A combination of West and Central Students wear Hawaiian shirts to the second annual West-Central combined dance. Photo: C. Hansen
TCW
ccidentalist
Traverse City West Senior High
Volume IXX, Issue 4, Jan. 2016
In Brief:
Fighting for funds TCAPS takes major cuts in
Congratulations to Kyla Foley and Eric Kolarik, who have been chosen as the February Kiwanis Students of the Month. Applying to college? Thousands of dollars are available in scholarships. Stop by the counseling office for more information.
Government teacher Tak Ready held a voter registration event in the Commons area on Jan. 27, where 99 students registered to vote in the next election. See politics story on page nine for information on candidates, and reasons for students to get involved in the political process.
Forty Business Tech students in Lori Dakoske’s class passed the Microsoft Office Specialist exam which is an industry recognized test.
During the month of February, there will be an Advisory competition to stock the T.C West Food Pantry. The pantry is in need of nonperishable goods and personal hygiene items for students in need. Some ideas of needed items include deodorant, canned goods, Mac and cheese, ramen noodles, fruit cups, nonperishable food items, bottled water or juice, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, and toilet paper.
Key Club will hold their annual Pasta for Pennies fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in February. The fourth hour class that raises the most money will win a Pasta lunch catered by The Olive Garden.
For students who need extra study time before or after school, need to check out a book, or just want a quiet space to read, the LMC has new hours from 7:10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. The newly approved dress code is now in effect. Students can watch a video explaining the new rules at the TCAPSMedia website.
WIhat’s n s i d e 9
Photo: A. Hansen
SCHOOL NEWS Rosenburg Starts Quiz Bowl
8 SCHOOL NEWS Photo: J. Fiting
Students Tied to Tethers
Photo: Photo: E. Submitted Girard by: Elle Warren
10 SPORTS
Ski team hits the slopes in Austria
Photo: C. Hansen
Photo: Submitted by: R. Lorenzen
7 FEATURES
Custodian Rick Lorenzen is a craftsman
Photo: S. Elhart
6
A&E
Peter Pan gets a make-over
funding, staff and students feel the burn
ANNAKA HANSEN
S
tudents are beginning to feel Before taking on the role of Deciding the effects from the strain on the Superintendent last year, what to cut… Soma had served as the the school’s budget when the fifth page of their essay doesn’t Head of Finance for the print in the library. Maybe it’s the fact that district since 2002. their history teacher doesn’t print worksheets With less funding, Soma anymore, but instead uploads them to their says the district is being forced to make some Moodle page for digital access. Some students tough decisions, one of the biggest is closing have noticed that the books they want to check elementary schools with Interlochen Commuout at the library just aren’t there. Teachers nity School, Old Mission Peninsula School and are paying for their markers, paper, tape, and the International School at Bertha Vos all being staples because their yearly school stipend was considered. eliminated this year. Textbooks are outdated, “We want our educational priorities to drive too, with no budget to replace them. the budget, not the other way around,” Soma Despite all this, few students know the depth said. of budget cuts that the district faces, or that Principal Joe Esper said he’s doing what he TCAPS is actually one of the lowest funded can to make the school work on the budget districts in the entire state. he has been provided. Last year the district switched back to semester scheduling to save money, but at the cost of losing very qualified TCAPS receives less… teachers. He also stated that teachers and students have quotas on how much paper they can use, and even consider costs when purchasing Roughly 80 percent school supplies like pencils and markers used of the district’s budget comes from the state for teaching. He is also restricting teachers foundation allowance, which pays for day to from attending conferences for training and day school operations. TCAPS receives $7,391 professional development. per student, approximately $2,600 less than “It feels like almost every day I’m saying some other schools downstate. Despite reduced ‘No’ to something, whether it’s something funding, TCAPS has higher costs for busing requested by a student or a teacher or a parent, because of the large area the district covers but those are kind of the big categories that we for transportation. Also, TCAPS schools have cut,” Esper said. increased heating and snow removal costs, as well as a higher rate of students on the free and reduced lunch program when compared to many schools with higher funding. This lower Closing schools, per pupil funding combined with the district’s reconstructing grade falling enrollment has created a budget crisis levels that requires immediate attention. “TCAPS gets less money than a lot of schools,” Principal Joe Esper said. “The amount of money we get per student is someBesides the possibility of closing elemenwhere around 7,000 dollars, but schools in tary schools, members of the Board of other districts can get as much as nine, 10, 11, Education have tossed around some ideas or 12 thousand dollars per student and if you on reconstructing the grade levels. One A multiply that out by thousands of students, it idea is to put all ninth and 10th graders at makes a huge difference.” West, and move all 11th and 12th graders to The district recently took another major hit Central High School as a way of redistricting. to its funding when the Traverse Bay Area “If [student enrollment] decreases or, at Intermediate School District notified the Board best, stays steady, we have excess overhead of Education and Superintendent Paul Soma and need to be responsible to tax payers and that it would cut its projected $700,000 yearly close buildings,” Board of Education member contribution in half. Kelly Clark said. “One of the things I would “The total budget is about 90 million dollars, like the district to look at is a cost analysis of and that cut is part of the 90 million dollars, reorganizing or right-sizing our district for the so if we don’t get that money in, it ends up long term.” Benefits to moving upperclassbeing a shortfall,” Soma said. “Ultimately, that men to Central include saving money on busmoney is used for all the things that we need in sing and combined sports teams, and giving the school, whether it be supplies, staff develthe older student an easier way to attend early opment, or teachers. It’s just part of a big pie college classes at Northwestern Michigan chart, and it’s a slice of that pie and we have to College because its campus connects to Cenfigure out what to do about it.” tral High School.
