Welcome back Greyhounds! Let’s all get excited for another great school year here at Eaton Rapids High School! Or, if you’re too tired to get excited, at least do try not to be grumpy!
The 2011-2012 school year is bringing in a healthy dose of change; enough to make a certain democrat proud. This year, school starts a whopping six minutes earlier than previous years, with the final bell ringing six minutes sooner as well. I’m not sure why, but waking up six minutes earlier seems a much bigger difference than getting out six minutes sooner to me.
This year, students were required to come to class orientations, Freshmen and Sophomores on the 31st of August, Juniors and Seniors on the 1st of September. This was supposed to help us get our school year started with a little more gusto than normal. My only complaint is that these dates were before Labor Day, and according to the bill passed in 2005, Michigan schools are banned from starting their school year before Labor Day. You can argue that this technically wasn’t a school day, but if it’s mandatory, what’s the difference?
Another change students will see this year affects the senior class more than any other. This school year, graduation will occur June 1st in the evening. I’m not too sure what the reason is, but this is the best change I’ve heard of so far. I’d much rather be wearing a robe during the evening than the hot afternoon!
Finally, the change that will most likely impact the lives of more students and families than any other change I’ve learned of thus far this year. I’m a senior!
I’m kidding, but only slightly. This year marks the fourth year that the class of 2012 has walked through these maroon and white hallways, and for most of us, this will be our last. If it’s our last, it better be our best!
I figured I’d write this month’s column on things I thought freshmen should and should not do here at the high school, but that ended up being a whole article on its own. Then I thought maybe I could write about my summer. Boring. Then, the day before this article was due, (technically, it’s now three days late as I write this) I decided that writing about the rocky start of my school year would be a pleasant start to the school year.
I started the year off with a sort of rough schedule. Pre-calc first thing in the morning, followed by AP English and AP Chem, with Creative Writing and Newspaper to finish off my day. So my afternoons seem pretty sweet.
My first day of Pre-Calc was spent with my hand in the air in utter confusion. "Isn’t the first day of school supposed to be easy?!" Since then, I’ve been almost completely lost in the class, until a day or so after I’ve taken the quiz on the unit. Figures.
AP English is awesome. A class where I get to read good books and discuss them? Sounds quite a bit like heaven to a literature nut like me. The only problem I’ve had in that class so far was my ill-timed nap. I don’t condone sleeping in any classes, but sometimes it just happens. Maybe you were up all night doing homework, or your dog had to go outside like 100 million times. No matter what the case, try and stay awake. Having said that, I feel I can now tell you about my AP English nap. We were given 40 minutes to write as much as possible on a certain topic, and after the 40 minutes we were to hand in the essay. Well, ten minutes in, I had written a small portion on the topic, and laid my head down to get more comfortable. I woke up in a puddle of drool to Mrs. Penski announcing a five minute warning.
AP Chemistry was way out of my reach. I’ve never taken a class so difficult. The kids in that class are going to be Nobel Prize winners. I switched into a different AP class, AP English Composition; an online class.
Creative writing should’ve been my favorite class. 73 minutes of pure, unadulterated creativity. Apparently I can’t be creative when I have to be.
And finally, I wrap my days up with Newspaper. Here at Newspaper, we’re one big family. We work responsibly and diligently every single day to ensure that you get the best school publication we can possibly give you. I love every minute of this, and I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to participate in this lovely production for almost two years now.
Good luck Greyhounds!
