Volume 6, I ssue 2 Thursday , Ma rch 7 , 20 13 By Alyssa Heath Sixteen Candles. The Breakfast Club. Pretty in Pink. What do these movies have in common other than “Brat Pack” actress Molly Ringwald in her prime? They set cut- throat expectations for those entering the occult world known as high school. But are the high school years consistently a “universal Ameri can exper ienc e,” as argued by blogger Col- leen Mondor ? What does the label of “high school experience” mean to dif- ferent people and howdoes it deviate between various school settings? Finding no comfort in the Hollywood portrayal of high school, a time abundant in “angst ridden, hormone raging” jocks, nerds and popular girls (as harshly put by another misanthropic blog- ger, Rachel Sandler), I took matters into my own hands to answer these questions. Enlisting the help of Lyme Central senior, Gunnar Blank, I set out to shadow a school day at Lyme, and vice versa. With 355 students K-12, Lyme Central School District in its entirety is almost matched by the Watertown High School class of 2013 alone, coming in at 274 se- niors. Drop the last digit, and you have Lyme’s senior class: an incomparable 27 students. The vast difference in the size of the two schools each comes with its own set of benets and disadvantages. Asmaller school setting offers the perk of be- longing to a tighter-knit group, as opposed to being one of 1,133 kids (the size of Wa- tertown High) and not recognizing all the names or faces of your fellow classmates. A major difference I p icked up on at Lyme was the repet ition of familiar faces I sawthroughout the school day. Although it is not uncommon to have multiple classes with some of the same stude nts in a larger school (I’m with my best friend ve periods out of the day), I have friends at Watertown whom I seldom see during the course of myday, some of which I may only pass in the hall once every coupl e of weeks. This also has a downside: although rumors spread like wildre anywhere teenagers can be found, the speed and impact of gossip is magnied in a smaller school, where manykids have known each other their entire lives and can retain every detail about their peers. What sets the two districts further apart is the dispersion of students: while Wa- tertown City School District is made up of eight school buildings (Knickerbocker, North, Ohio, Sherman, and Starbuck Ele- mentary schools; H.T. Wiley Intermediate School, Case Middle School, and Water- town High School), Lyme Central students of all ages can be found under one roof. This means that occurrences such as pass- ing a 3 rd grade class walking in a single le line while headed to your locker are the norm. This has a denite advantage over the PG-13 hallways of a traditional 9-12 high school: PDA and profanity are elimi- nated, simply because they cannot ex- ist. The younger children are in constant contact with the high school students and look up to them as role models. Frankly, I did not mind walking to class without hav- ing to see couples honeymooning against their lockers. A one-building district also annihilates the stressful transition to high school. Rather than be ing the littl e sh in uncharted waters, students are merelymoving up to the next grade, dismissing the infamous trauma of the “Freshman Friday” hoax and nding a seat in the caf- eteria. My conclusion after playing school swap is this: the movies are wrong. The experi- ence you take away from high school is dependent on many factors, including the size of your school and your attitude to- ward it. High school is what you make it: n o myth or stereotype can forecast the condi- tions of your experience. Not even your fa- vorite cult classics. Size Matters Alyssa Heath Lyme Central class of 2012 graduation commencement. Photo used with permission by Mr. Joseph Davis of Chaumont, NY. Lyme Central School gym oor, home of the Indians. Photo by Lyme senior, Rachel Gardner. ‘Like’ Photography by Rachel G. on Facebook to see more.
Sixteen Candles. The Breakfast Club.Pretty in Pink. What do these movies havein common other than “Brat Pack” actressMolly Ringwald in her prime? They set cut-throat expectations for those entering theoccult world known as high school. Butare the high school yearsconsistently a “universal
Ameri can exper ience,”as argued by blogger Col-leen Mondor? What does
the label of “high schoolexperience” mean to dif-ferent people and how does it deviate betweenvarious school settings?Finding no comfort inthe Hollywood portrayal of high school, atime abundant in “angst ridden, hormoneraging” jocks, nerds and popular girls (asharshly put by another misanthropic blog-ger, Rachel Sandler), I took matters intomy own hands to answer these questions.
Enlisting the help of Lyme Central senior,Gunnar Blank, I set out to shadow a schoolday at Lyme, and vice versa.
With 355 students K-12, Lyme CentralSchool District in its entirety is almostmatched by the Watertown High Schoolclass of 2013 alone, coming in at 274 se-niors. Drop the last digit, and you haveLyme’s senior class: an incomparable 27students. The vast difference in the sizeof the two schools each comes with itsown set of benets and disadvantages. A
smaller school setting offers the perk of be-longing to a tighter-knit group, as opposedto being one of 1,133 kids (the size of Wa-tertown High) and not recognizing all thenames or faces of your fellow classmates.
