vol. 7, issue 4 - life goes on

For seniors coping with medical traumas, staying focused on the positives is what keeps them moving forward

BY HEWAN MENGISTU Staff reporter

You’ve seen it time and time again on the movie screen. Your favorite character gets yelled at for texting, skipping class or back-talking a teacher then winds up serving deten-tion. The show usually ends with the student learning a valuable lesson, making ev-erything right with the world. Although these fictional sto-ries are entertaining to watch, some Cleveland students are finding it less fun when it be-comes their reality.

Administrators started handing out lunch detention at the start of the 2014-15 school year, giving teachers the option to write a student up for infractions like skipping or habitual bad behavior.

“It could be skipping a class. It could be continued use of an electronic device even though the student has been told mul-tiple times to put it away,” said Ray Morales, SoED assis-tant vice principal. According to Morales, lunch detention is a way to bring a type of conse-quence for minor infractions, which is something Cleveland didn’t have before. Students who receive a referral spend their lunch with Youth Sup-port Specialist Jeff Schmidt where they finish up missed class work.

Some students who were given detention for infractions over cellphone use find the punishment unfair, and while using cellphones at school is a common occurrence, it is up to the teacher to establish class-room norms around usage.

The same can be said for students who skip class and congregate in the hallways.

What’s on the lunch

menu? Detention

Cleveland High School

Vol. 7, Issue 4

5511 15th Ave. S.Seattle, WA 98108

facebook.com/clevelandpublicationsTwitter & Instagram: @CPub_EaglesWebsite: clevelandjournal.org

NEWSMore students taking

advantage of CASH > PAGE 3

FEATURESPeter Henry is the real MVP

> PAGE 7

SPORTSWhen the winners don’t know

they’re winners > PAGE 9

OPINIONThe problem with group work

in math > PAGE 11

Friday, February 12, 2016

DETENTION > PAGE 7

RECOVERY > PAGE 4

TINA DANG / CLEVELAND PUBLICATIONS

Worn out after undergoing another medical procedure, Jade Bowen returns to her hospital room. Bowen was diagnosed with leukemia last June and received a stem cell transplant in November. She is now cancer free, but the preparation for the trans-plant left her with acute kidney failure.

InsIde

LIFE GOES ON

Administrators use teacher referrals

to disciplinerepeat offenders

The world hasn’t stop spinning for the families of Jade Bowen

and Phong Ton, two Cleveland se-niors dealing with medical traumas. Life goes on around them, even as they face some of the toughest ob-stacles of their lives. But they aren’t just letting life pass them by; they are active participants in their fight to regain a sense of normalcy. This is the final story in our series as The Journal documents their road to re-covery.

On a sunny, Monday afternoon, Jade Bowen’s mother, Kari Childs, sits in wait

PHOTOS BY BRANDON TABASAN / CLEVELAND PUBLICATIONS

Senior Phong Ton was left paralyzed from the chest down after a car ac-cident last May on Interstate 5. Once hopeful he would walk again, Ton is coming to grips with the fact that he may never regain his mobility.

News2The Journal


The Cleveland Journal is published nine times a year (twice online) by the Journalism Writing and Graphic Arts classes of Cleveland High School, 5511 15th Ave. S, Seattle, WA, 98108.

The Cleveland Journal is printed by Paci�c Publishing in Seattle, Washington and is associated with Journalism Education Association, National Scholastic Press Association and the Washington Journalism Education Association. It prints 500 copies per issue.

MISSION STATEMENTThe sta� of The Cleveland Journal is committed to objectively and accurately representing the diverse population of talents, cultures and viewpoints of the Cleveland High School community.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORThe Cleveland Journal encourages all readers to voice their opinions to us. We welcome all signed letters of opinion, which are subject to editing for length, accuracy and grammar, though every attempt will be made to preserve original content. Please send letters to [email protected].

STAFF POLICYCleveland Publications produces the school newspaper and yearbook for the student body and surrounding community of Cleveland High School in Seattle, Washington. Our right to free speech is guaranteed by under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Views expressed in The Cleveland Journal are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the administration, faculty or school district.

Sta� ManagerLucas Rumpeltes

Content Managers - Reporting

Abbygail Eleccion Ronnie Estoque

Dakaria Heru Amanda Nguyen

Reporters

Ian Blackburn

Gabriella Brown

Emmanuel Espinoza

Zareya Flowers

Myla Hightower

Tran Lam

Amy Ly

Simone McCants

Hewan Mengistu

Zeinab Mohamed

A’Treu Mountha

Ngan Nguyen

Ryshel Sampson

Ryshun Sampson

Emilio Suarez

Tay’a Taylor

Content Managers - Production

Zechariah Brown - Yearbook Design

Joshua Elaydo - Newspaper Design

Andy Huynh - Photography

Kerkphon Ketboonsai - Video

Athena Tong - Illustration

Design, Illustration, Photography, & Video

Isabella Abad

Ji Hun Cha

Yecenia Cruz

Tina Dang

Ciera Devers

Robyn Gamboa

Jeremiah Head

Lauren Jones

Lucas King

Zeinab Mohamed

Brandon Tabasan

Jack Thai

Jay Virivong

Shai’Ree Walker

Cleveland Publications AdviserTeresa Scribner

ADVERTISING POLICYThe Journal will not accept any advertising that is deemed to be factually inaccurate, designed to mislead, deceive or defraud, or services illegal for teens to possess, buy or use.

GUEST SUBMISSIONSStudents and sta� of Cleveland High School may leave submissions in the school mailbox of Teresa Scribner, publications adviser, or e-mail The Journal at [email protected]

Eyes on the Eagles — February

FUTURE EAGLESoED Assistant Principal Ray

Morales and his wife, Jackie, wel-comed a baby girl on Jan. 16. Ji-mena Xochitl was born four weeks early, weighing 5 pounds and 12 ounces.

CLEVELAND’S GOT TALENT;DO YOU?

Cleveland is hosting a city-wide talent show on Friday, Feb. 26.

Audition will be held on Feb. 12 in the auditorium. Forms are online at http://tinyurl.com/seattles-got-talent. You must be a high school student in the Seattle area to sign up. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.

WE WANT YOUR PICS!Seniors who purchased grad

ads need to have their photos sub-mitted to Cleveland Publications by Wednesday, February 17.

BUY THE BOOKThe last day to purchase a year-

book will be Friday, May 6. The books are on sale for $65. Bundle packages for seniors are no longer available.

