THE
HURON EMERY
@THEHURONEMERY
HURON HIGH SCHOOL, 2727 FULLER RD., ANN ARBOR MI 48105
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MISHAL CHARANIA ONLINE EDITOR
Former school board president Harmony Mitchell congratulates Huron’s class of 2019 graduates last June. ANDREW CLULEY
AAPS School Board President resigns SAMI RUUD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
NEWS
Harmony Mitchell’s journey first began in 2015, when she noticed a disparity in what kids were learning across the Ann Arbor Public Schools, specifically where families with lower incomes lived. A year later, she ran for the Ann Arbor Board of Education, serving two years as treasurer and one as president. Last month, she had to make a big decision. Mitchell had been attempting to balance a lot over the past year: her position as Board President piled on top of a full time job, going to school to receive her MBA in Human Resources from Penn
State, four children at home, as well as health difficulties. On Jan. 16, Mitchell stepped down from her position as the president of the board. “Resigning was a tough decision for me,” Mitchell said. “I’ve actually gone back and forth about this the last couple of months. There comes a point in time where you say ‘Yes, just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should.’ And just because I could remain on the board and finish out my term, it didn’t necessarily mean I should do it, because there are a lot of other pressing matters in my life, and my time would be so divided that I would not
See MITCHELL, PAGE 3
VOL. 5 ISSUE 4
The first time Advanced Placement Chemistry teacher Andrew Collins recognized cheating in his AP Chem class was in 2007. Following this incident, Collins informally polled his AP Chem classes to understand the severity of the cheating. About 87 percent of his students agreed that cheating was happening within the class. This year, several incidents of academic dishonesty were identified in the AP Chem classes. AP Chem teachers Collins and Veronica Choe* decided that as a result of this cheating, the structure of the class would be changed. AAPS’ cheating policy is laid out in the Rights and Responsibilities handbook, which Huron follows. Huron also follows the Ann Arbor International Baccalaureate Academic Honesty Policy. Both policies work to prevent cheating and help students learn from incidents of academic dishonesty. The administration works with students who commit academic dishonesty, involving teachers and guardians when necessary. According to the guidelines, students are given a zero on plagiarized assignments. The consequence for cheating is decided on a case-
by-case basis. Huron’s administration commented on the situation by providing the cheating policy that the school follows. Due to the sensitivity of the current situation, they did not comment further. AP Chem is notorious for building up study skills and work ethic due to the difficulty of the material. According to a current AP Chem student**, many students care more about their rank than about class content. “To some students, an A is more important than learning [in] the class, and many students will sacrifice their morals to get that A,” a current AP student said. “Some people just suck at cheating so they got caught.” In AP Chem, rubrics are not given to students to write their lab report because they contain answers to the pre-lab questions. Since the lab experiments are repeated each year, returned rubrics and lab write-ups are often available from past students. In class, AP Chem students are given their t e s t s back
See CHEATING, PAGE 2
GRAPHICS BY JULIE HENG
briefs
Erik Thompson fills Ninth Grade Dean position
pervised the school psychologists as well as students who go to the Michigan School for the Deaf and students who are hospitalized or on homebound services.” LYDIA HARGETT Thompson’s favorite thing about STAFF WRITER this job was getting to work with all the Huron did not have a Ninth Grade high schools. Dean this school year until last month, “Of course, Huron was my favorwhen Erik Thompson officially filled that ite,” Thompson said. position and joined the Huron administra- Growing up in a small town near tive team. Plymouth, Massachusetts led Thompson to Thompson has worked for various be a fan of the Patriots football team as well schools across as the Red Sox baseball team. Michigan, most “I played a lot of sports as a kid: recently workbaseball, basketball, track and field, you ing as AAPS’ name it,” Thompson said. “I had a lot of Assistant Direcgreat friends, I even went to college with tor for Student one of them.” Intervention Now, Thompson lives near Ann Arand Support bor with his wife and daughter who attends GEORGE WHITE Services. Early College Alliance at Eastern Michigan. “I supported all of the high schools in Ann Arbor,” Thompson said. “I also su-
See more briefs, PAGE 3
NEWS:
Teacher leaves Huron after two years
SPORTS:
Men’s swim heads into postseason
PAGE 5
FEATURE:
Highlights from the 2020 Art Night
PAGE 9
PAGE 14
OPINION:
How my life changed after adoption PAGE 7