A major difference I picked up on at Lyme was the repetition of familiar faces I saw throughout the school day. Although it isnot uncommon to have multiple classes
with some of the same students in a largerschool (I’m with my best friend ve periodsout of the day), I have friends at Watertown
whom I seldom see during the course of my
day, some of which I may only pass in thehall once every couple of weeks. This alsohas a downside: although rumors spreadlike wildre anywhere teenagers can befound, the speed and impact of gossip ismagnied in a smaller school, where many kids have known each other their entire
lives and can retain every detail about theirpeers.
What sets the two districts further apartis the dispersion of students: while Wa-tertown City School District is made upof eight school buildings (Knickerbocker,North, Ohio, Sherman, and Starbuck Ele-
mentary schools; H.T. Wiley IntermediateSchool, Case Middle School, and Water-town High School), Lyme Central studentsof all ages can be found under one roof.This means that occurrences such as pass-ing a 3rd grade class walking in a single leline while headed to your locker are thenorm. This has a denite advantage overthe PG-13 hallways of a traditional 9-12high school: PDA and profanity are elimi-nated, simply because they cannot ex-ist. The younger children are in constant
contact with the high school students and
look up to them as role models. Frankly, Idid not mind walking to class without hav-ing to see couples honeymooning againsttheir lockers. A one-building district alsoannihilates the stressful transition to highschool. Rather than being the little shin uncharted waters, students are merely
moving up to the next grade, dismissingthe infamous trauma of the “FreshmanFriday” hoax and nding a seat in the caf-eteria.
My conclusion after playing school swapis this: the movies are wrong. The experi-ence you take away from high school isdependent on many factors, including thesize of your school and your attitude to-
ward it. High school is what you make it: nomyth or stereotype can forecast the condi-tions of your experience. Not even your fa-
vorite cult classics.
Size Matters
Alyssa Heath
Lyme Central class of 2012 graduation commencement. Photo used with permission by Mr. Joseph Davis of Chaumont, NY.
By Michaela CastilloThis issue of the Cychronicle I had the
pleasure of interviewing Shelby Yazzie,
a junior here at Watertown High School, who had the courage to try out and makethe boys’ wrestling team.Shelby, who also movedhere last year from Win-dowrock, Arizona, agreedto sit down with the Cy-chronicle and answer thefollowing questions.
C: What made you want to join the wrestlingteam?
S.Y: “It seemed more fun and challeng-ing compared to cheerleading, which is thesport I usually do.”
C: How long have you actually wrestled? And what got you into this sport?
S.Y: “This is actually my rst time doingthis sport. But my stepfather, who wrestled
when he was in school, was the one to actu-ally encourage me to do it.”
C: Did you have a successful and fun sea-son?
S.Y: “Oh I had a really fun time, but not
really a successful season.”(laughs)
C: Was it strange being the only girl?
S.Y: “Not really, but when the guys fartthen it’s just really awkward.”
C: And that alone didn’t stop you from wrestling?
S.Y: “No.”
C: Ok well did you wrestle against justgirls or guys too?
S.Y: “There were three other girls, butthey weren’t in my weight class so I mostly
wrestled guys.”
C: Do you do any other sports or activi-ties?
S.Y: “Cheerleading, basketball and vol-leyball. It depends on when I feel like it.”
C: How long have you been in Water-town? Do you like it here?
S.Y: “Almost one year. And I like whenit’s not snowing or raining, because that’s
when Watertown starts to look a bit creepy.”
C: Is there anything different in Water-town High School then your old school?
S.Y: “The day 1,2,3,4 thing and having
certain classes on certain days is a little weird. And starting school at 7:30? That’stoo early! Back at my old school everythingstarted around eight. Also the languageclasses were different, back in ArizonaI took conversational Navajo instead of Spanish. It was really hard.”
C: What are your plans for the future?
S.Y: “Move back to Arizona and go to col-lege for nursing or biomedical engineering.”
C: Would you do wrestling again? And what would be your advice to someone who wants to try something new?
S.Y: “Yes. And my advice for those people would be give it your all and don’t doubt yourself.”
Interview With A Student
Michaela
Castillo
Brittany Kaler
Shelby Yazzie is a non-traditional member of the WHS Wrestling Team
By Brendan CooleyOne thing that I have learned throughout
my High School experience is that it is nevertoo late to make a difference. Whether thatmeans being involved insports, clubs or just tryingto catch up enough creditsto graduate.
My Opinion:• Having good atten-
dance is crucial to havinggood grades.
• Do your best not to belate, even though wakingup is usually hard.
• Have a voice through-out your courses, where opinions are ac-ceptable.
• Build comfortable relationships with your teachers. They are your connectionsto success.
• Everyone is at school to work, respectboth the jobs of faculty and other students.
• Even when you seem behind, perseverebecause it may not be too late.
• Don’t worry about other peoples nega-tive opinions, only your own opinion truly matters.
• Take as many electives as possible andhave fun throughout school, enjoy it whileit lasts.
