someone who has been affected by this terrible disease, whether it was them personally, someone very close to themor even a friend of a friend,” Lake said. “The more money we can raise to support this fight, the sooner we can have an option for a cure or knowledge on preventative actions we can take to stop the onset or spread of this disease.” Zimmerman said she wants students and staff to get involved in this fundraiser any way they can. “Cancer has affected many of our lives,” Zimmerman said. “Supporting this cause will help fund more research and support those fighting this daily battle. Not only can we show our support monetarily, we can also show those fighting that they are not alone. This is just a small way students and staff can give to those in need at a very difficult time in their lives.” By Staff Writer Hannah
SANDERMAN
Olivia Grant Photo
Sophomore Arlo Hettle braved the cold on Sunday, Jan.24 for the Bernie Sanders campaign. Caucus night is this Monday, Feb. 1.