The Mariner Compass

When I asked Sophomore Vice President, Kenley Kingrey, when the confederate flag was added to the royalty car, she responded to me “I do not know. It was on there, I think the whole time, maybe, or maybe it was put up there later, I’m not sure. It was on the sophomore royalty car, and we didn’t really see that car when we were constructing our floats.”

The car that drove royalty in the parade was separate from the class float, and did not require the same inspection, because it was meant to be undecorated. Student government verified that a car was present with a licensed driver to participate, but did not review the car with their own eyes before the parade.

“They told us to be at the lower parking lot fifteen minutes between halftime,” Matthew Meyer stated. The flag already flew when he took his place on the car.

“For future events, additional procedures are being established to ensure that only pre-approved entries are allowed to participate in the HHS Homecoming Parade,” Principal Dr. Gee stated on behalf of Homer High School.

Aware of the controversy surrounding the issue, car driver Ethan Roderick said “We did not mean for it to be racist at all. To people from the south, it just represents where they’re from. It wasn’t meant to be about slavery. We didn’t mean for anyone to be offended by it.”

The purpose of flying the confederate flag during the parade remains unclear, as Alaska was not involved in America’s civil war.

The mysterious Khan Academy, a new craze on the internet, is becoming more and more influential in schools. Instead of assigning book lessons or problems, more and more teachers are assigning video lessons on line at the Khan Academy.

Many students at Homer High were unaware that the academy even existed unlit recently, when Mr. Stineff began assigning chemistry lessons on the website. Students are told to watch the videos at home, and come to class the next day expected to talk about them.

“It’s a great program,” said Stineff. “The guy that does it started it to teach his cousins math, but expanded it to hold a whole bunch of subjects. Kids participate a lot more in class now, and feel like everyone has something to say about what we’re talking about.”

The Khan Academy has over 2,400 videos, and teaches everything from calculus and finance to physics and history. The Academy has given more than 77 million lessons so far, and is still growing in popularity by the day. This is a new idea in the education system, but it seems to have been quite successful, and could possibly change our education forever.

By Kenley Kingrey

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name…” These words echo from Mrs. Dolma’s freshmen Language Arts class, as they prepare for their production of Romeo and Juliet.

Seniors in Mrs. Dolma’s class will perform Hamlet for their class play. Sophomores will have the privilege to bring Caesar to life for their play, in addition to the freshmen production. 

Now who really wants to put on a Shakespeare play? Sophomore, Joseph Cardoza (who plays Caesar), said, “I think its fun. It’s very interesting to learn and perform a play that was written so long ago, and to still understand its meaning today. Memorizing it may go to far, but the whole aspect of doing the play is very educational, and very entertaining. It’s a lot of fun, and I like acting so it’s great!”

Mrs. Dolma chose to have her students perform these plays because, “These plays are thirty minutes long and are written for the classroom. The truth is I really wanted to see what it was like to put one on, and to see how the plays worked in a classroom.” She also stated that they are a part of the curriculum. 

Some have questioned whether performing a Shakespeare play is a waste of time or whether it increases knowledge of the arts and is it worth it. “I think it’s fun. If we show these kids how Shakespeare can be; by showing them Shakespeare well, I think that it is a good thing for us,” Jonas Noomah, freshman at Homer High School said.

Shakespeare plays can always help students grow and learn by telling a story about old mistakes and triumphs. Traven Apiki, senior at Homer High School, said, “I’ve gotten to know what it’s like to do these different voices, and it teaches you how to act.  It’s like a minny course. That’s probably the main thing I’ve gotten from the play.”

The Shakespeare plays will take place October 19th and 20th. The plays are open to the public, and any students that have a language arts class or a free period in the hours that the plays are being performed  are welcome to come.

By Jacob Mayforth

According to a poll taken by the Associated Press and MTV, 56 percent of people ranging from 14 to 24 year olds, have been harassed online. It is clear that online “cyber-bullying” is a problem, but is the cure for online harassment deadlier than the disease itself? Schools around the country are dealing with this issue by monitoring students’ online socializing during and after school hours, in order to find and resolve dangerous tension that could spill over into the school itself.

“From what I have heard, there are schools in Anchorage that are starting policies where something that a student says on Facebook can be printed off and brought in, and then that student could be punished applicably by the school,” said Amy Christianson, Homer High School band teacher. “The main purpose is to prevent things that are done with cyber bullying from affecting the school.”

Education Department officials are even going so far as to threaten school officials with lawsuits if they do not monitor students lunch and evening Facebook time for harassment. The special interest groups have reinterpreted the civil-rights laws so now schools can be held accountable in court if they do not curb harassment, even if it takes place outside of school.

