Granger high school
Tri-Color Times
An open forum for student opinion and expression
TRICOLORTIMES.COM
february 2014 LVI-6
Mr. Hopkins’s speech inspires Granger students By Misty Garlick MR. HOPKINS’S speech talks about the Martin Luther King Jr. speech that took place on the August 28, 1963. King’s dream talks about how he hopes that one day his four children can live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. On April 4, 1968, King was shot and killed by James Earl Ray. King’s speech has impacted a lot of people. Including some fellow Lancers. “I thought it was pretty cool. Very inspiring and also very heart-touching. It was very bittersweet,” Antionio Loredo (10) said. Loredo feels that racism is stupid, and idiotic. “I think that a lot of people use it
as an excuse. For example: when a teacher tells them to stop talking, kids use their skin colors as an excuse,” Loredo said. If he could change racism he would in a heartbeat. Some Lancers were very inspired by Hopkins’s speech. “Hopkins’s speech gave me a totally different outlook on life. I didn’t really have an opinion on racism until Hopkins’s speech,” Alex Campbell (10) said. It touched him very deeply when Hopkins told the story of his two best friends. He also feels that a lot of people with different skin color still think that all “white people” are the same. “And it’s not true, I am white and I am not racist,” Campbell said. He also added that he sees a lot of Lancers of different types
hanging out together. It just all has to do with personality -- once past that, nothing else should matter. Even Granger’s staff was affected by Hopkins’s speech. “His speech was awesome and well worth going to,” said Mr. Oaks. “We are different, but we are still human, and we should all be treated the same way,” Oaks said. Mr. Hopkins speech has moved a lot of people and inspired people to love others. “Hopkins is a good person to get advice from,” said William Prater (12) said. He loved Hopkins’s speech and feels it inspired him very much to be a better person. Some Lancers would have added to Hopkins’s speech if they could.
Things like sayings from Dr. King’s speech or pictures and even video. “I would have added a video of Dr. King’s speech just to show how many people were crying during his speech,” Olson said. He was so inspired by Mr. Hopkins’s speech that he bought one of the raps. “It was very influential and it had an impact on a lot of people including myself,” Hanin Sheikh (10) said. Sheikh feels that because racism still exist today it is going to take everyone to stand up to it and get rid of it. “One person is not going to get rid of racism, but it does start with one person,” she said. Racism affects her every day because of stereotypes. Mr. Hopkins will continue to inspire people with his speech.
Girls Basketball by Lindsie Hicks
If Mr Hopkins could change racism, he would do it in a heartbeat. Some Lancers were very inspired by his speech.
Administration helps motivate kids to graduate By Bianca Gomez THE WORD ‘graduation’ has symbolism behind it. It symbolizes the accomplishments of years of hard work and determination. Graduation is the time where students embrace being a Lancer. Ultimately there are students who have a hard time keeping up. Whether it is from falling behind in classes or senioritis taking over their lives. Counselors and administrators are passionate in influencing and assisting all to graduate. “Life is so very, very, very difficult for those who do not graduate. Essentially, you will be working twice as hard for half the money, compared to those who did graduate,” said assistant principal Oaks. This is true. When students grad-
uate, it is not only for themselves, but also for all those who have been by their side through their struggles. There are many things in life that people complete from novels to video games – high school should be completed, too. “There is nothing like having all the hard work, time, and relationships made, that you have put in over all these years, graduation is a combination of all these. You open doors,” said college adviser Cooper. The reality of it all is this, if they can accomplish this, they can accomplish anything life throws at them. Mr. Cooper did not graduate traditionally, meaning he did not get the chance to walk, “My mom did not get to see me get my diploma,
I would give anything to have walked with my class,” he said. If students have failed classes and need to make up credits, packets will help them get where they need to be. In addition, Granger’s faculty expects that having freshmen start high school at ninth grade will help more students graduate by adding the realization that graduation is only four short years away. It creates a graduation mindset for all four years. “We use a method called the ‘bubble strategy’ ” assistant principal Gatti said. “We track them from when they begin school here, used to be with sophomores, now it’s freshman. We track how many credit hours they have and if we can help them.”
“It’s tough for those students who never attend, or do attend, but do not do work hard and only have three or four credits by senior year. We can’t help them graduate, but we will help them earn a GED,” Dr. Gatti said. For students who can’t graduate, earning a GED is much better than leaving high school with nothing. No matter the circumstances, students should take the opportunities presented to them here at Granger in order to further their education. Graduating will help now, and it will help later in a student’s life and successes. But failing to graduate will stifle many more opportunities to grow in the process to reaching full potential.
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