7 Positive minds, All work, no (opinion)
The Reporter • October 2011
good results
Keeping an open mind improves outlook Having new administration has caused concern kali blanc reporter for many students this year. We need to realize these changes are inevitable and are going to have to be dealt with your whole life. So to those students that are stressed out – get over it. A PHS student said that they did not have a problem with the new, they just missed the old. Students may have loved our former adminatrators, but wecan not let the memory of them hold us back. With all new administration, students have different doors that are opening to the future. Harboring the emotions of the past can only lead to catastrophe. The new principal, Phil Bressler, is constantly exceeding my expectations for him. He is open to my ideas as well as keeping the old. Think positively instead of negatively, and by keeping your mind open you will succeed. Say you go ice skating, if you constantly think about how you do not want to fall, all you think about is falling. But if you think about the situation in a positive light, thinking about staying on your feet, you’re more than likely going to stay on your feet according to the book 8 to Great by MK Mueller. Mueller said that visualizing the outcome until it feels good is the first step to any dream or goal. Being open-minded means that you’re receptive to new ideas and that you’re willing to consider other perspectives to see if they hold any value. When someone has
this state of mind, they are more willing to try new things (remember the open doors we talked about earlier). Even though those doors may lead you down a wrong path, at least you tried. Close-minded people are not as willing to open those doors, thus they will never find the right path. These people have closed their mind to the possibilities and their stubbornness prevents them from achieving their goals. When this happens they greatly decrease the odds of any success. One student said that our school is dumb for letting the best principal go. She said that she was mad that most everyone was just going with the flow and acting like it was ok that Henn and Perbeck are gone. When you close your mind and become stubborn, you’re essentially telling yourself, your higher self, and the natural forces of the universe that you’re not willing to go the extra mile - that you’re not willing to grow and experience new things. If you are not willing to grow, experience new things, and instead choose to be stubborn or closed minded then there can be no change and no progress in life and things will never improve - it’s that simple. No matter what, new people will come into your life in the future, respect them, and you in turn will receive that same respect. Life will be much simpler. Most of the time these people that come into our lives, did not choose it, they were forced to. So welcome them with open arms. In the end people all want the same goal, to be accepted. And that goal can only be accomplished with an open-mind.
play libby rayne reporter
Think back to your elementary school days… you had recess, snack time, nap time, minimal homework if any at all, and the energy of a kitten… those truly were the days. Then right before your eyes, all of it was ripped out from under you. You were thrown into a new school with new rules and more homework and more stress without any outlets. Every day, students fall asleep in class. A nap time that seemed impractical, even cruel, to us as six year olds now seems like it should be a requirement. High school students could use a break. Now I’m sure most adults first thought after reading this is, “Well those kids should be getting more sleep.” Don’t get me wrong, I agree completely, but that will most likely never happen for most teens. According to the National Sleep Foundation website, staying up later is what comes naturally to a teenager. So what would the harm be in some sort of midday break? If we shaved off about 7.5 minutes from each class (not including lunch) that would render a 30 minute break. If we put that break after lunch, the time would really add up. This is a solution that could definitely be worked into the schedule without much hassle. “Maybe if we could just get out of the
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reporter the staff
Volume 87 Issue 1
Naps and recess could improve attention span, stop sleeping in class
Co-Editors-in-Chief: Rosalyn Lucas, Riley Sawyer Design Editor: Hope Waisner Reporters: Marissa Bergman, Kali Blanc, Katey Colwell, Lane Harris, Beth Johansen, Aly Johnson, Shelby McDaniel, Jenna Ratzlaff, Libby Rayne, Carl Schmidt, Chrystal Thompson, Hali Wimbush Ad Manager: Jessica Allison Political Cartoonist: Jenna Ratzlaff Adviser: BriAnne Chayer
mission statement
The mission of the Paola High School Reporter is to inform and entertain its audience in a broad, fair, and accurate manner of all subjects that affect readers. The publication seeks also to provide a forum for the opinion of students, the staff of the paper, and the faculty, thus encouraging an exchange of ideas and opinions on issues of importance to the readers.
school environment; that’d be good,” said Conner Maynard, sophomore. It would be a time of rejuvenation. A small break from the day to go outside and get some fresh air. Maybe to go home or just sit outside on the school’s grounds. This mid-day recess would be fantastic but it does seem slightly unrealistic. So I guess an alternative would be to go straight to the problem. As students, we should be getting more sleep. “Ultimately, it’s up to them,” said Lisa Collier, math teacher. Collier estimates that she has at least five students a day who fall asleep in her class. The most popular time they fall asleep is after lunch. She does agree that a break some time during the day would prove beneficial, but she said that it is not always easy to accomplish at our school. “I don’t take it personally,” said Todd DeYoung, science teacher. He has a completely different outlook on sleeping students. He believes it’s only natural for the mind to wander and for kids to be tired and bored at school. “The bigger problem than being tired is why they are tired,” DeYoung said. “They are staying up late doing things they shouldn’t be doing.” Maynard said that just having more interactive classes would help him stay awake. Kim Minden, junior, agreed. She also would like more hands on activities during her classes. Being tired during the school day is a contributing factor to lack of motivation and unsatisfactory grades. If we had this break, the issue of tired/sleeping students would be on its way to improvement.
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It is the policy of the Paola Reporter, to provide a forum for student expression, voices in the uninhibited, robust, free and open discussion of issues. The Reporter encourages students to write letters to the editor or submit articles for the editorial page. We reserve the right to edit content. Material that contains libelous or obscene information will not be published. Material that will cause a disruption of school activities is also prohibited. Authors must provide their full name. No articles will be published with an alias.