The journey to state speech contest had started about six weeks earlier when the IHSSA speech contest groups had been posted on the drama board. I eagerly peered through the list for my name; it appeared with three others- Cassie Tant, Drew Davis and Kayleigh Wren- performing a scene called He said and She Said. Rehearsals soon began, and we quickly realized how twisted the plot of our scene was. Just reading through the script made me stop to try and comprehend what was going on. The scene was centered on a friendship between two women, Enid and Diana, that was manipulated by an older woman, Mrs. Packard, who spent her days gossiping about others’ personal affairs. The scene gets twisted when Mrs. Packard accuses Enid’s husband, Felix, of secretly having an affair with Diana. From there it becomes a story of exactly what the title says- he said, she said.

One of our first tasks was to map out our character’s life, even before the script began. I had to know Diana’s past, her relationships and her outlook on life. In other words, I had to become Diana. I spent 3 hours reading through the script, looking for hints of why she said every word she spoke- where it was coming from.

As we were discovering our characters, my group, along with our coach, Chelsea Cunningham was starting to bond as well. I didn’t really know my group members before this experience, but I came out of it with three people I can call good friends. We would spend more time talking about the scene than we would actually run it. We would get caught up in our characters and have continued dialogues, past the written script.

I remember leaving our districts center so ecstatic and just overwhelmed after one of our best performances to date. The icing on the cake was our perfect score of one-automatically qualifying us for state.

The two weeks I spent at rehearsals after districts, I think I learned more about acting than ever before. Cunningham had pages full of notes after repeatedly watching our scene. We were now focusing on the details that would separate our performance between good and pure quality.

We had to build to a climax and we had to actually listen to each other, like living the scene instead having it memorized in our head. We were bringing life to the scene. I could feel the intensity rise in the room as the highest point in our arguments was expelled.

There was a point in which it really hit me that we, as a group, were truly committed to this scene. There was a point in the scene in which Enid and Diana (Kayleigh and I) had a final, desperate plea to save their friendship. We had run the scene dozens and dozens of times, but this time there were tears in Kayleigh’s eyes during that moment. That’s the moment that I realized that we had taken a script, written 90 years ago, and made it ours.

We were set to perform at 11:15. The scene had to come to us naturally, because once we hit that stage, everything went blank, and it was up to us to have the instinct to know what our character would do. What we would do.

We spent the next fifteen minutes giving a performance that had been dissected and analyzed, and had been turned into our own.

I remember leaving the room ready to burst. We quickly came together in a group hug, one that felt so familiar.

By then, scores meant nothing. A number could never represent the feeling I had after our state performance; a feeling of accomplishment that I got to share with four really great people.

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Within NCLB, all public schools are set at a standard in which they must improve their test scores and proficiency ratings gradually every year until the year 2014 where 100 percent of the students will be performing at 100 percent levels.

This law has set up every single student for failure in their education because now all teachers don’t care about teaching their lessons; they care about teaching the test and nothing less.

NCLB has also meddled with every fine arts department and extra curricular activity because most funding is put toward mathematics and English departments.

Another problem of NCLB is the fact that not all students are treated equally. What that means is that the student who attends Central Academy also receives the same test as the refugee from another country who does not read a bit of English.

Not only that, but even the children with disabilities are required to be at the national set benchmark. NCLB violates another law allowing disabled students to take their own tests at their own level under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

For instance, a blind student who cannot read the test under IDEA may listen to the teacher read the test out loud. But because they cannot read, the blind student therefore fails the reading portion of the test and from there fails at the national level.

NCLB is fully and one hundred percent unfair to require all students at different levels to compete with each other.

When schools do not meet the requirements or do not improve their scores, they receive a punishment. Those punishments can range from firing the principal to denial of money grants to closing the school for good.

When all schools lose the money they were promised, private schools will benefit in enrollment and their own development of their schools.

Overall, the result of privatizing all schools where each school budget can pay for their own education and diminishing the spending on public education from the government is in effect.

It may have sounded like a great idea with the title of the act, but the politicians needed to do their job and read the actual context of such a failure for all students.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 does not benefit free public education. It destroys it. It does not boost test scores. It lowers the quality of education and sets up every student for failure.

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The plot is difficult to follow at points, as it tries to blend many different stories, from teenagers aiming for their “first time” to accepting a failed marriage proposal and forgiveness after an affair.

All of these elements come together into a film that’s bittersweet at times, but simply hilarious at others.

Romantic comedies are something of a staple of a date night, and I’d strongly recommend this one to any couple, young or old. There’s enough content and hilarity to appeal to practically anyone.

The many stars include Ashton Kutcher and Jennifer Garner as best friends struggling in their own love lifes, Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner as a teenaged couple and Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper as friends on an airplane out for something more. These are just a few in the huge all star cast that made up this hilarious comedy.

