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Page 7

GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOLNORTH POINTE

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2012S I N C E 1 9 6 8

PRINCETON REVIEWJuniors test in the

cafeteria on Nov. 21 at 8 a.m.

THANKSGIVING BREAK10:55 a.m. dismissal on

Wednesday, Nov. 21.School resumes Monday, Nov. 26

WINTER SPORTSWinter meet the coaches in the

cafeteria, Monday, Nov. 26 at 6:30 p.m.

CHALLENGE DAYMonday Dec. 3

and Tuesday Dec. 4 at First English

Lutheran Church8 a.m. to 3:05 p.m.

NATIONAL HONORS SOCIETY

Induction night in the PAC Thursday, Dec. 6

at 7 p.m.

“

© 2012 North Pointe Volume 45, Issue 5

“Science teachers revolutionize the classroomBy Particia BajisStaff reporter

It took a year for science teachers Don Pata and Gary Abud to become unsatisfied with traditional teaching methods. Seeing students slip between the cracks wasn’t what they had in mind when they became teachers. Both sought change.

Pata and Abud separate their method into two categories: Constructivist teaching, which lets the students find and relate content to the class; and standards-based grading, a system to replace the common letter grade.

“In a traditional classroom, the teacher is the giver of knowledge. It’s their job to dis-seminate knowledge to the students, whose job is to accept this information. But that’s not actually the most effective way people learn. People learn through their own experiences,” Pata said. “Instead of me saying, ‘these are the pieces of information that I want you to know,’ I set you up so that you’re ready to ask a ques-tion. You’re exploring and you build your own knowledge through the structure that we pro-vide. It’s much more in line with how we learn as humans.”

Students are given a scientific question to explore for a period of time and are responsible for conducting a lab and recording all of their findings on whiteboards “to explain it to some-body else,” Pata said. “That’s where the real learning is.”

However, for chemistry, the modeling meth-od, a subdivision of Constructivism is used.

“If you look at what we’re doing in chemistry, starting at day one through the end of the year, the sequence of topics we learn and the way in which we learn them mirrors the way in which things were discovered in chemistry histori-cally. As we build ideas that we know are true, based on experiments, we can come to arrive at different laws about chemical principles. That over the course of the year will help us develop a model of the atom that is the model that many chemistry textbooks would start out with by just telling everybody to expect that those are true,”Abud said.

Neither method uses a textbook.“Textbooks are for people that already know

the end of the story. And unless you’ve already studied chemistry, the words on the page will mean much less to you then they would to someone who has already studied it. I have a far greater appreciation for the content of the text-book than any of my students ever will because they don’t know anything in the same experi-ence realm that I do,” Abud said.

Along with Constructivism came a change in the way students are evaluated.

“I’ve been very disenfranchised in the way we give grades,” Pata said. “I feel that a grade should convey some information about what you know and are able to do. But when you as-sign arbitrary points or percentages, we lose all meaning. Let’s say you scored a 75% on a quiz. I don’t know what that 75% means. Does it mean that you knew 75% of the material, or you were able to do 75% of the skills? Maybe it does. But does that tell me any information about what 75% it is? What you actually know and are able to do is lost in the number. Plus, if I just say, ‘this is the unit we’re learning and I’m going to test you at the end,’ how are you supposed to know what my expectations are in terms of what you know and be able to do? It’s a big mystery.”

Both Pata and Abud use standards-based grading.

“The form I use works like this: I have in-dicated for the students all of the skills I want them to know and be able to do for a particular unit. I make them very explicit by writing them on the board. Every time you come into my room you can see all of the standards for a par-ticular unit,” Pata said. “When we get to an as-sessment, I write the actual standard number itself next to the quiz question so that nobody is confused about what you should know and be able to do and how it manifests itself on the assessment.”

Students are assessed on their understand-ing.

“The highest level is expert understanding. The next highest level is general understand-ing. The level below that is approaching under-standing. The lowest level is called well below understanding,” Abud said.

After papers are graded and passed back, students are allowed to study and reassess their mistakes.

CONTINuED ON page 5

IN-DEPTHThe levels of scrubbing are put into a student perspective, and the never ending challenge on whether or not to scrub is debated.

Page 8MARIA LIDDANE

eighth grader Brionna adams and mother Nakeeka Richardson talk to social studies teacher Terri Steimer at the open house.

SPORTSFall sports season is over. Season stories and highlights are included in a season wrap-up.

Page 5

Students losing sleep lose focusBy Rachel Cullen & Dayle MaasStaff reporter & editor

As senior Courtney Carroll sits in her fifth-hour Sociology class, her eyelids become heavy and her resolve to stay awake grows weak. Her teacher’s voice fades and she dozes off.

Carroll isn’t the only one powerless to the al-lure of snoozing during class. According to the National Sleep Foundation, just 8% of all teen-agers get the required nine hours of sleep every night – which means 92% of Carroll’s genera-tion is spending the waking hours of their days resembling, in the words of Cornell sleep expert James Maas, “walking zombies.”

“It’s strange, but I can never tell when I’m falling asleep; it just happens. Everything feels very real in my mind and then I realize that my daydream became an actual in-sleep dream,” Carroll said. “I don’t mean to, and I feel guilty that I do, but it does sometimes help to keep me up in my other classes.”

She and many students agree that home-work, sports and extracurriculars keep them up

at night, but “avoidable” activities – like texting, Twitter or Tumblr – play a part as well. A 2011 study conducted by Sleep in America found that 95% of people who spent an hour or more before bed with their eyes fixated on an illuminated screen had a harder time falling and staying asleep.

“Stimulation from evening-time activities and light exposure from TV or computer screens can cause insomnia, which delay bedtime and result in insufficient sleep,” Dr. Timothy Ho-ban, the Director of Pediatric Sleep Medicine and Clinical Neurophysiology at the University of Michigan, said.

