the week ahead Today All-school pep assembly during fifth hour Tomorrow Late start School starts at 9:40 a.m. Saturday Sailor Marching Band March-athon
sports calendar Tomorrow • Varsity tennis @ Grand Rapids Union 4:30 p.m. • Volleyball hosts outdoor quad 6 p.m. Thursday • Varsity soccer @ West Mich. Christian 7 p.m. • Varsity tennis hosts quad 4 p.m. • Girls’ swimming @ Hudsonville 6:30 p.m. • Volleyball hosts triangular 5:30 p.m. Friday • Varsity football vs. Caledonia 7 p.m. at Sailor Stadium • Girls’ golf @ Ludington Invitational 9:30 a.m. Saturday • Varsity soccer @ Fruitport 12:45 p.m. • Varsity tennis @ Holland Invitational 8:30 a.m. • Cross country @ Muskegon Invitational 8:15 a.m. • Volleyball @ Whitehall Invitational 9 a.m.
2011 graduate to appear on The Voice Sylvia Yacoub, a 2011 graduate of Shores, will appear on The Voice, a singing contest TV show, this season, which begins Sept. 10 on NBC. Yacoub previously auditioned for American Idol but was not selected.
next paper Don’t forget to pick up your first 12-page edition Oct. 12, which will contain pre-election coverage.
index
p. 2 – editorial p. 3 – entertainment p. 4-5 – center section p. 6 – feature p. 7 – profiles p. 8 – sports
LOG the
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Volume 51 Edition 1 Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Mona Shores High School • 1121 Seminole Road • Norton Shores, Michigan 49441
This is Sailor Country
Heights change has little effect on Shores By Jake Bordeaux
Editor-in-Chief
Shores students show their Sailor Pride during the varsity football team’s 42-6 win over Muskegon Cathoic Central in the opening game of the 2012 season. (Rachel Resterhouse)
we do everything with…
P R I D E
ersonal responsibility
Knowing what to do and doing it
School motto provides behavioral matrix By Jake Bordeaux
Editor-in-Chief
Every year, principal Jennifer Bustard constructs a new theme for the high school that she feels represents the values that Shores would like to promote. This year, however, she Treating yourself and others said she realized the perfect properly with empathy theme had been here as long and consideration as the school. “Our goal was to come up with a theme to unite us all, and we decided to use what has already been in place for 50 years,” Bustard said. What had been in place was the phrase, “This is Sailor Acting with honesty toward country; we do everything self and school with pride,” which has been said thousands of times over the years, and Bustard said the Sailor administrative staff realized how powerful the phrase was. Bustard said this reinvented theme was the result of a MiBLSi Using self-control (Michigan’s Integrated to be your best Behavior and Learning Support Initiative) leadership program team that was created due to a five-year federal grant given to address and focus on areas that impact student achievement. Demonstrating a positive interest “We didn’t reinvent the
espect
ntegrity
isciplined
ngagement
wheel. P.R.I.D.E. is there to help us be the best students and be rock stars,” Bustard said. “We want everyone to be part of a collective thought.” In the past, the first day of school was marked by the long and tedious task of teachers reading through all of the student handbook’s rules and regulations, but this year Bustard said she hopes to provide a little relief for students with the P.R.I.D.E. behavioral expectations matrix. “Instead of reading through the handbook in each hour, first hour teachers will explain “P”, second hour teachers will explain “R”, and so on up until our end-of-the-day pep assembly which will have a P.R.I.D.E. theme,” Bustard said. While this matrix will not be handed out to students directly, a copy of it was sent home in the registration packets in early August. Additionally, all teachers will post a copy of the matrix in their room, it will be posted on the walls and windows around school, and any student looking for his own copy may print one from the high school website.
Will Shores become “The New Muskegon Heights”? That was the question on a lot of people’s minds – in both school districts – when Muskegon Heights High School was converted from a public to a charter school. Many people in the area were unsure of the effects the change would have on surrounding school districts. However, despite the cloud of rumors being whispered around the community, the actual situation is far less dramatic – at least for Shores. “I do not foresee any dramatic influx of our school’s population,” principal Jennifer Bustard said. “Students are required to reside in the district to attend Shores, and we are full to capacity each year. We open five spots per grade to school of choice students each year, and, so far, only five students from Muskegon Heights have been enrolled at Shores this year.” Due to financial problems, Muskegon Heights Public School District was forced to terminate its status as a public school district and transfer control to Mosaica Education Incorporated, establishing Heights as a charter school system. Students living in the Muskegon Heights district are eligible to attend the new charter school, but all parents must submit an application to the school and re-enroll their children for the upcoming year. Some students have selected to attend other schools in the area, with Muskegon Public Schools having the most new transfer students. “I suspect that most transfer students will select Muskegon Public School District over Mona Shores,” Bustard said. “The districts are right next to each other, so, for many, it will make the most sense.” Despite all of this, Shores prepared itself to take on a small number of new students this year, and an emergency plan has been put in place in case of a large, last-minute rush of students should emerge. “All new students must apply for enrollment before they can be allowed to attend Shores,” Bustard said. “I then review the enrollment application and make sure that the student can prove residency and is eligible to attend. While I do not expect a large number of new students, we have an emergency plan to allow us to handle an overwhelming number of students if need be.”