The movie was not lacking in its different kinds of humor either. There were sex jokes, intelligent jokes and cute love jokes.

Despite never taking itself too seriously, the movie brings several messages of forgiveness, being patient with the people you care about and respecting the nature of love itself. There’s not a lot to learn from this movie, but you may take home some tips anyway.

The only problem with the movie is its struggle to keep consistent and prevent the different stories from becoming too choppy. This is recurring and makes it difficult to connect to the characters early in the film, but more than makes up for itself later.

After two comedic hours, I was left just wanting more of this charming and hilarious comedy.

Read more at Hoover Challenger

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Nurse practitioner Maggie Livingston believes that one very important part about being healthy and not getting sick is to eat right.

“Teens tend to be very busy so snacks that are healthy are hard to find. Granola bars that are low in sugar and high in protein and fiber are good options,” Livingston said.

Sleep plays an important role in a teenager’s health. They are supposed to get around seven and eight hours of sleep.

“When we sleep our body is expanding itself from stress, pollutants, infection and sun exposure. Sleep also helps strengthen your immune system. Sleeping also keeps our heart healthy by reducing levels of stress and inflammation,” Livingston said.

Although this year there has been less people sick in our school, school nurse Jeanne Mark noticed.

“Normally the common influenza is the most common in our school. I don’t know if it is the H1N1 that people are taking care of their selves. I have not seen much this year. The most common probably is strep or the common cold,” Mark said.

During the winter season it’s more likely to get the cold or the common influenza.

“Dress appropriate for the weather. You can get sick easier in the winter because we are all confined inside more. If you are sick stay home,” Mark said.

Exercise is a key part of staying healthy. It can be a hassle when someone can be very busy. It helps teens stay fit which helps the body stay healthy.

According to WebMd.com Exercise, on the other hand, helps boost immunity. Researchers aren’t sure exactly how exercise helps strengthen the immune system. Studies show that people who exercise have better-functioning white blood cells (the ones that help fight off infection) than people who don’t exercise.

The best advice for a teenager about keeping their body healthy, are just the key things. Exercise, sleep, and good eating habits.

“To continue these throughout your lifetime. I would also recommend taking daily vitamin and getting plenty of calcium. Building lean muscle mass helps keep you strong it burns more calories. At least avoid smoking and also drug use,” Livingston said.

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Hart says that she can get as many as 130 emails a day that she has to respond to.

“I see anywhere between 8-25 students (daily),” Hart said.

Hart has loads of paperwork to do as well as computer work. With all that she says that she’s a little more disorganized than she wants to be.

“I’m always reacting to someone else so I can’t be as organized as I want to be,” Hart said.

Senior Nick Ahrens has benefited from the work counselors do and says that the counselors help people with college and schedules. This helps Ahrens in a big way.

“I have someone to go to if I have questions,” Ahrens said.

Ahrens has only been to the counselor once this year because of scheduling but he still thinks they do a fine job.

With only three counselors for around 1100 students, there are other students who don’t agree with Ahrens. Sophomore LeAndre Lee for example says that the counselors do a bad job and don’t help much.

“They barley do anything, they go to meetings and don’t help us,” Lee said.

Lee has been to the counselor twice for schedule changes, but he still doesn’t like them. Lee thinks that the counselors should be more open than what they are now.

“The counselors need to be more open to our personal life,” Lee said.

The one time that Lee went to see his counselor he got his schedule changed and was talking about other issues that he was going through. Lee said that the counselor only cared about his schedule and didn’t even ask what was wrong.

As a result of this experience Lee came to the assumption that counselors only care about scheduling.

“They don’t care about our personal life. They don’t even talk to us in the hall way or anything,” Lee said.

Hart says that she basically listens to students and gives feedback if she can. Hart also says that she makes referrals to other places if the student needs it.

“People get frustrated all the time with the current system,” Hart said

Kira Herron photo

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The standards for a successful school are set forth by the federal government, it is a combination of ITED scores and graduation rates. If schools fall below the mark they are awarded the title of Persistently Low Achieving School (PLAS).

Nine of Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) are on this list. But according to Principal Doug Wheeler it isn’t an accurate assessment.

“These federal requirements focus only on one score (ITEDS) it doesn’t take into consideration that Hoover has made steady gains over the past three years with test scores. The problem is that the public see the schools on this list and automatically assume that the teachers are doing something wrong,” Wheeler said.

According to Wheeler quantifying academic achievement is close to impossible . Despite low test scores Wheeler has the utmost confidence for his educators.

“I’ll put any one of our teachers up against anyone in the suburbs for making student gains,” Wheeler said.

The district realizes that having nine schools on the PLAS list is a problem, and are considering applying for what is called a School Improvement Grant (SIG). These federal funds would be used to change the PLAS into a proficient school. This change is called Reform. There are four different templates for reforming. (see sidebar,)

The federal money does not come without hefty requirements. With a sigh Wheeler understood about the application for the money.