FAMOUS PEOPLE ARE COMING

Cleveland’s Gender and Sexu-ality Alliance will be hosting a forum on Friday, Feb. 26 at 2:30 p.m. in the auditorium. The guest speaker will be Director of Seattle

Parks and Recreation Michael Shiosaki, husband to Mayor Ed Murray.

WE’VE GOT SPIRIT, HOW ‘BOUT YOU?

Did you know if you purchased an ASB card, you get a shirt with it?

“Color Wars” shirts are available to all students who purchase an ac-tivities card; shirts are $10 without.

Other spirit gear is available as well. Got an important announcement?

Email submissions to [email protected].

Announcements

22 23 24 25 26

16 17 18 19

MON TUES WED THURS FRI

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

HOLIDAYNO SCHOOL

15

7 8 9 10 11

29 1 2 3 4

TWO-HOUREARLY RELEASE

Seattle’s Got TalentCHS Auditorium 5-7 p.m

Sta� Meeting

Short Sta� Meeting

Michael Shiosakivisits ClevelandRoom 1335 (Gandy) 2:45 - 4:45 p.m.BLT Committee

Meeting

BLT CommitteeMeeting

Girls Basketballvs. Gar�eld 7:30 p.m.

WHITEOUT GAMEBoys Basketballvs. Gar�eld 7:30 p.m.

Young Queens Group PhotoRoom 1201 during 1st lunch

Anchor Day A-Day B-Day

Key Club Group Photo2:30 p.m.

Drumline and BandGroup Photo2:30 p.m.

Orchestra Group Photo2:00 p.m.Auditorium

HOSA Group PhotoRoom 2122 (Storey)at 2:30 p.m.

Art Club Group PhotoRoom 2020 (Bourgelt)at 3:00 p.m.

Cooking Club GroupPhoto at 3:45 p.m.

Orchestra FestivalAll day in the auditorium

PD CommitteeMeeting

Department Meetings

Project Feedback Mtg

Wrestling O’Dea 6:00Nathan Hale7:30 p.m.

MID-WINTER BREAK

NO SCHOOL NO SCHOOL

News 3The Journal


Emails sent to science teacher Steve Pratt by former students

From staff reports

CHS has a serious CASH flow prob-lem, but that may not be a bad thing.

Cleveland’s afterschool tutoring program has seen an increase in stu-dents over several weeks, in large part because it was the end of the semester, but some see it as a sign that students are taking their grades more seriously.

According to senior Agaziyan Mengesha, there is a noticeable in-crease in the number of students show-ing up for tutoring. He goes to get help with AP Calculus. When he first start-ed going earlier in the school year, the ratio was one teacher to every four to six students.

“Now it’s like Bingo where the teacher comes over to answer a quick question then moves on to someone else who needs help,” Mengesha said.

Since so many students show up to get help, CASH has expanded to include multiple rooms that cover a variety of subjects. Every Tuesday and Thursday, a number of tutors are on hand, ready to help with any subject ranging from math to science to humanities. It’s be-come normal to see a group of students in joint study sessions in CASH, but the amount of students stopping by and

getting help with homework has grown considerably.

Matt Hollar is one of the tutors who has been actively working with stu-dents each week.

“This crowd is much bigger than the crowds I was used too,” Hollar said, comparing the larger amount of students getting help before finals to the ones seeking help earlier in the semester. Hollar said that there was a lot of pressure to meet deadlines for students who were trying to get their grades up.

Sophomore and frequent CASH at-tendee Anthony Garcia said his time at CASH helped him combat the end of the semester.

“I come to CASH because I want to try and get more work done,” Garcia said. “I come here to not get distracted. CASH helps me focus.”

Even though this may seem like a lot of extra work for tutors like Hollar, he wants it to be known that all stu-dents are welcome to stop by.

“The teachers are always happy to help. I’m here mostly because I want to be here to help them out.”

Staff reporter A’Treu Mountha contributed to this story.

CASH flow strong as more students seek tutoring

LAUREN JONES / CLEVELAND PUBLICATIONS

Senior Hilton Vo, left, helps junior Elyzha Abella with her math homework at CASH on Dec. 3, 2015. Vo volunteers as a tutor.

BY LUCAS RUMPELTESStaff reporter

High school students aren’t the most polite members of society. This isn’t due to a desire to be rude; rather, it’s a lack of knowledge on etiquette. While this seems relatively unimport-ant in the grand scheme of things, one person’s opinion of another is af-fected greatly by their manners. This is only magnified when dealing with someone in a position of authority, such as a teacher. For this reason, science teacher Steve Pratt has begun the process of educating students on the rudimentary points of etiquette in one of the most common forms of online communication: email.

“Learning how to make requests and ask a teacher for their time in a respectful manner is something that I think we all, as humans, need to learn how to do,” explained Pratt.

The need to educate students on email etiquette stemmed from a re-cent onslaught of students making demands instead of asking politely. Most of the messages from students start without a greeting and go straight to what they want. These requests come in all different forms, but for AP Biology and Human Body Systems teacher Megan Claus, the most common seems to be grading late work.

“It’s the last day for late work so the student turned something in yes-terday and he came in and was like ‘why isn’t it in the grade book yet?’”

said Claus, recalling a specific in-stance. “That’s not necessarily a ter-rible story, but it’s just so common that it gets frustrating when it hap-pens over and over and over again.”

Pratt echoed Claus’ sentiments on repetition, but has used the numerous examples of poor etiquette to his ad-vantage. He has compiled a collection of emails from previous students that have demonstrated a glaring lack of etiquette in order to teach others.

“I’ve gotten emails in all caps; I’ve gotten emails demanding that I grade something ASAP right now,” Pratt said. “The best part is that it’s usually for late work that was due weeks ago, but then was just finally turned in.”

Pratt is now using these examples in a PowerPoint presentation to show his current students what not to do. Their mistake, Pratt says is often los-ing touch with the respect a teacher should be given.

“We are teachers, and so while you may have a positive relationship with the student, it’s always good to know that there is a divide. When you email them, you email them. You don’t write an email like a text conversa-tion,” said Pratt. He wants students to distinguish the difference between a teacher and a buddy then write with care.

It is Pratt’s hope that teaching this will help students communicate better with people in positions of au-thority. The document is available for teachers to share with their adviso-ries.

Students’ lack of ‘netiquette’ rumples teachers

Muslim is the new black ‘Islamophobia’ is spiraling out of control after series of extremist attacks

Due to a designer error, in the December edition of the Journal this story did

not run in its entirety. This is the full story.

