The Rider Chronicle » JordanCampagna

Five named National Merit Commended

JordanCampagna — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:47:33 +0000

This year of the 12 WFISD students named National Merit Commended, six were at Rider.
Seniors named National Merit Commended were Elizabeth Bynum, Oliver De Asis, Greg Gaskey, Sarah Harmer, Jonathon Lee and Cameron Liss.
Taking practice tests is what Harmer believes helped her.
“It’s nice to know [taking practice tests] paid off well in the end,” Harmer said. “I was trying to make as high as I could possibly get and hoping for the best.”
Bynum thought she might have made it but wasn’t sure since she “didn’t study or prepare.”
“Mrs. Kramer looked at [my scores] and told me I probably was,” Bynum said. “I found out for sure when we all got called down and were told by the counselors and Mrs. McDonald.”
De Asis was “honestly surprised” that he made National Merit Commended.
“It was a good feeling since not many people get to say that they’re National Merit anything,” De Asis said. “I suppose I was trying to make National Merit since I did Mr. and Mrs. Kramer’s PSAT camp, but everyone in there was so smart, I thought they would all make it, not me.”
Gaskey was just trying to do his best on the PSAT to prepare for the SAT.
For other students trying to make National Merit, Harmer recommends ASP.
“If you take it seriously, I think it might have been what helped me out in the end,” Harmer said.
“Make sure you’re used to the timing,” is one of Gaskey’s suggestions to do better on the PSAT.
“Practice with SAT prep a little because it’s harder material,” Gaskey said.
De Asis recommended the Kramer PSAT prep camp as well as reviewing.
“Review your vocab every day and read a lot so you get faster and have more time to answer the passage questions,” De Asis said. “Going out and buying supplements like PSAT books might be expensive, but it will help out in the long run.”
Liss agrees that the Kramers helped.
“I owe my success to the Kramers,” Liss said.

Students need to watch extra-curriculars, only 10 days allowed

JordanCampagna — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:10:44 +0000

Starting this year, students need to be cautious of when they use their ECA days since they only have 10 for the whole year, and that limit will be enforced.
School related absences are coded in two different ways, ECA, or extra-curricular activities, which count toward the 10 days, or OC, co-curricular activities, which don’t count.
“There is a list of five questions that a sponsor or teacher has to ask to determine whether it is ECA or OC,” principal Judy McDonald said.
If the answer to all five questions is “no,” then the activity is coded as OC.
“The teacher makes the first call [on ECA or OC],” McDonald said. “They turn it into Mrs. Albin. If there is a question, [Albin] would bring it to me or Mrs. Kirby.”
Students in multiple activities and sports that are considered ECA “would have to be careful,” McDonald said.
“They would have to pick and choose [what they attend],” McDonald said.
Senior Sara Finkler feels that only allowing 10 days can harm a student’s chances at getting into college.
“Students are involved with multiple activities and that limits their involvement,” Finkler said. “That is needed on college applications.”
Students who reach the 10 ECA limit will not be allowed to attend the event with their organization even if they take an absence.
“I couldn’t support a sponsor allowing a student to go if they have 10 [ECA’s],” McDonald said. “That’s just circumventing the policy.”
ECA days that have already taken place are counted in the 10, though students were only told on Oct. 18.
This policy is not new, but the administration checked ECA related absences and took action only if the grades were suffering due to extended ECA days.
However, that changed when McDonald saw the board policy stated 10 days total regardless of grades.
“A student was going to be absent for an extended period of time. I checked to see if it was covered in the ECA policy and I noticed [this policy,]” McDonald said. “I thought teachers should be made aware, so I sent out a reminder. We need to enforce all school rules.”
The only exceptions to the policy would be if a student or team makes it to the region or state levels of competition. Post-district events can use five more days, not including the original 10, and state events can use two days. Leftover days will not rollover.
“UIL recommends 10 ECA days,” McDonald said. “It is district policy.”
The three WFISD board members contacted did not respond to a request to speak before deadline.

