Volume 81 No. 5
Grimsley High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
Monday, January 31, 2005
Administrators examine new approaches for future
Faced with challenges and
poor success rates in the
ninth grade, administrators
look to other innovative
programs to ease the
transition to high school for
at-risk students.
By Vanessa Gray
StaffWriter
Teachers, parents,
administrators, and the
school's curriculum facilitator
have recently begun
considering a new approach to
learning for freshmen by
establishing a school-within-
a-school learning
environment. While the actual
academic curriculum is not yet
defined. Curriculum
Coordinator Bud Harrelson
has been promoting an
approach known as Smaller
Learning Communities (SLCs).
Presently, the projected
plan consists of several teams
of teachers who will instruct
no more than approximately
100 students in a day. Such a
program would serve as a
support system for both
students and faculty. Each
team of educators will share
the same students, enabling
them to collaborate with one
another regarding the
development and progress of
each individual student. Once
the SLC committee finishes
designing plans, the group
Curriculum Coordinator Bud Harrelson discusses SLCs with teachers and administrators at a
Leadership Team meeting in January. He proposes changing the ninth grade structure to
create a more personalized, commimity-based environment to ease the transition to high school.
will propose the idea of SLCs
to Principal Rob Gasparello.
SLCs are designed to make
the learning experience more
personal for students.
Researchers and reviewers
have investigated the effects of
school and unit size on many
students' performances,
attitudes, and behavior
measures. Statistically,
students tend to do better in a
smaller, more personalized
school setting.
Northeast and High Point
Central High Schools already
implement SLCs. Grimsley,
Ragsdale, and Page High
Schools are considering such
an establishment for the 2005-
2006 school term through
a grant from the
Northwest Regional
Educational Laboratory.
Separating freshmen from
the rest of the student body
allows for a curriculum that
should not overwhelm
incoming students
academically or socially.
Harrelson, who is spearheading
SLCs at Grimsley, claims
that these communities will
allow freshmen to "learn and
express themselves."
Last year, a reported 105 of
467 freshmen students were
not promoted to the tenth
grade. With summer school
as the next resort, 81 of these
105 students still did not
pass ninth grade, even
after attending the
remedial program.
Parents and faculty are
seeking answers to such
startling statistics. Because of
the notable decrease in
passing freshmen, the SLC
committee members are
collaborating to establish
SLCs; consequently, they hope
to create a more personalized
environment, which should
result in success among
more students.
The same courses will still
be offered to freshmen, and
students can still choose to
take electives and a zero
period if they so wish. This
curriculum design is not
meant to penalize students
from higher-level classes, but
instead for teachers to
consider their students'
strengths and weaknesses and
to provide them with the
proper one-on-one attention
needed for achievement in the
classroom and on their end-of-
year competency exams.
Harrelson explained that
the transition from middle
school to high school is
particularly difficult because
there is "a lack of
understanding as to what
expectations there are." While
middle school assignments are
often graded on a completion
basis, high school students are
expected to think more
analytically and demonstrate
this ability through written
and oral work.
Parents have already
expressed concern about the
possibility of a new
arrangement. To address their
concerns, Harrelson is
arranging a bag lunch for
parents the last Wednesday of
each remaining month of this
school year at which parents
will have the chance to ask
administrators questions
about SLCs and acquire
knowledge about any other
issue they believe should
be addressed.
On Tuesday, Jan. 25, a Small
Learning Communities
Workshop will take place at
7:00 p.m. in the Media Center.
Virgin prepares as civilian space industry blasts off
Earth no longer serves as
a boundary for wealthy
consumers' travel ventures
as Virgin and CSA prepare
civilians for holidays in
the stratosphere.
By Shimere Etheridge
StaffWriter
When the Civilian Space
Administration (CSA) was
founded in October of 2002,
people were skeptical, to say
the least. The group is a non
profit organization that claims
to bring people together from
all o^er the world to work on
technology projects. Intending
to act as a hub where diverse
people can compound ideas
and research, the CSA lets
everyone join in on the work
as if it were a hobby. When
this group first proposed the
idea of space tourism, civilians
around the world
were doubtful.
Over the past few years,
however, space tourism has
received a resurgence of
interest from many well
known groups. "Rebel
Billionaire" Richard Branson,
known for his record-breaking
attempt to cross the Atlantic
Ocean in a hot air balloon and
his founding of the widely-
known Virgin industry,
takes great pride in his
new space tourism
program. Virgin Galactic was
established by Branson's Virgin
Group to undertake
the challenge of developing
space tourism for everyone.
Using privately owned and
operated spaceships. Virgin
will allow affordable sub
orbital (up-and-down) space
tourism for the first
time in history.
Many hurdles arose in
finding an aircraft that
overcame the trouble of re
entering the earth's atmosphere
more than one time. Burt
Rutan, hired by Branson,
developed the technology
that will make this possible
and intends to have the plans
finalized for the Virgin
Spaceship by early this year.
The key to Rutan's design is a
craft that transforms from a
sleek space plane into a
"shuttlecock" on its return to
earth. In this form, the
spacecraft can drift back to
Earth without overheating.
Finally, it will metamorphose
into a conventional aircraft
shape for landing.
"Virgin's experience in
aviation, adventure, luxury
travel, and cutting-edge
design will be vital in
contributing to the design of
the spaceship, the smooth
operation of the spaceline, and
creating an unforgettable
experience unlike any other
available in mankind,"
said Branson.
As word travels about
Branson's latest exploit,
celebrities are signing up for
the experience. Most notably,
teen idol Lance Bass, a member
of the boy-band *NSYNC, had
forged a deal that would allow
him to visit the International
Space Station. However, Bass
continued on Page 3
Senioiitis Takes Toll
As acceptance letters
roll in, seniors take on
apathetic attitudes. Teachers
struggle to discourage
these tendencies.
Page 4
Teenagers Driving Drunk
Students fail to recognize the
repercussions of their risky
actions, endangering
themselves and
fellow motorists.
Pages
Whirlies Break it Down
The dance team bowls
crowds over in Orlando,
Florida, during the
Capitol One Bowl
halftime show.
Page 14
News 2
Opinion ......4
Features 6
Sports 14