Volume 77 No. 4
Grimsley High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
Tuesday, December 12,2000
Kwanzaa celebrates African culture, customs
By Ashley Kelly
Co-News Editor
Students in Ms. Stephen’s
African American History
class rehearse for a program
in the media center. "It is not
a holy day, not a holiday, nor
a substitute for Christmas,"
said Ms. Stephens. Then what
is it? It’s Kwanzaa.
“It is a celebration honor
ing our ancestors' achieve
ments, and heroes,” said Ms.
Stephens.
Meaning “fruit of the har
vest,” Kwanzaa is an African
American celebration that
takes place from Dec.26 to
Jan.l. Founded in 1966 by Dr.
Karengo, Kwanzaa is an Afri
can American celebration, not
an African celebration.
Because celebrating Afri
can tradition is important to
Ms. Stephens, instead of giv
ing her students a written
exam, she expects them to put
together a Kwanzaa program.
“This program allows my stu
dents to acquaint others with
their family background-of
which they should be proud,”
says Ms. Stephens.
This years’ Kwanzaa pro
gram will be on December 8"’
in the Grimsley media center
from 10:00 a.m-12: 30 a.m. Dur
ing this program the students
will present and give the
meaning of the seven prin
ciples of Kwanzaa:Umoja,
Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa,
"How will I know who
I am unless I know my
past? If a person does
not know or under
stand his or her past,
then that person al
lows others to define
[their] past."
-Ms. Stephens,
African American
history teacher
Nia, Kumba, and Imani. The
seven principles all represent
different things. For example,
Kujichagulia means self-deter
mination as well as to define
ones self, while Ujima stands for
unity. “[Seven principles] serve
as a model for our role in our
Fountain photo
Erica Miller, Ashley Mckoy, Malarian Hunter, Malikah Bailey, Ashley Means, Teaira McDow, Ashley Kelly,
and Alexis Alston recite a poem in preparation for the Kwanzaa clehration. The poem is "Phenomenal
Women," hy Maya Angelou.
race, community and society,”
says Ms. Stephens.
In addition to presenting the
seven principles of Kwanzaa, the
program will include a speaker, po
etry, and a feast to conclude the
event. Each student will make a fam
ily tree, which will be on display in
the media center.
Kwanzaa is celebrated world
wide in recognition of the cus
toms as well as the culture of west
ern Africa. African American His
tory class is one of the few out
lets that allows students to learn
about these two things that may
or may not be taught in regular
history classes. Mario Fountain,
a senior, said, “I signed up for this
class to learn more about my Af
rican heritage, culture, and back
ground.”
Learning and teaching African
American history is important to
Ms. Stephens, who says, “How
will I know who I am unless I know
my past? If a person does not
know or understand his or her
past, then that person allows oth
ers to define [their] past.”
Telewhirlie: A new-age solution to an age-old problem
By Erin West
Reporter
Following the horrible Col
umbine incident two years ago
schools across the country are
worried about their inadequate
safety conditions, and
Grimsley is not excluded.
A parent is unable to
quickly locate their children if
they need to pick them up from
school. Parents have to go to
the main office or library to
obtain their child’s location.
Should office personnel
need to speak with a student,
another student must run the
errand of finding his class
room and delivering the mes
sage. Often the attendance
office staff will send any stu
dent waiting in the attendance
office-whether he is sick or
waiting for an early dismissal
ride home- on such an errand.
Should a teacher be put in
the position of acts of vio
lence going on in his class,
he had no way of contacting
the office. There is a solu
tion, however, to fix these
problems.
The solution is Telewhirlie,
a phone system that Grimsley
plans to install this year. It
will provide each teacher with
easy-access to a phone and
personal voice mail.
The idea was born in the
spring of 1999 when Mrs.
Teague requested a grant to
wards installing such a
phone system in Grimsley.
Her request was denied by
the school board, but was
willingly accepted as a prior
ity by the PTSA Board and
the Grimsley Alumni Asso
ciation.
The estimated cost of the
communication system is an over
whelming $150,000. The PTSA
planned to raise $75,000 and the
Grimsley Alumni Association planned
to raise the other $75,000. Kathie
Amato, one of the PTSA coordinators
for this fundraiser, said, “In terms of
enhancing the working environment,
it’s worth every penny.”
The PTSA has had great success
in getting parents to respond to this
cause. One family pledged to donate
$ 100 for each otha-family that donated
$200 to a maximum of thirty families.
The Alumni Association has contrib
uted greatly to this collection fund by
donating $31,000before it even started
a campaign.
In the eyes of Mrs.Teague, the new
communication system is a necessary
step towards getting Grimsley up to
date. “Can you imagine any business
in2001 withoutaphone?’ askedMrs.
Teague.
Commenting on possible
downsides, such as a teacher
forgetting his voicemail pass
word, Mrs. Teague said, “ I’m
sure there will be bugs.. .there
are downsides to everything.
I would never not give teach
ers what they needed to be suc
cessful, even if it could be mis
used.”
Grimsley is expected to run
more smoothly, and safely, after
the arrival of Telewhirlie.
2000 Exam Schedule
December 13
First period
Break
Second period
8:35 a.m.-10:35 a.m.
10:35 a.m.-10:54 a.m.
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
December 14
Third period
Break
Fourth period
8:35 a.m.-10:35 a.m.
10:35 a.m.-10:54 a.m.
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
December 15
Fifth period
Break
Sixth period
8:35 a.m.-10:35 a.m.
10:35 a.m.-10:54 a.m.
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
No smoking section Get into the spirit Coach Griffin
Ex-smoker regrets past
mistake, warns teens
against cigarettes.
page 4
Spread the joy with
stress rehef methods
and fun activities,
pages 6-7
Coach Griffin inspires
swimmers amidst a
busy teaching schedule,
page 12
News 1
Editorial......3
Features 5
Sports 11