Mrs. Katie Mays and her SGA group have willingly joined in the fun. The SGA group includes member such as Lorrie Ailstock, Shannon Mellon, Cortez Anderson, Skylar Hedrick, and others. For Giant Pride Day, the SGA group will be painting motivational quotes around the school.

“We want kids to see everyday what it means to be a Giant,” said Mays.

Other groups are participating, such as Mrs. Candace Donnelly and the FCCLA. They will be picking up trash around the front and back of the school as a way to “make [the] school look better,” said Donnelly. In addition, Donnelly’s group will also be making individual luncheon favors for the teacher luncheon on June 7.

“If the teachers are happy, the students are happier,” said Donnelly.

Donnelly said the purpose of this activity was to “appreciate each other.” Both activities that Donnelly’s group will be participating in will be of no cost.

For more information on Giant Pride Day, you can visit Giant Pride.

As students flocked from table to table, they realized the truth about life; it’s not cheap. Monday started a week long event sponsored by the Virginia Cooperative Extension called the “Reality Store.” In this virtual store, students are given a job, marital status, and offspring. They are expected to use their income to support themselves in real life matters.

Tables were set up in the old gymnasium for students to visit. First, students had to visit “Uncle Sam” to pay the necessary taxes based on their incomes. Next, they had to go from table to table to purchase life necessities such as means of transportation, food, housing, utilities, electronics, clothing, etc.

Cristin Sprenger, who helps creates this experience in high schools across Virginia referred to the store as an “opportunity for students to get an idea of the real world and costs.”  Sprenger said that Ms. Marsha Sensabaugh first heard about the idea a year ago. Sensabaugh then contacted Sprenger to get the ball rolling.

Volunteers from the community helped man the tables and made the students understand the reality about life. They taught them that as people enter their adult life, they have to overcome financial burdens while managing family life.

The Celebration of the Arts takes place at Waynesboro High School on March 1 – 5.

The student art exhibit is open to the public.

The WHS Auxiliary Gym will be open from 9am – 4pm, each day.

Waynesboro High School has been preparing their Auxiliary Gym and Auditorium for the upcoming events for the past week. Art is being placed into the Auxiliary Gym ready for display.

On March 2 in the WHS Auxiliary Gym:

• 5pm, Pre-K – 12 Grade Student Art opening.
• 6pm, Art Awards, Scholarships and NAHS Induction.

On March 2 in the Spilman Auditorium:

There will be performances by the Waynesboro public schools.

Elementary schools will send grades kindergarten through fifth grade. With four Elementary schools one school will send only a couple, if more than one, grade levels to represent their school.

Every school will have at least one group that will be there to represent them:

• 6:45- Wenonah Elementary is being represented by their 1^st and 2^nd Grade with Karla Hylton.
• 6:55- William Perry Elementary is being represented by their 2^nd Grade with Brandy Wingfield
• 7:05- Berkeley Glenn Elementary is being represented by their 3^rd Grade with Katherine Boling
• 7:15- Westwood Hills Elementary is being represented by their 4^th Grade with Mary Smith
• 7:25- Kate Collins Middle School is being represented by members of 7^th and 8^th Grade Chorus with Jeff Ryman and Diane Richards
• 7:45- Waynesboro high School Lyrical Ladies with Diane Richards
• 8:00 Waynesboro Jazz Band with Mike Wagner
• The transition music is from the Kate Collins Middle School Jazz Band with Jeff Melton

“I don’t know if the schedule will be changed at all next year,” said Teachey. “We arew working on getting information measured on test schedules.”

                “Liking and most effective use of time aren’t the same things,” said Teachey.

With the word spreading around like the flu, students and faculty are trying to figure out what the schedule will be like next year. Will there be a 4×4 schedule [explain this in a sentence or two?]. An everyday a Monday schedule? The schedule that is already in play? The question is still being debated with the principal and faculty.

                “Still as a faculty we are considering different options. We have not made a final decision but we have been collecting information from other schools about how their schedules work. Also, teachers from other schools have been coming to the school to talk to us about different schedules,” said Teachey.

It was all Teachey’s idea to change the plans of the schedule and how it would help students out more. [Did Mr. Teachey say this?  If so, add , he said.

