THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

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Administration has stated that a new tardy policy will be enforced, starting January 2023. The policy will change the set of consequences listed on current tardy receipts. Other details of this policy have yet to be announced, but they are expected to control the increasing number of tardies.

“The number of tardies is significant, not just the tardies to school, but also the ones to class. We are doing all that we can do to support our teachers’ concerns,” Mann said.

The lack of policy this semester has left many, namely staff, wondering why so many students are trickling into class after the bell with little to no consequence and if the longawaited policy will be effective.

School-issued transportation arrives at 7:15 a.m, and first block begins at 7:45 a.m. This gives bus riders about 30 minutes of leisure time before class. However, many of these students have to go outside to join the late car riders and get in line when they are late, which causes them to be later to class.

“If a student unloads at 7:15 a.m from the bus, there is really no reason why they should be late,” Dr. Brandon Mann said.

The bus port doesn’t seem to be the main source of the plentiful tardies though. There are plenty of driving students who arrive late at school with a meal or drink in hand after a pit stop. Students prioritizing their morning coffee over timeliness can easily keep them from making it in the front doors before the 7:45 a.m bell.

However, many students claim that their late arrival is no fault of their own. The large percentage of the population that do not or cannot legally drive but rely on someone else for transportation, really have no control over what time they get to school.

“My brother drives me to school and he takes a long time to get ready,” Cadence Williams (9), an often tardy student, said.

Others claim that even when they are on schedule, factors in the school zone traffic cause a delay.

“Traffic around the school causes me to be late. Half of the time, I’m here just waiting at the light,” Jaslyn Leiva (10) said.

Students claim some new policies, unrelated to tardies, are partly to blame for more tardies. Within the first month of school, a morning policy was introduced. It required all students to report to either the seminar room, cafeteria, or the gym until the 7:35 a.m. bell. This policy caused lots of controversy among students, with many saying it took away from their morning activities or social time. With the limitation on morning freedom, students are left with 10 minutes to take care of any school work or socializing.

Many come later to avoid going in the building prior to the 7:35 a.m. bell and get stuck in traffic that piles up after 7:30 a.m., which creates more tardies.

However, the tardy affair isn’t exclusive to the 7:45 a.m. bell. Students are racking up tardies between each class too.

Another policy was announced in October, which shut off vending machines during lunch in order to keep students from wasting their lunchtime, wandering the halls and distracting other classes that are in session. With this, students are left with only the five minute transition time to purchase a snack. This may explain the long lines seen at the vending machines past the bell, which, again, causes more tardies.

“I think it’s very unfortunate that the vending machines were turned off during lunch. Since then, the lines have gotten way too long. Instead of shutting them off, maybe the school could assign a supervisor to manage them,” Delilah Dagoulehi-Starr (11) said.

There is an older policy that requires students to stay in the classroom for the first and last 10 minutes of class, so the transition between classes is the time that many students use to take a restroom break.

It takes approximately the entire five minutes to walk from E hall to J hall alone, via any route, which leaves no spare time to make any stops.

Some teachers have taken the initiative of giving their students “brain breaks,” where they are allowed to use the restroom and go to the vending machines. However, not all teachers provide these.

Regardless of the reason, tardies have a burdening impact on teachers and students who are on time. With students trickling into class long after the bell, teachers have to pause instruction to let the students in, change their attendance, and repeat the lesson for those who were not there to hear it. It impacts the students in the classroom who are now subjected to a loss of class time due to their peers' interruptions. The late-arriving students are impacted as well, as they may have come in after an assignment has already begun, leaving them less understanding and time to complete it.

An additional tardy problem is students returning to class late after lunch. There is currently no system in place to record after-lunch tardies in third block. For these many reasons, teachers are awaiting a response to the amount of late arrivals.

“A tardy policy would absolutely make some change, as long as it is enforced by teachers and administration,” English teacher, Dr. Elizabeth Jamison said.

Students, on the other hand, want to see more leniency regarding tardiness.

"Its unfair to ban people things like games and school activities for being tardy. Parents and teachers should be contacted. Tardiness is a problem but not a major one," John Hamilton (9), a rarely tardy student, said.

The new year will bring a new policy.

CONGRATULATIONS!

MHS PTSA would like to congratulate the recipients of the 2022 MHS PTSA Teacher Grants

The goal of MHS PTSA is to make a positive impact on the students and staff of MHS. Supporting the MHS PTSA through purchasing a membership, buying spirit items and volunteering helps the MHS PTSA meet this goal.

Support of credit recovery incentive program with snacks and gift cards

2 Batteries for mobile light stands for live videos for Good

Supplies for the MHS Greenhouse (soil, seeds, garden tools,

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Students were excited for this pep rally because it began a new tradition.

It had similar, traditional components from Homecoming week with spirit days, a pep rally, and a game to end the week. However, hoopcoming had males for court recognition.

“I loved Hoopcoming. I felt like it gave the boys of the school a chance to be recognized,” Myla Derosena (10) said. Unlike Homecoming, there is no dance to follow the events of the week, so the pep rally was the highlight.

The students were dressed up to each class theme. Freshman rocked their cowboy boots and flannel shirts, sophomores wore their 90's hip-hop artists on their shirts, juniors were groovy in their disco themed clothes and finally, seniors wore rock band shirts for their theme.

The competitions between grade levels included basketball, class cheers, a dance off, and overall spirit. While everyone was supports the Blue Devils, each grade level will always fight to win the ongoing competition to see who is the best class.

Many different strategies were created before the pep rally to throw shade to the opposing grades. Juniors reading Pitchfork newspapers and freshman sleeping in the stands to ignore the other grades while they were performing.

“I thought that [the newspapers were] a very creative way of showing originality in their class and how they worked really hard to get the spirit stick,” Jackson Turner (9) said.

The seniors were not pleased with the result of the junior win, but the juniors have the spirit stick until next time.

“I am expecting all of the classes to have even more spirit due to the juniors having newspapers at the last one, and I also feel like the other grades are going to want to step it up and have even more props that are even better than the ones the juniors brought,” Tierra Smith (9) said.

Excitement filled the gym as students embraced old and new traditions.

“The most meaningful part was seeing everyone else happy and enjoying a good time with each other during the festivities," sophomore hoopcoming representative, Kaleb Whitlow (10) said.

Improvements to the Plein Air Patio. Sun umbrellas, umbrella stands, 4 Adirondack chairs

Juniors celebrate as Coach Rogers announces they win the spirit stick. Seconds later he was surrounded by the crowd grabbing for their prize.