• My nal advice is whatever you do;do NOT cut down the hallway corners at
a sharp angle to avoid getting smashed by lunch trays or other students. WHS’s guidance counselor Mr. Terry
Freeman gave me some fantastic informa-tion for students in every grade
Mr. Freeman:Is catching up credits for a student in
jeopardy fathomable?“We come up with different plans for
students to catch up their graduation re-quirements”
There are many options that are avail-able including summer school or credit re-covery programs.
Mr. Freeman suggests, “Stop digging yourself a hole if you are behind, talk tosomeone.”
What are the best tactics for successcoming to school?
• Be to school on time• Do your homework • Be well rested• Use your resources, teachers are your
recommendations.• Enjoy your time hereFreshman: Learning your way around is
important.“Take High School seriously and get off
on the right foot” says Mr. FreemanSophomores: Strive to improve from the
year before and do more work.Go out of your comfort zone and experi-
ment with clubsJuniors: Start researching future plans,
whether its employment, college or themilitary.
Mr. Freeman says, “You can never gettoo much information.”
Seniors: Stay focused and keep yourgoals at the forefront
Fight senioritis and pay attention to im-portant deadlines.
Many students honestly believe thatschool is simply a place for social interac-
tion and a place to getaway from their parents.These same students of-ten fail to see the impor-tance of the free publiceducation system thatour government pro-vides. The truth is thateducation truly is the key to success in life and thatthere are many places inthe world where free education is not thenorm. (Only 69% of the world’s countriesprovide free education programs for theirschool aged children).
Why is an education more importantthan many of us might think? One reasonis because an education is needed to getgood jobs, which in turn, allow us to livecomfortably. The lifetime earnings of a col-lege graduate are about eighty-four percenthigher than those of a high school graduate.Having an education allows us to accom-
plish both the long-term and the short-termgoals that we have . Education also allows todevelop good critical thinking skills, whichhelp guide us in making correct decisions
Interestingly enough, some students makeentering the work force a top prioritywhilethey are still in high school, but the obligations
of those jobs can interfere with student life. There area variety of reasons why students decide to work
while in school: one rea-son is the economy. Somestudents who come fromlower socio-economicfamilies decide to maketheir job a top priority be-cause they need the money
to help support themselves and their family.There are always problems, however, asso-ciated with being a working high school stu-dent. Some students that work will have latehours, which can rob teens of necessary sleep.The students’ academics can also be affectedby working because the shifts they have canput a crunch on the amount of time that stu-dents have to do school work. Unfortunately,it is also hard for students to ignore the im-mediate reward of a paycheck. Most Studentsdon’t see the correlation between doing wellin school and their future at that moment.The pay off for their effort is delayed.
Ironically, while our students often fail tomake education a top priority, students in
other countries have been severely injuredand have even died simply trying to get aneducation. For example, at the young age
of eleven, Malala Yousafzai realized that she wanted to become a doctor, but becauseshe was a female in Pakistan, her dream isalmost impossible. Malala has been vocalabout the need for women to be educated.Because she was so outspoken, on October9th 2012, Malala was shot in her head andneck by a Taliban gunman, who wanted tostop her efforts to encourage free education
for women. This failed assassination attemptleft two other girls wounded and Malala incritical condition at a hospital in Peshawar.
This brave 15 year old girl not only valued theprivilege of education, she almost lost herlife for it. She maintains her beliefs and hassworn to continue her ght for education forall children and young adults.
Students of the United States should bethankful for their education, even thoughthey may not yet realize that their high school
vancement in the last couple of years, moreand more people are being “diagnosed” wi th te ch no ph ob ia ,a.k.a. the fear of not hav-ing technology in yourlife. Technophobia may seem like a crazy thing tohave, but in reality, many people, such as teens, areindeed afraid of not hav-ing their phone. In fact, Iam one of these teenag-
ers who doesn’t love the idea of not havinga cell phone with me at all times through-out the day. I wasn’t sure how I would react
when I was faced with the experiment of doing just that: not using my cell phone for
an entire day.Experimenting with not being able to usemy cell phone for an entire day was a greatthought at rst, but when the time came toleave my phone behind as I left my house, Iimmediately felt that there was somethingmissing. I am used to sending over 4,000texts within a week (7,000 being the normfor a month for an average teen) so not be-ing able to send even one in a whole day brought me even more anxiety. Not be-ing able to check Facebook, Instagram and
Twitter was not as bad as I had originally thought it would be. The main thoughtsthat I was having were “How will I know if
my best friend and her boyfriend breakup?”or “What if there is an emergency?” Some of
my thoughts were denitely more irrationalthan others, but negative thoughts were theonly ones that I was experiencing.
