Volume 78 No. 5
Grimsley High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
Wednesday, January 30,2002
Novel supplemental reading program
disappointing to few, exciting to many
Grimsley initiates a new gram] wiUmakensadingmorefun.
Grimsley initiates a new
program in attempt to
raise SAT scores and
share the joy of reading.
By Sara Nelson
Reporter
Reading for pleasure may
seem like a paradox to some. To
others, books are not only a pas
time but a way of life. With its
new supplemental reading pro
gram, Grimsley hopes to make all
of its students enjoy reading,
while simultaneously boosting
SAT scores.
Starting this quarter, all En
glish students will be required to
read a certain number of pages
outside of class. Students en
rolled in CP English will have to
read 300 pages outside of class
in order to earn a 100. Honors,
AP and IB English students will
have to read 600 pages.
The program was started to
boost EOC and SAT verbal
scores, but more importantly, to
instill in all students a love for
reading, which is a pastime that
has fallen by the wayside with
the advent of technological ad
vances such as the Internet, cell
phones, and the Game Cube. “We
don’t read enough,” said Mrs.
Teague, “We hope that [the pro
gram ] will make reading more fun.
We leam about life, about people,
and about ourselves through
reading.”
The pages a student chooses
to read can be from a book of his
choice. But they must be from a
book. Poems, as well as newspa
per and magazine articles, will not
count. Books must be registered
with and approved by English
teachers. Students will be held
accountable for their reading by
giving book talks to their English
teacher. Reports must be given
on a book the student has not
read before, and summer or re
quired reading will not count.
Any book a student chooses
to report on will be entered in a
log. This log will follow the stu
dent for their entire four years at
Grimsley. The purpose of the log
is to ensure that a student does
not report on the same book
twice.
The reading program will
count 5% of a student’s total
English grade this year. Next fall,
the reading will count 10% of the
grade. Percentage values will in
crease each semester until the
supplemental reading accounts
for 20% of a student’s English
grade.
Naturally, student reaction to
this new program is varied, just
f-t
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Bartow photo
Juniors Katie Swofford and Clayton Woodward browse in the Media Center following the
announcement of the new reading program beginning at Grimsley. Each of them must read 600
pages for their Honors English class in order to receive the maximum score.
as attitudes toward reading are Hodgman’s philosophy. She
varied. Some students are not said, “People who really like to
bothered by the program. “I read sometimes don’t get credit
don t think it s going to be a for it.” Part of the program will
problem because we did it in Dr.
Smith’s class, only we had to
read 1,000 pages. This is giving
us the opportunity to read what
we want and get credit for it,”
said Kim Hodgman, a senior.
Mrs. Teague agrees with
involve giving incentives, such
as cash, to top readers.
However, some students do
not like the idea of the reading
program. “I don’t think we
should be forced to read and
be held accountable for it be
cause it takes the joy out of
reading,” said sophomore
Maggie Link.
Whether or not the supple
mental reading program in
creases test scores or makes
students like reading more re
mains to be seen. In the mean
time, you better get started
reading those books.
North Carolina adoption rates peak
A nair nf c:ihlinno of
A pair of siblings .
Grimsley share
unique adoption story.
By Hannah Wineburg
Reporter
Children in Guilford County
awaiting adoption do not have
to wait as long as others did five
years ago. Due to the Adoption
and Safe Families Act of 1997,
the adoption process is much
more expedient than ever before.
According to Guilford
County Department of Social
Services, 44 children living in
foster care or group homes have
been adopted since July 1,2001.
One hundred more children are
expected to be adopted by June
of 2002. Moreover, during the
last fiscal year, 182 children were
adopted in Guilford County
alone, an increase from the pre
vious year.
Ms. Rebecca Menchaca, a
Masters of Social Work intern
at North Carolina Kids Adop
tion & Foster Care Agency,
states that there are approxi
mately 130 public and private
adoption agencies in the state
of North Carolina. One of them
changed the lives of two
Grimsley students.
Brother and sister, junior Zach
and freshman Zoe Lauenstein,
were adopted about a month af
ter birth from Children’s Home
Society of North Carolina, a pri
vate adoption agency. Coming
from the same biological par
ents, Zach and Zoe’s adoptive
situation is unique.
By law, adoptive parents Dr.
Kurt Lauenstein and Dr. Sherry
Dickstein had to wait one
month after their children’s
birthdays before they could
take their children into their
home. During the month be
tween their birthday and their
adoptive day, Zach and Zoe
stayed in a foster home set up
by staff at Children’s Home So
ciety of North Carolina, the
agency used to adopt the chil
dren.
When Zach was two years
old, his parents. Dr. Lauenstein
and Dr. Dickstein, decided to
begin the adoption process
once again. Coincidentally, and
unbeknownst to Lauenstein
and Dickstein, Zach’s biologi
cal parents were expecting-
this time it was a girl.
Dr. Lauenstein and Dr.
Dickstein, unaware that they
were going to adopt Zach’s bio
logical sister until nearly the
end of the adoption procedure,
were overwhelmed with joy be
cause of this rarity.
Today, neither brother nor
sister is preoccupied with be
ing adopted. They also agree
Ignoring History
Many are upset by
the lack of discus
sion of “history
months.”
page 4
Technologically
Challenged
Teens struggle with
the pros and cons of
technology.
pages 6-7
that meeting their biological
parents, when age appropriate,
is not necessary. Zoe said, “ I
don’t know about meeting them
[her biological parents], but I do
want to see pictures.”
Zach and Zoe compare their
birthday to their adoption day.
Zach said, “My adoption day
is like my birthday because it’s
celebrating the start of my life
with my new family.” Zoe en
joys this day for other reasons
as well. She said, “It’s one more
present I get, and it gives me a
chance to look back and remem
ber how I got here.”
The 1997 law has helped ac
celerate adoption processes for
domestic and international
adoptions. In Guilford County,
there are still between 190 and
200 children in foster care wait
ing to be adopted. Zach and
Zoe are happy that they were
chosen early on.
NC Adoption
Statistics i
Gender
Male: 49%
Female: 51%
Age
Under 1:4%
1-5:46%
6-10: 32%
11-15%: 16%
16-18:2%
Race'
White: 42%
: Black: 52%
Hispanic: 4%
Asian/Pacific
Islander: 1%
Alaskan Native
American: 1 %
Other: i%
Stores Compete
Local sports retailers
battle to attract
Greensboro athletes.
page 12
News 1
Editorial 3
Features 5
Sports 11