On March 8, South Dakota passed the first law that explicitly allows school staff to carry guns with them in their classrooms. The law gives school districts in South Dakota the right to “create, establish and supervise the arming of school employees, hired security personnel or volunteers.”
As summer draws closer, it is inevitable that conversation turns to summer plans. For many, a competitive spirit bred during the year and heightened during testing is powerful motivation to carefully plan their summers around activities or programs perceived to “boost” college applications. However, the most advantageous activity is to simply do what you are passionate about.
Despite their younger age relative to other entertainment mediums, video games have transformed the entertainment industry and in turn the way we conceptualize virtual and fictional experiences alike. Advances in graphics, storytelling, gameplay and immersion have helped video games advance and evolve into the $67 billion industry they are a part of today. Since their inception, video games have provided a unique form of entertainment because they create a world characterized by its distinctive sense of engagement.
As summer draws closer, it is inevitable that conversation turns to summer plans. For many, a competitive spirit bred during the year and heightened during testing is powerful motivation to carefully plan their summers around activities or programs perceived to “boost” college applications. However, the most advantageous activity is to simply do what you are passionate about.
College applications are the ultimate melting pot. Over the course of a few months, seniors are asked to compile together components from the last three (or more) years of their lives to present to colleges an appealing and worthy applicant. Yet amidst the hectic and stressful first semester of senior year, we found that there was an uncanny sense of clarity. In gathering all these pieces of information and juxtaposing them with one other, there exists the potential to determine certain things that you may have liked to change, add or remove.
TweetDuring high school, students often choose to take many courses online or outside of school—for example, many take health online through Brigham Young University, while others take courses at the nearby School for Independent Learners (SIL). Yet one potential course is often overlooked–or rather, has never been taken by a student at this school: online physical education.
TweetWhat does a web-browsing teenager in the Bay Area share with the new Pope in the Vatican? What do the leaders of the G8 council share with potato farmers in northern Idaho? It’s simple: active Facebook accounts.
TweetIn the last six years, students have improved the school’s Academic Performance Index (API) significantly. API is California’s system for measuring school performance and improvement. It represents student performance on the STAR tests and is based off of a score as low as 200 to a high score of 1000. Last year, in 2012, Los Altos students reflected a score of 888, well above the state’s goal of 800 for all schools. This year, the school sought to build on this trend of improvement with a goal of 900. For this reason, it is commendable that teachers stressed the importance of taking the STAR tests seriously and performing to the best of a student’s ability.
TweetAs competitiveness in high school increases, students often feel obligated to take on numerous advanced placement (AP) courses offered by the school in hopes of amassing a high weighted GPA and getting into a prestigious college. While the school’s open enrollment policies for classes ensures that students have a variety of AP classes to choose from, it is important to realize that the actual motive behind taking a class is not to construct an immense résumé for colleges but to learn in a feasible way for the student. The school has recently added a college prepatory version of the AP Statistics class and it would be wise for the school to follow suit for several other classes that are only available as AP classes.
TweetStudents take various science classes starting in elementary school, creating a base of knowledge that will benefit them for years to come. Now, in high school, students are able to apply mathematical knowledge as well as their own ability to grasp concepts, allowing for greater knowledge gains in science fields. The question is: in what order should we be learning them?
TweetAs the third quarter comes to a close, Associated Student Body (ASB) and Class Council elections are quickly approaching. ASB elections will take place March 26 and Class Council elections after that.
Each year, the school runs on a special assembly schedule to accommodate the speeches. Yet, many students don’t take the process seriously or carefully consider who to vote for. While ASB and Class Council elections may seem unimportant, in truth those elected have great influence over the school and students should take their votes more seriously.