Walking through the mall without acell phone was like wearing black at an all
white party. I felt like everyone had their cellphone, except for me. Whether people wereeating, in line, checking out, or shopping,they had their phones out. Everywhere Iturned, someone would be checking a site orreplying to a text. I began to notice that what-ever that person was doing, the minute his
or her ringtone would sound or they wouldfeel a vibration, he or she would look at theirphone without any hesitation. Althoughsome chose not to reply, it was obvious thatit was important to look at each message justin case it might be something important.
Thinking about not having my phone was at the top of my list all day long. I wasfeeling like I had lost a body part, or ve. Af-ter the rst hour of not having my phone, Istarted to realize that I was actually enjoy-
ing myself a lot more. Not having to check my phone every ve minutes was actu-
ally really nice. Spending the day with my mom and sister, with no distractions, wassomething different and enjoyable. Every so often, however, I would nd myself feel-ing in my pockets to nd my phone, and afew times, I felt like I had left my phone in astore because I’m so used to always havingit with me. By the time I returned home tomy cell phone, I was feeling stressed andun-whole. Although I had enjoyed spend-ing the day with my mom and sister, I des-perately wanted to check my phone.
My experience without having my cellphone was interesting to say the least, I canopenly admit to this now: I am addicted tohaving my cell phone. We may honestly be ob-sessed with checking sites that allow us to know
where and what everyone is doing at all times,but the bigger problem that we are facing isalways having to be connected to our phones.For many of us the iPhone has become a bestfriend, companion, and maybe even a partner.
We love our cell phones . . . literally.
Are You a Smart Phone Zombie?
By Julia Fox and Tori Butler
Technology rules our lives: everything we do involves some new form of technol-ogy that was unheard of years ago. We haveour cell phones, electronic books, Face-book, Skype, and so many other technolog-ical advancements. Cell phones, for exam-ple, have become such a part of our daily
lives that trying to remember phone num-bers is unnecessary because our phoneshold all the numbers we need. Some peo-ple have become so dependent on technol-ogy that they can’t be without it even for aday. To see how hard it would be to go with-out technology, we planned a twenty-fourhour period in which we could use only thetechnology that was available during the
year in which we were born: 1995. We had a number of things planned for the
day: we would see a movie, use a payphone,
and completely isolate ourselves from the21st century. Before starting this experiment, we hypothesized that we would instinctively check our phones. (Since people have be-come so attached to their phones, some just
naturally reach for their phones to check thetime or even just to hold it.) About 5 hours in-to the experiment, our hypothesis was proven
when Julia reached for her phone to check thetime. Other than that minor slip up, we weretotally true to our plan.
Overall, the experiment was easier thanexpected. Everyone always makes a big dealabout having his or her phone at all times,even when the phones are not really need-ed. This endeavor made us remember how much technology has changed our lives.Getting in contact with someone back then
was much harder than it is now. We couldn’tuse our cell phones to call our ride, and thepay phone in the mall doesn’t even work.
Also checking the time regularly was moredifcult since not many places have clocksanymore. Despite the culture shock, we ac-tually had a good time just talking. We found
ourselves not even using the technology wecould use. Face to face interactions havebecome harder for today’s youth to initiate,
which is why we should just put down ourphones and talk with our friends.
Taking a Step Back in Time
By Erin Pacifci
Daily life is now new and improvedthrough the creation of modern technol-ogy.
Gone are the days of just a phone call tosee how a friend is doing. No longer must
you mail pictures to someone or use an en-cyclopedia for research.
Within technology of the modern era are so-cial networks that makeconnectivity even easier.Finding old friends orfamily members or re-membering someone’sbirthday is a snap with asocial network like Face-book. Taking pictures of unforgettablemoments is at your ngertips with a smart-phone and research is a thing of the past
with Google. Any question you have can beanswered within seconds.
Overall, life is made easier, which is the whole point of technology. Some may say your “missing out” on life by being so at-tached to a phone or computer, but thesame could be said of them. If anything,
you’re staying on top of what’s current andkeeping in touch with others. Of course, you still have to talk to people face to face,but technology makes it easier to do so
when the person you wish to reach isn’t as
easily accessible.Simple tasks in life such as remembering
to do something, using a calculator, evenpaying your bills can be taken care of on a
smartphone or computer. You no longerhave to go to great lengths to accomplishsimple tasks.
This, in turn, poses the question: Shouldstudents be allowed cellphone usage dur-ing school? What if students were taughtthat there was a right and wrong time to usephones in school, or cellphones were al-lowed in study halls, in lunch, or in a certainroom? Technology will never go away. It’salways going to be changing and improvingand students should be allowed to adapt tothese changes in school. Calculators werenew once too, and now you can nd themin every math class. Computers were alsoa huge change and these can be found in
just about every single classroom. Thereare many school related functions studentscould use smartphones for such as researchfor a school project or to search somethingon the internet that is relevant to the topicin the class at the time. Having this advan-tage would be more efcient for most stu-dents and could get tasks completed morequickly in class. This privilege comes withgreat responsibility; however, with supervi-sion, using a cellphone in school could po-tentially make easier the life of a student.