UIL sponsors stay proactive after budget cut in half

JordanCampagna — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:35:01 +0000

In past years, the UIL academic budget was $10,000.
This year, it is only $5,000.
“Funding has been a problem at the state level and now it’s trickling down,” Rider UIL coordinator and Literary Criticism sponsor Sandra Scheller said. “We’re not the only ones who have to do this.
Previously the team would go on two out of town meets a year. This year, they may only get one.
“Our best competition is out of town, and we can’t afford it,” Scheller said.
Physics sponsor Patrick Tempelmeyer thinks the change won’t help their chances at state.
“We should have an incredibly strong team,” Tempelmeyer said. “It would be better if we could go on those meets, though. Plus, it cuts some of the fun out of being on the team.”
Not only can they not afford meets, practice materials are also expensive.
“Lit Crit costs $250 just for one event,” Scheller said. “We have $500 total.”
To help with costs, different departments are pitching in for practice materials.
“They’re helping as much as they can, but their budgets were also cut,” Scheller said.
In order to offset the cuts, the sponsors are doing fundraisers such as the “Celebrity Scoop Night” at Maggie Moo’s that was held on Oct. 26.
“We’re trying to be proactive,” Scheller said,” but I don’t know how this can do anything but hurt.”

Faculty stopped from adding students on Facebook

JordanCampagna — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:18:01 +0000

In the past, Facebook was a common way for students and teachers to communicate, but now, the district has recommended that teachers terminate friendships with current students.
The state of Missouri has banned teachers from adding current and former students on Facebook and other social media sites this year after arrests in Georgia and New Mexico were made, one involving an eighth grader and one involving a 17 year old. Both were shown to stem from student/teacher relationships on social media sites.
While Principal Judy McDonald hasn’t seen any issues with Facebook at Rider, she believes the new WFISD recommendation will be good.
“I don’t think any of our teachers have an ulterior motive,” McDonald said. “It’s more of a prevention. It was put in place for the safety of the students.”
Teachers who did add students say some educators used their Facebooks to remind students of tests and projects.
In an anonymous survey of Rider teachers, one said that the recommendation has caused teachers to lose a valuable tool to connect with students, but some have already found alternative solutions.
“Most of the teachers I’ve talked to that are tech-savvy said they will set up separate pages, like the yearbook, cheer and football pages,” McDonald said. “They can post and everyone can see it.”
While the district only recommends that teachers not be friends with current students, McDonald advised that Rider faculty follow the recommendation, though one, who did follow the recommendation, is upset about being told what they can and cannot do in their spare time.
One teacher that responded to the survey only adds students after they’ve graduated while another adds former students to a separate account than non-former students are added to.
“I was of the opinion that adding students to personal Facebook accounts was a conflict of interest,” a different teacher said. “Professional distance must be maintained as long as the kids are in your class. Keep yourself safe, thereby keeping those you have been paid to safeguard safe.”

Drama Club Meeting

JordanCampagna — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:03:20 +0000

Title: Drama Club Meeting
Location: Lab Theatre
Date: 2011-09-01

Lost books add up to high cost

JordanCampagna — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:19:34 +0000

As school was ending last year, it looked as if Rider would lose $10,000 due to 174 missing books.

Through the summer, that number shrunk. On the Thursday before school started, 107 books were still missing, adding up to $6,000 in books.

Students who have lost books are out of luck until they pay their fines.

“We are hoping to get at least 90 books back in,” Braveboy said.

Students with books or money will need to see Braveboy or he will go to them.

“We catch a lot of them when they come to check out books,” Braveboy said.

If the books aren’t returned, students with lost books can’t check out a new book or participate in UIL activities.

“The money we don’t get, we have to pay,” Braveboy said. “The district doesn’t let us off the hook. We have to take money from other areas to pay.”

Staff member places at UIL state competition

JordanCampagna — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:59:58 +0000