So far the only group to oppose this new legislation publically is the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE. This group opposes the new anti harassment bill saying that it is a threat to free-speech and that the new bill “is redundant, it replaces the clear definition of harassment with a vague, speech-restrictive definition”.

Although cyber bullying can be the cause of bigger issues most students and teachers from Homer High find this bill to be both unconventional and terrifyingly restrictive, the popular consensus is that the new bill violates the privacy and free speech rights given to students in the first amendment. “I don’t think they should be able to do that, while I am not sure of the justification, I think it would be a total waste of time and a whole lot of money that could be spent better,” said Homer High School Vice-principal Doug Waclawski.

Whether or not Homer High School will adopt this bill remains undetermined, for now the debate still rages on about the constitutionality of this bill, and if it restricts the First Amendment rights of students.

By Akane Fujimura 

  September 24th, 2011. The homecoming game was held at Homer High School. To help fire up the football team and the crowd, the musicians in the pep band wore matching pep band t-shirts and blasted familiar songs during the football game. Tian-En Liu, sophomore in the pep band, said “Pep band is awesome. It supports the Mariner spirit.”

  Around 2:30pm they played “Don’t Stop Believing” and several other songs before the football game started. They also played some short songs during the game and during halftime. “I’m sure people who were watching the homecoming game enjoyed listening to the music that we played,” Nykkole Poindexter, senior in the pep band said. During the game, Ms. Christianson said to the pep band, “If Homer scores, we will play ‘Anchors Aweigh’.”

  Unfortunately, before the Mariners comeback, the pep band stopped because it started to rain. The brass instruments had no problems playing in the rain, but it might break the wood instruments if they got wet.

  Even if the pep band didn’t play so many songs, we can’t forget their efforts, they practiced for about four weeks to prepare for the game. “The pep band is very good because the students who aren’t on the sports team could help support the athletes by firing them up. I’m sure we did,” Nykkole said.

by Mallory Drover

This year at Homer High School, there has been an introduction of AP classes that have not come been available for students before, or in the past few years. AP stands for Advanced Placement, which are an option of classes that are more challenging and have more work involved than the average high school course. However, why would a student ever want to subject themselves to more difficult classes?
   

Mr. Campbell is on his second year of teaching AP Literature and Composition after Mrs. Hallseth’s retirement. He explained to me, “One of my goals is that all of the students in my class will get a three (on the exam) or better at the end of the year so they can earn college credit.”
   

At the end of each semester, students in the class are given a rigorous test of their learned skills from the class. If they manage to pass, they earn college credit as well as high school credit.
   

“It mimics a university class, so you can get a taste of the rigor at that level,” Mrs. Lowe, AP Biology teacher said. “And additionally, if they score well enough on their AP exam, some universities will allow them to get credit for that same level of course at their school. They can save thousands of dollars.”
   

For a local resident near Homer, a class at KPC (Kenai Peninsula College) costs $154 for a lower division class, and $542 for a non-resident. For an AP class at Homer High, students learn for free. But what else could students possible earn from accepting such a challenging work load?
   

“The second benefit of it is the group of kids themselves. It’s a higher standard and a higher learning level, so the kids who are at that higher level are expecting to be pushed and to interact with other kids who are at the same level that they are,” said Mrs. Fisher, who is currently teaching AP Government, a course that hasn’t been offered at Homer High for at least four years. She explained that these students who are more focused on learning can gain from the environment of an AP class, whereas the average class might be more prone to distraction or disruption. For students who enjoy the challenge of the classroom over social disruptions, taking an AP class is an alternative.
   

College credit, exposure to university levels, and a better structured environment- all these things are great benefits for taking an AP class. At the same time however, are students able to keep up with the curriculum? And what makes an AP class so difficult anyway?
   

“In an AP class, it’s modeled after a college course, so the homework category doesn’t exist anymore. Its just suggested homeworks that will benefit them, and the actual written assessments are a higher percentage, and lab performance assessments.” Mrs. Lowe explained in reference to her AP Biology class. Mrs. Fisher explains a similar story, where there are more group discussions and less daily assignments.
   

Overall, for a student that is willing to focus and eager in their classroom environments, it seems that AP courses are a terrific opportunity. It would be difficult to attempt juggling more than one or two AP subjects at time. However, taking on one of these classes each semester can give you a head start on your college career, look great on your high school transcript, and help give you a better understanding of that subject in ways that wouldn’t be available to you in the average class.

Kirsten Swanson as "Cheery" during word therapy in 2nd period AP Literature and Composition.

“We are already waiting for school to end, we want it out of our mind, so we don’t want to do homework,” an upperclassman expressed. How much homework is the right amount? Should we even have any at all?

“If there’s more than an hour of work, I don’t do it,” a student shared. Students are assigned hours worth of homework, which is sometimes “pointless and excessive,” as Jacob Mayforth described. “There’s too much. Seems like students are always taking books home. Studying every night. The higher the grade the more the homework,” revealed Mrs. Hoozer, the librarian.