BY DAKARIA HERU AND MYLA HIGHTOWER

Staff reporters

There’s a new group under scrutiny in America. If 2014 was the death of the young, black male, 2015 was the year of the downfall of Muslims.

With the most recent ter-rorist attacks and threats

from the militant group ISIS, Muslims around the world have come under fire, espe-cially those in the U.S. The rationalization that one group is responsible for the actions of a few has led to what is be-ing coined as “Islamophobia,” prejudice against Islamic peo-ple or Muslims, especially as a political force.

The hatred towards Mus-lims reached a political cre-scendo when Republican presidential candidate Don-ald Trump proposed a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United

States” – including Muslim-American citizens. The hate has reached critical mass with Muslims being targeted in hate crimes around the globe.

“I believe that the major-ity of fears about our religion stem from ignorance,” said Abdullah Khalil, a member of the Idris Mosque in Seattle. “Islam is not ISIS.”

Khalil believes that Islam is not about suicide bombers and terrorism.

“Islam is beautiful religion that is followed by millions around the world,” he said. “People just need to take the

time to learn about us instead of making judgments based on what they hear from the main-stream media.”

According to Khail, since the 9/11 attacks there has nev-er been more fear to be a Mus-lim in America. There have been misconceptions based on the media portrayal of ISIS and Muslims. People have learned to use the two terms interchangeably.

“I don’t understand how they can say they are Muslim, but they go against Muslim rules,” junior Sadia Ahmed said. Ahmed is Muslim.

Ahmed recalled one instance in which she experienced dis-crimination at work. While she was selling food at Century-Link, she was called “ISIS” by a white male, simply because she was wearing a hijab, a veil worn by Muslim women.

Not all Muslims get the same type of discrimination because of looks, according to senior Aliyah Sop.

“I don’t look like the ‘typi-cal Muslim.’ I don’t cover my hair, or look Middle Eastern or African,” she said. “People are so afraid of what they don’t know.”

for her daughter to return from yet another procedure. Bright, fluorescent lights fill Bowen’s hospital room as her nurses wheel her into the room. She is groggy, her voice faint and her eyes dreary from another exhausting day in the hospital. Still, the hope inside of her burns on.

Bowen’s battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia was long and grueling. Just as much as she has struggled with her cancer-stricken body, Childs has struggled with her own frayed emotions. There were times when they both wanted to give up, but they didn’t.

Bowen’s life appeared to take a turn for the better. After a successful stem cell transplant on Nov. 12, she fi-nally triumphed over cancer. Despite her victory, Bowen’s everyday life has yet to return to its former peaceful state. The ramifications from her treatment resulted in her be-ing diagnosed with acute kid-ney failure.

Bowen’s schedule is taxing. It consists of four-hour-long dialysis sessions, physical and occupational therapy and re-habilitation to help jump-start her mobility. Bowen lost most of her muscle mass after being intubated for two weeks. She is now unable to walk on her own.

“It’s not over yet,” Childs said. “It’s more important to fight now for her – because it’s not over … It just seems like it’s never-ending, but it will come to an end. I believe that Jade will be victorious and able to walk.”

As the world turnsWhile time seems to be

standing still for Bowen, life goes on outside the hallways of Seattle Children’s Hospi-tal, where she’s been since last June. Beyond the hospital room, the battle is much more than a fight for her health.

Bowen’s road to recovery has had a substantial effect on her family’s finances. Childs doesn’t work and stays at the hospital with her daughter ev-eryday, whereas Eddie Bowen, Jade’s father, works to keep things running smoothly for the family. Eddie’s job benefits include medical insurance, which helps cover Jade’s med-ical expenses. But even with insurance, the cost of Jade’s medical care reaches far be-yond the wallet.

Eddie has been taking care of Jade’s younger brothers, Xavier and Shiloh; Childs’ two-year old son is staying in

California with her sister dur-ing this time.

“[Eddie’s] taking care of our boys together and getting them places,” Childs said. “It’s really tough because I’m used to holding it down, but right now I’m not able to, and I exhaust my resources every day.”

Childs is able to sustain thanks to the generosity of friends and family, who have helped by buying groceries and filling her gas tank.

Keeping a positive outlookThis type of financial bur-

den is commonplace when families are facing hardships brought on by unexpected medical bills. The families of Bowen and Phong Ton, anoth-er senior who is fighting his way through a trauma, have a long road ahead of them. The recovery won’t be limited to finances either. Everyone in-volved will have to mentally prepare for the changes that may be here to stay.

Both Bowen and Ton are trying to keep a positive out-look on their situations. Bowen and her family are looking for-ward to a trip to the Bahamas,

which was recently granted by the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Her social worker helped her through the application pro-cess. The trip includes swim-ming with dolphins, which has always been one of Bowen’s aspirations.

Though Bowen is frail, Childs catches glimpses of her daughter’s fierce personality.

“She’s been really fighting; she’s fighting even harder now than she was before.”

New attitudeAs he approaches a year

since his life-changing acci-

dent, Ton is unsure of where his recovery will take him. When asked what his plans are for the future, he only has one thing on the horizon.

“Hopefully graduate … that’s all I have right now,” Ton admitted. He is leaving Cleveland for the time being and moving towards online classes, which will hopefully provide a more flexible sched-ule so that he can go to one of the colleges to which he has applied. Which one he’ll be able to attend is still unclear.

On top of this ambiguity surrounding school, Ton is still unsure if he’ll ever walk again. While this may seem bleak, he doesn’t see it that way.

“When I first woke up in the hospital, they told me I wasn’t going to,” he said. “Through-out my rehab and treatment they were like ‘Oh, this looks promising,’ but they’re not gonna guarantee anything.”

Ton remains hopeful but is ready if he doesn’t regain mo-bility in his legs.

“If I don’t, I don’t think I’ll be let down; I think being alive is good enough.”

This attitude is new for the teen who admitted a year ago he might not have said the same thing.

“Before the accident, I did the bare minimum,” said Ton. “My mom used to tell me to take out the trash, and I wouldn’t take out the trash … If I was able to walk again I’d love to take out the trash be-cause I know what it’s like not

News4The Journal


RECOVERYCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

LIFE GOES ONSeniors battling medical traumas staying focused on the positives

BRANDON TABASAN / CLEVELAND PUBLICATIONS

Senior Phong Ton sits in his room on Feb. 5 as he shares what his life is like since becoming paralyzed last May. “I appreciate life a lot more ... I try not to take things for granted.”


