6 FOCUS
September 29, 1989
GRYPHON
What? Nobody told me
Students see changes
Guess what? School starts
earlier. Students found them
selves setting their alarm clocks
about 20 minutes earlier. Be
cause the first bell rings at 7:54
that means classes start at 8 a.m.
and dismisse. at 2:45. The deci
sion came from the Rocky
Mount School Board.
Rocky Mount Senior High
has been lucky enough to have
new teachers. One of the
new teachers is Margarete HolL
She is a graduate of Wake Forest
University and teaches history.
Nancy Jones is back this year.
Jones went to England to com
plete a master thesis on Thomas
Hardy for a part of her sabbatical
year. Jones teaches English and
Latin.
There are six new teachers. In
the Home Economics depart
ment, there are Serethea Smith
and Laura Oswalt, who is substi
tuting for Gail Bullard. The His
tory department received Debo
rah Chandler, Amy Wilson, who
also teaches English,and Marga
ret Holt. The English department
has the addition of Bernard
Grant.
NEW RULES
With the first day comes a
new set of rules. Instead of 24
absences, there are now only 20
days, excused or unexcused. Roll
is also taken in each class and
even if a student is in the guid
ance office, that person is
counted absent for that period.
Of course, many of the old rules
still apply. For instance, the
minimum time for a detention is
one hour. If a student has already
been absent, he or she might
have noticed that there are no
longer any blue slips. Instead,
students are supposed to bring a
note to the commons and the
people there will take care of it.
CRACKDOWN
A substance abuse rule is in
effect. If a student is found to be
in the possession of, under the
influence of, or found selling or
distributing any type of drugs, he
or she will be suspended for up to
10 days and/or be expelled from
the Rocky Mount City Public
School System. Jerry Carter,
principal, clearly expressed this
rule in class assemblies that took
place at the end of the first week.
In the assembly. Carter went
over the procedures for checking
in and out, the addition of new
rules, and reviewed all the previ
ous ones.
By Kim Beardwood
Juniors caught in the middle
Psychologists say that the
middle child has a hard time es
tablishing his place in the family
unit. One-third of the student
body can emphasize; they know
how it feels to be stuck in the
middle. They are the members of
the junior class.
Photo Iw Jennifer Townsend
Time to study
Juniors Amy Ellis and Celiosa Phillips work hard to finish
their Nathaniel Hawthorne projects.
Preparing for college or pre
paring for the job market are two
major concerns for them. This
fall all juniors will take the
PSAT and the MSQT (National
Merit Scholastic Qualifying
Test.)
Career Day, which is held in
the spring, provides vocational
information for the college-
bound student and the job-bound
student.
In early spring students and
counselors will make plans for
twelfth grade classes and estab
lish goals for after graduation.
Junior guidance counselor Mar
gie Hold advises all students to
come in talk with her about
course selections, career plan
ning, and military careers.
There are also many reference
materials located in the guidance
center. The College Handbook
and Occupational Outlook
Handbook are available to stu
dents.
The junior year is not all work
and no play. Juniors are respon
sible for the major social event of
the school year — the prom.
By Jennifer Townsend
u