“Why is there homework?” I hear students moan when homework is assigned at the end of class. “I think it’s just to show your parents that you’re doing something. And it’s good practice,” Megan Shover, a junior, stated.

Homework is an expected process, but when is it too much? “I spend seven hours at school already. It’s just extra work. It’s hard to find a balance,” said Adella Sunmark, a home schooled sophomore who is very involved, having a hard time balancing school with other activities.

“They explain it well enough in class. I get it and homework is just redoing work. We shouldn’t have homework, I have other stuff going on,” remarked Adrian Huff, a junior. She believes that you already spend so much time in the day for school and you already reviewed the work during class, but teachers still assign more work and it seems repetitive. “It’s a waste of time. We already reviewed the material and it takes a lot of time out of the day. It‘s hard and time-consuming,” agreed Megan Shover.

Homework can be helpful or pointless. “Homework is good for studying for tests. It pushes students to have something to do every night. It’s good for math as practice skills, since you use it every day of life,” admitted Mrs. Hoozer. When studying or learning new skills, homework is helpful. “I have two kids, so I understand. It’s the right amount, but when it’s busy work…” drifted Mrs. Koplin the secretary. “Yes, homework is helpful. A small amount helps to practice content and finish material, but there shouldn’t be more than an hour total,” emphasized Mr. Tucker, a Special Services teacher.

“In a competitive world, the person who is willing to put in the time is best suitable for the job. You are competing against people in Japan, who do homework without question,” explained Ms. Dolma, an English teacher. She continued, saying that students make excuses and if they want to be successful in life then they need to be successful in high school. Students have their own opinions on the subject of homework, but they can agree on one thing: it’s never consistent. It can be helpful or just plain useless, but it’ll always be around.

-Kikilia Kojin

By Matthew Meyer

Before students graduate from high school they have a few choices that they can make. One of those choices is where they can go to college.

Luckily for Homer High students, they can get most of the information they’ll need at the school counselor’s office. They’ll have pamphlets that have information on colleges all across the country.  Also if students ask the counselors, they will tell them when some speakers will be coming to our school, to answer any questions that weren’t answered either completely or even partially in the pamphlets.

The college fair might interest both juniors and seniors, which will occur October 25^th in Soldotna.  At the college fair students will find about 50 college representatives from colleges throughout the country.

Kirsten Swanson, a senior at Homer High, said that last year’s college fair helped her choose what college she wanted to go to, because she could ask the representatives questions that weren’t answered in the pamphlet.

“Kids don’t usually have the chance to get information from colleges in person, so this is a great opportunity,” said Mrs. Hampson, Homer High’s own counselor.

Ever since Miss Naden left Homer High school after years of teaching art, Maygen Jannetta stepped in and now balances both ceramics and Intro to Art. The art class still is full of diligent students that all manage their projects on time at their own pace, some listening to the music played to the class or others using their own iPods for their inspirational pleasure.
The students, today, are going through landscape painting, having finished a series of sketching projects.

Perhaps in the near future, besides plans to have the art classes participate in the Ptarmigan Arts exhibit for middle and high school, Miss Jannetta has committed herself to getting a school mosaic as a major project for her art classes. Although it still has to go through the school board and a site for it has to be found, Miss Jannetta is excited about the opportunity.

Miss Naden’s classes completed a similar project three years ago: A similar project made three years ago including murals like: the Mariner Lady, an art piece depicting a lady in a yellow rain jacket-set to be placed by the main entrance; The Mariner Man, an appearance similar to the Mariner Lady except of a man-next to the Mariner Lady and the glass case; the Moose, an art piece of a field with a moose and a wolf set in fall -set to be placed above the b wing stairs; maybe the Snow machine, depicting a snow machine-set to be placed above the a wing stairs; and finally the Moon/Garbage painting–set for between the doors to the theatre. Miss Jannetta hopes to put all of these murals up soon.

The Homer High Cheer Squad. 11 energetic teenage girls who have been preparing for the homecoming football game’s half-time show with a secret dance routine that they have been developing and practicing after school, along with participating in powder-puff, and doing a cheer for the pep-assembly Friday.  

            Fallin Crauthers, one of the minds behind the upcoming halftime show routine, commented that that the dance was going to be great and when asked what was going to be in it she replied “I can’t tell you. It’s a Secret.”, Isabelle De Armoun stated that it was going to be a cheer dance combination with a couple stunts, anymore though she refused to elaborate.

            This new routine that they are creating shows promise of being exciting and joyous. These girls brought together by the pleasure of cheering for the sports teams, have only been brought closer by their devising of this routine. The Secret shall be unveiled at halftime at the football game.