Benefts o Modern DayTechnology; Why We Need It
Brittany Kaler
Erin Pacici
Brittany Kaler
Julie Fox and Tori Butler show their feelings about a life without technology.
By Emily Leopard-DavisBy now, most students recognize our
principal, Mr. Joseph McGrath. They may
not, however, realize that there is anotherside of our principal: he is the manager of arestaurant in Sandy Creek. Recently, I met with him to discuss this part of his life andto ask how these jobs compare.
Cychronicle Reporter: What skills arenecessary to manage a restaurant?
McGrath: Attention. Real attention to de-tail is crucial. It starts from a micro-approach where there is in the stateof New York there’s nu-merous permits and rules
and regulations from salestax department to differ-ent types of boards youhave to do. So you really have an understanding of how the whole businesssystem works and really you have to be very atten-tive to that so you don’tmiss deadlines and that because there’snes and problems there. And for the busi-ness itself is very crucial that you’re paying
attention to every detail because there’s sucha small prot margin so that you have to becareful your food waste and disposable stuff and how much everything from your nap-kins you’re using to how much bread you’rethrowing away to how long the cook leavesthe fryer going when it doesn’t need to be on.There is just so much you really need to pay attention to. It’s really “attention to detail.”That’s that part.
Then the second part is, you got a person who pays attention to detail and the sec-
ond is like being a teacher or a coach or amanager. Because you’re really managingpeople when you’re managing a restaurant.It’s really no different than teaching an Eng-lish class. You’ve got to set clear objectivesfor the people working for you, you got toteach them what you want them to know, you have to monitor and adjust so they’redoing it properly and correctly to reinforce what you’re trying to teach them, how you want them to work.
Now that’s running the restaurant, the
other part of that restaurant business is your clients. So you have to be very friendly, you got to pay attention to customer needs. You have to really spend a lot of time as arestaurant owner guring out what yourcustomer base wants. If you do all that youcan be relatively successful. When you loseon anyone of them, you don’t pay atten-tion to details, that comes back to hurt you, you don’t train your people properly or youdon’t manage them properly you’re not areal lead manager and positive with them,that could hurt you and if you forget yourclient base that could hurt you. So you haveto constantly pay attention to all three of those and when you don’t you’re hurting.
So not much different than running a build-ing to be honest with you.
CR: That’s actually the second question.
Are any of these skills similar to those need-ed to manage a school?
MG: Yes, they’re very similar. If you don’tpay attention in school to the small detailsthey can become very large problems. Pay-ing close attention to the people you’remanaging and understanding their needsis important, very important and listen-ing to their needs. Just like teachers haveto manage their kids in a way that the kidsthat’s helping their kids’ needs. The bestteachers are those who know exactly what
they want kids to learn, teach it directly,monitor and adjust when they know kidsare learning or not learning, create timefor re-teaching, time for retesting, timefor enrichment for kids who are getting it.No different than I have to try to train my teachers. So it’s very similar skills. Payingattention to detail and managing people ina really positive way.
CR: Is the restaurant business less stress-ful than working at a school?
MG: That’s a tough one for me because
I’ve found neither very stressful. That’sa hard one for me because I do not getstressed. Let me put it this way; I don’t allow other peoples behavior or outside eventsthat I can’t control stress me. The only thingI can control is how I react to other peopleand outside events because as long as I’mreacting to them in a positive way I’m notstressed. For example if a ton of food getsruined because somebody did something wrong, I’m not stressed about that becausethere’s nothing I can do about it. My reaction
to that has got to be to retrain that particularcook or waitress that you need to close thecooler door when you put the chicken back in there or it’ll go bad. But I don’t get stressedabout that kind of stuff; I think stress is un-healthy so I try not to. I get anxious. Like Ihave a faulty meeting, I’m anxious about thatbecause I have to stand in front of a hundredpeople. I’m not stressed about it I’m anxiousabout it. There’s a difference. I’m not wor-ried about the outcome I’m just sort of anx-ious about making sure I prepare it properly,making sure I paid attention to detail, mak-ing sure the presentations are all ready to go,etc. I’m not upset about it.
CR: When you re-enter retirement fromeducation, will you continue to work in therestaurant business?
MG: Well that’s a great question becauseI’ve done that. I retired in 2011 and that waspretty much what I was doing, retired andhad the small restaurant. I came out of re-tirement just for this year. So yeah, I’ll prob-ably be back more actively involved in therestaurant. Unless I do something like thisfor another year it’s a lot of fun so if I get an-other interim position I’d probably take it.
CR: Has either of these businesses—or
both—changed drastically during yourtime of employment?