Junior Kaylin Causley admitted she often tweets and texts the night away – as late as 2:30 a.m. This means she is getting many hours less sleep than is medically recommended. She said she has become so accustomed to not getting enough sleep that she can’t differentiate be-tween being sleep deprived and well rested.

This sparks a question for sleep specialists: Is nine hours of sleep really the right, or reason-able, amount to ask of everyone?

With hectic lifestyles and full schedules, many teenagers realize that nine hours of sleep is a dream, not a reality.

CONTINuED ON page 2

Open houseGrosse pointe public Schools offered tours for the public on Sunday, Nov. 11.By Maria Liddaneeditor-iN-chief

She’s researched her options, and she wants North.

Eighth grader Brionna Adams attends South Lake Middle School, but has sights set on Grosse Pointe schools.

“I went to different websites and compared it to the high school I would have to go to,” she said.

Adams said she is interested in the language programs, Chinese specifically.

“The school is beautiful. We love it,” her mother, Nakeeka Richardson, said. “And like I was telling the tour guide, most schools, they don’t really go in depth. They just brush over certain things.”

The two did their research and said the high test scores impressed them.

“There is so much more here to offer than the average high school, and especially South Lake High School,” Richardson said.

Would moving into Grosse Pointe be worth it?

“Most definitely,” she said. “Hands down – yes.”

The district-wide open house was advertised in the Grosse Pointe News, on gpschools.org website and in a pre-recorded phone blast to all households with students in the district.

“Our goal is to reach out to the community, especially people who live within Grosse Pointe that don’t currently attend our schools,” Assis-tant Principal Kate Murray said.

But the open house also targeted students al-ready in the school system.

“It told the middle school students, ‘Come on over and see North,’” activities director Pat Gast said. “Parents are coming, they want to learn

about our school and we’re an open book here. We have a tremendous amount of things to offer here at North. We go all the way from our low-est-achieving students to our highest-achieving students and everything in the middle.”

Parent’s Club member Christie Scoggin, along with almost a dozen other parents, were prepared to answer questions after the tours.

“That’s who they’re shooting for demograph-ic-wise,” Scoggin said. “They’re trying to get those kids that are transferring from eighth into ninth or from fifth into sixth – that transi-tion year. They’re trying to get parents to come and see what we have to offer.”

Other schools in the area market themselves and Grosse Pointe Public Schools (GPPS) are following suit.

“They all do this way earlier than we do,” Scoggin said. “They target kids way down in sixth grade for their high schools. They mar-ket way beyond what we do as a public school – we’re way behind in the marketing aspect.”

Scoggin said GPPS visited private and Catho-lic schools to advertise. School Board President Judy Gafa said the district recognized the op-portunity.

“We noticed that Liggett and the Academy and some of the private schools were starting to advertise now for their schools next year, and we thought, ‘We have a great school system and we don’t advertise it enough,’” she said. “And we felt this would be a great way to market what we do in the community with our students.”

Sunday marked the first district-wide open house Grosse Pointe has had. But will it contin-ue in future years?

Murray said it hasn’t been discussed, but is “certainly a possibility.”

“It depends on how successful this has been, but we certainly do have a roadmap now for it,” Gast said. “I mean, now that you’ve been through it the first time you can see what you’ve done – if you’ve achieved your goal, or what we’d do better next time.”

CONTINuED ON page 2

EMILY HuGuENIN

2 – Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 – North Pointe

What are your hobbies besides teaching chemistry?Running is one of my hobbies. I ran a triathlon also, a couple years ago, so when I have time that’s what I enjoy doing. But I have three kids which keep me really busy so I don’t always get to do it as often as I hope.

What got you into running?I was a cheerleader in high school, and I never really ran. But once I got into college, my best friend has run like six or seven marathons, and from her I kind of got into it ... just to stay healthy and in shape.

Is North different than your previous schools?The other school was a middle school... so it was dif-ferent. But the whole atmosphere is definitely differ-ent than when I was in high school just because that was a while ago, but I really like it a lot.

Where did you run the triathlon?The triathlon was held out in the Walled Lake area, I wasn’t familiar with it, and you swam in an open lake then did the running and biking.

What’s something unique in your family?My husband drives racecars for his hobby. He loves it. He wishes it was his job, but if it was I don’t think I would be working here because we would be million-aires (hopefully).

By Natalie SkorupskiSTAFF REPORTER

Her heart has always beat for education.

New chemistry teacher Kris-ten Lee worked at Beaumont hos-pital in cardiac rehab where she realized her desire to teach.

“I took care of the patients who had heart attacks and heart surgeries,” Lee said. “But what I really found out eventually was that what I liked most about my job was educating the patients, so I decided to go back to school to become a teacher.”

Lee did not reach the conclu-sion right away. Originally, she aspired to be an athletic trainer, hoping she could land a job on the University of Michigan foot-ball sideline. She deserted that dream and launched into her ca-reer in cardiac rehab.

“I always just thought I would stay in that field of being a cardiac rehab. It would be kind of like do-ing the same thing every day for the rest of your life so I decided I did not want to do that, so I de-cided to go on and do something else,” Lee said. “Teaching is dif-ferent every day. A lot of students find chemistry really challeng-ing, even a little apprehensive to-wards it, and I like taking some-thing like that and trying to help students understand it, make it exciting where they aren’t scared of it and actually look forward to taking it in college.”

Lee studied at Oakland Uni-versity for her teaching certifi-cate. With three years of teach-ing under her belt, this year marks her first full year at one high school. Her first experience was at Avondale Middle School in Rochester, and she alternated between South and Pierce Mid-dle School in her second year. Last year, Lee divided her time between North and South, until North became permanent.

kayLee daLL

Science teacher Kristen Lee grew up in Macomb county, graduating from Chippewa Valley High School.

FIVE MINUTES WITH

Science teacher Kristen Lee

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Pregnancy AidFeeling confused?

Pregnancy Aid offers free pregnancy tests and confidential counseling to anyone in need

17325 Mack Ave.Across from Staples, on the Detroit side

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Classes held at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial 32 Lake Shore Dr., Grosse Pointe Farms, 313-881-7511

Grosse Pointe Driving SchoolSPRING SCHEDULE 2012

SEGMENT 1: 6-8 p.m.

