Teachers and students share holiday traditions.
Why do students skip class?
pg. 5
pg. 6 Found in 1991
Vol. XXVII Issue II
November 2017
http://thepirateshook.com
Former RHS Parent becomes Mayor Steve Schewel wins City Hall By Elijah King
A screen shot of Principal Tonya Williams' computer shows the many security cameras at Riverside. There are over 40 cameras watching over the school every day. •PHOTO BY LEONARDO GALEAS
Is Riverside safe?
Despite recent shootings, SROs and administration believe campus is secure By Leonardo Galeas After the recent mass shootings in Las Vegas, Nevada and Sutherland Springs, Texas students and staff members have considered the safety and security of Riverside’s campus. Riverside SRO Jamie Potts believes Riverside won't have any life threatening security issues here. “I don’t have any concerns about the school safety here,” said Potts. “We are doing a extremely good job securing the perimeter.” Potts believes the different type of safety procedures the school has keep students and staff safe, such as the lockout and lockdown protocols as well as restricted movement when Ms. Williams authorizes it. He also noted that when there is complete lockdown the whole school and campus are shut down; nobody
will come in and out, the doors remain close the whole time. However, he did note that if something were to happen at school all the officers are prepared to address any kind of threat. Like Potts, Riverside principal Tonya Williams beleives the school is safe, but she wants a few other things to get done to improve security in our campus. “I have talked about adding two cameras outside on both sides of the stairwell, since there are some kids who like to skip out there and do bad stuff,” said Williams. Even though implementing the new procedure of keeping the exterior doors closed and locked has helped prevent intruders from coming into the building, there are still a lot of students who open the doors to people they don’t know, said
Williams. Doors are only supposed to be open during class change or if a student from the trailers needs to enter the building for any reason, stated Principal Williams. French teacher Boumeridja Koussaila sometimes worries about the safety of his students and classroom since it is located outside of the school building in a trailer. “Sometimes you don’t know what is going to happen,” said Boumeridja. “We are outside the building, so anyone can park his car near the parking lot and come inside the trailers.” However, he is more concerned about the uncertain safety of his classroom at night. “I already had an experience with thieves,” he said. “I always used to leave a piano keyboard and a sound bar that I bought for like two to three
months in my trailer, some people broke into my trailer and stole it from me, the next day I came to school it was gone. Since that day I don’t leave anything valuable in my trailer.” Boumeridja wishes all the trailer classrooms were inside the building, but he understands that building more classrooms would be a lot of work. “I don’t see that happening soon,” he said. He also believes the school should put cameras facing the trailers so that in case something does happen, we can videotape the intruders. Until all the trailer classrooms are moved inside the building, this is still going to be a safety concern,
Cont. on page 5
Riverside still waiting for new assistant principal
By Elijah King
•PHOTO BY: ASHLEY CRUZ
The temporary fence surrounds the school buses roundabout and sidewalk. Students have walk around the fence.
Temporary fence installed around bus lot
New roof could eliminate mold By Sigrid JensenOyaski As many pirates have noticed there is a new fence guarding the grass circle in the bus lot since the beginning of the quarter. The fence was built as a safety measure while the gym, auditorium, media center, and front office are getting reroofed. The fence is designed to keep students away from the various roofing materials. The project is much needed to fix leaks for many of these areas, according to Principal Tonya Williams. The media center, for example, has
a mold problem due to the excess moisture. Last year, former principal Joel County had the carpets, drapes and the ventilation systems cleaned to fix the problem with little improvement made as a result. “There will be no more puddles in Carlson’s office, and the corner of the auditorium won’t be flooded anymore,” said Williams. The project is expected take about 6 months and end sometime during the fourth quarter. Currently workers are vacuuming debris from the roof in preparation for the next step of removing current materials.
typically reviewing resumes and credentials to make sure we have best candidates to support students Riverside is still waiting for a and schools in Durham,” said Beyer. new assistant principal to replace Charles Carter. Carter left Riverside on Sept. 29 for a new job at Page High School in Greensboro. Principal Tonya Williams and other Riverside staff members have interviewed eight different applicants for the position but do not know who will be hired and when he/she will begin working at Riverside. Natalie Beyer, a school board member, said the journey a person has to take to land an assistant principal position in Durham is long and complex. “We meet 3 times a month to work on matters,” said Beyer, “and we will call special meetings as needed to further approve decisions in closed sessions” It starts with interviews with teachers, the principal of the school, and Williams looks for many different the Durham Public Schools’ human qualities when searching for a new resources department, which looks administrator. at the credentials and background “The new AP needs to be a team information on the candidate. player,” she said. “They need to be Recommendations are then sent consistent, they need to have a good to the superintendent, who reviews relationship with students and staff, everything and then sends them to they need to be able to assist teachers the school board, which contain 7 instructionally, and they need to be members. enthusiastic.” “As board members we are
"The new assitant principal needs to be a team player."
Principal Tonya Williams
After defeating Farad Ali in one of the most expensive mayoral races in Durham history, Steve Schewel has won the race to run City Hall. After doing everything from shaking hands to kissing babies, Schewel has landed himself as the eighth mayor of Durham County. A resident of Durham for 48 years, Schewel has been very involved in local politics since he was 18. Originally from Lynchburg, Virginia, Schewel came to Durham as an undergraduate at Duke University in 1969 and soonafter began working to “make [Durham] a city we love; a city for all.”
[Schewel] was also a Durham School Board member for four years and a city councilman for six.
After college, Schewel created the INDY week magazine and led it as the editor-in-chief for 30 years. He then taught at Jordan High School, coached youth soccer teams at the YMCA, and even coached Riverside JV boys and V girls soccer teams. He now teaches at Duke’s School of Public Policy. Schewel has also remained heavily involved in Durham politics. He was also a Durham School Board member for four years and a Durham City councilman for six years. Schewel has a wife and two boys, one is 27 and the other 31. Both of his sons attended Durham Public Schools and now the youngest lives in Florida and sells real estate while the oldest went to law school, worked as a public defender for three years, and is now a clerk for federal district court in New York.
Steve Schewel defeated Farad Ali last week to become Durham's next mayor. He is a former RHS soccer coach. • PHOTO COURTESY
OF STEVE SCHEWEL