Editorial
Summer Work Pros Outweigh Cons
by Allison WarnickAs the school year comes to a close, some teachers have expressed concern over the popular concept of a summer project or reading report to turn in at the start of the next year. Troubled over the precedent of very few students actually doing the assigned work and the problem of newcomers not having the assignment, they have asked students for their input on this problem, and what an acceptable expectation might be.
Most students would say that they’d prefer no work at all, but as much as I hate to admit it, the more responsible side of me disagrees. If nothing else, keeping in touch with the things learned this year over the summer eases the jump back into academia at the start of the next year. Summer study generally results in less review time wasted at the beginning of the year and students who are exactly where they need to be, academically, and even much further ahead of the competition for acceptance into colleges.
On top of that, next year will be my senior year, and I will be taking at least 4 AP classes. It’s a large workload, and I already know I’ll have trouble preparing for all the tests. The sooner I can start preparing for the exams, the better off I’ll be during the actual year. Many of my classmates are in the same position as I am, and we’re largely terrified and stressed out about the upcoming year. Although we’re tempted to relax in the short time we can before we start the next year, I think that summer study might actually take the load off a bit. While we lose play time, we also spread out the stress to a non-fatal level.
To address the teachers’ concerns: in previous AP and honors classes I’ve taken, a solution that’s worked well – as long as it’s not “busy work” – is to assign a project or reading assignment due a week into school. It is hefty enough to discourage procrastination, but the timing isn’t impossible for newcomers to the school to complete the project in. As much as the students dread summer assignments, it’s a reasonable expectation for students to read and write over the summer – for students to have retained what teachers have taught previously by the next year.
Prom Meeting: Good or Bad?
by Muzna Bukhari
Imagine a room, filled with boys with names on the board, and one of their names written next to one of the names listed on the board. Sounds like a hit list, who will they attack next right? Well, any Meridian student would know otherwise.
Every time Meridian has prom or any other dance for that matter, students have a meeting to pick their dates. From an outsiders view, this is a very different way of getting dates when compared to other schools. But who came up with this idea? It was proposed by Meridian alum Tyler Langston when he was a student here. Tyler wasn’t ‘in office’ for anything, he was just in STUCO. He said “I came up with the idea to make sure every girl that wanted to go to prom was asked.” Ever since then this meeting has been held. When asked, students said they liked this way of getting dates; that way they made sure that all the girls were asked. Tim Lei said, “It’s good to have the meeting. That way a girl doesn’t get asked by more than one boy and also then the boy doesn’t have to be rejected. It’s embarrassing when that happens.” Allison Warnick said, “I think it’s good, as long as they ask early enough and give the girl enough time to respond.”
Coming from public school and seeing how dances work at Meridian, it was kind of shocking for me. It seemed a bit remedial. I thought, are the girls really that unappealing that they have to get “assigned” dates? But now seeing the thought behind this, I say what a good group of guys! Making sure every girl that wants to go to a school dance does have chance to go.
Monday Assembly Gets New Contributors
by Rachel McCloskey
Every Monday morning for the past four years, Meridian has kept up the tradition of having the middle and upper school students gather in the gym for an informative, yet fun assembly. This year, there is a twist.
At most of the assemblies there is a chosen speaker, either from the faculty or from outside, who presents either an issue or just simply a topic. Recently, Mr. Watabe has decided to let us students participate.
Each class has been assigned a day to take over the assembly. So far, the seventh, eighth, and ninth graders have performed. We were all entertained by the seventh graders when they performed a skit about being nicer to everyone. Everyone was rolling on the floor laughing when Mrs. Willoughby belted, “Where Is The Love” by the Black Eyed Peas. “It was my idea. I really like to rap. I was listening to that song and I said the seventh graders should hear it. If I wasn’t a teacher, I would be a white rapper.” The eighth graders also chose to present a skit. Theirs portrayed the message of not being mean to both the teachers and the fellow students. Seventh grader Judy Son enjoyed has also enjoyed the skits, “We cooperated and we had fun preparing it and being in it. I love watching them too.”
The latest presentations of the skits were by the freshman, who chose to present something a little different. We took a Harry Potter video from YouTube called the Mysterious Ticking Noise from the Potter Puppet Pals, and incorporated the teachers into it. The puppet show included: puppets of the teachers, singing and dancing, and even an explosion at the end. Everyone seemed to enjoy it a lot including the classmates themselves. I am looking forward to seeing the upcoming classes and I think this idea was a great one. I think getting together with our fellow classmates and using teamwork to prepare for the assembly really helps us to get to know each other and be creative. Mr. Smith agrees: “I think it’s been fun to let the kids take ownership. It’s fun and spirited,” he said. This should definitely become tradition for years to come.