May 7 - May 24May 21 - June 7

SEGMENT 2: 4-6 p.m.

April 30 - May 3May 14 - May 17

June 4 - June 7 (6-8 p.m.)

Students and sleepcOnTinuEd FROm PAgE 1

According to pickthebrain.com, this may be acceptable. Their mantra is that it is the quality of sleep, not the quantity, that matters.

Hoban disagrees, stating that a deep sleep doesn’t suffice when the hours spent on the mattress are few.

“While only some reach the point where they are tired or falling asleep in class, many students getting insufficient sleep will not be at their best when it comes to learning, attention and overall performance in school.”

Clinical Associate Professor in the De-partment of Otolaryngology at the Uni-versity of Michigan Susan Garetz believes that performance in school may not be up to par when teens get an inadequate amount of sleep, as with other activities.

“Studies have shown increased risk of automobile accidents and decreased aca-demic performance with sleep depriva-tion, as well as behavioral and academic morbidity,” Dr. Garetz said.

Both doctors advise against caffeine usage to imitate a well rested evening.

“Caffeine can provide a short-term boost for alertness, but does not fully cure all of the effects of sleep deprivation. In addition, excessive caffeine use can have detrimental effects,” Dr. Hoban said. “Ex-

ercise can also provide a short-term boost to alertness, but it’s best to get sufficient nighttime sleep in the first place.”

Dr. Louise M. O’Brien, an Associate Professor at the Sleep Disorders Center for the University of Michigan Health Sys-tem, suggests naps as a healthier remedy for exhaustion – of course, she suggests that naps should only take place outside of the classroom.

“Naps can be helpful; they take the edge off excessive sleepiness but do not replace adequate sleep. To be most effec-tive naps should be timed between about 2-5 p.m.,” O’Brien said. “They should be ... less than 30 minutes, or else you will ... feel groggy when you awake.”

Social studies teacher Dan Gilleran said he doesn’t notice many students sleeping in class, but he certainly sees the signs of sleep deprivation in his classroom.

“I see students that are tired and have a difficult time focusing more often,” he said. “Students cannot put their heads on their desk during my class, so if I see it happening I acknowledge it. I try to keep an eye on this especially during early classes and classes after lunch.”

Though Carroll admitted to falling asleep in Gilleran’s class, she also admit-ted to being able to fall asleep anywhere and at any time.

“I can fall asleep sitting up,” she said. “Though I’m definitely not proud of that.”

Contributing: Haley Reid

OPEN HOUSE cOnTinuEd FROm PAgE 1

In the midst of open house activities, there was a surprise visitor. Eddie Con-nor, a representative from Congressman Hansen Clarke’s office, came to present an award. Unsuspecting math teacher and 30-plus year basketball coach Gary Ben-nett was being recognized for his 500th ca-reer win obtained last season.

“We’re going to be celebrating his 500th win as well as how he’s empowering young ladies on the girls varsity basketball team here,” Connor said.

Connor didn’t reveal how the award was decided, but said it could have been initi-ated by somebody from staff “contacting their offices.”

“In his integrity and his character and just who he is as a person personifies the

position of responsibility that he has,” Connor said.

After gathering the hodge-podge of stu-dent tour guides, staff members, adminis-trators, parents and guests attending open house, Connor spoke and presented the award to Bennett.

“He takes that whole mentality of student-athlete and takes that title and doesn’t invert it, but makes sure that level of performance in the classroom is just as important as the level of performance on the court,” Connor said.

He turned to Bennett and said, “So, we present this tribute to you as token of our appreciation on behalf of Congressman Hansen Clarke and the United States Con-gress at large.”

Contributing: emma Ockerman

LEFT: Math teacher and girls varsity basket-ball coach Gary Bennett receives an award recog-nizing his 500th win from Eddie Connor, a repre-sentative from Congressman Hansen Clarke’s office. “It’s a nice honor to win an award from the House of Rep-resentatives,” Bennett said. “It was very nice.”

LEFT: Alex Miller III, a parent from Our Lady Star of the Sea, enters the open house with his son Alex Miller IV. The family toured the school for daughter, Lauren Miller, an eighth grader at Star. “They think it’s huge, I’m just trying to break it down - you know you got A building, B building, C building. Once you know that, it’s pretty easy,” Mr. Miller said.

MaRIa LIddaNe

ABOVE RIGHT: Senior tour guide Kamala Kanneganti takes information from a folder before leading a family on a tour. “It’s fun. I’ve gone to North for four years so it’s pretty fun to show what I’ve learned and what’s good about it,” she said.

Freshmen elect new student council leaders

After three voting sessions (primary, gen-eral and runoff), the winners of the freshman student council have been announced.

The results are as follows: seven of the eight elected senators are Olivia Bloomhuff, Del-aney Bradley, Stephanie Godoshian, Lauren Lesha, Will McNelis, Emily McPharlin and Tessa Ulrich. Treasurer is Anu Subramaniam. Vice President is Victoria Blaine. President is Yena Berhane.

The class didn’t have an eighth senator nor a secretary. After a tie in the general election between Nicoletta Valenzano and Sydney Eger, a runoff election had to be held Nov. 8 to determine who would be the secretary. Eger won that election and is secretary. Valenzano will be the final senator of the eight.

“I think it’s too good to see enthusiasm from the kids, and it’s good to see the kids so involved in student council, and they weren’t upset, they just wanted to get a decision on the position,” Class of 2016 adviser Marylyn Withers said.

The freshman student council is finalized until the annual elections at the end of April. They will now move on to their first event on Saturday, Dec. 1 as they participate in a silent auction to raise money for cancer research.

AP European History classes attend field trip to DIA

On Nov. 8, AP European History classes traveled to the Detroit Institute of Arts to study paintings they have been discussing in class.

