Orange & Black

Advisory “is an Immense Waste of Time”

adviser — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:28:57 +0000

There are many good things about Grand Junction High School. Advisory class is not one of them. It is ridiculous that we have to have it. When we have advisory, the classes are shorter so we lose class time, valuable time that we could be using to learn. We also have a later and shorter lunch, which is generally not liked.
It would be OK if we would actually do something worthwhile in advisory, but most of the time we do stupid and pointless things, such as take surveys on how much we like our school or tests to see what we want to do when we grow up. These surveys and tests usually only take 10 to 20 minutes and we spend the rest of the time sitting there. It is an immense waste of time.
If students really want to take the survey about our school we can do that on our own time and there are required tests like the PLAN test that help us see what we want to be when we grow up.
When we have to go to our advisory class before an assembly, it makes us feel stupid, as though we cannot even find the gym on our own. The last time we had an assembly we were told to report to our advisory classes after eighth hour to walk over to the gym.
I have PE eighth hour, so I thought it was pretty pointless to walk all the way over to the W building and then back over to the gym when I was already there. I just stayed at the gym and didn’t go to advisory. When I got home I found out that the school had called my house saying that I was absent for advisory. It is absolutely ridiculous that they mark people absent when they are only in the classroom for two minutes.
The only advantage to going to advisory is when we are doing scheduling. It would be all right if we only had to go to do scheduling, but even then we have it way too much. It does not take five advisory classes to set up your schedule.
Grand Junction High School would be much better off without advisory class, or at least a reduced amount of advisory classes.

Cottonball a “Success”

adviser — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:12:58 +0000

On Saturday, February 27 Grand Junction High School Executive Student Council held the Cottonball Dance. Unlike in previous years, the dance was held at Bananas Fun Park Special Event Pavilion.
“I thought that overall the ticket system and hosting the dance in the pavilion was awesome,” Aaron Jenkins, sophomore class president, said.
Bananas hosts teen dances at the pavilion, but this was the first high school sponsored dance to occur there.
“I think the dance ran really smoothly, and there was a great turnout compared to the regular dances,” Justin Reed, a manager at Bananas, said.
Executive Council supervisor Rose Willet not only agreed with Reed that it ran smoothly, she also felt that the students did a good job representing their school.
“For the most part, everyone was well mannered and responsible, and we had a pretty good turnout,” Willett said.
However, some students felt that one part of the dance was not as spectacular as the rest.
“The disc jockey was kind of a disappointment. He played techno way too much at first, but once he started taking requests it got a lot better, and he did have an amazing light display,” Jenkins said.
Other than dancing and music, hosting the dance at Bananas did come with another benefit.
“I feel that the dance was a definite success because the students were able to walk around and maybe play some arcade games or different activities around the park,” Reed said.

GJHS Lady Tigers Enter Sweet 16

adviser — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:09:57 +0000

On Saturday, February 27 2010, the Grand Junction High School girls varsity basketball team played the Aurora Central Trojans in the second round of the class 5A state playoffs.
The girls took a 37-20 halftime lead. Jamie Derrieux scored 18 points, Paula Lage with 16, and Fawn Brady with 12 points.
They came out with a 60-38 win. Varsity girls face game number one of the Sweet 16 on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 against Highlands Ranch.

Speech and Debate Prepare to Travel to State

adviser — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:05:14 +0000

On Feb. 26, the GJHS Speech and Debate team went to Moffat County High School in Craig for the district competition. The Tigers sent 10 team members to the district meet and seven of them qualified for state.
Of the seven were Natalie Pipe and Katie Repetti in Public Forum Debate, Andriana Coleman and Sierra Simons in Original Oratory, Logan Lally in United States Extemporaneous Speaking, and Jack Wright and James Osmundsen in Humorous Interpretation.
The team went to the district meet without its coach, Mr. Anthony Myers, who had been ill for the previous week. Ms. Rosemary Jennings, a language arts teacher at GJHS, filled in for Myers.
The team will next go to the national qualifier competition in Pueblo on March 5 and 6. Then on March 12 and 13 the team will compete in state at Castle Rock.

Girls Tennis Begins

adviser — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:58:58 +0000

The first practice for the Grand Junction High School girls tennis team was Feb 22. Practices began with challenge matches to determine which spot the players will be on either the junior varsity or varsity team.
There are 11 spots plus one alternate spot on the varsity team. The rest of the girls play for the JV team, which has an unlimited amount of spots because no one is cut from the team.
“We are going to expect a lot from each and every player this year, they will need to compete and work hard,”Coach Carol Elliott said,
Elliott has high hopes for the season.
“Our goal is always to take first at regionals and to be district champs. The expectations are always high,” Elliott said.
Returning varsity players Maddy Hayduk, Emmie Madison, Sammy Weinberg, Margeaux Prinster, Madison Gurley, Kylie Pond and Alex Proietti are under a large amount of pressure to make transitions from last year.
“There is a possibility we could lose our league match winning streak this year. We have a whole new line of singles players and also new doubles players. The goal is always to be league champs; I sure don’t want our previous streak to end, so I am hoping the girls can step it up and keep a competitive edge to remain league champs this season,” Elliott said.
With only seven returning varsity players the newer players on varsity will have to find their competitive mentality to contribute to the team.
Anna Magenis, Kaitlin Cain, Jillian Arja and Stephanie Skinner are the new varsity doubles players. They will join Nikki Arja and Emma Hold, who will be swinging up to play varsity as well.
“The girls will have to adapt to the new level of playing if we have any hope of beating Cherry Creek this year, which is a 5A team we are always looking to beat,” Elliot said.
Along with Denver teams, the GJHS girls are looking forward to competing against rival teams in the valley like Fruita Monument and Central.
“Both Fruita and Central have an even amount of talent coming back on their teams. Fruita is going to be the stronger team and the team to beat as well,” Elliot said.
With a tough season ahead, the GJHS tennis team is setting high goals in hopes of continuing its winning streak and having success at the state championship.