Emotionally drained as she retells her daughter’s story, Kari Child’s sheds a tear while explain-ing what she’s learned from her daughter Jade Bowen’s bout with leukemia. “I learned that Jade has a lot of perseverance. She’s a strong girl; she’s not going to give up. I’m not going to give up either.”

CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE

News 5The Journal


being able to move around.”

Growing up fastTon had to mature very quickly

following the accident in order to come to terms with the way his life had changed, and while some people might’ve buckled under this pressure, he’s not entirely out of the game.

“Honestly, this accident has ben-efitted me in a lot of ways. The only thing is all the physical stuff,” Ton said. “I appreciate life a lot more, and not to sound corny, but I try not to take things for granted.”

The road to this mentality has been understandably difficult. Ton’s wheelchair is big and bulky, which attracts a lot of attention. Physically, his frame is much smaller since his muscles atrophied. Despite the fact that Ton’s life took a momentous shift last May, everything else continued on around him. Catching up has been hard. When asked what his biggest challenge has been, Ton had to think.

“Opening up,” he said. “I think when the accident happened I kind of went into a shell … Obviously this chair is really big and I’m already attracting enough attention. Adults look at me like there’s something wrong with my head, and then I’m like a social time bomb that’s waiting to go off. Everybody looks at me like ‘oh is this kid gonna start drooling?’ or ‘is this kid gonna start scream-ing?’... It’s just like man, people are so judgmental.”

Ton has been left with very little to combat this, but it no longer affects his outlook on life. He’s decided not to let other people’s opinions deter his mood. When asked what his advice for others was, Ton replied with hu-mor and humility.

“[Expletive] sucks dude. It’s hard, but at least you’re not dead,” Ton laughed. “That’s my only advice.”

Life goes onWhat happened to Phong Ton and

Jade Bowen is not uncommon. Every day, all around the world, lives are interrupted. People are unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer, lose their abil-ity to walk, suffer through financial setbacks or worse, lose a loved one. While Ton and Bowen can call them-selves “survivors,” and are surround-ed by plenty of supporters, there is no denying that their road to recovery will be long and full of more unfore-seen hurdles. Their journey is just be-ginning, but both of them are ready for whatever life throws their way.


Jade Bowen has undergone numerous courses of treatment, including chemotherapy and dialysis, which have ravaged her body. Her skin is now covered in dark spots and bruises.

FROM THE PREVIOUS PAGE

Students learn how to fight fear in self-defense classBY TRAN LAMStaff reporter

The “Fight the Fear” campaign is a community-oriented, violence-prevention initiative that provides training in basic self-defense skills including awareness, de-escalation, boundary setting, assertive commu-nication, and fighting techniques. On Jan. 21, Cleveland hosted a two-hour long self-defense class taught by Kar-en Walen and Meggan Atkins, who instructed the girls on how to protect themselves in risky situations.

“I went to the self-defense class be-cause I thought it was important to

know how to accurately defend myself against someone who is trying to hurt me,” said freshman Jessica Eleccion. “It’s a fun class to do with your friends and you get to learn [valuable materi-als that might] save you someday.”

The goal of “Fight the Fear” is to make self-defense training easily ac-cessible because the skills and confi-dence that it builds are a proven de-terrent to violence. The class is run by experienced, self-defense instruc-tors who provide the most current and useful training.

“I really liked that the instructors went through the material, as well us getting to take part in the skills and

practice them,” said junior Nancy Mendoza.

Students who have taken self-defense classes often report feeling more prepared in case of a violent attack or a sexual assault. They also report feeling more empowered in ev-eryday situations – like when walk-ing at night.

“I had always been interested in learning basic self-defense,” Mendoza said. “I would definitely recommend the class. Girls should take [an ad-vantage of this opportunity]. It was a lot of fun and I got a lot out of it and learned a lot of skills that are really helpful.”

COURTESY OF ROBERT GANDY

On Jan. 12, students from Robert Gandy’s and Evin Shinn’s 9th grade humanities classes visited Mercer Middle School to share historical fiction stories they had written about ancient civiliza-tions. Students spent about six working on their stories. “It was fun seeing kids go back to their school,” said Shinn. Many of the freshman used the day to reflect on how far they’ve come and encouraged the middle schoolers to take ownership of their learning.

Freshmen share stories with Mercer

BY RYSHUN SAMPSONStaff reporter

Reading nearly all of the fiction section in the school library, freshmen Roder-ick “Rorie” Mackenzie uses his imagination to speed through books. On aver-age it takes a person about a week to read a book. For super reader Mackenzie, he zips through books with lightning speed.

“If a book is interesting, it takes one day [to read]; if it’s not interesting then two days tops.”

It’s safe to say that Mackenzie isn’t the aver-age student, and he would agree.

“Most people play video games when they get home; I read books.”

Mackenzie started read-ing books heavily in the fifth grade, with the help of

his father who would share interesting books that he had read. In eighth grade, Mackenzie’s interest grew even more.

“I read books because of boredom, to escape reality and books are really inter-

esting.”When reading books,

Mackenzie said he gets to expand on his imagina-tion and see things from the author’s perspective as well as creating something other than what the author

intended. “I get another perspec-

tive on life.” Mackenzie’s mature de-

meanor and conversation can be a direct correla-tion to the insane amount of books he reads. He said that reading helps with his communication and vo-cabulary. Although he has a very extensive vocabu-lary, Mackenzie can’t find the same passion when it comes to writing. He still struggles in his humanities class.

“Reading hasn’t helped with writing,” he said. “I can read books for class but when it comes to the report, I won’t do it”.

Nonetheless, Mackenzie is only a freshman. By the time he is a senior, the li-brary may have to upgrade in books just to keep up with him.

Avid reader devours library’s fiction section

CIERA DEVERS / CLEVELAND PUBLICATIONS

Freshman Roderick “Rorie” Mackenzie has read nearly every fiction book in the library.

BY ZEINAB MOHAMEDStaff reporter

“Dedicated to her craft,” “She believes in us,” and “She sees the potential in us” are just a few of the things stu-dents said as they gushed about Cleveland’s new music teacher, Caitlin Malarkey. She teaches choir, band, or-chestra and drumline, and with all that responsibility, her students are amazed at how much they’ve progressed within a couple of months of her arrival.