“Students used their smart phones to ac-cess documents and responded using visuals and script that they created during the day,” social studies teacher Frank Tymrak said. “Most activities were turned in electronically as the day progressed.”

Students have been comparing Renais-sance art to modern art, and the field trip gave them the opportunity to see the paintings in person.

While at the DIA, the students mainly viewed The Renaissance, The Golden Age of the Dutch and the 17th and 18th Century Brit-ish Collection galleries. Students were also given opportunities to explore on their own.

“My favorite part of the field trip was defi-nitely the fact that Mr. Tymrak gave us time to look at everything,” Catherine McCarthy said.

“My group got a chance to look at a lot of pieces in the modern section, and it was re-ally interesting to compare the art we’ve been learning about (in class) to art today.”

Brotherhood hosts dodgeball tournament

Brotherhood is hosting their first dodge-ball tournament in the gym Nov. 17 at 11 a.m. They are hoping to raise money for upcoming events.

“We want to help raise money that we can use for Adopt-a-Family and Relay for Life,” President Ben Good said. “It also is providing a fun opportunity for students to compete in a friendly environment.”

Any team of six is allowed to participate in the tournament if they contact Mr. Byrne with a $30 registration fee.

Although this is the first Brotherhood dodgeball tournament, they have high expec-tations. If all goes well, they plan to continue this for years to come.

“We believe that this event can be very popular amongst our competitive classmates and a good thing for the school,” Good said.

By Sean O’Melia, Melissa Healy & Audrey Kam

North Pointe – Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 – 3

Faces in the crowdDisorganization wreaks

havoc in lockers and binders

on campus

Hannah AthertonFreshman Hannah Ather-

ton already has her sights on being a future medical re-searcher or neurologist.

She hopes to attend Uni-versity of Michigan or John Hopkins University because of their prestigious reputa-tions and “good medical programs.”

“They are highly recognized and one of the top schools in the country,” Atherton said. “University of Michigan is the best one in the state. John Hopkins University ... was (in the) top five.”

Currently, Atherton’s favorite class is hon-ors biology because it challenges her and would be helpful with her future career.

“It’s mostly the project aspect of it that is hard,” Atherton said.

In biology, she anticipates learning about the human, its organ systems, how environ-ment affects organ systems or humans and what would happen if they didn’t function.

She said that learning these things in biol-ogy could help her with her future medical career plans.

Brian AlmeriaJunior Brian Almeria

dreams of growing up to be a bioengineer and creating the medical equipment that doctors use.

“I’m really good at science and math. Bio is my favorite subject. It’s really interesting and really complex,” Alme-ria said.

Almeria is part of IMPACT club and Health Careers Investigation Club (HCIC). He likes to volunteer through IMPACT club and learn about the different medical fields from guest speakers in HCIC.

“I guess I’m kind of a humanitarian, so I want to help people through bioengineering,” Almeria said.

Almeria wants to go to University of Michi-gan or Wayne State and get his undergrad in bioengineering.

“They have really strong medical pro-grams,” he said.

Through the multiple activities that Brian Almeria takes, he strives to be successful as well as helpful in the medical career.

Trey BurkeEvery musician’s aspira-

tion is to be on stage. To look out on the audience and think to himself, “I’m going somewhere.”

For sophomore Trey Burke, this feat is easier to come by. Since last year, Burke has been playing the clarinet in an outside-of-school program for young musicians spon-sored by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Burke’s friend Donny Hearn, who also plays the clarinet, mentioned the program to him and suggested he audition.

“I was really nervous because they were recording,” Burke said. “DSO members and higher staff were judging on what I could do, and they were pretty strict.”

Afterwards, Burke and Hearn were allowed to be in the same orchestra group.

Burke says the DSO youth program mu-sic is challenging. They perform pieces such as “West Side Story Overture” and “Lincoln-shire Posy” in Orchestra Hall, which has been Burke’s favorite part of this experience.

“The fact that you get to play in Orchestra Hall, where the most world-renowned musi-cians play – that’s pretty cool,” Burke said.

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ABOVE: Junior Andrew Lock said, “I’ve been lazy to the point of not caring because I don’t feel like it’s affected me academically. My parents have learned to accept it. Many teachers have tried to help by giving me binders, but I’ve never really changed.”

LEFT: “In general, being a teacher there’s a lot of paperwork,” social studies teacher Bridget Cooley said. “It’s a lot to keep on top of.”

MIDDLE RIGHT: Senior Tristan Batty said, “I don’t use binders, so there’s a lot of times when a can’t find a worksheet. I just put everything into my backpack.”

MIDDLE LEFT: “I’m not really unorga-nized. I used to be unorganized, but I changed it by putting my books on one shelf and using colored binders to orga-nize,” freshman Ryan Kolp said.

BOTTOM: Senior Ali Scoggin said, “I have a lot of different stuff in my purse: wallet, blush, makeup, my car keys and pens.”

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By Sean O’meliaStaff RepoRteR

Dizziness, increased pulse, lack of strength, de-pleted energy and an overbearing tiredness: the lifestyle of a wrestler adopting this borderline-un-healthy, no-nonsense routine.

Junior Andrew Lock, wrestling co-captain, has embodied the struggle to become a quality wrestler, which often means dropping weight.

“At the weight class that I’m at, in the middle, there’s noticeable strength difference. Just dropping down five pounds, if I have a little advantage over my opponent, it goes miles for helping me,” Lock said.

“It’s thought to help to be at a lower weight, to increase the power and strength that I would have going against somebody who’s a lesser weight or smaller than me.”

But dropping five pounds quickly isn’t always a walk in the park, and losing weight to meet a quota may involve rigorous methods with harmful out-comes for the wrestler’s body.

“My freshmen year, I did a lot of unhealthy things – just abusing my body and trying to do it all in one or two days; trying to lose 15 or 10 pounds,” Lock said.

Lock has learned from his prior mistakes and is trying healthier methods to lose weight.

