By McKenna Click
A look in photographs of the past few weeks at Floyd Central. The week’s activities include Godspell, the Dazzlers’ national preview, a lab in science teacher Michelle Harbison’s class, NJROTC annual inspection, and design and sketchbook assignments in Intro to Art and Drawing I-IV classes.
![Senior Parker McCullough works on his project in Kerri Jones' Drawing III/IV class. McCullough has been around art his whole life. “My grandpa used to teach art here,” but goes on to say “I don’t think I really became interested in art until sixth grade. My favorite part [about art] is the freedom of expression. Photo by McKenna Click.](http://fchsbagpiper.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/dsc_001art.jpg)
By Peter Hyle
Registering for classes is a part of high school life. Each student is given a decisions packet that gives a short description of every class offered here at the school. After reviewing the packet, the students are given a username and password to a website where they can register for their own schedules.
For some students, the entire process of registration can seem confusing.
“It’s frustrating because I don’t know what classes I want to take or what diploma I’m going for,” said sophomore Megan Banet.
There are many required and elective classes that finding the right one may be a challenge. Luckily, most students know what they want to get out of their high school career.
“I know what I want to take because I have an idea of the diploma I want. That helps a lot,” said freshman Josh Poynter. “For others who don’t yet know what they want to do, it’s probably harder to find the right classes.”
Other students have ways of dealing with their uncertainty.
“It’s not really a challenge, but it can be very confusing. That’s why I have my mom register for me,” said junior Kate Peggs.
In the past, FC has given their students more time to figure out their courses for the next school year.
“Beforehand, everyone registered around spring break in March. The superintendent would like parents to have a copy of their book bill sooner rather than later. This way, parents will know how much everything costs months before its time to pay rather than weeks,” said Dean of Students Joe Voelker.
The students have mixed feelings about their registration dates being moved forward.
“I think they should return it to March, don’t rush anything. There’s a bad tendency for your diploma to get all up in your face, and that is easily remedied by slowing down and giving students more time to think things through,” said Poynter.
Some believe that it is a better idea to have the date in January.
“This is my first year registering in high school, so I don’t know any different,” said freshman Trevor Mason. “In March everyone is so excited about spring break and no one wants to worry about their classes. It’s easier to have us sign up now.”
Despite the strong feelings from some of the students, the new registration schedule has more positive than negative outcomes.
“I think a majority of students know what they’re interested in and what classes they want to take going into high school. It shouldn’t be too big of a change for them, and it will overall benefit their parents,” said Voelker.
Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of a story from the print publication.
Effects of Graduating Early
“Graduating early is not for everyone. It does mean taking costly online courses to meet graduation requirements,” said Clark. Not only will they have to take costly online courses, but they will miss out on other activities such as prom and the actual graduation ceremony. “Furthermore, students will not receive their diploma until June, since that is when they are delivered to school,” said Clark. Aside from the cons, there are some positive things that come from graduating early. “Students can begin college early getting a jumpstart on their degree and the state of Indiana does offer a one-time scholarship to early graduates,” said Clark.
What Colleges Think and Their Requirements
Counselor Jessica Newkirk said she does not think colleges will look any different among students who graduate early as long as they have met all of the requirements. Clark agreed, but said students can see their counselor for more information and what will need to be completed to meet all requirements. Graduating early does not happen in just one day, there are many requirements in the process. “Students must pass both ECA exams and get permission from Mrs. Whaley a semester before they want to graduate. Then, she needs a letter from the students parents indicating they approve of early graduation,” said Clark. Newkirk said one of the biggest things to have if you are graduating a semester early is the second semester of English which is taken online. Clark and Newkirk agreed that graduating early is only for certain people in the junior and senior classes. “It is important for students to understand the demands of college work before making the decision to graduate early,” said Clark.
By Michael Pepin
Unbeknownst to many, over winter break the Great Escape 16 movie theater franchise was sold to Regal Cinemas. With this sudden change in ownership, many students and workers are wondering what will change in the movie theater.
“I was surprised when I learned that Great Escape was gone, but I understood that the owners had a good reason to sell it. I don’t think that Regal will be that different than Great Escape; in fact I think it might be a good change since they are now a larger company,” said senior Gannon Yeaton.
While the majority of people do not think there will be a large change, senior Michael Clark remarks that most people have not realized a lot of the change because they do not come often.
“I was hired a week after Great Escape changed to Regal Theater, around late December and early January. While a lot of things haven’t changed, the rules and policy are a lot more strict due to the fact that we are now part of a large corporation rather than a family business,” said Clark.
However, some believe that the future changes Regal theater will enact will be beneficial to customers.
“People might miss the Great Escape name, but you have a lot more access to reward benefits. Regal plays some of the smaller movies that you would not find otherwise, or monthly special feature shows like operas. Regal also has a lot more wiggle room than Great Escape because they are so big,” said senior Katelyn Rowe.
For the students working at Great Escape, there are many changes that customers would not see.
“Clocking in for work is more complicated now, you have to sign into this computer and the hours are more set in stone than they were before. Everything is a lot more uptight than it was before, and we even now have secret inspections where the district manager goes to the theater as a customer to evaluate how the service is. There is a lot more pressure when you are working there now because you know everything is being tracked,” said Rowe.
Regal Theater does not plan on immediately changing the name of the theater due to the fact that they may lose customers and it costs an exorbitant amount.
“I see these changes being better in the future because Great Escape is now a large corporation, they have access to more resources and it makes it a better experience for viewers. If someone didn’t know that Great Escape had changed hands, then I doubt they would be able to tell. A movie theater will always be a movie theater, whether it is Regal or Great Escape,” said Clark.
By Lexi Burch
This weekend FC’s speech and debate team will host its third annual Highlander Howl speech tournament. There will be over ten schools and 150 students participating.
“It is a chance to showcase our school to other teams around the state and bring attention to speech and debate at our school,” said speech coach Wallace Austin.
FC has been hosting this tournament for the past two years and it has been growing each year.
“It’s gotten a whole lot bigger this year year than it was last year,” said junior Sarah Henry. “We have over 150 students participating from all over the state.”
The tournament is a large scale competition with lots of teams, students, and over 50 adult coaches and judges. Putting together a tournament like this takes a lot of time and effort.
“With over 190 competitors it’s very important to be organized in advance and make sure everything goes smoothly during the tournament,” said Austin. “This is our third yeah, so that helps. This is not our first rodeo.”
This tournament is open to the public but students must be accompanied by an adult. The meet begins at 8:30 a.m. and awards are scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The Highlander speeh team would love to have as much support as they can get.
“People can watch different events and see for themselves if they would like to participate,” said Austin.