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American Studies class formed to combine American history and literature

February 3, 2012

Nicole Sarquis, Staff Writer

History teachers tend to ramble off unrelatable facts about flappers, bootlegging, and the ease of life in the “Roaring 20s” during a typical U.S. History class, leaving their students with no real understanding of the subject. At the same time, English teachers’ enthusiasm over F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” can only be understood if students reading the literary classic have a solid knowledge base of the time period the novel is set in. In an attempts to bridge the gap between literature and history studies, two teachers––Ms. Megan Kern and Ms. Anne Marie Dominguez––have paired up to teach their newly developed class, American Studies, to juniors, combining the... Continue Reading

Lumpkin’s layup helps boys’ basketball avoid upset

February 3, 2012

Matt Muenzberg, Sports Editor

“Don’t miss.” That was the thought that ran through the head of senior forward Sanjay Lumpkin when he got the ball under the basket unguarded with three seconds left in the game. Lumpkin made the layup, giving the top ranked boys’ basketball team a 67-65 win over number two Spring Lake Park. “We were just trying to get a screen and roll on the top. The ball went into the corner and I just cut back door and no one was guarding me,” said Lumpkin. The Red Knights struggled to contain Spring Lake Park’s Sean Scott, who had a career night with 36 points, 13 rebounds, and six blocks in a packed, pro-Panther gymnasium. Head coach Mr. John Moore admitted that guarding Scott isn’t an exact... Continue Reading

Rising actors partake in Les Miserables performance

Junior Shannon Galvin rehearses for the upcoming Les Miserables performance wither her fellow cast members. (Giulia Imholte)

Rising actors partake in Les Miserables performance

January 27, 2012

Emily Kline, Staff Writer

Blue Water Theatre Company, one of the Twin Cities’ top performing arts groups for youth, is taking on “Les Misérables,” one of musical theatre’s most famous works, for their winter production. Juniors Rachel Hogen and Shannon Galvin, along with sophomore Rachel Wallace, joined the cast in late November and are currently in rehearsals for the... Continue Reading

SOPA bill is ineffective, inefficient, and infringing

February 1, 2012

Nick Hillson, Staff Writer

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a bill running through Congress in an attempt to curb the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted information and programs. Unfortunately, due to extremely vague wording and unclear definitions, the censorship proposed could extend to websites such as Facebook, various e-mails, and any other free forum. Not only is SOPA ineffective for all but the technologically impaired, but it violates our rights and benefits only a small handful of elites. SOPA works by requiring websites and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to search through sent information and to censor any infringing material. Not only does this ignore the privacy guaranteed in the Constitution... Continue Reading

Mock Trial season testifies the team’s talent

The Mock Trial team had a succesful season at several competitions due to immense practice and help from professional lawyers. (Photo courtesy of Jim Vogl)

Mock Trial season testifies the team’s talent

February 3, 2012

Mallory Hoch, Staff Writer

Beginning in October, the Mock Trial team has practiced every night from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in room 121 in preparation for upcoming competitions. Coming to a close on January 31st, the season ended on a strong note, making it to subsections before loosing their last competition. The season commenced with general practices to help initiate new members.... Continue Reading