“Recently, I have been spreading it out in more time, running a lot, extreme dieting, not drinking a lot of fluids or eating any food. And just being strict.”

When approaching a weigh-in day, Lock cracks down on his diet.

“I probably won’t eat anything that day, or drink anything for that matter,” he said. “Anything you consume adds weight, regardless of how long it’s on you. Immediately if you drink 16 ounces of wa-ter, you’re going to gain a pound. Days where I have to cut weight, nothing. But days after ... it’s pretty much whatever I feel like, it’s pretty much a binge-eating feast ... and that also doesn’t help it.”

Extreme diets cause extreme fatigue.“I can feel that I’m weaker, I can feel the fatigue

or lack of energy, after cutting a lot of weight. That’s normal during a practice.”

But some wrestlers take a healthier approach.Senior co-captain Paul Menth has attempted to

lose weight in another way.“The way I do it is the healthy way, with five small

meals a day to speed my metabolism,” he said.While some wrestlers don’t lose weight at all, they

still support the idea and their teammates. Freshmen Chase Moceri – who doesn’t need to

cut weight – thinks highly of his fellow teammates who strain daily to shed pounds.

“It’s a great thing for losing weight, and how they commit to the team, and they work hard,” Moceri said.

Lock insists that weight-cutting isn’t a require-ment – it’s a personal choice, and people don’t have to go through the fatigue if they don’t want to.

“Our coach doesn’t encourage weight-cutting as much. It’s normally a personal thing. You don’t have to do it to please the coach or fit in a spot,” Lock said.

Coach Eric Julien lets the wrestlers make their own decision. He said there are restrictions.

“This is no longer the 1970s,” Julien said. “Take a look at the regulations on weight-cutting. Every-thing from being able to lose a certain amount per week to capping a lowest minimum weight you can wrestle. Our wrestlers at North do a great job of diet and exercise to lose weight correctly.

“Personally I keep weight-cutting to under 10 pounds so we do not get carried away.”

And for Coach Julien a maximum pound count isn’t the only restriction. It’s age, too.

“As freshmen and sophomores we don’t even consider it,” Julien said. “They need to learn how to wrestle and mature before they can think about cut-ting weight. Once they (become) upperclassmen, it is up to them within reason. I will not let them cut a lot of weight because they lose focus of wrestling season.”

Lock also said that while many believe losing weight is a main component of wrestling, it’s not always a major aspect of the sport. There are other factors to appreciate.

“I don’t think cutting weight distracts from the actual learning or improvements. It’s always there. Every practice you’re going to see a kid trying to cut weight, (but) it’s not the major emphasis of wres-tling. And that’s what people see, and people think it’s an unhealthy sport,” Lock said. “They don’t see how much effort or work we put into it.”

Menth agrees that the lifestyle of wrestlers isn’t unhealthy. He believes it helps make them even healthier by the end of the season.

“People who say it’s unhealthy should realize that wrestlers are one of the most fit athletes in the world,” Menth said.

Lock believes that living this lifestyle will make him and his teammates better at what they do.

“We have high standards. Come out for the team, and try it out. You won’t know what it’s all about un-less you see it in your own eyes. We do it because we want to be better at something we love.”

4 – Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 – North Pointe SPORTS

Upperclassmen wrestle with constrictive diets

New law doesn’t affect NorthBy Marie Bourke aSSiStant editoR

Governor Rick Snyder signed new legislation in an effort to educate young athletes and their families about concussions.

The law requires that all youth sport coaches provide educational materials to athletes as part of a concussion-awareness program. Snyder believes that by bringing concussions to light, it will help ath-letes and their families learn the im-portance of treating them, and their severity.

The legislation was signed in Lan-sing on Oct. 23 and outlines concus-sion care and the mandatory rules for how an athlete must be treated.

Coaches must remove any ath-lete from the game if there are signs of a concussion, such as loss of con-sciousness, headache, dizziness, confusion or balance problems, and the injured player cannot return until cleared by a health care pro-fessional.

Senior Matt Maher dealt first- hand with these symptoms when he had a concussion during a boys varsity soccer away game this past fall season.

He said he doesn’t remember any of the occurrences during the game,

but is told that he played in the be-ginning of the game and through the first half. After reporting to his coach that he had a headache and felt dizzy, he was seen by the trainer at halftime. Right away, the trainer knew he needed to see a doctor.

“I had to go to the hospital where the doctor had me do various tests,” Maher said. “I couldn’t walk in a straight line or even stand on one leg.”

These symptoms are what Sny-der is trying to bring awareness to so that athletes such as Maher stop playing if there is any suspicion that their condition is critical.

Hockey also has major possibility of concussions. Senior Patrick Lane came into contact with the boards when he got hit while off balance, resulting in a concussion. All of this has made him more aware of injuries, but doesn’t keep him from playing the game.

“It doesn’t make me hesitant at all, but I’m definitely more aware of the possibility of it happening again,” Lane said. “It doesn’t change the way I play, but if I get hit in the head it’s usually the first thing that comes to mind.”

Athletic trainer Kari Ewalt says that this law is nothing new to North because it has already been in place for at least two years by the NHSAA.

“We’re already making sure kids are getting taken care of; that they’re getting cleared by the prop-er people.” Ewalt said. “It’s just now people seem to already sue us if we don’t figure it out fast enough.”

Junior Andrew Lock motions for his team as they run stairs and laps. “Some people who have to cut a lot of weight, like four or five pounds in a practice, they’ll put a trash bag over a sweater shirt (when they run). Then another sweater shirt over that, to try to keep the heat in and make sure they can sweat as much, and lose as much weight as possible,” Lock said.