Malarkey’s presence can be felt immediately when the doors to Room 1180 swing open. It’s organized to the point of obsessive and deco-rated with posters and mu-sic. The students pay rapt attention to Malarkey as she instructs them on what to do next. Sheet music, guitar cases and instruments adorn the room. The music is loud – sometimes on beat, some-times not – but always lively. Malarkey’s voice rises above the plucked strings and wood instruments. Every now and again, she’ll stop the piece to take time to guide a section or an individual student.

“She’ll always come around and help,” said Mace’Siera Odom-Singletary, a member of the drumline.

The number of students enrolled in the music classes is climbing, and Malarkey has some lofty goals for the program. Her hope is to have a marching band within the next four years.

Students are enjoying the new energy, excited that Ma-larkey teaches music, not just how to play it. Some of the music veterans said that be-fore she took over, they’d jump from one unit to the next with-out really covering the bases of what they’d just learned. Now, Malarkey gives something the

students said they’ve never had: a challenge.

Last year, the students could barely get through the

national anthem. This year, they’re playing advanced mu-sic and adding some flair to their routines. Sophomore Jonathan Aphayvanh, an or-chestra student, said he likes the level of difficulty Malarkey has brought.

“I like how she challenges us and gives opportunities to push our thinking further.”

Others said they like the hard work of learning compli-cated new new pieces and feel like they’re advancing with their musical education be-cause of it.

Moving music along is something Malarkey is keen on doing. She spends much of her time thinking of ways to improve performances or add something special to the

music. She’d like to have stu-dents attend a summer camp and perform in festivals. Her priority is to have a concert schedule lined up for the 2016-17 school year.

With one semester under her belt, Malarkey has already hit her high note. Her favorite moment was during a fall con-cert when the orchestra per-formed the “Carmen Suite,” an advanced, college-level piece that is difficult to master.

Malarkey is hoping to cre-ate other moments like that, one being in June when the program performs before the school board. She hopes to “get the group out into the com-munity,” and believes bring-ing people together is exactly what music does.

Section6The Journal

Month XX, 201XAcademics6

The Journal


ANDY HUYNH / CLEVELAND PUBLICATIONS

Malarkey takes the stage before the start of the guitar concert on Jan. 21.

COURTESY OF WJEA

Media teacher and Cleveland Publications adviser Teresa Scribner was named a 2016 Rising Star by the Journalism Education Association.

Revamped music program hitting all the right notes

CPub adviser wins national award


Music teacher Caitlin Malarkey directs the orchestra during the winter concert in December. Malarkey has brought a new energy to the program and students are responding.

From staff reports

Media teacher Teresa Scrib-ner was one of 13 teachers from around the country to receive the 2016 Rising Star Award.

The Rising Star Award hon-ors scholastic student media ad-visers who have completed five or fewer years in the profession. Established in 2006, it honors new advisers who have shown a commitment to involvement and improvement for themselves and their students.

“The Rising Star Award is so valuable to JEA because it re-minds us all that our profession is in great hands,” President Mark Newton said. “The winners each year are proof positive that when energy and enthusiasm meet vi-sion and skill we all get better.”

Scribner teaches multimedia and is also the adviser for Cleve-land Publications. Under her leadership, the journalism pro-gram has won numerous awards and has gained a strong following after she incorporated video and social media into her classes. She earned her Certified Journalism Educator credentials in 2015.

Kathy Schrier, the execu-tive director for the Washington Journalism Education Associa-tion, nominated Scribner for the award. Schrier served as a men-tor to Scribner before she earned her teaching credentials.

Scribner has been working with Cleveland’s journalism pro-gram since 2009. She took a part-time teaching position with the school in 2012, and started work-ing full time the following school

year. Scribner was also a visual journalist for The Seattle Times, but recently left the company af-ter working 12 years as a news page designer. She had been working both jobs for the past four years.

Before joining the Cleveland staff, Scribner worked with nu-merous high school journalism programs in the area as a Scho-lastic Media Consultant. She has worked with Puyallup High School, as well as Ballard, Na-than Hale and Garfield. During the summer, Scribner teaches workshops at journalism camps that specialize in student media.

The 2016 Rising Star Award re-cipients will be honored at a lun-cheon at the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Convention in Los Angeles on April 16.

Section 7The Journal

Month XX, 201XFeatures 7

The Journal


Substitute continues to save the day for Cleveland

“No Scrubs” by TLC This classic banger has been em-

powering girls (and guys) around the world for more than a decade. Recorded by the group TLC in 1999, “No Scrubs” became the anthem for anyone who was single.

Anyone who’s without a bae this season, this song invites you to value your self worth and shows you don’t need to settle for anyone but the best, especially someone who has nothing going for them. If you’re single on Valentine’s Day, just remember that “you don’t want no scrubs” and if you need a reminder, the catchy tone will surely be left in your head for days.

“Friday the 13th” (1980 version)This timeless movie can be seen

by any generation, which makes it perfect for a Valentine’s Day movie date. The terror will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. What bet-ter way to spend it than with that special someone? Because there’s nothing like screaming in your boo thang’s ear and cuddling under his arm as a masked murderer terror-izes summer camp.

This movie has been remade sev-eral times, but there’s nothing like the original. So what’s your favor-ite scary movie to watch with bae? Tweet us and let us know at @cpub_eagles.

“Fuller House”

Most adults grew up watching the family sitcom “Full House” and now this generation can continue the tradition with the Tanner family, thanks to Netflix’s new revival of an old favorite.

Anyone who watched “Full House,” knows the show knows how to tug at your heartstrings at just the right points. Curl up with your family and friends and let “Fuller House” teach you some valuable les-sons. Mark your calendars for Feb. 26, and tune in to Netflix to watch.

By Hewan Mengistu, staff reporter

CPub staffers keep you posted on what’s hot,

what’s not

PEOPLE

The cast of “Fuller House.” The Netflix series begins Feb. 26.

It’s tax season, people! While you may think you’re too young to pay taxes, Uncle Sam thinks otherwise and he wants his share. To help you navigate the hurdle, the Journal recommends TurboTax to help ease your tax-paying pain.

The software works like a casu-al interview. It asks you easy-to-answer questions about your life that affect your tax situation and fills in all the blanks behind the scenes. You’ll be coached along the way and get the help you need, when you need it. Mean-while, TurboTax will find every deduction and credit that applies to you. It makes sure you’ll keep every hard-earned dollar you de-serve.

