The Smaller, The Better. Lost is how I feel right now. At first, I was so eager to come to this big school. I was tricked by my friends who gushed about all the opportunities, the varied new sports teams, all the different people I will meet and how learning here is easier because obviously […]

The bell rang, claiming the students better all be in their current class. The students stood, and sat, all talking waiting for their teacher to arrive. A few seconds after the bell, she entered. Shes on the shorter side and she is blond, I’m pretty sure her eyes are green, but they should truly be […]

After four years of high school I have grown accustomed to how popularity, wealth, and materials make up cliques. No one person makes the rule of who hangs out with whom. People who live similar lifestyles tend to have a connection with each other because they understand the way they live in a way most […]

All parents want their children to succeed. Sure, it would be great to have another Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but these acclaimed figures are simply outliers. What is most important is that children succeed at whatever activities they do so that their success can translate into a life-long effect. It’s a simple fact: parents […]

This article I feel the same way about a Friday night. It said everything so true about a Friday. Every Friday from the morning the whole day is better then the other weekdays. When you get home from school you want to do all your homework so there is none to do later, but everyone […]

The plan is to do good in high school, finish college, get a high paying job, buy a house, get married, have children, and retire. Happy ever after, right? Wrong. The problem with this method is an example of the saying “easier said than done. ” This plan is corrupted with the first step – […]

In the past decade, education reforms have varied across the nation as the current education system continues to fail to prepare for either college or the workforce (Coplin). In response, some states have advanced their education programs by requiring high school students to major in high school. In 2007, Senator Jeb Bush enacted his A++ […]

I don’t think kids should have to go to school if they don’t want to. You ask why? Because most kids sleep anyway during classes, and its wasting paper cause kids don’t do their homework, it goes in the trash. I mean some kids might be scared to come to school because of all the […]

Potential. Latent excellence or ability. But what is it really? How much you know? A number? A figure? A grade point average? Three A’s and four B’s? 1.09 higher than Joe’s and 0. 67 lower than Sue’s? That was the impression I always had. In school, you learn lessons necessary to pass a test. These […]

One in every four students gets bullied at school (Ballee). Physical education is a highly social and physically demanding class that tends to alienate the athletically inferior students from their superior classmates. This potentially leads to their victimization. Many accounts have been recorded of bullying during P. E. classes due to a student’s weight, image, […]

A deer wanders through a meadow, stopping to take a drink. The trees sway in the wind, and all manner of creatures are seen dashing in and out of the shelter of their low- hanging branches. Despite the wide open scene depicted in this mural, the wall it is pained on closes in faster and […]

Many people say a key to academic success is eating breakfast and lunch. From a recent survey taken, about half of the students at my school rely on the school to provide a balanced lunch. However, some students don’t feel that they are getting their money’s worth. Seven out of fifteen people eat hot lunch […]

Thousands of teens have been shot killed or injured due to gang violence. According to (Do- Something.org) “86% of U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 of more report gang activity”. Gang members are okay with minors joining gangs and losing their lives for the good of the gang. Even though many believe kids are […]

Yawn. I hear that sound all the time in the morning, because most everyone is tired. Do you always feel tired in the morning during the first few hours of school? Like you wanna just fall asleep in the middle of class. I’m a 7th grader at Farnsworth Middle School, and I have the same […]

What if twenty years from now the world was reduced to a handful of successful people and the rest of the world in war, on drugs, and completely crazy? Now we could stop that now if kids come to school and get the education they need. But right now half the kids are truants doing […]

May 1st has come and gone. Deposits to colleges are in and seniors can finally relax. Well, sort of. Getting into college is one thing, but paying for it is quite another. I attend a predominately Hispanic and African American public school in the northwest side of the city of Chicago. I was blessed to […]

Since I was little I have been a fan of books. All sorts – from non-fiction to historical to sci-fi and beyond – have captivated me. But one thing I have never been a fan of is people who say “reading is stupid”. Honestly? I think. And yet, you note on the vocabulary I use […]

What I dislike about school are the following: Students should go to school later and do activities in the morning. The schools should serve a healthier meal and student should not have to carry books from class to class. First, I think getting more sleep in my day will help me stay awake and not […]

The first day of my freshman year of high school, I got lost. Somewhere between third and fourth period, my schedule disappeared. I spent about fifteen minutes wandering the campus until I located the counselor’s office and printed out another copy, then another ten minutes looking for my class. I cautiously entered, found a seat: […]

Cheating. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, to cheat is “to be dishonest or deceitful.” By the time students reach high school, they should have learned ‘Honesty is the best policy,” right? Apparently not. Academic dishonesty is a part of everyday life as a high school student. I see cheating everywhere. The girl copying her […]

INT. END OF GRADUATION CEREMONY – OUTSIDE LAUREN, JOHN, KRIS, and KATIE are at their graduation ceremony, throwing their graduation caps into the air and miming camera-conscious excitement. In awkward infomercial fashion, the four are all smiling at the camera instead of each other. KATIE (excited) We’ve graduated from high school! JOHN (confused) But, what […]

Technology is surrounding the world today, it is used in every aspect including hospitals, office buildings, fire departments, even in schools. I feel there is no need to ban the use of cell phones in schools, they can help in many different ways. By keeping our community updated with all the new technologies out there […]

I am only sixteen years old. I am not yet five feet tall and I barely weigh one hundred pounds. I’m just a little girl, not ready for reality. Yet here I am, carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. I never realized that it was so heavy until last year when I […]

After a successful season of playing of high school football, our team has finally made it to state after the outstanding win against Hudson 43-20. Having school on this day that could make us state champs would be outrageous, considering the majority of student’s arn’t going to be there. “If I were to go to […]

More Programs for Teen Moms are Needed. Before I dropped out of school I found out that I was pregnant; it was October 2009. I didn’t know what programs were available or how to even manage going to school. After I had my daughter in May 2010, I waited to go back to school in […]

This morning, Ms. Sholtes tricked her class into thinking staff placed a new rule forcing students to only read non-fiction books. She took away all fiction books from students. Ms. Sholtes claims the school board did this “to enforce the reading of nonfiction books so students pay attention to real events rather than reading about […]

In preschool the first person you meet is your best friend. In elementrary school you learn long division. In middle school you finally get to stop walking in lines, atleast for the most part. In highschool everything you have learned and done in previous schooling is thrown away because You have just been invited to […]

Dear America, I am an African American 16 year old growing up as a minority in suburbia and I have something to say – from my experience – about the reading curriculum of my school. Before I state my principle issue, I will come out now to say that I am grateful for what I […]

Students in school often wonder why they have to read certain books in English class. They think that those books are boring and pointless to read. Is it that hard to find a book that will interest students and make them want to read it? What should juniors in high school read? There are many […]

Head aching, heart wrenching stress. These feelings result when teens face the pressure of balancing school with many other activities, especially part time jobs. “Part time” understates the amount of time a job consumes nor does it accurately represent the responsibility of having a job. When placed in this situation, students spread themselves too thin […]