MG: I think the restaurant business haschanged as our economy has changed. Inour area, the North Country, there is lessdiscretionary income for people so for usto keep our customer base we’ve had tomake adjustments; as price has gone up we’ve had to keep pace with ination andkeep our prices lower to order to even allow
people to come into our place so it is, it’s be-come more and more difcult it truly has.It’s really because the unemployment rateis so high. Ten years ago there were more jobs in Jefferson County and Oswego Coun-ty, people were going out on a Friday night,either to a sh-fry, getting chicken wings orgoing and getting a hamburger. Other thanthat it’s the same business. As for the schoolbusiness I don’t think kids have changed.Kids are kids. I think that again the demandsfrom the economy and the outsourcing of our manufacturing makes it much morestressful for our students and for teach-ers now, because we know without a goodemployable skill our kids aren’t going to
do well. So in the past a young woman or young man could go to work at an airbrakeor go back to the dairy farm or work for oneof the mills and make a living. Well the Air-brake isn’t hiring there’s no more mills andthe only jobs you got are minimum wageand jobs in retail. So the economy and theoutsourcing really changed what we haveto do and what kids have to do be success-ful and it’s more stressful for the kids and
then a result is stress on teachers. We haveto be more focused. For example if you gothrough high school and you just get a regu-lar high school diploma and you don’t go onto get a two-year degree or a four-year de-gree what are you going to do. That’s whatkids have to continue to ask themselves;how can I make a living doing somethingthat I like to do and that I want to do. Andthe only way to get that is education.
Mr. McGrath is a great example for us inthat he has taken two seemingly un-relatedareas, education and restaurant manage-ment and demonstrates in real life how they both take skills learned through asound education.
Another Look at Our Principal
Brittany Kaler
Mr. McGrath reveals another side of his professional life.
By Ethan Garry After 13 years of schooling, we are al-
most expected to go to college, and th ere
is one thing that seems to have as bad areputation as not goingto college: Art School.The idea of spending
just as much money on an education for acampus full of paintbrushes and sewingneedles is baffling. Thenormal reactions tendto be, “Can’t you just take an art class?”or “Who is going to hire you when you’redone?” Many people don’t understandexactly what an art school is: it is a nor-mal school, like other colleges, but in-stead of doing bookwork and writing pa-
pers, students spend their time drawing,sewing, or participating in a number of other artistic endeavors.
The public is under the impression thatsending young adults to art school meansthat these young adults will grow up to bestarving artists, who will end up barely get-ting by in their studio apartments in Paris;however, that is far from the truth. Modernart schools prepare students for modern
jobs, from fashion courses to graphic de-sign. There are numerous careers avail-able for the students, who graduate fromthese art institutions. A former art studentis probably responsible for every bill-board, every designer dress, and every new and exciting interior design. We neglectto open our minds to the idea that theseschools decorate the world around us.
If we think about all of the things thatartists contribute to society, we must ac-knowledge that the job market for art
graduates is diverse and ever-growing.New products always pop up and oldproducts are always changing, busi-nesses always need logos, houses alwaysneed designers, and people always needclothes. Art schools will help you perfectthese skills if you are prepared to work hard. These schools are not for everyone,but neither are traditional colleges.
Conveniently, there is a school in nearly every state and many traditional collegeshave very good art programs as well. (Youcan not only be close to home but becauseart schools tend to be small and tight knit;
you may nd your campus turning into asecond home.)
It is important to realize that in an art
school, you do not spend all day in the stu-dio. You also learn about the history andmarketing of your product. To apply, most
art schools request a portfolio, along with your transcript. The portfolio consists of 15-20 pictures of a wide variety of work.These pieces should reect your strength-sand diverse abilities. Remember, a few pieces of solid work and a few great pieces
will represent your abilities. Tuition costsare about the same as the costs for a tradi-tional college education.
There was a time when we lookeddown at art schools, however, doing so is
wrong. There are thousands of creativeand diverse jobs waiting for the graduatesof art schools. The world is just waitingfor them to add a touch of color to our fu-tures, so if art school is for you, don’t hesi-tate to apply.
Art Schools: Another Alternative
By Brittany Macmillan
Recently, a friend of mine asked me how I felt about a student who didn’t want to goto college. After some thought, I nally hadan answer, however, I wasn’t sure my an-swer was the best possi-ble answer. I went to ourlead guidance counselor,Mr. Terry Freeman, andposed the same question.Here is the original ques-tion and both answers.
Lately, I hear so much
about the core curriculumand Governor Cuomo’splan to encourage every student to attend college.The truth is; however, that I do not want togo to college. I want to go to work full time. I
wonder, is there something wrong with thisdecision? (By the way, I have never been introuble, and I have an eighty ve average, andI have a good reputation in my high school.)
My answer: “there is nothing wrong with
the decision that you have made right now,but if you wanted to go into a full time jobafter high school, instead of college, youshould at least look into some sort of trad-ing school, like BOCES. Or being someone’sapprentice, so that you can be sure that youhave all of the skills that you will need tomake enough money to support yourself.”