With TurboTax, you don’t need anything but your email address

to get started. The software can import your W2 and 1099 infor-mation directly from more than a million participating employers and financial institutions. Even-tually, for more complex tax situ-ations, you may need additional documents like mortgage state-ments or other detailed financial information, but who are we kid-ding. We’re teenagers!

Pricing for TurboTax Online starts with a Federal Free Edi-tion for simple tax returns and increases based on your needs and the complexity of your in-come tax return. And don’t wor-ry. TurboTax double-checks your return for errors before you file. They also guarantee that their calculations are 100 percent ac-curate or they will pay you any IRS penalties plus interest.

Since they save your return as you go, you can finish anytime you desire. If it looks like you may owe the government, some-times it’s best to just let the bal-ance sit for a few days while you cry about not getting a refund.

If you have any questions about taxes, TurboTax AnswerX-change is available 24/7. The Journal recommends you let Tur-boTax do the talking.

By Tran Lam, staff reporter

BY RONNIE ESTOQUEStaff reporter

It’s a chemistry teacher! It’s a com-puter geek! Wait! It’s Super Sub Peter Henry, swooping in to save the day for absent teachers.

Over the last several years, Cleve-land, along with the rest of the Se-attle Public Schools district, has seen a large teacher turnover rate, leaving multiple positions open that are hard to fill. Long-term substitute Peter Henry has filled in multiple teach-er spots over the last three years at Cleveland, become a jack-of-all-trades and a master of them all. Decked out in his trademark tie dyed shirts, he’s become a staple at CHS.

“After I graduated from Yale Uni-versity, I ended up as a computer engi-neer for 20 years,” Henry said. “It got a bit boring so I decided to change my profession.”

Henry decided that he wanted to be-come a teacher, believing that it was an “honorable” profession to pursue. He began taking classes at the Univer-sity of Washington to earn his teaching certificate but faced an uphill battle.

“When I first applied to the teaching program, I didn’t get in,” Henry said. “The second time I applied I got in af-ter working on some things.”

After earning his degree Henry worked as a substitute for SPS, and ended up landing a job at South Lake High School where he taught math for eight years. Even after being a teach-er at a school for an extended period of time, Henry found his true joy in being a substitute.

“I love it,” Henry said. “I get to go to different places and it’s extremely challenging. My specialty is being able to step into a position that I haven’t taught before and figure out how to

teach it successfully.”In the 2013-14 school year Henry,

took over Krysten Pratt’s chemistry class when she went on maternity leave. He eventually became a full-time, long-term substitute, which was something new to him.

“If you’re a teacher, the first year is difficult because you have to figure out the curriculum and how to modify it over the year,” Henry said.

Last year, he started the school year filling in for David Roark’s physical science class and ended it teaching Dr. Scott Wilhelm’s Human Body Systems

class. This year Henry is back to his roots with computer science, albeit on a steep learning curve.

“This year I started CS [Computer Science] at the very end of October, and it’s the most difficult teaching job I’ve ever had,” Henry said.

Luckily, he is able to utilize curricu-lum from previous computer science teachers to build a base for his own class.

Henry is content with where he’s at, and is hopeful for the future.

“I really enjoy what I’m doing but I can see myself doing this for quite a while.”

The real MVP


Long-term substitute teacher Peter Henry has filled in for multiple departments at Cleveland. His tie-dyed shirts have made him popular among students.

TurboTax

The Journal has all the deals and hookups.

This month:

Junior DarNesha Green pointed out the disparity.

“I got my lunch because I was skipping, but there are a lot of people that skip and they still are … never assigned lunch detention,” she said.

This could be because teachers don’t tend to write referrals for most students, which can seem unfair for students like Green who are sent to lunch detention for the same offense.

“The first level is always going to be class-room management, that the teacher,” Schmidt explained. “The teacher is getting better at classroom management and how to handle in-ternal infractions verses some of the teachers that are handing them off right away.”

While lunch detention may seem like a dreadful consequence, it is considered a learn-ing point for some students. If the behavior doesn’t change, the punishment may move from detention to in-school suspension (ISS). In some cases, a student may be suspended from campus.

“Depends on the infractions and how quick you escalate from lunch detentions,” Schmidt said. “There are different levels depending on repeated offenders and the severity of the in-fraction.”

If possible, administrators try to avoid sus-pension, mainly because it puts the student behind in their classwork. With ISS, students stay in school and have a place to go and get support or counseling when needed.

Lunch detentions are served in Room 1109.

DETENTIONCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Features8The Journal

What singles do on Valentine’s Day

Netflix and

no chill

Go through your contacts to find

(single) people to chill with

Eat hella food

Pamper yourself

Go fishing

Retweet tweets about other couples

jealously

Rant about annoying couples on

Twitter

Look at yourself in the mirror

Take selfies

Stalk people on social

mediaTop 5 Movies for Baeless on

Valentine’s Day

“Love & Basketball”

“The Notebook”

“The Last

Song”

“When in Rome”

“50 First

Dates”

Top 5 Reasons it’s better to be single on Valentine’s Day

Don’t have to spend an excessive amount of money to please your bae

Don’t have to get

dressed up

Don’t have to watch corny

movies

When you “Netflix and chill,” that’s what you actually do ... and make it through all five

seasons of

Playing the field

Male Celebrities

Michael B.

Jordan

Odell Beckham

Jr.

Bradley Cooper

Henry Cavill

Zayn Malik

Female Celebrities

RihannaScarlett

Johansson

Ruby Rose

Kehlani

Gigi Hadid

Where’s bae?


BY MYLA HIGHTOWERStaff reporter

For many teams, a winning streak is usually the catalyst for a group to realize its potential. For the Eagles basketball team, it took a loss to the top-ranked Garfield for the CHS squad to understand that this year, they are a top-tier team.

While many wouldn’t consider a loss to be reason for excitement, the Eagles certainly had something to look for-ward to after falling to the Bulldogs.

“Losing by such a close margin helped us realize how good we really are,” said senior point guard Nicholas “Nico” Buchanan. “Now we know we can play at the same level as the best teams in the state.”

Senior forward Ni-gel Flowers was re-lieved after the game.

“Cleveland’s boys basketball was always known as the losing team in Metro, while the girls have always been the ones to watch,” he said. “This

game put us on the map. Now it’s our turn.”

Under the tutelage of several star coaches, the Lady Eagles made mul-tiple appearances in the State Tour-nament, walking away with the title three times in five years. The Eagles finished the 2014-15 season with a 9-11 record, a disappointment by most standards. Yet when they started pick-ing up victories early in the current season, there was little to no enthusi-asm.