“I’m not enamored with advisory,” said Teachey. “Students spend 80 minutes a week.”

 “One thing that the high school is neglecting is better use of time. There is really no control over time. I have asked questions. ‘Is advisory worth the time or what other thing can we be doing to make better use of time?’” said Teachey.

Teachey said while the teachers contemplate possibilities, a decision must be made by April 1.

“We have had many snow days which have made it hard to decide what to do and also the budget process will be making a big influence,” said Teachey.

“Whatever we decide will be a professional decision and better for the students,” he said.

OLYMPIC UPDATES

Still today the United States is in the winning streak with 7 gold medals, 7 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals giving the states a total of 24 medals. In second place, Germany with a total of 18 medals. Third place, Norway with a total of 12 medals. So the USA is staying ahead in our game but how long do you think we can last in first place? With 6 more days left of the 2010 Olympics, who will be the winner? Show support to the USA and watch as many competitions as possible.

Source: http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-medals/
February 23, 2010

Japan vs Sweden
9:00 – Curling – Women’s Round Robin Session 11
Switzerland vs Germany
9:00 – Curling – Women’s Round Robin Session 11
United States vs China
9:00 – Curling – Women’s Round Robin Session 11
Canada vs Great Britain
9:00 – Curling – Women’s Round Robin Session 11
9:30 – Alpine Skiing – Men’s Giant Slalom 1st Run
10:30 – Freestyle Skiing – Ladies’ Ski Cross Qualification
10:30 – Nordic Combined – Team/4×5 km – Competition Round
Medal Event
11:00 – Speed Skating – Men’s 10000 m
Medal Event
11:30 – Biathlon – Women’s 4×6 km Relay
12:00 – Ice Hockey – Men’s Play-offs Qualifications – Game 19
Medal Event
13:00 – Alpine Skiing – Men’s Giant Slalom 2nd Run
13:00* – Freestyle Skiing – Ladies’ Ski Cross 1/8 Finals
13:33* – Freestyle Skiing – Ladies’ Ski Cross Quarterfinals
13:52* – Freestyle Skiing – Ladies’ Ski Cross Semifinals
China vs Canada
14:00 – Curling – Men’s Round Robin Session 12
Sweden vs Denmark
14:00 – Curling – Men’s Round Robin Session 12
Great Britain vs Norway
14:00 – Curling – Men’s Round Robin Session 12
Switzerland vs France
14:00 – Curling – Men’s Round Robin Session 12
Medal Event
14:00 – Nordic Combined – Team/4×5 km – 4×5 km Relay
Medal Event
14:03* – Freestyle Skiing – Ladies’ Ski Cross Finals
16:30 – Figure Skating – Ladies Short Program
16:30 – Ice Hockey – Men’s Play-offs Qualifications – Game 20
17:00 – Bobsleigh – Women’s Heat 1
18:10* – Bobsleigh – Women’s Heat 2
Switzerland vs United States
19:00 – Curling – Women’s Round Robin Session 12
Canada vs Russian Federation
19:00 – Curling – Women’s Round Robin Session 12
Japan vs Denmark
19:00 – Curling – Women’s Round Robin Session 12
Sweden vs Germany
19:00 – Curling – Women’s Round Robin Session 12
19:00 – Ice Hockey – Men’s Play-offs Qualifications – Game 21
21:00 – Ice Hockey – Men’s Play-offs Qualifications – Game 22
Sources: http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-schedule-results/

One of the reasons, besides the SSR oriented Fridays, that students dread advisory is report cards. Anticipation can be noticed on the faces of those who have been wondering about their grades for weeks. Did I get the A I worked so hard for? Did my B fall to a C since progress reports?

Such confusion isn’t as common this year. Students and their parents can check grades online using power school. All a student needs to do in order to log onto power school is know their full name and the last four digits of their social security number. Knowing one of these facts tends to be harder than the other.

Teachers add each assignment done in class to power school and update grades as well as attendance.

“I like power school. I feel like I can stay up to date with my grades and I don’t have to bother talking to teachers about my grades unless there is a mistake,” said junior K.J. Washington.

Washington said that he visits the website almost every other day.