SportDateOpponentResultW/L
Boys BasketballFri, Feb 03 Spring Lake Park67-65 Read StoryW
Girls BasketballTue, Jan 31 Minneapolis Southwest70-38W
Girls HockeySat, Jan 28 Hill-Murray1-3 Read StoryL
Boys BasketballSat, Jan 28 North Branch82-21 Read StoryW
Girls BasketballSat, Jan 28 North Branch66-40 Read StoryW
Dance TeamSat, Jan 28 Catholic JamboreeJ: 2nd/K: 3rd
Girls HockeyFri, Jan 27 St. Francis/North Branch10-0 Read StoryW
Boys HockeyFri, Jan 27 Moorhead2-6 Read StoryL
WrestlingFri, Jan 27 Robbinsdale Cooper47-27W
WrestlingFri, Jan 27 Mahtomedi33-34L
Boys HockeyThu, Jan 26 Irondale6-1 Read StoryW
Girls BasketballThu, Jan 26 Chisago Lakes58 -45 Read StoryW
Click on any sport above to see a full schedule for that sport.
SportDateTimeOpponentLocation
Girls HockeySat, Feb 04 3:00Totino-GraceParade Ice Gardens
Boys HockeySat, Feb 04 7:30Spring Lake ParkBlaine
WrestlingSat, Feb 04 9:00TBAPine Island
Girls BasketballMon, Feb 06 6:00DeLaSalleDeLaSalle
Boys HockeyWed, Feb 08 7:30Shattuck-St. Mary'sShattuck-St. Mary's
Girls BasketballFri, Feb 10 7:15St. Louis ParkSt. Louis Park
WrestlingFri, Feb 10 6:00Chisago LakesHome
Boys HockeySat, Feb 11 2:30Totino-GraceSt. Louis Park
Dance TeamSat, Feb 11 1:00SectionsAustin
Boys HockeyTue, Feb 14 7:00Chisago LakesChisago Lakes
Girls BasketballTue, Feb 14 7:15Columbia HeightsHome
Girls BasketballThu, Feb 16 7:15WaconiaHome
Click on any sport above to see a full schedule for that sport.

Skip-a-Final should be based on grades

Emily Busch
October 25, 2009
Filed under Opinions

We all know that skip-a-final has been canceled because of the flu. Rather than letting the skip-a-final policy dissapear into oblivion, this is the perfect opportunity for the administrators to edit and revise the skip-a-final policy. A new skip-a-final should be based on grades not on perfect attendance.

If a I have an “A” in a class, obviously I understand the material. I should not be retested on material that I clearly know and understand. I should not be required to take finals in classes that I have a good grade in.

There are many advantages to having a skip-a-final based on grades. The first is that students would be more motivated to get good grades so they would work harder throughout the school year to learn the materials right away rather than cramming at the end of a semester and hoping to boost their grades.

Many juniors and seniors are aware of the stress of AP US History, they spend hours defining terms, answering questions, and studying for tests. By the end of the semester they have learned mass amounts of information, and the last thing they need to do is spend hours studying for a final in a class when they have already proven that they understand the material.

With a skip-a-final based on grades, students’ stress levels would be lowered because they would be able to focus on one thing at a time throughout the semester, rather than so many topics in so many classes right before finals.

When the semester ends, I won’t need to spend time studying information that I already understand because I will skip those finals. Instead I will be able to work on understanding subjects that I struggle with and do not have an “A” in.

Comments

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3 Responses to “Skip-a-Final should be based on grades”

  1. Drew Frenz Says:

    Having an A in a class doesn’t actually say anything about how well you understand the material. Grades have absolutely nothing to do with knowledge, and anyone who thinks they do obviously lacks both an ability to observe their own life and an ability to think independently from what they’ve been told their entire life.

    Also, if I’m not mistaken, APUSH doesn’t even have a final. If it does it was so insignificant that I have no memory of it; that class is largely about busy work.

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  2. Evan Bakker Says:

    In any given high school class there are about 20 ways to get an A, (in college there’s only one way, and that’s to understand the material which is why college is considered harder) therefore I do agree with Drew that getting an A by no means constitutes a knowledge of the concepts. One could then say since the grade doesn’t mean anything then no the point made in taking a final at all, but it’s the only way to assess a general understanding of the courses, even if they’re usually easy.

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  3. Anna Says:

    I think that skip-a-final should have been based on assignment completion in highschool rather than attendance. If you get sick, but still do the assignment on time, you obviously care about doing well in the class. That kind of behavior should be rewarded by being able to skip a final, not coming to school when you are sick and getting other people sick, or the people who never missed a class, but also have little to no participation, and don’t do their work.

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