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Student planner lacks arts events’ dates due to printer deadlines

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By Sydney Sears and Delaney Smith

As students flip through their student planner they may notice an abundance of dates for sports events, but notice a lack of dates for yearly arts events.

“Not having our dates in the planner makes me feel as if our events aren’t as important than the sports,” said women’s choir member junior Bethany Smith.

Arts students shared that they put in a lot of work into their performances and  just as much work as student athletes do.

Sports are advertised through the student planner, announcements, and posters throughout the school. The school has trouble printing the arts events’ dates in the planner due to printer deadlines.

“I think that events should be more publicly announced just like the sports are,” said orchestra member sophomore Isabelle Didelot.

Assistant principal Rob Willman was in charge of the student planner until two years ago when assistant principal Joe Voelker took over the responsibility. Willman shared that although they probably need to do a better job of trying to get all of the arts events in the planner, it can be tough to publish specific dates due to printing deadlines for the printer.

“Since sporting events are scheduled at least a year or so in advance, we are able to get them in there fairly easily.  The planner is due for the printing company around March, and many of the performing arts dates are not set,” said Willman.

The sports dates are also constructed by just one person, while the arts events are controlled by a larger number of people. Also, sports dates are based on contracts for two to four years, so their dates are already set years in advance, while the dates for the arts can fluctuate, said Willman.

“If someone doesn’t like sports, they might like the arts, but they won’t know arts events are going on because of lack of advertisement, “ said theatre student sophomore Henry Miller.

While Willman explained that they are open to trying to include more arts events in the student planner, there are still complications.

“Keep in mind that there is a lot going on at FC.  To put every event into the planner might be impractical and overwhelming,” said Willman.

News, Peter Hyle

Class registration perplexes students

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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.

News, Peter Hyle

Students purchase parking permits for new school year

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By Peter Hyle

Driving a car comes with lots of responsibilities. Paying for gas, insurance, repairs, and maintenance takes a lot of money. For driving students at FC, purchasing a parking permit is included on the list of must haves for school. Having a permit is a requirement to be able to park in the school’s student parking lot.

Aside for paying for the actual use and convenience of the parking spaces, the permits themselves serve many purposes.

“We run the drug dogs through the student lot and it just makes it easier to identify whose car it is,” said assistant principal Jeff Cerqueira.

But mostly, the permits are used so the staff can make sure that students do not park in the wrong places.

“If someone, for example, parked in a fire lane, I can look at the number on their permit and know the student,” said dean of students Joe Voelker.

Though they are used for many things, parking permits are not used to collect money. The permits themselves cost only two dollars which covers the cost it takes for each individual permit to be made. It is simply a way for the school to monitor the parking lot. However some students disagree with the procedures of the parking permits at FC.

“I can see why they serve a purpose, but I don’t think that we should have to pay for them. They should be provided by the school,” said senior Gannon Yeaton.

Most teachers would agree that parking permits are necessary for the school, whether they belong to the students or the staff.

“Yes [parking permits are needed] so that students park in their spaces and teachers park in their places. If they [students] had no parking permits, students would just park wherever they want. They might just take the teachers spaces,” said math teacher Rusty Cecil.

There are measures taken to make sure that students do park in their designated parking lot.

“Basically, the teachers monitor their parking lot themselves. If they see a car that doesn’t belong there, then they call it into the office and we find out who the car is registered to,” said Cerqueira.

At the start of every school year, there seems to be a problem with getting every student that uses the parking lot to buy a parking permit. The administration staff regularly checks the student parking lot to make sure everyone has one. This year, on the first check, seventy-eight percent of students did not have their parking permits.

“I forgot my permit at home, so I didn’t have it on the first check,” said senior Noelle Wilcox.

On the first few checks, the students are given a warning. If the problem proceeds, the student gets a demerit. The problem rarely progresses to the point where the student loses their driving privileges or receives a parking violation.

“We will never tow a student’s car away.” said Cerqueira, “That’s just a misconception.”

The past few years, FC has relaxed parking permit regulations due to building renovations on the school. Parking was a bit of a challenge during that time, but now the staff has been making sure that every student purchases a parking permit. Most students do not realize how important that plastic pass hanging from the rearview mirror is.

“Driving is a privilege, and so is parking on school grounds. And that can be taken away if rules are not followed,” said Cerqueira.

Derek Hanke, News

De-caffeinated: school removes coffee from cafeteria

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By Derek Hanke

The cafeteria coffee machine sits naked after not being used for morning coffee since the beginning of school.

For regular coffee drinkers, the removal of coffee from the school cafeteria in the mornings is a real inconvenience.

“The coffee removal is a bad thing. A lot of students I know rely on coffee in the mornings, including myself,” said junior Tasman Payne.

Payne used to drink school coffee just about every morning last year.

“Many times I didn’t have time to wake up before before school, and coffee helped me wake up and stay concentrated for the day,” she said.

Payne said the removal has not had an impact on helping the school become healthier and is probably hurting  students’ grades more than helping them.

“I miss being able to concentrate. Now I’m a lot more likely to fall asleep in class,” said Payne.

Senior Oscar Anderson agreed.

“After swimming practice I would get coffee so I wouldn’t fall asleep in class,” said Anderson.

Anderson, who used to drink coffee school coffee four to five times a week, now gets his coffee from Hob Knobb.

“It’s a little more expensive, but it’s still good,” he said.

Anderson said the removal has not made schools any healthier either.

“Caffeine isn’t necessarily all bad for you; it has some positive aspects. It lowers your chance for type two diabetes and can help reduce your chance for heart disease,” said Anderson.

Food and nutrition manager Jody Kramer said First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to fight obesity is the cause of the removal of caffeinated beverages from the school cafeteria.

The initiative has resulted in mandates passed down from the federal government that have made lunchroom guidelines stricter on what they can and can’t serve.

“Michelle Obama’s initiative has made us pay more attention to what we serve,” said Kramer.

Payne can sympathize with the initiative, but thinks things should be handled a little differently.

“I agree with Michelle’s initiative but she should start somewhere else, like with the fries or pizza,” said Payne.

Kramer sympathizes with the students who used to drink coffee in the mornings.

“What matters to me is that I know my students like coffee. I would like to bring back anything my students like, but I have guidelines to follow,” she said.

Kramer also said other matters are to blame for the removal as well.

“An issue has been brought up with kids coming in late in the mornings and saving coffee for first period,” she said.

Sociology teacher Suzanne Moss remembers the issue.

“Having coffee was a problem in the hallways last year. It was a daily spill kind of thing, which was problematic because people could trip on it,” said Moss.

Moss also recalled the repercussions.

“A lot of freshmen would put it in their lockers and spill it and it would attract insects like cockroaches,” she said.

She saw no positive reason for letting students have morning coffee.

“Students may like coffee, but as a teacher I see no benefit for them. Coffee can actually act as a depressant for teens whereas for adults it is a stimulant,” said Moss.

Assistant principal of student development Joe Voelker did not take sides on the issue.

“I’m neutral on the removal. It has made morning hall supervision easier. I’m okay if they were to go and sell it again should the government allow it,” said Voelker.

Voelker has not received any complaints.

“If complaints were to arise I would listen, but we’re not going to break the law,” he said.

Kramer said the coffee removal is not necessarily permanent.

“There’s a possibility that the cafeteria might sell coffee again. It all depends on what we can do within our guidelines.”