“I visit it a few times a week to see how I’m doing in classes, not only is it beneficial for me but also for my parents to see how I’m doing,” said senior Suzi McLean.  “I think it’s better than being sadly surprised at the end of the nine weeks.”

World history teacher Carol Coyner said that her students have become more aware of their grades.

“Students stay on top of grades, do their make-up work, and parents stay on top of their kid’s grades,” said Coyner.

Coyner, who initially didn’t have many expectations for Power School to become a hit, now said that she felt that the program facilitates communication between teachers, students, and parents.

What could be possible disadvantages to power school? Some students don’t exactly appreciate their grades being broadcasted to their parents. Others don’t like that teachers don’t update as frequently as they should. This shows a lack of consistency in grades that might have improved.

Secretary Sandy Hall said that she gets fewer questions from parents about attendance since Power School has come into the picture but she also has a concern about the new program.

Her only reservation about Power School is that students and parents get confused about tardies. Some teachers don’t regularly mark tardies and Power School doesn’t show the exact number of tardies a student might have. Thus, they get confused about whether they’ve hit that dreaded number of five and if they’ll be getting Friday Night School soon.

To visit the website go to, www.wpspowerschool.com.

Short 45-minute classes on Mondays, long even and odd days, and some split lunches. In many ways, that sums up the type of scheduled days students at WHS experience all year round. However, it is not the way surrounding county schools run their schools. The faculty and administration have been discussing the possibility of changing WHS from an even and odd block schedule to an alternative schedule such as 4×4 schedule.

“We’ve had a couple of meetings,” said assistant principal Matt Schult.

Many county schools are scheduling their classes 4×4. Students take four 90-min classes every day each semester. At the end of the year, they accumulate eight credits while most students at WHS only end the year with seven credits.

“We are trying to take a comprehensive picture of what works best for the students,” said Schult.

He explained that the scheduling committee has divided their work into four parts: student surveys, parent surveys, research, and visits.

“There is always talk about schedule change,” said Ms. Elizabeth Gross, who is helping survey the community and the students. “We are not attempting for everybody to be the same. We do want to look at it and see if we can improve our schedule,” explained Gross.

Some of the main reasons why a new schedule is needed are to find a way to work with Governor’s school, Valley-Vo tech, and kids who transfer in and out throughout the school year.

“They’re screwed,” said Gross, referring to transfer students who come in the middle of the year from a school that offers a “4 x 4” schedule.

Those students are at a loss because coming into second semester in WHS from a 4 x 4 school means that they have already accumulated four credits but have missed out on the entire first semester for the other four credited classes they have yet to complete.

Other things that will be greatly affected by the change are elective classes and AP classes. The AP test is given at the same time every year in early May. Students might not retain all that knowledge if they take the class first semester. A solution might be to have kids take their AP class the second semester but then they are forced to take the test a few crucial weeks before the end of the semester.

“We are never going to please 100 percent of the people,” said Principal Tim Teachey, who has been visiting other schools to see how the pros and cons of their schedule.

Foreign language classes and math classes also need to be considered.

“Languages and math need to be more consecutive,” said Teachey.

Gross, who teaches math, shares the same opinion.

“It’s best for me if I see my students often. What you learn today, you’re going to use tomorrow,” she said.

Elective classes can also pose as a problem because classes such as journalism, yearbook, and choir need to be taken year round. Teachey suggests that adding a consistent 45-minute period class all year to a 4×4 schedule may solve the problem.

He also mentions that there is a good possibility that the schedule might not change at all.

“We might find that the schedule we have is the best one for us,” said Teachey.

For now, the faculty and administration will continue to investigate numerous ways to improve WHS’s agenda.

“The next step is to put all this information together and sit down and talk about it,” said Gross.

Story By: Faryal Zubair, Editor-In-Chief

Decisions. That’s the key word used to describe senior year.

The decision to try and graduate with your classmates or stay behind. The decision to apply for college or choose an alternative route. The decision to apply to the right colleges or the decision to mess it all up. That last one might not be one that any student chooses willingly.

According to Higheredinfo.org, 67 percent of the graduating students in Virginia are planning on attending college. The next part is tricky though for those who are college bound: the process of applying to college.