SeaN O’melia

Finishes in fall sports

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Soccer3-14-3

7th place

Tennis7-4

3rd place

Volleyball13-33-3

2nd place

Field Hockey3-10-1

4th place

Swim & Dive5-6

5th place

Golf9-0

1st place

Football5-4

3rd place

Cross CountryBoys 9-6 12-4 Girls

4th 3rd

By Maria Liddane & Anna HopkinseditoR in Chief & inteRn

*place in division

North Pointe – Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 – 5News

continued from page 1

“There is a tradition sense, when it comes to testing, that tests should be high-stakes. And if you allow students to re-take these, in a traditional way, it seems to trivialize the high-stakes nature in which the test is viewed. But this presupposes that the grade itself is some sort of sacrosanct idea when I want it to be a measure of what you know and are able to do – really a measure of your learning,” Pata said. “I want to give you as many opportunities to show me that you’ve learned some-thing as you can, as opposed to this one moment in time. If you have an opportunity to test one time, if you weren’t able to show it then, you were never able to show it. There’s no learning that happens after that.”

With the system, assess-ments are the only grade that determines your overall grade in the class. There are no par-ticipation or homework grades.

“Grades are not necessarily connected to learning. Grades for some reason seem to be-come a point-chasing game. When I became a teacher, I was noticing that there were some interesting behaviors that were affecting grades, such as stu-dents not doing their home-work. Their grades became very low,” Abud said. “But then they might do well on a test that shows that they actually know it, but even though they did well on the test but didn’t do their homework, their grade is lower than is should be. It wasn’t until a couple years into my teaching that I decided that I was going to draw the line and disconnect behaviors from grades. That’s when I did research and found standards-based grading.”

“All grading happens on the assessments that are specifi-cally listed to the standards. So what about homework, then? Homework has now become practice. We like to use a sports

analogy. You practice all week to play a game at the end of the week, and you go to practice be-cause that’s how you get better. That’s why we do homework – we do homework to practice our skills so that we can do better, but you don’t get ex-tra points added to your score because you went practice all week. That doesn’t make any sense,” Pata said. “It has helped us to focus the conversations from ‘What’s my grade?’ to ‘Where can I improve?’ So in-

stead of saying ‘How many points is this worth?’ we now talk about ‘Where can I im-prove my learning and under-standing?’”

Basing scores on what stu-dents can do instead of a one-time score has been a positive experience for Abud and Pata.

“We’ve only learned and grown from our experiences to-gether because every conversa-tion I have with students about grades now isn’t about the grade – it’s about the learning.

And that’s what we want as ed-ucators. We want the students to focus on the things that are important. Grades are not that important when it comes to learning. There are aspects about grading like, you have to apply to college and maybe you have to satisfy your par-ents, but those don’t go away. It just makes them more acces-sible for you,” Pata said. “When grading is very high-stakes, it makes it very stressful for ev-erybody involved, but as soon

as you demystify the grading by providing the standards and providing multiple op-portunities for them to master the standards, it take the high stakes nature away, everybody relaxes and that’s really where the strength is.”

Contributing: Jenna Belote & Sarah Schade

science teachers assess unconventionally

developing understandingStudent demonstrates that they understand portions of the standard but are missing the “big picture” of the concept; may conflate terms or ideas, or are unable to apply to basic problem-solving situations.

reassessment

standard-based gradingThe system aims to give students control of and specific feedback for their learning. “It communicates what students know and un-derstand as well as how well they know and understand things,” Abud said. “It puts students more in the drivers seat.”

Reassessing on standards a student missed initially keeps the focus on learning and increased improvement, according to Abud. “Because without reassessment as an opportunity, we have this fixed outcome where everything is about one single answer, one single opportunity, and there’s no chance for growth.”

traditional gradingThis grading penalizes rather than encourages students, Abud said. “What if next week this topic crystallizes ... and they under-stand it better?” he said. “If you understood it now and didn’t two weeks ago, your grade will forever show that you are a novice.”

general understandingStudent demonstrates “big picture” understanding of the con-cept and can apply it to basic problem-solving situations; misses subtle details or is unable to explain the relationship.

expert understandingStudent demonstrates superior understanding of the standard, including its subtle details, the way in which it relates to other concepts, and can use knowledge to solve complex problems or teach others.

novice understandingStudent demonstrates recall of some facts, but is significantly lacking in understanding; although they may be able to recite terms or portions of an idea/concept, their use of knowledge is comparable to guesswork.

“Almond snobs” sustain over 15 year tradition

By Colleen Reveley & Libby Sumnikstaff reporters

Early lunch everyday, five teachers con-gregate into Room A-107 sharing a bag of roasted almonds and chatting about the latest book they’ve read.

For the past 15 years and 53 days, life science teacher Kay Torigian, math teach-er Gary Bennett and health teacher Ann Starinsky have eaten lunch together every single day. Along the way, they adopted math teacher Brad Armbruster and most recently initiated was life science teacher Stacy Krzyminski who join the exclusive lunch clique this year.

Krzyminski, as a new comer, had doubts about assimilating into the lunch group at first, but was relieved to be welcomed with open arms.

“It is not intimidating at all, the group is all very welcoming and friendly. It felt a little awkward at first because I am the youngest of the group and wasn’t sure how I would fit in,” Krzyminiski said. “I was worried I would take up someone’s spot at first, so I just started sitting at the head of the table. It’s been a great lunch group,

and my worries of not fitting in have been pushed to the side.”

Before “The Almond Snobs,” (as they re-fer to themselves), came along, there was a different atmosphere to the lunchtime hour, and even a different lunch room.

“Before Mrs. T. came to North, there was a different group of people teaching here and eating lunch together. Some of those people were teaching foods class-es. I’m sure those people invited Mrs. T. to come eat with us,” Bennett said. “She must have liked it because she is still with us. We used to eat in a different room that had no windows, but Mrs. T. suggested the current room because we could see the outside world. It was a great suggestion.”

Bennett was not the only one that was inclined to eating in the new foods room. Because of its spacious windows and availability of the appliances, the group was drawn to it and made it their home for their 36 minute lunch period.

“Refrigerators and microwaves, what could be better?” Torigian said.

While some of these teachers have been working here for many years, this is the first time they have had early lunch.

“Our first year ever we had early lunch, and we hate it,” Starinsky said.