Mr. Freeman’s answer: “There isnothing wrong with this decision. Attimes, some students are ready to enterthe work force and gain some valuable
experience right out of high school. Thekey is to have the academic preparationso that you can go to college in the fu-ture, should you chose to attend. Some-times, for the career advancements orpromotions, it is necessary to further
your educati on. And, as lon g as you havethe preparation those doors will remainopen when you are ready to pursuehigher education.”
Is College Always the Answer?By Siraj SindhuSpecial GueSt columniSt
I know, I know. You read the title of this article, see the name written underit, roll your eyes and scoff. This conceptis laughable, right? I understand. Buthear me out.
It’s easy to be discouraged by a badgrade in school. But remember that every-one messes up from time to time: maybe
you forgot about the big Trigonometry testand didn’t study the night before, or youcouldn’t nish the Chemistry lab and hadincomplete data. It happens. A discussion
in my recent Psychology class yielded amemorable quote: “I don’t judge my suc-cess based on the numbers on my reportcard. My satisfaction with myself comesfrom the knowledge in my head.”
Sometimes, we need to take a stepback and think about why we go toschool every day and spend so muchof our limited lifespan in classrooms.School and college to an even greater ex-
tent is structured on the basis of personalexpansion of developing each individual
student, one’s personality, one’s tastes,one’s interests. Certainly, doing well inclass is important and is critical to suc-cess in life, however, it should not be thesole goal of education.
The real purpose of education lies inthis: to give youth the opportunity to nd
what he or she loves and to encourage himor her to pursue it. This is a challenge toall my fellow students: rstly, work hardin your classes, and strive to acquire goodgrades. You’ll be better prepared for the
future, you’ll learn more from your teach-ers, and you’ll feel better about yourself.But just as importantly, pursue things thataren’t related to any of your classes. Every-one has a talent or a passion, from astron-omy to poetry to nature and everything be-
yond and in between. Research and learnabout whatever interests you. You may justend up discovering a passion that becomesa career.
Over Winter Break, I was given theopportunity to experience New York City for the first time. Honestly speak-ing, the only prior knowledge I had of NYC was from what I’ve seen on TV orheard from my friends;I didn’t have any first-hand experience. So,
my posse (consist-ing of my two olderbrothers, both of theirgirlfriends, and my-self) all went to NYCover Christmas Break,to see what all thehype is about in “TheBig Apple.” I’ve bro-ken this article downinto different specific segments,and I’ll give y’all the rundown of how NYC treated its newest patrons.Tourism: There is a lot to see in New
York City, but that is no t always a goodthing. My crew and I went to NYC toexperience the city, not to be tourists.Sure, we saw the obvious sights, suchas the Empire State Building, Statueof Liberty, Times Square, etc., but that
just g oes to show y ou that a lot of NYChas become a tourist trap. Be warned,everywhere you go there will be some-one trying to sell you something andthey are awfully persistent. Other thanthat, the sights of NYC are all right. Beforewarned, however, every landmark seems a lot smaller than you see on
TV, except the Empire State Building, which is real ly freaking big!
Food: Here’s where NYC gains somepositive points, its food! My group andI made a rule that we weren’t allowed toeat at any major/corporate business (i.e.McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King…
you get the idea), so we only ate at lo-cal food establishments. Everything was
delicious! There is a popular rumor thatthere are so many restaurants in NYC,
you could eat out at a dif ferent pla ceevery night for 65 yearsand still not eatat all the restaurants. If this truly is thecase, then I’d be all set, because New
York City has some great food.Entertainment: Variety is definitely
a good way to describe the entertain-ment of NYC. With Broadway, variousshopping districts, Central Park, RadioCity Music Hall, the Museum of Modern
Art, and anything else you can think of,New York City has them all. Personally, Idon’t think you could go to NYC witho utseeing a Broadway show, so my groupand I did just that. We saw Avenue Q,
which is a play that is fa r too inappropri-ate to talk about in a school newspaper.
Anywa ys, if one wants to have fun, youdon’t have to look very far in “The Big
Apple .”Getting Around: First things first, get
your wal king sho es on bec aus e you ’llbe walking until your feet are sore. New
Yor k is arc hit ect ura lly set up in a way that is very straightforward and effi-cien, which allows one to get where one
needs to go…as long as you have a map. A map is a lif e-s aver and you sho uldcertainly buy one as soon as possible.
Whil e walking is th e mos t ef fect ive way to get around, both taxi cabs and thesubway are useful and affordablewaysof travel.