Sophomore Kayla Holcomb placed 5th in headline writing at the State UIL academic meet.
This was Holcomb’s first year on the journalism team and she had never planed to even compete in headline writing.
“Before district, I had originally planned to do only feature writing, but someone dropped out of headline writing and Mrs. Lee needed an alternate so she wrote my name down,” Holcomb said. “Then I got told a week before that I was going to be competing and I am not the kind of person to show up unprepared so I put a lot of time into studying the rules and practicing.”
All the time and effort Holcomb put in before her first competition at District worked. She ended up placing third.
She continued the streak at Regional%u2019s where she placed second to move her to the state level.
“I was shocked,” Holcomb said. “We had been waiting for the results and we were the last group to receive our scores and Mr. Pearson walked up to us and said ‘I have a headline for the headline competition, headlines lost.’ At first I thought he meant that neither Jordan Campagna, who placed sixth and is going to state as third alternate, or myself had placed, then I realized he was talking about the headlines being lost.”
While a little joking was a great way to get her mind off the scores for a minute, that was the only minute she had until her scores were posted.
“About a minute later, Mrs. Lee walked up and placed a hand on my shoulder and she said ‘ well you tried really hard and it was your first year” and then she paused and said “and you got a silver,”‘Holcomb said. “My brain did not click on that, I did not realize that, and then I noticed Mrs. Lee’s smile, the biggest I had ever seen, and then I heard her say I was going to State and I was in complete shock.”
Holcomb had a little luck on her side along the way though.
“At district the headline that was the one point decider against third and fourth place was the headline I wrote that was “Case of Strum Luck” which got me third,”Holcomb said. “And at Regions, the headline that I wrote was “Luck of the Draw”and that got me second. Mrs. Lee and I have decided that my word is” luck” and when I am at state, I am hoping I will be able to include it somewhere and maybe I’ll do well.”
This is the seventh year in a row for Rider to take someone to State on the journalism team. Rider has placed at state, but not in the last two years. Rider has been eight total times in sixteen years, the first in 2000.
“I feel really special to get to carry on this tradition and it has not kicked in that it is actually me,” Holcomb said.
Holcomb is not going alone, Junior Jordan Campagna is also headed to Austin as third alternate. It is her first trip to state too.
Holcomb wanted to thank Emma White for supporting and helping her prepare and learn, and Mrs. Lee for everything she has done to help her.

Paintings in hallway chronicle 12 years of art

JordanCampagna — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:39:22 +0000

With this school’s hidden hallways and classrooms, there is no doubt that many miss the artwork along the art hallway. Among these pieces are the murals painted on the wall just before entering the dance hall and theater.
“Students painted the murals about 12 years ago,” Art teacher Nancy Kizis said. “The students’ art teacher was Judy Lattray at the time. They used a projector to copy the art pieces onto the walls. The significance of the murals is to allow the students to see famous art work in their school without having to go to a museum.”
The other art pieces along the walls are done by fellow students here now.
“I feel good when I walk by my art work in the hallway,” Sophomore Erica Bourland said. “I don’t think people actually care about my art though.”
In harmony with this, many may forget and not take notice of what is in the hallways.
“During school tours, ones who pass through the art halls take notice of the murals and other art pieces and may wonder about them,” Kizis said, “but over time, they forget and overlook them. The art should be cared about though because if you notice, we use art in our daily lives anyway. The music we listen to, the cars we drive, our houses, they were designed by an artist. Even the clothes we wear are designed by an artist.”
And even when some may not care about the art work along the halls, student artists still take pride in their art work.
“I really don’t care if people don’t look at my art,” Bourland said, “I spent almost three weeks on it and I feel accomplished and that’s all that matters. I think my art means that there are still people who still care about it since it’s displayed.”
With the murals and art work by students, our halls are alive and Rider pride is expressed. After all, this is a Fine Arts school.
“It’s important to have art in public places because it enriches our lives,” Kizis says.

State budget cuts force school cuts

JordanCampagna — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:34:52 +0000

