Orange County
shooting
Opinion, Page 4
Picking up girls
Features, Page 7
New coaches
take field
Sports, Page 11
Grimsley squares
off against Page:
game starts at
7:30 tonight.
I ipc
I mm I I mmm
Volume 83 No. 1
Grimsley High School
Friday, September 29, 2006
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
Location, location
BYADAMLONG
Reporter
Students returning
from the summer
immediately noticed
some of the teachers
familiar to them from
previous semesters
were no longer in the
same rooms.
Social studies
teacher Larry
Williamson does not
lecture in a media
center classroom
anymore, but rather in
room 309, Teachers
relocated so members
of their department
could be closer tor
collaborative sessions
on instructional
practices. Lunch
schedules would also
be similar.
Such was not the
case for Cheryl
Strickler, who left
her fellow English
instructors in the main
building to go to a new
berth in the media
center. However, she is
next door to another
English teacher, Darren
Corbett. The English
Department is too large
to host in one place;
consequently Strickler
has more difficulty
collaborating with the
rest of the department.
"\ was closer
to English Department
members last year,"
said Strickler.
Third floor Main
now houses social
studies teachers. . Joe
Hill and Grady Peace
transferred from
Vocational to join Joel
D a r d e n , K e V i n
Conaway, Linda
Hensley, and others.
Vocationcil building's
upper floor is the new
home for Spanish
teachers, so Requel
Howard moved from
Main to Vocational.
Tiffany Hamilton, a
new Spanish teacher.
moved into Matt
McNees's former room.
These incoming
teachers joined Jade
Dickerson and
Rosemary Pukal,
already in Vocational.
French teachers
Dibrelle Tourrel and
Laura Wolf, along with
Latin teacher Temple
Eller, moved from the
main building to the
cafeteria to make room
for the incoming social
studies instructors.
.Vloving created a
challenge during
summer months as
teachers dismantled
their classrooms and
reorganized in new
buildings before school
reconvened in August.
"I was [at school]
during the hot summer
months more than I'd
have liked," said social
studies teacher. Joe Hill,
"but 1 had help and
all summer to move at
mv convenience."
Power of r grips gradebook zeroes
BY HALEY PlilLUPS
News Editor
Administrators introduced a grading system
this year called "The Power of I" as part of an
achievement program to help freshmen transition
into high school.
Students who neglect to turn in their
homework do not receive zero grades;
instead, teachers assign an "incomplete," and
the students are required to make up the work.
If it is not completed, consequences include a ban
from after-school activities and an F in the class.
Experts contend it is unfair to give pupils who
fail to turn in work a zero on a 100-point scale.
"To insist on the use of a zero on a lOO-point
scale is to assert that work not turned in deserves
a penalty that is many times more severe than
that assessed for work that is done wTetchedly
and is worth a D," said Dr. Douglas Reeves, CEO
of the Center tor Performance Assessment.
Program advocates say it helps students
understand and complete their work.
"The student is not allowed to ignore
assignments under this program, putting the
responsibility on the student to get work done so
1!
Le.Floc'h photo
Larry Williamson
emulates a classical hero
from a mural, a relic of
Latin classes that met in
his room previously.
the teacher can assess it to see what they know,"
said curriculum facilitator Kay Miller.
Each academic department has rules for the
program. Social Studies teachers use the "I" on
all assignments. In math and science classes,
students scoring lower than a certain grade on a
test h must make corrections.
Teachers claim the program helps students
complete work and pay attention in class.
"I see more students worried about getting
[work] made up. Also, the ones who don't have
their assignments are paying closer attention
when 1 go over the assignments," said math
teacher Shannon Wyrick.
Although the program is applicable only to
freshmen, it may later apply to upperclassmen.
In mixed classes comprised mostly of freshmen,
the new grading applies to all students regardless
of grade level.
"If you've got underclassmen in with
freshmen, you have to treat them all the same,"
said Wyrick.
Students have mixed reactions to the system.
"I think the incompletes will help students
actually do their work. It's just annoying because
now we actually have to do it," said freshman
Julia Roach.
Scheduling conflicts
prove problematic
Repprffir'
As the beginning of
i-.u li scliiHil M'.ir di'aw"
luar, sliulenH otleii
■.^pend lime i.h'iciissiiig
tlu ir new schedule-^
with Irieiid',. As lhe\
delermme nhieh lunch
•'lull !lu'\ ha\e and
how diiluiill Iheii
•'ChedLile is, lew will
admit the\ .ire es. iteii
to slart .1 new leim.
Siieh (omeisaiioiis
lan be diltieiili.
ho\ce\ ei, lor -liidenl-
whii reeeive
ineomplote schedule'-,
’^oim- '.tudi'iit'' nui-.t
de.il with various
n'ntliel- like holes in
their sehediiles ot
eoiii.se denials because
elas-es are tilled.
"'Ihe matiix, or the
mastei schedule ot
classes, was cre.ited m
June, and since then
around . 150 new
students have
enrolled,", explained
Michael Harrington,
the guidance counselor
in charge of
scheduling. Many of
these students come
from other Guilford
County schools, due to
"shifts in districts and
changes in
demographics."
This influx ot new
students has increased
the predicted count of
1,680 for the school
year. The estimate was
the basis for the
amount of funding
available for staffing,
so fewer teachers were
hired than first
estimated. Once the
School Board has
the official
continued on page 2