Winter Olympics

adviser — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:06:53 +0000

The Olympics of 2010 are taking place in Vancouver, Canada. Due to lack of snow and temperature rising, people are strongly disagreeing on the location of the 2010 Olympics. Experts say that the Vancouver 2010 games are the warmest Winter Olympic Games yet.
Sophomore Abby Dailey believes that if they changed the location, only more chaos would follow. “I think that so much planning has already gone into it and to change the location would probably do a lot more damage than the weather is causing in Vancouver,” says Dailey.
Vancouver will be hosting the Olympics from Feb. 8 to Feb. 28. Fans are mostly concerned about the participants safety. People are debating on whether the location for these Winter Olympics was right to do, but people tend to over exaggerate.
Since the beginning of the Olympics, residents of Vancouver have been ecstatic and full of energy. Vancouver has never had the experience to host any type of Olympics ever. But when the weather created a downfall for the chance, citizens were angry and fearful for the Olympic athletes.
Erin Lielkoks, a freshman at Grand Junction High School, believes all is trying to do their best in this situation, “I think that the venue has been plagued by a lot of problems and the organizers are trying to do their best.
Since tragedies have been occurring, the organization has been trying their best to prevent any more incidents. If the location were to be changed, the uproar of people’s disagreements would be unfavorable. Therefore, they need to keep the peace between the locals because they have been waiting for this event for a long time.
The Olympics brings together nations in tranquility and the chance to compete against one another. For the host, taking away this privilege would be devastating. So we must allow Vancouver the honor to host the Winter Olympics of 2010.

Cottonball is “Under the Sea”

adviser — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:02:09 +0000

The time to dress up, find a date, and go out for an enjoyable dinner and dance has come again. Grand Junction High School’s next formal dance is coming up on Saturday, February 27.
With an “under the sea” theme and a fresh and original location of Bananas event center, many students such as Bailey Hilty, sophomore, are looking forward to the dance.
“I’m excited to go to a new place. I’m hoping that they play good music, and I’m looking forward to having a great time there,” Hilty said.
The dance costs $15 for a single ticket and $25 for a couples. Pictures are held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the dance itself lasts from 7p.m. to 11p.m.

Too Much Waste at Schools

adviser — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:55:08 +0000

Spending at an administrative level is a widespread problem. Locally, School District 51 recently overhauled its math curriculum, changing math from K-12.

However, the District also spent a great deal of taxpayer money replacing books and materials, and adding new expensive technology for classrooms.

Now, nobody’s complaining about progress. But in an economy where School Districts around the nation are so strapped for cash that many teachers are being cut, and Early Retirement Packages are being pushed to move older, more expensive teachers out of the system, shouldn’t higher-ups have their priorities in order?

Programs and projectors are no substitute for effective teaching, which is what money should be used to improve and emphasize.

The fact is, costly and hyped-up programs and overhauls are wasting money that could be otherwise used to pay the people who really help students grow – the teachers.

Another issue that Obama has failed to elaborate on is how he will measure growth. After years of pro-test legislation, students are tested more often than they learn, almost. At the elementary level, kids are expected to take a myriad of standardized tests ranging from NWEA Map tests to the CSAP.

New, more radical reforms now require that these tests be used as measuring tools to evaluate teacher effectiveness. However, such reformers fail to take into account the correlation between affluent students and higher test scores, as well as other major deficiencies with the exams.

The fact is, neither the left nor right has got it right on education. Smart reform involves less government, less regulation, and less wasteful spending.

If Obama really wants to reform education, how about he tries something different? How about putting teachers in charge?

Basketball Playoff Season

adviser — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:46:41 +0000

The Grand Junction High School girls basketball team won its first game in the Class 5A state tournament on Feb. 24 when sophomore Jamie Derrieux scored a basket with 27 seconds left to beat Boulder 45-44.
The Tiger girls will now travel to Aurora on Feb. 26 for a game against Aurora Central.
The Tigers took a 22-14 first-quarter lead behind early shots from Derrieux, Paula Lage and Fawn Brady, who hit two 3-pointers.
From there, Boulder found its defense, allowing only 23 points the remainder of the game.
Boulder took a brief lead in the third quarter, but a layup by guard Stephanie Drake put the Tigers back up 37-36 going into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter was tight throughout, with Boulder grabbing the lead with just more than five minutes to play and holding it until Derrieux’s game winner.
Derrieux finished with 19 points and Brady added 10.
The season ended for the Grand Junction boys on Feb. 25 with a 62-55 first-round home loss to Smoky Hill. The Tiger boys finished 15-9 on the season.
Sam Morgan led the GJHS scoring with 14 points, with Tommy Powers adding 13, Tyler Winder 10 and Casey Burns 9.

Suubi necklaces spread hope

adviser — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:07:28 +0000

Necklaces from Suubi (Hope) are beautiful, colorful pieces of jewelry hand-crafted by the women of Uganda. Featuring a new necklace every month, as well as a consistent catalog of jewelry, the company provides a way for earth-conscious teens to support a worthy cause, and still express personal style.
Their newly created sister site, Epoh Threads, sells purses made by the same women.
Each necklace or purse is unique, and, with a prices between $ 10-35, affordable. Proceeds from every sale go directly to the tailors.
Store also includes t-shirts, stickers and gift boxes.
For more information or to check out the store, visit suubiafrica.org or epohthreads.com