Stereotypes: This might sound igno-rant, but stereotypes of New York City
that you see on TV are mostly accurate.The taxi cab drivers that my company and I encountered very much “play up”to the typical NYC culture about which
you hear rumor s. You know, thos e sto-ries where cabbies don’t seem to speak English, the radio is blasting music in adifferent language, or when these driv-ers seem to be angry all the time, yeah,those are generally true. However, I alsofound out that the “Every New Yorker ismean” stereotype is false. Collectively,
the people I met were sincerely kind andhelpful to us as we were constantly lostthroughout the city. You know how peo-ple tend to lose things in New York City?That happened too. On Day one of thisvacation, two of the five of us lost ourphones. It seemed that we were becom-ing typical New Yorkers and we wereonly 30 minutes into our adventures of NYC. Don’t worry, we found both of thephones, but not until we were leavingNYC to go back home. Life is funny likethat.
Shopping: When it comes to shop-ping, it is a vast and wide selection of any-and-everything you’ll ever want or
need. Heck, the districts of New York City are divided into different shoppingzones, like Fashion District or DiamondDistrict. I was happy because there wasa bookstore, something Watertownneeds…hint, hint. Here is some advice:don’t ignore the flea market or storesthat look rundown. They’re selling thesame products that the major stores are
advertising, at the same price and qual-ity, so don’t glance over them because of their appearances. Other than that, grab
your m oney, and get read y to spend, i t’sgoing to be a pleasing time!
Overall: My favorite part of NYC wasall the different languages I heard, basi-cally, the greatest part was the cultureitself. I was very blissful the first timethat I heard someone speaking some-thing other than English; it was a feel-ing I haven’t felt since I left South Korea
(where I use to live). Advice for New-comers: If you didn’t get anything out of this article, just remember these tips forfuture reference.
Buy a map. Alwa ys know wher e your phone and
wal let is. Not because of mugg ers, butbecause you might just forget where youput them.
Walki ng shoes are a neces sity !Spend your time how you want to,
don’t get stuck doing all the touristy events.
Finally, while this is over said, havefun! If you aren’t enjoying yourself, then
you’ re not looking ha rd enough!
First Bites out of “The Big Apple”
Jonathan
Ehlinger
By Tylisha Gourdine
I don’t know what was more intimidat-ing about Watertown High School; thesheer size of it (this school is huge), or how different it is from my old school. Before Icame here, I thought every high school wasthe same and Watertown wouldn’t differfrom my previous school in North Carolinaexcept for location, students and teachers.Other than that it would be basically thesame. Boy, was I in for a surprise. My opin-ion changed on my rst day here.
At rst the differences seemed minis-cule, so small that if I wasn’t paying atten-tion I would have missed them. It was stuff
like real trays for lunch instead of Styro-foam and those cool planners. Then camethe gigantic stuff, like learning labs and tenclasses a day.
Above all, having ten classes a day madethe biggest difference in my opinion. This
was just ludicrous to me. First, how didthey even t ten classes in the normal sev-en hour school day? Second, how do you
remember the locations of each of theseclasses? Third, did that mean I would geta lot of homework? Those questions (andmany more) ran through my head whenI got my schedule. The questions pretty much answered themselves after my rstclass.
The thirty-nine minute classes arepretty cool. I was completely fine withonly thirty-nine minutes in geometry. It
would improve my view of that c lass forsure, but if you only had thirty-nine min-utes in a class would you really get a lot of
work done? The answer was surprisin gly yes, so I had the usual, moderate amount
of homework. That was also good be-cause I was having trouble finishing my homework at my other school and I only had four classes there. That would still bea huge adjustment from just having fourclasses a day, but since three of my class-es were learning labs I essentially only had the normal seven.
Another big change was the learning
labs. They were a mystery to me. I really didn’t know what to expect from those.
Would you get work? Was i t like a sciencelab? What was it? When I nally arrivedat one I found it was just like a study hall.This was pretty amazing because I hadnever had a study hall before, and I hadnever heard of a real person actually hav-ing them. It was like one of those things
you see on TV and in movies or hear when your parents talk about their high schooldays.
The thing that really caught me off guard was the size of Watertown HighSchool.I thought the school was big with
only two oors but then I found out theschool has three oors. That left me ab-bergasted. I have never in my fteen yearsof living seen a three story building solely for the use of highschoolers. It gave methe feeling of being in a miniature college.I believe it was stranger for me becausethe city I lived in back in North Carolina
was bigger than Watertown but it had a
smaller high school with less people andthat high school was considered huge.I didn’t think it got any bigger except inhuge cities.
On my rst day at my previous school,Overhills, it was so confusing because Ihad to run upstairs and down to get to my classes; but compared to Watertown, it
was a walk in the park. Let’s just say with-out the help of very nice teachers and stu-dents, I would have never gotten to any of my classes on time.
So, I’ll conclude that Watertown andmy old school are very different in numer-ous ways. Obviously, my earlier assump-
tion that every high school was the same was wrong. Every school, at least these twoschools, are different in their individual
ways. One thing that stayed constant withboth schools was the friendly and helpfulpeople, but I guess that’s inevitable be-cause everywhere you go, if you look in theright places, you’re going to nd friendly people.
Adjusting to Life in a Big WorldThursday, March 7, 2013 Page 7Cychronicle