Less money, but still on top Despite doing more with less, Esper says the dedicated teachers and staff have ensured that the students aren’t feeling the loss of funding when it comes to their education. “I think it’s the teachers that are really going above and beyond and working hard and using routines that work,” he said. He also said it’s partly the dedicated students that make our school so successful. “There’s a culture at our school of wanting to do well. It’s a high academic achieving school at West and kids step up to that,” Esper said. The TCAPS district may have less money to make education work at its best, but this hasn’t stopped the school from being recognized by the U.S. News & World Report as one of the “Best High Schools” in the nation for helping students build a strong foundation for a successful future. The school also made The Washington Post’s list as one of the “Most Challenging High Schools” for the fifth consecutive year, an honor reserved for only 11 percent of the approximately 22,000 U.S. public high schools.
A+
U.S. News & World Report “Best High School” The Washington Post “Most Challenging High Schools”
call to action…
Esper wants students and parents to know that they have a voice in funding their schools. “I’ve been in education for 15 or 16 years now and it seems like there have been some kind of cuts in every district I’ve been in, some years worse than others,” he said. “I want to remind people, including our students, 300 of which will be eligible to vote by the end of the school year, that they can advocate too,” he said. “Kids and parents can always advocate with Lansing about how much money schools are allocated. At some point schools are going to have to be allocated more to stop this pattern of cutting and cutting.”
Decking HALLS in the
JADE WILSON
T
he halls have been alive with flying fists, leaving no doubt that there have been more fights this school year than in the past. “There have been more physical confrontations this year at West than we typically see,” Principal Joe Esper said. “In fact, it is accurate to say there have been more physical altercations this year than the past few school years combined.” The causes for fighting are often a mystery. When words get tossed around and when a solution can’t be found, some students turn to their fists to try and solve the problem. Esper believes the increased fighting is a reflection of a few troubled students, not of the school population as a whole. “There have been some school years that pass with no physical fights at all,” Esper said. “We have been able to draw connections between the confrontations that have happened this year to a very small group of instigators that are being addressed.” With the increase in altercations this year, the school is taking a firm stance against violence and administrators are laying down the law when it comes to fighting, depending on the circumstances. “Consequences can range from expulsion, out of school suspension, in school suspension, loss of privileges, like lunch or cell phones, and restricted movement in the building,” Esper said. “Law enforcement also processes any physical altercations that occur at West, which could lead to arrest and charges in court.” Students also need to be aware of bullying and those who are making physical threats, particularly when using social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. “The school is still required to report and address fights that happen off school property or outside of school time,” Esper said. “If the fight results in students feeling unsafe at school or disrupts the learning environment, the school will address it if we are aware of it. This also applies to threats students may post on social media outside of school time.” Fights have broken out in the hallways, the commons, the parking lot, and even in the classroom. Fighters have been expelled, and bistanders can be held accountable for not reporting fights. When words don’t work to solve problems, students should talk with a counselor or wing principals to avoid pulling hair and brawling in the corridors.
From the front page of the first edition of the Occidentalist Newspaper
WEST TURNS
20
On Jan. 27, 1997, Superintendent Peter Wharton addressed students, staff, parents, and members of the community in the Commons area of the brand new Traverse City West Senior High at the school’s grand opening. The opening came almost a half year late, but community members, volunteers, teachers, and students came in the week before to move furniture, stack shelves, and clean, to get the new learning space ready for the students’ first day. The new school was built when Central High School seemed to be bursting at the seams from overcrowding due to increased enrollment trends. Teachers and students came with Central’s principal, Joe Tibaldi, to open the new school, many sharing a vision of finding new ways to make learning meaningful. Principal Tibaldi stayed with the school until his retirement in 2015. Twenty years of building traditions at West has helped create a fierce competition between the cross-town rival schools, and the phrase “West is best” is still commonly used.