School Times

By Jay Cobb, Amanda Nyman, Keith Ray, Victoria Savello, and Juliana McDermott

It is a question that everybody asks themselves when they get up in the morning, can’t I just have a little more sleep? The times that school begins and ends can pose a problem with our school work, and our social lives. Elementary and middle school kids usually have more energy because they wake up and begin school at later times. The time where students need sleep the most is in the later teen years in high school because there are more responsibilities; therefore, more sleep is needed to make it throughout the day.

Arianne Van Cleef, a junior at Shen, was able to express her opinions on how school time interferes with her sleep. “I’m usually tired during the day because I wake up early, I go to bed at 9:30 usually” Van Cleef said.

If students got more sleep, their grades would most likely improve because they would be more alert during the day. “Overall I would like to keep the time that we go to school the same because I do not want to get out later” Van Cleef said.

Middle school students start school later, making getting more sleep not so challenging. Haley Shelton, a sixth grader at Acadia Middle School, expressed her opinions on the time she starts school and how it differs from the high school. “The starting time is not ideal but it is okay. I am more concerned with getting home at four. I never have anytime to do anything before I go to bed. I also have volleyball twice a week for two hours and all day tournaments on the weekends, then I have ski club right after school once a week till quite late. This leaves little time for homework” Shelton said.

Getting home at four o’clock in the afternoon does not leave very much time to do daily activities, eat dinner, do homework, possibly hang out with friends, and get a good night’s rest. “Hanging out with friends on school nights becomes difficult because it gets late. It is hard to have down time especially because I have to go to sleep early to be energized for school” said Shelton.

Elementary school kids usually have the most energy because of their young age. It seems like they can keep going and their batteries never die out so to speak. Tanner Lehman, a fifth grader at Shatekon, briefly described his thoughts on the time he wakes up. “If I wake up late, I wake up around 7, but I usually wake up at 6:40. I only like going into school later because I like to watch television in the morning” Lehman said. “But I think I would be awake enough to go to school at the time the high school students go.”

Granted the fact that middle school and elementary school students do not have the same responsibilities that high school students have, there is no doubt that everybody needs to get a good night’s sleep to stay alert in school.

Brown recalls 40 year career at Shen

by Victoria Savallo                                                                                                                                              

Mrs. Debra Brown, a child psychology teacher, has been teaching at Shen for 40 years and this school year will be her last.  Mrs. Brown began teaching at Shen in September of 1971, and has been teaching there ever since. She never taught anywhere else and said she never wanted to teach anywhere else either.

Many things have changed since Mrs. Brown started teaching here. “The biggest change would have to be the new use of technology,” she said. Mrs. Brown also described the increase in size of the school. The school rules and trends became more strict, as well.

Parents’ behaviors have changed. Parents used to be more supportive of their kids and respectful of the teachers. Now, it is easier for parents to communicate with teachers and they don’t take advantage of it.

When asked what she will miss most about teaching and being at Shen, Mrs. Brown said, “I will miss the relationships that I share with my colleagues and my students. This school has become more than just my workplace. It has become a part of my social life. I met some of my best friends here.”

After she retires at the end of this school year Mrs. Brown has plans to do what she has put off and been too busy to do for the past 40 years. She wants to travel and do volunteer work and spend time with family. She explained, “I wanted to go when I still like what I do. So I have no bitterness.”

Snow days verse delays

by Sara Macaluso

Winters in upstate New York mean snow, ice and bad driving conditions; one good thing that comes along with this weather is the potential for missing school with a snow day or delay. Because snow days are limited, delays are used so school will not be completely missed. Are delays really better than snow days for school? Can everything be accomplished with shortened classes?

Mrs. Brown, a teacher in the family and consumer sciences department, does not believe a two-hour delay is a waste of a day. She said, “As long as we aren’t risking a life [by driving in to school with bad weather] and roads are clear enough, that time is valuable class time.” Despite that, Brown would rather have a snow day than a delay. She said, “It’s a matter of rearranging schedules, and the value of getting here verses being here.”

