10 (entertainment)
The Reporter • October 2011
Excuses gone Who’s that kid? New students bad from all over Students make up excuses to get out of doing homework kali blanc reporter As juniors Christine Bessey and Joe Pomatto said they have learned Photo illustration by Kali Blanc that homework can’t always be completed, and at that point another plan must be used. While excuses can become a nuisance and A lot of us have heard them. The good annoying to teachers, both teachers agreed ones are semi-believable. The horrible one’s they enjoy classes that have personality. only a half-witted armadillo would believe “I’d rather have a class with personality,” and the funny ones deserve props for being a Schmidt said. “This whole thing is just about poor excuse for a poor excuse. working with people, not science.” “[The best excuse I have ever heard is The worst experience Schmidt had with that] you shouldn’t give homework over a excuses was when a student told him that he long weekend, because we forget to do it,” didn’t have his homework because his house Kelly Fields, English teacher, said. burned down. Christine Bessey has to finish her home“I chewed him out,” Schmidt said. “Then work at the last minute about once a week. the class said his house really did burn “I usually just put down random answers down.” if it’s graded for completion,” Bessey said. Schmidt and Fields said they would Joe Pomatto occasionally doesn’t get his rather have a student tell them “straight up” homework done for his fourth block classes that they didn’t have time, rather than make because of football practice. something up. Fields said that under certain “I try to do as much as I can, but if I don’t circumstances appreciates the creativity that get it done, I will use my resources,” Pomatto goes into making a good excuse. said with a grin. “Bland days would get monotonous as Fields estimated that about 40 percent of well,” Fields said. her students don’t get their homework done Excuses can spark humor in some teachon a daily basis. Karl Schmidt, biology teach- ers. Pomatto told BriAnne Chayer, English er, said only about 10 percent of his students teacher, that his dog ate his novel response don’t get their homework done. book. “If they didn’t finish their homework they “I showed Mrs. Chayer my book and she usually give an excuse,” Fields said. “Usu- started laughing,” Pomatto said. ally they just say they didn’t understand.”
come for different reasons hali wimbush reporter
Thirty- seven new faces have joined the Panther family since Aug. 17. These faces are those of new students that come to Paola from all over Kansas. Students come to Paola for several different reasons. Samantha Dennigan, sophomore, came to Paola for the benefit of her family. “My parents work closer to Paola,” Dennigan said. “So it’s more gas savvy.” Other students come to Paola for the benefit of their future. Josh Newberry, senior said he is attending Paola just for sports, including soccer, track, and wrestling. While some students are new to the district, others are returning. Elijah Short, sophomore, previously attended Paola and transferred to Spring hill over the summer. Short returned to Paola the second week of the 2011-2012 school year for the student atmosphere, he said “My friends stayed up until midnight and it made me feel really warm and fuzzy,” Short said. “I just felt a lot more accepted here, because the people are just more open and accepting.” Adjusting to a new school isn’t always easy for new students. Debbie Baldwin, counselor, helps new students to adjust by setting up times to meet with them. “We like to call all new students and just let them know what we’re here for,”
Baldwin said. “We look at grade reports and we’ll go into the classroom and just observe to see how the new students are getting along. We have about two students out of 40 that have noticed issues to report but most of them are already having a good experience.” she said. Adjusting to a new school can be challenging for several reasons, from not knowing anyone, moving into new houses and having to re adjust your mental time clock to a new schedule. Dennigan is used to a late start every Wednesday at Louisburg. On Wednesdays school in Louisburg starts at 8:35. Newberry is becoming familiar with the different lunch schedules. “Paola has four lunches instead of just one big one and that’s pretty cool,” Newberry said. New students and entering freshmen don’t have to enter high school completely unprepared, Justin Elliott, counselor, goes to Holy Trinity and to the middle schools eighth grade to talk to the students about moving up. “The students get onto Kansas Career Pipeline to get a look at their career and the courses that are offered at Paola,” Baldwin said. “They talk about the schedule changes, and when Student council hosts the first day, we always receive really positive feedback.” Students entering Paola High School don’t have to worry about the mass changes, because the school works to make incoming students well prepared, she said.