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stentorian
north Carolina school of science and mathematics
1219 broad street, durham nc 27705 may 2000
WELCOME TO ROME
Miniterm 2000
, ,UlS'U
Mini-Term: The New SPW
katie watlington
In a perfect world Special
Projects Week (SPW) is a won
derful time when every student
is learning on their own about a
particular subject that interests
them; but things like SPW are
never perfect even here at
NCSSM. There will always be a
select group that wants to do
as little as it takes to get by. For
some students in the past, SPW
was more of a vacation than a
learning experience. This con
cerned many of faculty members
and as a result Mini-Term was
designed.
Mini-Term will be a two
year pxperiment and, after the
next school year, will be care
fully evaluated. After the two
year period, a decision will be
made whether or not to continue
with Mini-Term, return to SPW,
or try something new.
“Mini-Term was more aca
demic than SPW. It addressed
the teachers’ concerns about
students not doing enough aca
demic work during SPW,” said
Tom Clayton, Assistant Direc
tor of Academic Programs.
But was Mini-Term too
much work?
Many students felt that
Mini-Term was very tiring and
too much time was spent in the
classroom. However, the major
ity of the students felt that they
did learn a lot of interesting in
formation.
A speak-out was held
April 4th about Mini-term, and
the pros/cons of Mini-term and
SPW were thoroughly ad
dressed.
SPW was such a positive
experience because students
were learning independently.
However, it was estimated only
about one-third of the students
gave SPW their hardest effort.
The other two-thirds either just
barely got by or were some
where in the middle.
Mini-term hoped to ac
commodate the two-thirds of the
student body that were not
working diligently by providing
classes, but still allowing the
other one-third to do their inde
pendent projects. The problem
with this was that only about 85
students proposed independent
project, and only 65 were
passed. Independent projects
were extremely hard to design
and get running this year due
to the lack of sponsors and sup
port. Also, students feared that
their projects would not pass.
Many other features ren
dered Mini-term fiir from perfect.
The classes students took dur
ing Mini-term were designed by
the teachers and subsequently
encompassed their own inter
ests, not the students. Also
trips off campus were longer
and more expensive. Some stu
dents were not able to take a trip
because of price.
Only 40 students did not
receive their first, second or
third choice. This was very fhis-
trating for the students, but
most still managed to enjoy
themselves.
“I didn’t get any of my
first three choices, but I still
learned a lot and had a good
time doing the chemistry web
page with Mr. Curry,” said Jun
ior Thomas Codington
While Mini-term was de
signed mainly to address faculty
concerns, many were not totally
sold on Mini-term. The teach
ers ended up doing as much
work as the students in prepar
ing for and teaching a mini-term
course.
“I felt that with Mini-term
between 3rd and 4th quarter
there was not enough time to
get ready; it seemed as if we
crammed a course into the regu
lar courses. Mini-term was a
good experience but was very
tiring,” said Dr. Sarah Allen
For the current Juniors,
SPW is a thing of the past.
Mini-term is here to stay for at
least one more year, and after
that, who knows!
I’ve seen IMSA, but
it’s ‘Uni Pride’ for me
shayerah ilias
In the midst of the com
fields of Aurora, Illinois is a
boarding school that is simi
lar to NCSSM in many ways-
and completely different in
others. Meet the Illinois
Mathematics and Science
Academy (IMSA), a sister
school of NCSSM. For Mini-
Term, twelve NCSSM stu
dents and chaperones Dr.
Steve Warshaw and Ms.
Terese Taxis lived at IMSA.
Unlike NCSSM, IMSA
is a three-year school, and
students apply during their
freshman year for admission.
About six hundred students
attend the school, with some
two hundred students in
each grade. Students must
pay about S950 a year to at
tend IMSA (fee waivers can
be requested).
One goal of the project
was to learn more about
IMSA in hopes of improving
NCSSM. This goal was met
through immersing ourselves
into life at fMSA.
The IMSA campus is
similar to a college campus.
The classrooms, faculty and
administration offices, gym
(by the way, IMSA has an in
door pool and an outdoor
track), cafeteria, and library
are compounded in one build
ing. IMSA is very tight with
its security; Students must
card into just about any
where. Females can access
all female halls with their
cards, and males can do the
same on male halls. Students
use keys to enter their rooms.
“1 felt like big brother
was watching over me,” said
Senior Matt Petrie.
Students’ residences
are located in seven separate
buildings. There are three fe
male complexes, three male
complexes, and one co-ed
complex (fpur other NCSSM
students and I stayed in the
co-ed complex). The cp-ed
complex is evidently the “hap
pening” complex, because
males and females can inter
act after check, since stu
dents are allowed to be in the
main lounge. Students have
curfews at IMSA as they do
at NCSSM, but IMSA upper
classmen’ curfews are gener
ally half-an-hour to an hour
earlier than their NCSSM
counterparts’ curfews are.
Sophomores observe even
earlier curfews. As at
NCSSM, in-room is the most
frequently broken rule.
However, IMSA stu
dents do not get a Level I for
breaking in-room, because
the disciplinary code does
not include levels. Punish
ments are given on an indi
vidual basis, and the in-room
rule is generally overlooked.
For major offenses, students
are suspended for a week or
if the crime is serious, ex
pelled.
“Because punishments
are individualized, it is more
difficult to be fair in making
sure that the punishment fits
the crime. The suspension
rule is rather harsh, because
teachers are not allowed to
give students homework for
that week. So, basically, stu
dents fail the weeks that they
are suspended, ” said Senior
Greg Aldrich.
IMSA is similar to
NCSSM in that it has RLA
personas (called CDs - Com
munity Devlopcrs) and SLl
figures (called RCs - Residen
tial Counselors). Something
interesting to note is that the
'CDs do' not have much au
thority. Unlike their NCSSM
counterparts, CDs do not take
check or make sure that ev
erybody is doing their house
keeping. IMSA did hot like
the idea of students having
power over other students.
Of course, CDs still fulfill the
friend role - they are always
willing to help sort through
problems and give advice.
One of the best parts
of IMSA is the cafeteria food.
Not only is the food great and
the silverware an acceptable
size, but the cafeteria is open
for longer periods of time.
When we NCSSM students
remarked about their high-
quality food, IMSA students
stared back in amazement and
pity. In fact, IMSA’s food ser
vice provider’s contract ends
this summer, and the issue of
whether or not renew the con
tract has flared up. llnlike at
NCSSM, IMSA students are
not an integral part of ensur
ing that the cafeteria func
tions properly. Work service,
on a whole, is not as strict as
at NCSSM.
IMSA is in the middle
of com fields, so there are not
many places for students to
go on foot, students are not
allowed cars except for prom
and other occasional events.
Students can take van loops
to nearby attractions, like the
bowling alley and the movie
~IMSA-P2~