Brown has to rethink and re-plan lesson plans for her classes on days there are delays. She said that two-hour delays are more inconvenient than snow days, and stated “It is not always that easy to come up with a 27 minute long class of value.”

Samantha Spagnola, a sophomore at Shenendehowa, does not believe that delays are a waste of a day, and would not rather have a snow day than a delay. She said, “We still get a lot done even though we have 27 minutes. We don’t waste as much class time as we normally do because we want to get our work done.”

Delays may not be better than snow days for school, and they may create more of a hassle for teachers than snow days. Students like delays because they can still get something accomplished and have shorter classes.

Let it snow

by Jess Bouchard, Elizabeth Cusack, Amanda Blake, and Robert Hughes

Whether it is sleet, snow, hail or ice, here in the Capital Region weather has been very rough.  Roads have been slick, plows are out nearly every day, and winter storm warnings roll across the bottom of News Stations. These storms affect not only the roads but also schools, and work places. Driving on these slippery roads can be extremely difficult and dangerous when the right precautions are not taken by everyone driving.

In the past three weeks there have been four major snow storms, which have resulted in various school closings. However, some schools don’t always declare a snow day, and instead establish a one or two hour delay. According to one senior who drives in every day to Shendehowa High School, Courtney Howard, “Driving to school on a day that there is a delay is really nerve racking because the roads are slippery, but as long as everyone else is being as cautious as you are, there really isn’t much to worry about.”   

One woman, Denise Hughes, has been driving in these dangerous weather conditions for many years and thinks that “people are becoming better at driving in these storms because they are taken more seriously, and seem to happen more often than they used to.”  She also feels that, “They are very dangerous and should not be taken lightly.”

It is very important for parking lots and roads to be plowed when these storms hit. Howard states that, “Driving in the snow isn’t much different than usual; just parking is more difficult because you cannot see the spots most of the time because they aren’t plowed well or at all.”

In contradiction to Howard’s statements, News Channel 9 feels that these winter storms are extremely dangerous and “can literally shut down an area for days” as well as “small amounts of ice can cause extreme hazards to motorists and pedestrians”.

Facebook affects college admission

by Cassandra Goldman

Drugs, alcohol, and partying are common pressures of teenagers in high school face. One huge stress that is often overlooked is the pressure to get accepted into college. Students work on their grades for so long, only to be left wondering what more they could have done to ensure them a spot at a college.

Rumors are circulating Shen, and other high schools, that Facebook can affect a student’s chance to acceptance into college. The website collegeconfidential.com is full of people who share their experience and knowledge on college. Many high school seniors and college students looking for jobs were concerned with recruiters searching their Facebooks for information on them.

An anonymous person known as CommentComment, wrote, “If you believe a picture/info is questionable, make it private. Recruiters do check up on Facebook to dig for information and if you believe something will get you in trouble, make your profile private. There are plenty of horror stories where people reach the final rounds of their interview process and not get an offer because they have too many pictures of themselves partying and drinking.”

According to digitalbuzzblog.com there are more than 400 million active users on Facebook and techcrunch.com says that 85% of college students have a Facebook. That means that these students have less of a chance of being accepted into a college the 15% without a Facebook.

Shen sophomore Adelina Cekic said, “I am really surprised that Facebook affects that step in someone’s future.” When asked what she will do to prevent this from happening to her, Cekic said, “I always have my profile set to private and I never upload any pictures that could be considered controversial.”

Facebook is a common way to communicate with friends. Most high school students have one, and it is proven that they affect acceptance into colleges. Spreading awareness of this fact has helped students secure their profiles and choose appropriate pictures and information to share.

Obama visits Schenectady

On Friday, January 21, 2011, President Barack Obama visited the General Electric plant in Schenectady, New York.

After briefly touring the plant with GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, Obama addressed hundreds of people inside the plant’s steam turbine and generator manufacturing facility. Obama commended the plant for its work with clean energy and green jobs. He said the GE plant was an example for others and he wanted to see facilities like it across the country.

Guests at the event included Governor Andrew Cuomo, Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy, and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

President Barack Obama shaking people's hands after his speech at the GE plant in Schenectady.

