May 3, 2011
Speech team granted honor to compete at State Championships Megan Adams Staff Reporter
News
New intervention schedule set to premiere next year
left off to the Championships. “Go do your best, I know you will all do well because you always do. I love you all, win or lose. I wish I could be there with you guys, but I am with you in spirit every step of the way.” Junior Tayryn Edwards was the only one to continue on to Semi-Finals in her Original Prose and Poetry (OPP) speech in which she spoke about giving meaning to your life titled Letters to a Growing Girl. Edwards got knocked out of Semi-Finals by several schools from San Diego, not advancing to the Final Round. “I thought I performed the best that I’ve performed ever performed the entire season. I felt it was a really good way to end the season,” stated Edwards. “I think the level of competitiveness went up, but also camaraderie because when you go to State instead of competing against other schools your now one team competing against all of the schools in the state.” With the end of the season, the team relishes their time and memories.
By Megan Adams Staff Reporter
Over spring break, eight out of eighteen Speech and Debate students competed at State Championships in San Diego, with only one making it to Semi- Finals. “This is a really special group of kids,” said Elko. “I see a lot of camaraderie and team spirit,” she said in response to what she sees when at a tournament. “Instead of playing cards or board games like a lot of the other teams do or practicing for the next round, our students goes to each other’s events to offer moral support. I think this goes a long way because the kids compete as a team as much as they compete as individuals,” she said. Freshman, Andrew Solano, sophomores Kelly Nabaglo and Kennedy Murtagh, juniors Jesse Nelson, Tayryn Edwards, Morgan Dixon and Jillian Ebrahimi and senior Brittany Attwood, were the final eight to attend the Championships. “It was perfect. It was a really good team bonding experience. I was running on pure exhaustion, but it was well worth it,” said Brittany Attwood. “It was all something we are going to remember as one of our high school experiences. I am really proud of our team because our debaters stepped up at the last minute and still performed; it really showed Woodcreek spirit.” Before the competition, teammate Taylor Searcy who was not able to attend State PHOTO COURTESY OF JILLIAN EBRAHIMI Championships for either of her Expository speech or Public WORDSMITHS: The Speech and Debate team Forum Debate, gave her team competed at the state meet in San Diego. some parting words before they
With every new school year comes change, whether it’s new friends, different hangout spots or new study habits, but next year, students can expect a change unlike one they’ve faced before. The upcoming school year our schedule is being changed to an Embedded Intervention schedule. What this means exactly is more help. “It’s going to be a transition for everybody, it’s another schedule, different number of minutes on multiple days,” science teacher Robert Forester said. As of right now the only thing different about the schedule is one lunch on Mondays. Next year the main change is the Wednesday and Thursday schedules. On Wednesdays, second and fourth period classes will be 100 minutes long, while first and third of that day will be 78 minutes long. The schedule will be the opposite on Thursdays with first and third period being 100 minutes long. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, in classes that are 100 minutes long, teachers will let certain students out for the last thirty minutes of the period. Not every student will have the luxury of being able to leave class a half hour early; this privilege will be for the students who are doing well in that class. Students who are kept inside will then have the opportunity to receive one-on-one help from their teacher to work on the skills and areas they need to improve on. Unlike the previous intervention schedules, released students will not simply be left to wander around for the remaining time. Instead, they will be able to seek enrichment opportunities. “We are going to offer teachers extra money to develop what we are going to
call enrichment activities that could happen any time during that release schedule,” Principal Jess Borjon said. Enrichment activities can be anything from analyzing a poetry segment in Romantic literature to studying. “Counselors are thrilled because they are going to start offering [enrichment activities] as well,” Borjon said. Counselors will instruct students in college-prep classes such as tips on filling out college applications and the FAFSA, building up resumes and SAT Prep. But the new schedule was not without opposition. “People feel like they’re already packed and that they’re losing additional minutes,” Assistant Principal, Heather Schlaman said. “There’s concern about holding students less accountable and how they should make their own time to come in and get help.” Other concerns with the proposed schedule are what released students will do with their time and the additional work imposed on teachers through having to decide which kids to release, where to send them and what they should do with their time. The schedule has been tailored to address these concerns. “As far as instructional time we think that it can be more focused,” Schlaman said. “Students can get additional opportunities to be taught in different ways rather than have teachers take instructional time to review and re-teach material in class.” Former Assistant Principal Jon Smith thinks the schedule will yield benefits for both the school and students. “Woodcreek is a school with immense potential and was already a good school; but to become a great school, an excellent school, we need a systematic intervention program,” he said.
concepts brought tears of frustration to my eyes. I wish I could say struggling with math was the extent of my problem with it. But this weakness of mine hit much closer to home even outside of the classroom. As a girl of Indian heritage, one of the many expectations I faced was the ability to be a mathematical genius. The feeling of panicking despair during a lesson in class was nothing compared to the disappointment and frustration my father expressed in his attempts to help me with my math homework. Math not only seemed to prove I wasn’t cut out for a career as an engineer; it fractured my sense of identity as well. But my aversion to math led to me to find a different identity. Unlike my struggles in trying to understand math, this identity was one that fit effortlessly without feelings of comprehension and frustration. I discovered writing and the beauty of discovery and reflection it provided in a way math and its world of black and white answers never could. Through writing, I was able to voice my thoughts and express myself in a way I
never thought possible. My love of writing evolved into a love of journalism and I made my way up the hierarchy of my school newspaper to become Editor-inChief and even gained an internship at the city’s local newspaper. Although the concept of graphing hyperbolas never stuck, I learned other skills from math that resonate with me. My ambitious character developed through the struggles I had in math. It was through coming in to get help at all hours of the day that taught me perseverance. Making my own study guides taught me to seek creative ways in learning. Although I won’t be an engineer anytime soon, my struggles in math have allowed me to forge my own
path while becoming an individual. Writing has not only become part of my identity; it helped me form the person I am today, down to my philanthropist personality and over-achieving self. Through writing I have decided to make a difference. I may not have the math skills to invent an ozone-restoration machine; but as a journalist, I can inform the public about the dangers of ozone depletion and offer a call to action for the one who can invent such a device. So in a problem of solving the global issues of tomorrow, my X is bringing awareness and providing solutions through writing.
Jency
Kinattukara James
The following is one of the many essays I wrote for the grueling college application process. The prompt was “Find X.” Please enjoy. Finding X, finding Y, solving for the standard equation of an ellipse. These have been the plagues of my mind ever since I made a discovery in the 5th grade- I hate math. I don’t like it, I’m not good at it, I just don’t understand it. Call it sine or sin, either way I detest having to deal with it and its partners in crime. Sitting me in front of a typical pre-calculus warm up was the equivalent of having a toddler perform heart surgery- it was simply an experience of confusion and one that led to disastrous consequences. Even the lingo of the subject was baffling and threw me into a state of confusion where the simplest
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Jency James
Wolf Pack Press 3