“Every year we would start off win-ning but then end up losing games back-to-back,” said Flowers. “We weren’t sure if the streak would con-

tinue. We were afraid to look forward to success.”

When asked what was responsible for the team’s success this season,

Flowers immediately offered up chem-istry as the key to the team’s success.

“We’ve got great chemistry,” he said. “The players this year are more in sync; we’re more family than team.”

The Eagles Head Coach Jerry Petty credited their winning season to his players being so coachable.

“My boys really respond to every-thing I ask of them,” Petty said. “I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

Petty noted he had a few key play-ers on and off the court, referring to sophomore CJ Elleby, senior Davon Bolton and Flowers. Bolton and Elleby are the team’s leading scorers, aver-aging 16 points per game. The Eagles have already earned a spot in the dis-trict tournament.

As for his plans for the rest of the season, Petty insisted his team takes it one game at a time.

“As long as we focus on what we can control, everything else will be taken care of.”

Sports 9The Journal



Sophomore CJ Elleby goes up for a shot against Nathan Hale on Feb. 5 at Cleve-land. The Eagles won 67-40.

CLEVELAND PUBLICATIONS

Eagles Head Coach Jerry Petty is in his third year with the team.

The Eagles are winning the fight ... they just don’t know itGLOVES COME OFF

Nigel Flowers

JV basketball teams don’t always feel the loveBY DAKARIA HERU

AND NGAN NGUYENStaff reporters

Making it onto a junior varsity squad should feel like a great accomplish-ment, but to those on the team it doesn’t always feel like it. Having suffered through tryouts and prac-tices, the boys and girls on Cleveland’s JV basketball squads don’t seem to get the recognition they deserve.

“They told us that we were the future of the team, but they are more focus on varsity,” said Chris Sheck-les, sophomore guard for the JV boys basketball team.

The JV and JVC are typi-cally viewed as the baby brother or sister who get the hand-me-downs from the golden child of the family,

in this case, their counter-parts on the varsity squad. From the number of people who show up to the games, to the old uniforms, JV is still viewed as the opening act to the big show.

Having a crowd to play for can make a team feel more important according to Rayshawn Harris, the sophomore JV point guard. He tried out for the team because, like Sheckles, he loves the sport. Both boys want to become mentally and physically stronger at the game and make it onto varsity.

“I didn’t think I would make JV because I’m only a freshmen, but I did,” said Harris.

Just trying out for the team is a small start to the season. Practice makes per-fect, but where you prac-

tice could affect your game. When the boys JV and JVC practice the only get a small section of the court with the broken hoop, according to Sheckles. Being on varsity has its rewards, but so does being on JV or JVC. Play-ers get more support from the coaches and a chance to swing for the varsity team.

For a lot of the players, varsity is who they look up to for their motivation to do better.

Kemiyah Gayden, fresh-men guard for the girls JV team, has been playing for five years. When she tried out for the squad, she was not expecting to on varsity but ended up swinging.

“I wanted to challenge myself,” said Gayden. “They went to state three years in a row, and I just want to be like them.”


The Junior Varsity boys basketball team go over plays during a timeout. Even with a strong record, the team gets overlooked by fans.

Sports10The Journal


Female wrestlers down for the countBY ABBYGAIL ELECCION

Staff reporter

A record number of four girls joined the wrestling team this year, although none stayed long enough to end the season.

Because wrestling has been a predominantly male sport at Cleveland, this has been an exciting surge in numbers. In recent years, more and more girls have been joining the once exclusive team. But with a stream of eager girls coming, keeping them has been the new problem.

Junior Jannah Bongato was eager to learn how to wrestle.

“I just needed to learn to fight a little in case someone tries to come at me,” she said.

However, coming into the team was intimidating. De-spite the team’s attempt to be welcoming towards girls, it was still hard for her to feel comfortable.

“You’re a girl so you’re kind of like the minority of the group and so it was weird,” Bongato explained. “I felt left out … If there were other girls, I felt like I could at least relate to them.”

Bongato was the last of the girls to quit but ultimately, her leaving was due to having too many AP classes to keep up with. She plans to rejoin the team for her senior year.

Sophomore Mariana Sijera joined for a similar reason to Bongato. She wanted to be pro-active about her safety.

“I joined as defensive move, to learn protect myself.”

For Sijera, practices were fun and exciting. She also had a lot of respect for the coaching style of Dave Rosario.

“I love him. He’s so support-ive and … wanted us to suc-ceed,” she said.

Unfortunately for Sijera, she got an internal knee injury during the season. According to her, it was due to the en-ergy and aggressiveness of the sport. This injury caused her to end the season early.

Sijera wants to encourage other girls who are interested to come out next season be-cause it helps develops essen-tial skills.

“If nothing else they should do it to build confidence in themselves and to know that they’re equal.”


Junior Jannah Bongato joined the wrestling team to learn how to fight.


Eagles quarterback Malik Abdul-Haqq signs his Letter of Intent to play football for Western Oregon University. Abdul-Haqq was surrounded by his family and teammates at the signing.


Both the girls and boys basketball teams along with the cheerleaders celebrated senior night on Feb. 5 at the “Get Your Red On” event. Both teams were victorious over Nathan Hale.

Abdul-Haqq commits to Western Oregon

Basketball, cheer celebrate Senior Night

Opinion 11The Journal


BY AMANDA NGUYEN, TRAN LAM

AND ZAREYA FLOWERSStaff reporters

Actress Stacey Dash was blasted via social media after the celebrity weighed in on the controversy surrounding the lack of diversity in the Acad-emy Awards nominations. She called for an end to Black Enter-tainment Television (BET) and Black History Month as well.

In an interview with host Steve Doocy on “Fox and Friends,” Dash made it clear she did not support BET.

“Either we want segregation or integration,” she said. “If we don’t want seg-regation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards, where

you’re only awarded if you’re black. If it were the other way around, we would be up in arms; it’s a double standard.”

Not only does Dash, who is a multi-racial mix of Bajan, Af-rican-American and Mexican, claim that there shouldn’t be a Black History Month, but she continued to say “We’re Ameri-cans. Period. That’s it.”