Torigian, Bennett, Armbruster, Starin-sky and Krzyminski follow a pattern of eating the same meal and sitting in the same spots day after day.

“Honey Crisp apples and almonds, that’s this group right here,” Armbruster said. “We like roasted almonds.”

The Almond Snobs claim that once you have one of Torigians famous roasted al-monds, you’ll never dare to have a lesser almond again.

“After you’ve had a roasted almond compared to a raw almond or a salted al-mond, there’s no comparison,” Starinsky said.

Torigian, the food guru, takes it upon herself to buy raw almonds at Costco and roast them for the bunch herself. Each one-gallon freezer bag lasts the group about three to four weeks of lunches.

“I roast them. It’s my job,” Torigian said. “We are creatures of habit like you wouldn’t believe.”

Although Bennett, Starinsky and To-rigian consume the same meal everyday, Armbruster and Krzyminski love the di-

versity of their lunches.“Mr. Armbruster and myself are the

only two that really eat a variety of food at lunch; Mrs. T, Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Sta-rinsky all eat the same thing every day,” Krzyminski said.

Even after a decad and a half, they say that they still have not run out of topics to talk about. Popular topics discussed dur-ing the lunch over the years have been the latest murder mysteries, the election and what is happening in the school. The group agrees Torigian is the best storyteller.

“Mrs. Torigian has a lot of good stories. A lot,” Armbruster said.

Although they love her stories they do crack the occasional joke. “They pick on me,” Torigian said.

For this bunch, 15 years has not been too much time together. They still see each other in their lives down the road, sharing a bag of almonds and listening to Tori-gian’s famous stories.

“If I am still teaching in 5 years and the rest of them are still teaching in 5 years, then we will definitely still be eating to-gether,” Bennett said.

Life

From left, math teacher Gary Bennett, health teacher Ann Starinsky, life science teachers Stacy Krzyminski, Kay Torrigan and math teacher Brad Armbruster.

6 – Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 – North Pointe LIFE

comiNgsooN.Net

A miraculous survival of Hallowicked 2012

gomoXie.com

REVIEWSTHIS AlBUM IN HISTORY:

In-a-gadda-da-vIda

A-Iron Butter-

fly’s four-time platinum album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, was chart-topping in the late 1960s, selling over 30 million copies. Legend has it that the

unusual title of the album was thought of while one of the band members was intoxicated and roughly translates to “In the Garden of Eden.”

Each song on the album, excluding “Termination,” was written by the band’s organ player and lead vocalist, Doug In-gle. The sound is similar to that of other bands of the time, such as The Rolling Stones, although it’s not what most of us are used to listening to.

Even though the songs sound different from what is played on today’s popular radio stations, the lyrics of the six tracks are from an era of more meaningful mu-sic. In today’s music, all you hear are so-called artists rapping about drugs and alcohol. You won’t hear the same catchy, cute and cliché lyrics in current-day mu-sic.

The songs “Most Anything You Want” and “Flowers and Beads” are the album’s love ballads. “Most Anything You Want” is short and sweet while “Flowers and Beads” is a little more lengthy and repeti-tive. Nonetheless, both have meaning be-hind them that girls would love.

At the other end of the spectrum, there’s “Are You Happy.” When you can’t seem to get your mind off of someone, this is the song to listen to. Ingle sings about trying to find someone new, but no matter what, his heart is still stuck in the past.

People might scoff at this album be-cause it’s from 1968, but the themes with-in it are still relevant today. Even though the sound is much more genuine and natural than what people are used to, the album is still a good choice if you’re look-ing for a different sound.

By Libby sumnik

Wreck-It-ralph

AYou don’t have

to be seven and t h ree-qua r ters to thoroughly enjoy Wreck-it-Ralph. In fact, you may be more prone to love it if you recall the 80s as “the good

old days” and take your entertainment in joystick form.

After being overshadowed by his game’s protagonist, Fix–it–Felix (Jack Mc-Brayer), brutish Ralph – voiced by John C. Reilly – becomes unsatisfied being the video game villain and wishes to break the mold of his arcade game, “Wreck-it-Ralph.”

Along the way, Ralph finds himself be-coming chummy with 9-year-old Vanel-lope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) whom he encounters in neighboring game “Sugar Rush.” Vanellope provides nearly all comedic relief in the movie, as well as a sweet side to numb your mind as you process the less-emotional Ralph. She, like Ralph, is an outcast in the gam-ing world as she is a “glitch” in Sugar Rush’s software.

But after Ralph goes “turbo” and en-ters the game “Hero’s Duty,” in an at-tempt to win a medal and become an ac-claimed savoir, things go massively awry as his own game is in placed in jeopardy, as well as the entire arcade.

Already rumored as a contender for an Oscar for best animated film, it’s clear that Wreck-it-Ralph stuck to the gamer’s heart in all of us.

Wreck-it-Ralph’s mantra of “always be yourself” and “don’t take life for granted,” may be traditional, but it grossed nearly $50 million in its opening weekend for a reason. Not only does it provide gooey sentiment for children and adults alike, but it holds Easter eggs of video games past to cherish throughout the movie.

By emma ockerman

Jayme dee

BFrom throw-

ing shoes at the radio to being knocked down by a tidal wave, newly found singer Jayme Dee illustrates the ups and downs of love.

Starting off as another YouTube sen-sation, this Southern California singer first became known to the world when her song “Tip Toes” debuted in the movie The Hunger Games. Since then, this pop singer has made a name for herself; she just finished a tour with Owl City over the summer, and she has already made music videos for her songs.

Before her musical career took off, Dee was raised to know all about the specifics of the music industry. Taken to piano and singing lessons as a little girl, she found her love for music in the early stages of her life.

She said that the inspiration for her music is simple: life. She bases her lyrics on what she experiences still as a teenag-er. Writing about boys, drama, love and heartache, she tells of real-life situations that girls go through everyday.