Coming at you

Kevin Orlando, winter musical

by Dakota Kaplan

“It’s like High School Musical…just not really.” Kevin Orlando, a Shen junior received his first lead role in the high school drama production Anything Goes last year.  This year, he recently earned another lead in this year’s upcoming musical production, Babes in Arms. Kevin’s first time on stage performing was when he got his lead in Anything Goes.

Instantly falling in love with being on stage, Kevin made the bold decision to leave his football career behind to be a full time Shen actor.  Deciding to leave football proved to be a good decision for Kevin who earned an S.I.O.C. award for an outstanding performance in Anything Goes.  Awarded to students in all different districts, all the humble actor had to say was, “Having just learned that it existed I didn’t ever imagine I would get something like that. I didn’t expect it at all!”

When asked if he likes to play characters like himself in the shows Kevin replied, “No way! The stranger and less like me the better!” In the upcoming musical Kevin plays a rough and tough guy who loves to get into fights, a man named Gus who Kevin claims is nothing like who he is in real life. The team of actors and actresses need to work on learning their lines, songs and choreography as soon as they get their part.  To the Shen actor his 55 lines, not counting songs, are just “no big deal,” adding that last year he had almost double that because this year does not have as much singing and dancing.

Kevin and the rest of the Shen drama club work around the clock to perfect the shows, right up until the very night before.

“We rehearse Monday to Friday, three to six until the week before the show. The week before we have dress rehearsals are from three to nine!” Dedication is only one of many words that could be used to describe Kevin along with the rest of the Shen drama club family.  Some of Kevin’s before show rituals are to go somewhere quiet to collect himself, and even close his eyes for a minute.

“I’m never really scared, just anxious. Once the show starts and I get my first lines out I’m completely comfortable. My favorite part of it all has to be the show nights. I’ve seen so many; it’s magical to think that I’m a part of it all.”

There’s no doubt that Kevin Orlando has nothing but a promising future in acting, proving that there’s no harm in trying something new, even if it throws you from your comfort zone at first.  While he may have left behind a sport he loved, he has positively benefitted from joining the Shen drama club.  From irreplaceable friends to a new confidence found in standing in front of a room full of people, he will never regret the sacrifices and great accomplishments he has made as a Shen high school student.

No school

Shenendehowa central schools will be closed today January 18th, 2011 due to the inclement weather.

Irish Fest

by Amber Lightner

Another great Irish Fest has come and gone at Shenendehowa High School East.  Senior students taking the course Irish literature gathered on Friday. January 14, 2011, to celebrate the Irish culture. Guests and students could enjoy food tasting, art viewing and performances by the students taking the class.

Everyone participating in this celebration seemed to be excited about the event. Some even wore special hats, beards, and kilts.

Irish Fest has been going on since 1999 when it was started by Mrs. Bouchard. At first it was a small in-class display of the projects students did for an assignment. When Mrs. Neiswender came to work as the second Irish lit teacher in 2000, she encouraged the school to allow them to expand their display.  Five years later the display became what students now know as Irish Fest.  Over 200 Irish lit students participate in the day.

Mrs. Neiswender said Irish Fest is always the highlight of her year and her favorite part of the day is the group picture because it captures the happiness and joy the kids expressed throughout the day.  She allows kids to express their talents during this day and believes that that is the key to having it be successful.  She enjoys the day and her students do as well. She believes that Irish Fest is probably why so many kids take the course. She says the course makes learning fun, memorable, and tangible.

Mrs. Bouchard said that Irish Fest shows students that, “Learning can be so fun.”

There is a guest list to get into the festival and kids notify the school before hand to tell which relatives of theirs are attending. Mrs. Neiwsender loves that student’s parent’s show up to support their children during this occasion.

Irish Fest had a range of performances. There was a string quartet, Irish step dancing, and singing. Kyle Hummel did an excellent job singing Brown Eyed Girl and playing guitar and at the end, the crowd was hooting and clapping.

A lot of hard work and time went in to the production of Irish Fest, but in the end, the day was a success and everyone was happy.

Many seniors celebrated Irish Fest by dressing up.

   

Students take a bow after their impressive Irish step dancing routine.