Due to the rising country deficit, the Texas state education budget has been cut down forcing the district to lower their budget as well.
At Rider, six positions were lost, though some of those faculty members were just shifted around.
There were three phases in the staff reduction process. Phase one was simply the removal of low-quality teachers.
“We didn’t have to lose any teachers [in phase one] because Rider has all high-quality teachers,” principal Judy McDonald said.
Phase two was about class sizes.
“The district says that all classes should be 10-15 people,” McDonald said. “Since we’re still scheduling, those numbers are not accurate.”
Phase three came down to saving money.
“Two positions had to be cut,” McDonald said. “They can be restored if the budget turns out to be nicer to education.”
To assist the district in reaching a solution to the budget crisis, a 26-member team was established. The Budget Action Committee met to discuss possible cuts to save money and submitted their report to the district. Among the possibilities were options from encouraging teachers to conserve electricity by turning the lights off more often to selling unused land.
Math teacher Stephanie Mullens is one of the members of the committee.
“I was happy to serve, but I knew it was going to be a tough job,” Mullens said. “It was heart-wrenching, we knew people were going to lose jobs.”
“26 people were chosen [for the committee],” Mullens said. “They tried to pick from all different areas: teachers, secretaries, maintenance, teachers.”
The committee was divided into five groups: curriculum and instruction, extracurricular, personnel, student support and support areas.
“My area was support areas,” Mullens said. “We looked at facilities, busing, utilities, etc.”
To help the committee with their recommendations, surveys were sent to faculty across the district.
“[They] could talk about their areas and what they wanted to keep or cut,” Mullens said.
While the committee was proposing the cuts, they had to divide them into priorities and whether they were long-term or short-term.
“You can’t not fix roofs, but it might be put off for a year or two,” Mullens said.
McDonald believes that the cuts at Rider are over with.
“The budget is balanced for this year, unless there is some increase,” McDonald said. “We are preparing for a worst case scenario.”
Since about 12 phase three positions have already been reinstated, Mullens believes, “it doesn’t look like a worst cast scenario.”
McDonald doesn’t think that the students of Rider will see a major difference next year.
“The biggest would be increased class sizes,” McDonald said. “[Also] not offering some electives and combining similar classes. We would still have the classes, but they wouldn’t be as specific as we previously offered.”
In Foreign Language department head and Spanish 2 teacher Ethan Shaw’s opinion, bigger class sizes can negatively affect students’ learning.
“I have a class with 36 kids and 26 desks,” Shaw said. “We can’t get desks and that’s this year. It will be interesting to see the seating arrangement.”
Though the Budget Action committee made the proposals, it is up to the Board what goes into effect.
“Everything was strictly recommendations,” Mullens said. “We had no power. All cuts come from the Board of Trustees, not Dr. Kazanas or Dr. Powers.”

Political brunch opens student’s eyes to issues

JordanCampagna — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:53:48 +0000

Politician Mike Huckabee and co-editor of the Rider Chronicle, Jordan Campagna. Huckabee came to town for a book signing and spoke at a brunch beforehand. He arrived early so that he could meet people and take pictures. Afterwards, everyone reveived a gift bag with a free book titled, "A Simple Government."

He hosts a popular TV show. He is the author of multiple best selling books, one of which I am reading now. He is a national figure.

Mike Huckabee was in town for a book signing on March 3, 2011 and I got to meet him. He was the keynote speaker at a brunch before the signing. My dad was lucky enough to know the man organizing the brunch, so he was able to get invites for the both of us. I got to miss most of school that day. It was worth it.

I’m not really much of a talker, so I just followed my dad around. I can’t remember how many hands I shook. Right before the event began, Huckabee was standing right behind me. My dad turned, shook his hand and introduced himself. He then said, “This is my daughter Jordan. She is the co-editor of her school newspaper.” We shook hands and he asked if I knew what I was going to do for college. I told him I might study journalism. Before he could say anything else though, he was ushered to the front so the program could start.

He didn’t start out speaking about politics. That waited until the end. He was attending the brunch primarily to speak about an organization he is passionately involved in called Big Life Ministries. Big Life specializes in planting churches in untouched countries. For about 30 minutes, he told us why it was important to him and why he believed we should help.

Shortly after he spoke about the ministry, he began what he called the “Question and Avoidance” time, or Q&A. During the Q&A, questions about the economy, immigration and heath-care came up. It was around that time that I began looking around. I noticed that I was, by at least 20 years, the youngest one in the room. I had heard about the controversial issues, but never cared enough to look into them. I will be able to vote for the next presidential election. I have already started researching potential candidates. I don’t want to vote just because a certain candidate is Republican or Democrat. I want to be able to vote because I feel the same way about the issues as that candidate. The right to vote is a right that needs to be taken seriously. Having knowledge about the issues facing the country increases the connection between the government and the population. If I know what is going on with the economy, then I won’t ignore the news when I hear it. I won’t be ignorant of what is happening in the world.

After the event was over, there was a short time to take photos, and in my case, have Huckabee personalize my autographed book with, “To Jordan.” As my dad and I took our pictures with him, I will forever remember the words he said, “Maybe someday you’ll be the editor of the New York Times.”