First things first, choosing the right college or universities to apply to. A common mistake made by most seniors is that they apply to too many places. Collegeboard.com states that some students will apply to 20 places or more. Why is it a problem to apply to so many colleges?

“It’s expensive for one thing,” said school guidance counselor, Mrs. Helen Schurz.

Schurz suggests that students should apply to five colleges. When applying to colleges, she said, apply to one that might be a dream school, one that is a “safety school,” and others in between.

“Reach for one, but be realistic,” said Schurz.

“I’m stressed out about the deadlines and having to get everything in,” said senior Valerie Woods.

Woods is planning on applying to colleges such as Old Dominion University, University of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

While Woods isn’t making the mistake of applying to too many colleges, she’s afraid that she’s still behind in the applying-to-college process.

She has a point. There are many upcoming important deadlines that are crucial for seniors. Students need to be taking their SAT’s, ACT’s, and subject tests. Registration deadlines for these tests pass months in advance before they’re taken. Late fees can be extremely expensive and sometimes a seat isn’t even guaranteed. Also, those applying for scholarships need to be on the lookout for new opportunities but also cut-off dates.

“Start working on applications now. Don’t put them off,” said Schurz.

“I think we should really take this seriously and actually try hard this year,” said Woods.

Woods makes a good point. Senioritis kicks in for many seniors as they approach the end of their high school career. This is the wrong time to be slacking off since this is the last semester to improve grades before college applications need to be submitted.

One way to ease the stress of filling out tons of college applications is to use the common application. Many universities accept a common application that only needs to be filled out once and can be sent to various schools. In addition to the application, certain colleges might ask for a specifically written essay.

Once an application has been submitted, it’s the guidance counselor’s job to get a student’s transcripts together. However, transcripts need to be requested from counselors in advance. Also, students taking Dual Enrollment classes must fax a request to the school that is providing the class and ask for those scores separately.

Another thing that students should be working on right now is getting recommendations, mentioned Schurz.

“Once you’ve done one [application], it’s pretty simple,” said Schurz.

Written By: Dylan Howdyshell, Reporter

It is  November again, and  elections have taken place.

The elections were held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, this year on November 3. You could have taken part in choosing our leaders if you were, A: 18 years of age, and B: registered as a voter in Virginia. If not, then you’ll have to wait until next year.

The elections determined who will be our next Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and House of Delegates Representative.
Each of the major parties in Virginia sponsored individuals running for the different offices available. The representatives for the Democratic Party were Creigh Deeds for Governor, Jody Wagner for Lieutenant Governor, and Stephen Shannon for Attorney General.

The representatives from the Republican Party were Bob McDonnell for Governor, Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor, and Ken Cuccinelli as Attorney General.

As a newly active voter in the United States, a senior, Sam Masse finally had the chance to have his voice heard.

“I’ll probably vote for Deeds for Governor,” Masse said before the election. “McDonnell seems to be about the Bush economic plan, and I’m definitely not for that. And I’m certainly not going to throw my vote out, say, to the Green Party or something like that.”

As for the district delegate, Masse had this to say: “I’m leaning toward Marrow. At least he didn’t lose his cool and say something goofy like ‘I’m getting really P’Oed right now’ at the debate.”

Mr. Tim Dennis, an experienced Government teacher and a well-valued member of the WHS staff, arranged for the school to participate in a mock election to determine who the students of Virginia would like to be Governor.

Students throughout Virginia voted, and selected Bob McDonnel as the next governor of Virginia with 51.4 percent of the vote, beating out Creigh Deeds with 48.6 percent.

In addition to choosing McDonnell as the governor, students selected the Democratic candidates Jody Wagner and Stephen Shannon for their offices, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, respectively.
At WHS, however, the students voted in the Democratic candidates as a whole.

Here, Creigh Deeds won 50.8 percent of the vote for governor; Jody Wagner won the lieutenant governor’s race with 54. 5 percent of the vote, and Steve Shannon was elected the attorney general spot with 53.6 percent of the students’ vote.

The actual election however, turned out differently for the Democrats.
Bob McDonnell won with a surprising majority, as did the rest of his party members, and they will take office in January.