Dash’s sentiments are not un-heard of. The question of why there’s a Black History Month is a debate that rears its head every February. Many students wonder why there is a surge of school assemblies, marches and other tributes during the short-est month of the year. A num-ber of other questions are quick to follow, including: “Why isn’t there an Asian or Latino History Month?” Some believe that other racial groups that have been op-pressed throughout American history have been left out of the picture. The existence of Black History Month has thus been brought into question.

The relevance of Black His-tory Month is a multifaceted topic. The overall impression is that there is a level of apathy when it comes to the month’s celebrations, specifically from

anyone who isn’t African Ameri-can. Since elementary school, students have learned about the so-called founders of black his-tory like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman and Malcolm X – but then what? Are we really celebrating Black History Month or is it a watered down interpretation? Most of black history – the real black history that includes the slave trade, segregation and lynching – are usually left out.

Even as students coming from a diverse school like Cleveland, we can honestly say that, in the end, it doesn’t feel like Black History Month. So do students really care?

Regardless of your answer, we believe that you should.

Current events have accen-tuated the need to reiterate the relevance of black lives.

“It’s important for us to un-derstand where we come from, especially in a time when we’re being dehumanized,” said senior and Black Student Union mem-ber Leija Farr.

Farr sees Black History Month as an opportunity to ac-knowledge the contributions of blacks to America.

“We were slaves here. We con-tributed to this society, whether we wanted to be here or not. If we contributed to society, we should definitely be treated as a part of its history.”

Farr, among others, believe that Black History Month is as necessary as it is empowering. She does, however, emphasize the need for a wider spectrum of black history and black leaders to be acknowledged – not just Martin Luther King.

There is also a notable popu-lation within the black commu-nity that argues against the rel-evance of Black History Month – but not out of apathy. Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman thinks Black History Month is “ridiculous.”

“You’re going to relegate my history to a month?” Freeman asked during an interview on “60 Minutes.” “I don’t want a Black History Month. Black his-tory is American history.”

This is a pivotal element to the debate. If people were truly conscious of black history, per-haps we wouldn’t need a month to celebrate it.

Sophomore Phuong Nguyen disagrees. He believes that stu-dents should know as much as they can about black history,

even if it’s just one month.“I feel glad that people say

that black history is every day, but they turn ignorant when they back it up with ‘We shouldn’t have Black History Month,’” he said. “Having Black History Month allows us to re-member what has happened and how we need to strive away from the oppressive cruelty that hap-pened in the past.”

For non-blacks, the solution to celebrating the history of other racial groups isn’t necessarily to eliminate Black History Month.

“There should be a month for every race in my opinion,” junior Anh Dao said. “Every race has been through difficult times and we should show the importance of each race by celebrating it.”

Unbeknownst to some, there are also months designated for celebrating Asian American, Latino and Native American heritages as well – May, Sep-tember to October and Novem-ber respectively. However, de-spite having nationally observed holidays to honor these different heritages, the effectiveness of said months in celebrating and raising awareness of America’s cultural history is questionable.

“In October, it’s Latino Histo-ry Month, but people don’t speak up and say ‘Oh, this month my culture does this and what we do to celebrate it is this,’” said ju-nior Diana Hernandez. “People just don’t know. If people knew, everyone would want to join in and learn more about each oth-er’s cultures.”

But African-American history is crucially different from the rest in one aspect: it is taught in schools. The fact that black histo-ry is incorporated into our educa-tion seems to take the spotlight off other cultures. While some may say that it doesn’t feel like Black History Month, the same is even truer for other heritage months.

We believe that the debate expands much further than the relevance – or irrelevance – of having a designated month to celebrate your culture’s history. Rather, it’s a matter of develop-ing a holistic awareness of all cultures in the community. Re-gardless of what month it is, we should all be constantly making an effort to be well informed of both cultural issues and contri-butions of America’s diverse ra-cial groups, both historically and currently. While we may all be American, we can’t forget to em-brace the diversity amongst us.

Over the past few years, evidence has shown that the average student’s proficiency in math has increased. Just four years ago,

Cleveland had to offer eight Algebra I classes because most students failed the class as freshmen. Now the number is down to five. Back then both AP Calculus and AP Statistics only had six students each. Today there are more than 60 students taking the advanced classes.

Cleveland’s improvement in mathematics is one of its greatest success stories. Since the implementa-tion of the STEM program, the average math scores on standardized tests have gone up tremendously. Despite these upward trends, many students have found themselves frustrated with the school’s math department.

There is one glaring problem with the way that math is taught at CHS: group work. In every math class, students are split into groups of four and are given specific roles they must do to support their group. One role, for example, is the task manager whose job is to make sure that the entire group is focused on the work and not distracted by anything else. While the concept of assigning individual roles to students sounds good on paper, its execution is not so great.

Math teachers give out “group points” which are based upon how well each group member is perform-ing in their role, and let’s be honest, not every high school student is going to make a good task manager. Group points are important because they are what make up the “collaboration” portion of a student’s grade.

It is silly and unfair to have a student’s grade drop slightly because they miss a few group points due to someone else not carrying out the duties of their role.

Aside from group roles, another one of our com-plaints is the strict rules surrounding group work. The math teachers make sure that each group mem-ber is working on the same problem at the same time, but sometimes this can conflict with the learning of students when they are not allowed to work at their own pace. It can also add pressure to the student who processes more slowly than everyone else and has to rush through a problem. The urge to keep up su-persedes their learning for fear of holding the group back.

Also, students could be using the time spent wait-ing for group members to catch up on getting much- needed practice. Times when the system of group work can be especially problematic are when there is one group member that decides to slack off instead of working on the current task, causing everyone else in the group to lose points. Just one person not caring about the work can cause a group to fall apart.

Our stance is not to get rid of group work altogeth-er; in fact, we believe that group work aids in learning quite a bit. Our issue is with the way that group work is handled and points are awarded.

But perhaps getting rid of group roles or grading students based on their individual merits would feel more fair to students. Whatever the change may be, we hope to see some sort of compromise between the two.

The writing staff of The Journal disagreed the math group work after discussing the mer-its of how points are awarded. This editorial was written by staff reporter Ian Blackburn.

Is Black History Month still relevant?

Group work doesn’t add up in math classes

Cleveland Publications leadership team for writing and reporting: Lucas Rumpeltes, Amanda Nguyen, Dakaria Heru,

Abbygail Eleccion and Ronnie Estoque.

Have something to get off your chest? Send your gripes or opinions to [email protected] or leave submissions in our box on the counter in the Main Office.

Stacy Dash

Recycle this newspapeR in Room 1162

vol. 7, issue 4 - life goes on

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