“I don’t think we can turn down money in this economy,” Wheeler said.

Superintendant Nancy Sebring is in support of the application.

“It is recognition that money is important to turning around low performing schools. Funds are needed to train staff, purchase new curriculum. and provide supplemental services to students,” Sebring said.

President of the teachers union Alan Young agrees with Sebring that the application for the grant is a positive move.

“We certainly aren’t afraid of it,” Young said.

With application for the grant it is required that districts and the teachers union must now negotiate through collective bargaining meetings on how they will carry out these reform policies prior to submitting the application.

While Sebring does feel that the collective bargaining agreement is restrictive, she thinks that DMPS can make it work.

“I believe that we will see additional language coming from the DE regarding the collective bargaining requirement that may make it more palatable,” Sebring said.

According to Wheeler, out of the four different reform possibilities, the transformation model seems to be the most beneficial.

“It offers the most support and doesn’t create as much discontinuity,” Wheeler said.

Discontinuity meaning the model does not take as many drastic measures to transform the school.

The transformation model requires that the principal of the school be removed and a new evaluation system for teachers and principals be implemented. This is to measure student progress and teacher effectiveness.

According to Sebring the funding the district provides right now just isn’t cutting it.

“SIG funds will allow us to make an impact in a shorter amount of time than if we were using the limited resources of the district,” Sebring said.

Students walk to class during passing period. The RTTT fund aims to turn around the bottom 5 percent schools. DMPS decided to pass on the fund. “SIG funds will allow us to make an impact in a shorter amount of time than if we were using the limited resources of the district,” Sebring said.

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The counselors are still involved in making the schedules, but the students have more control in what their schedules look like.

Science teacher Eric Hall is new to the process.

“It’s good students start the process,” Hall said. “…It’s still good someone is looking over it.”

Students will be going to the library with their English class sometime next month to make their schedule for next year.

Sophomore Kailie Liggett thinks that students will benefit from creating their schedules.

“Counselors tend to screw some things up and the students know what they need and want,” Liggett said.

However Ligget realizes that due to classroom sizes and availability some students won’t be able to take the classes they need. Another issue is that certain students may not sign up in time to get a class they want.

As an advisory teacher Hall has to look back on the schedules and explains that creating a schedule could be challenging for some students.

“Be careful picking needed classes,” Hall said.

With the new responsibilities of creating a schedule, Liggett believes there’ll be students who take advantage of it by picking classes that they know their friends picked.

On the other hand Hall thinks that the new system will allow students to be accountable for their choices.

“(Students will have) more ownership for what (they) do for (their) choice,” Hall said.

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Kirra Herron photo

As of last year block scheduling started, but also advisory was every day of the week for 15 minutes. Next year students will have advisory once a week for 30 minutes every Wednesday. This will make classes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 90 minutes long.

Principal Doug Wheeler noticed that advisory every day of the week may have not have been a good idea for students.

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The realization is disgusting.

Similar language has unfortunately been tossed around and adapted into today’s culture. Teenagers are using these words and applying derogatory meanings to them.

The use of these words makes our school appear to be filled with dim-witted individuals.

We as a student body should not accept this kind of language or contribute to its misuse. There are students willing to fight the use of these derogatory terms, but the fight can’t be won without total support from the student body.

Help out by stopping yourself the next time you think about using this kind of language or remind a friend of its derogatory meaning when they use it. We are not dim-witted individuals and it’s time to prove it.

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Jersey Shore has become a topic of talk as viewers experience firsthand the life of 20 year- olds with names such as ‘The Situation’ and ‘Snooki’. The whole plot of the show revolves around club-hopping, fights they repeatedly engage in, who they bring home, and the unforgettable hot tub.

This show is pointless and it reflects how a young adult shouldn’t live their life.

The women dance half covered on barstools at nightclubs. A normal night is one in which they engage in a few punches with other pathetic people who have nothing better to do with their lives.

The men obsess over their chiseled chest and “gelled up blow” hairstyle. They prowl the nightclubs looking for the easiest girl to bring home. Their lack of respect for women is sleazy. I really won’t feel bad for them when they’re 50 and their l ooks are gone, and they’re living alone.

What surprised me was the lack of secrecy the gang had. They hid nothing including their goal of bringing as many people of the opposite sex home. I personally think they are desperate for attention, even if it means not being taken seriously all across the nation.

In just a few episodes the partygoers were able to accomplish more than many people do for all their years in high school or college.

I find it amazing how these people don’t learn from their mistakes, or how they don’t regret their actions enough to leave the party scene and actually make something of their lives. After getting arrested or getting pounded by someone else, they insist on living the same life. Do they have a conscience?

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