As the bell rang, the kids rumbled through the hallways trying to get to class. In class, the clock ticked slowly and, all the words the teacher spoke, they weren’t absorbed. Students clicked with boredom waiting for the other bell to ring, to be dismissed. Then the last bell rang, and the kids jumped up […]

I can’t help, but notice people and their inexplicable gestures. Being the one, who’s more interested in understanding little details about people rather than the little details of her course work. In the midst of observing, I learned that sometimes all that a person needs is kindness and forgiveness. I realized that every action is […]

I think that indoor recess is not a good thing for children because it does not help them develop physically and stay healthy. Is it the truth? Yes, because staying inside as opposed to running around outside in the fresh air does not give children the benefit of becoming healthier or developing physically. Is it […]

Testing is the worst. Especially on the last weeks of school you have billions of tests. You have: History, Math, Science, and Language finals. Your NWEA, and ECA, and ISTEP. It is all so overwhelming. Teachers need to plan it better so that we don’t have it all in the same week. It is too […]

Have you ever used your phone or watched TV while eating? For many of us, viewing some type of screen during a meal is routine. Besides the negative health implications that distracted eating can have (such as poor digestion, weight gain, and overall unhealthiness), it is also harmful in a different way. When we are […]

What you should know about bullying More than 3.2 million kids are being bullied each year. Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, […]

Open book exams allow the examinees to carry books and other reference material related to the subject for the exam. It may sound easy, but the questions in these types of exams are actually harder than that of closed book exams. In my opinion I am against open book examinations. First of all, it affects […]

So I was going through my History Text book and soon found all kinds of biased views in it. It talks about how white people basically invaded villages in Africa and drug people out of their homes, in some cases yes this happened. But in most cases slaves were sold by other Africans, sometimes the […]

A child wakes up at 6 A.M. a normal December school day. He slinks out of bed to take a shower. Afterwards, he eats breakfast, and throws on a jacket. The child watches television to pass the time, and sees that his school is closed due to snow. He trudges off, back to bed, annoyed, […]

Every school has its variety of couples ranging from the quintessential quarterback and cheerleader to those that aren’t as common and some that are just plain weird. There is not just one set type of high school couple; every relationship is different and unique in its own way. To say that all couples can be […]

In our modern world of education, the average student ranging from all grades and ages go through a school day of seven to seven and a half hours. Although these hours are thought to be such a short period of time, they are the motive for high stress within teens, as well as the loss […]

“Dang it!”; “Ugh, why?!”; “More?” Those are just some of the phrases we say when we get assigned homework. I believe that homework should not exist at all. It is just one more thing to add to a student’s after school to-do list. It’s useless. Most people hate or strongly dislike homework. A lot of […]

A wise person once told me that working hard on assignment does not equal 90%. What happened to the days when working hard on something paid off with a great mark to show it? What happened to the days when a student could look at their work and say “wow, I did a great job.”? […]

What school doesn’t have cliques?Without cliques there would be no chicksThen no guys would come to schoolAll the other schools would make fun of them for being foolsEvery high school has cliquesWithout cliques there would be no schoolThere would be no expressionThere would be no personalityThere would be no differenceCliques is what makes a school […]

Almost every aspect human life has been rushed into the new Golden Age of technology.Along with these advancements comes the standardized Common Core test known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, for short. The PARCC test started with a hardy 23 states on board back in 2010, but […]

Walking into any classroom to find that Mr. Balistreri is the substitute teacher is similar to walking into a comedy after being stuck in nine different periods of horror films. He is an incredibly funny man with a scratchy voice that adds to his character. Immediately, when I walk in the room, the bantering begins […]

There are many different type of educators in this world. There are some that we really don’t like, some that we like and some that you just wanna say “Thank goodness you taught me”. That is what I have today. My 8th grade science teacher was phenomenal. He was everything that i ever wanted in […]

Mrs. Hart is such an influential educator whom I among many others admire. Mrs. Hart made my transition from middle school to high school simple. It’s perplexing to think I was the shyest girl, and eighth grade helped me to come out of my shell. School became something I looked forward to. My former school, […]

High school is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Kids living on the edge, dreaming of life and adventure; unfortunately, these feelings will only last for four years. Eventually, you’ll realize that life can’t be that great. Most people will end up going to work for the rest of there life, […]

Yes, teachers have to miss school as well as students but when a teacher does miss school the sub should be a fun person. In class we have a sub named Mr.Mccullen, none of us like him. He yells at us, oes not talk and when he does he just ends up yelling agian. When […]

EL PASO, TX— Every day is a new adventure for self-professed high-school superstar Ivy Lang, a junior at Midland High School. The sixteen-year-old declared on Monday that she is “happier and more fulfilled than ever” from neglecting her family, friends, and general mental stability in exchange for six AP classes and interminable standardized testing. “As […]

There are many books which have had movies made to match them. One book like this is called “The Book Thief.” It is about a young girl whose name is Liesel, is living in Nazi Germany, and is going through multiple inner conflicts. One conflict is that after her brother died, every night she always […]

February 23, 2011 Editor of the West Plains Daily Quill P.O. Box 110 West Plains, MO 65775 Dear Editor, What is the purpose of school? Think about it real hard. The purpose of school is to teach children the basics of life. For example: the history of their country, how to write a paper/letter, how […]

Running around as a little child, having a gigantic stick in my hand. “I’m going to slay that dragon! Charge!” Being that hyper little child I always was, running around outside. Now I look at my little nieces and nephews just sitting at the kitchen table. Not talking to one another, just sitting there playing […]

Education is knowledge and knowledge is key. Our education is received through the medium of a school-SCHOOL:an institution where instruction is given and this, is where our issue arouses. Cuz I sat in my Assembly Hall just before an English exam asking myself if the world doesn’t care good, good people are being shot down […]

Physical Education or P.E., whatever you call it, it’s here and it’s needed. P. E. is different from Recess, it isn’t a do-whatever-you-want thing, it’s a way for kids to get the physical education they need. My opinion is to make P.E. Mandatory in all grades. In some states, it is little or not required […]

Students come in at a groggy 8 am, they all put their phones in a large plastic bin and their backpacks against the wall. They sit in assigned seats in a different classroom with a different teacher. They then stay in that seat for 3 hours, not permitted to use the restroom, not permitted to […]

Students should be required to dress up on Monday through Thursday and only be allowed to dress down on Fridays. With a paucity of differences among the dress of the students, there will be fewer distractions. Certain students will resent the acrimonious dress code, because they will have to buy new clothes. The dress code […]

CAN you see our world without art? Could we live with art? Children are impacted by being more creative at school and in the world. The purpose of this essay is to show how our would be if we didn’t have art in schools. IF we didn’t have art, children would stop being creative and […]

Are you prepared to be working and out on your own?If you’re a teenager, then in the next few years, you will have to face the terrifying reality of being on your own for the first time. It may not seem like it, but besides working and keeping up with the housekeeping, your parents do […]