“Tip Toes” conveys an upbeat perspec-tive about a teenage girl’s view on love. Going through make-ups, break-ups and everything that happens in between, Dee proves having a boyfriend has its perks, but being single and free lets you truly be yourself.

The sounds in “Tip Toes” prove to make it a danceable track. It’s a pop song with a mix of old-school and beachy vibes. She shows off her vocal range, hit-ting both low and high notes. This not only complements her lyrics, but also the rhythm and sound of the music to make the song more appealing.

After listening to this song, you will definitely be on your “Tip Toes.”

By Jenna Belote

vamps

AGoody (Alicia

Silverstone) and Stacy (Krysten Ritter) are two female vampires living in New York City. They were both bit-ten by the same vampire stem (a

kind of vampire that has the ability to change humans to vampires), and have been best friends since.

Goody was changed in the 1800s and is just trying to keep up with the current times, struggling with smart phones and tablets alike. Stacy, on the other hand, fits in just fine, despite the fact that she has fallen for a famous vampire killer’s son. She experiences great garlic difficulties when she meets his parents and, while she can’t eat human food, she uses her charm to hide that she’s a vampire.

Goody finds her old flame and tries to rekindle their relationship. She helps him as he struggles with having a wife with cancer.

This romantic comedy gets you laugh-ing by making light of the ups and downs of being a vampire. From their non-hu-man-blood-drinking support group to their craving for hometown dirt for their coffins, it is laugh out loud funny.

Ultimately, the girls have to pick if they want to stay immortal or human form. If they change back to their human forms, they will return to their original ages. Their worries consist of being too old, not being able to party anymore and chang-ing almost every aspect of their vampire lives.

Overall, Vamps is a great chick–flick. Viewers can familiarize with the humor of the characters, and the movie rings with the apprehension of getting older.

By Kaylee Dall

DisNey.go.comiroNButterFLy.com

iNsaNecLowNPosse.com

Jacob BarryStaff reporter

“Hah, Insane Clown Posse? More like Inane Clown Posse.”

These are the words of a misinformed individual. On Halloween 2012, I had no idea what I was getting into, sneaking out to see a band recognized by the FBI as a cult, on the scariest night of the year, in downtown Detroit.

I didn’t take it seriously. I thought ICP may have been a little odd, but I found out the FBI does not mess around with whom they’re calling a cult.

For those who aren’t familiar with the so-called Dark Carnival, ICP is two rap-pers in black-and-white clown makeup who spray hundreds of gallons of Faygo on their crowd because “it doesn’t make sense. Like us. We don’t make sense.”

And if that wasn’t fun enough, I gath-ered from the concert that their general message is “we’re all different and unique-ly crazy, so we should all try murder/sui-cide!” And in their hit song “Miracles,” they openly denounce science in favor of “pure ... magic.”

This is what made me want to go in the first place. They can’t spray around that kind of ideological Faygo without some-one thinking it’s hilarious. I wanted to wit-ness these juggalos (the name they gave for themselves and their fan base) make total idiots of themselves – which they did. But nobody was laughing. The realization that I had put myself in the center of a mob of juggalos, the people who wholehearted-ly supported the message of ICP, and were being served alcohol, was terrifying.

My concert experience started with

waiting in line in the freezing cold by the Fillmore. The crowd was being exception-ally unruly, and I was nervous because I was going to an ICP concert.

To welcome me to the family, the group standing behind me shouted, “We gotta huddle for warmth! We’re all family here!”

Family. It struck me funny. Then I started to put it together. The

lady with “family” printed on her bright yellow jersey in front of me wasn’t crazy, and I started to make out “family” being chanted from the mob. These people call each other family – like a cult. Exactly like a cult. They are a cult.

The line began to progress, so I found myself in an enclosed space with these people. I had general admission tickets, and it was my instinct to fight my way up as close as I could to the stage, which at the time was easy because one of the three opening acts was up. I think it was the band Zug Island, who stopped to make an announcement to the gist of “silly FBI, we’re not a cult! We’re just a family.” Sev-eral members of the audience liked that message and deemed it appropriate to shout tributes to one of NWA’s more popu-lar songs regarding obscenities directed towards the police.

Then the singer pointed almost direct-ly at me and said, “I wanna see the biggest … mosh pit Detroit has ever seen!”

Oh no. Not good. Definitely not good. So through an unfortunate chain of events, I found myself in the center of a mosh pit of enthusiastic juggalos. I was nothing even resembling a menacing force. I just took the moshing and held on to my friend for dear life. I ended up doing some against-

my-will moshing, but I did stop for a mo-ment to take note of who was in the mosh pit.

Now, I thought I was kind of edgy for going to an ICP concert with a bright pink Katy Perry shirt that referenced a pea-cock, but I was nowhere near the edge compared to the juggalo dressed as a corn dog (or Twinkie?) standing dead center in the mosh pit with an inviting look. He had built a house on the edge and lived there year round.

This was all before the main act came out, which is to say I was pretty worried about my own safety before they brought out a creepy circus ring leader to introduce the men known as “Shaggy 2 Dope” and “Violent J,” the main act of the night. From then on it was an onslaught of Faygo.

There were plastic coverings over the balcony, and when I noticed them, I shrugged them off as extraneous. Boy was I wrong.

The soda must have shot 50 feet when they took one of their frequent Faygo breaks, about once every five songs, which I thought was a little unnecessary. There wasn’t a way to escape the barrage either, because as soon as ICP got on stage, the whole venue transformed into a mosh pit. I had almost no control over my legs, it was just helpless resistance to a cult mob push-ing and shoving.

When the concert was over, my head hurt, my ears were ringing, my clothes were all sticky, and I had to wash my hair three times. I knew for sure, I was not down with the clown.or down for life, yo.

crazeDtiLLiNsaNe.triPoD.com

editor’s deskmarie bourke

“Grosse Pointe Public School administrators and teachers are responsible for encouraging and ensuring freedom of expression and freedom of the press for all students, regardless of whether

the ideas expressed may be considered unpopular, critical, controversial, tasteless or offensive.”

Board of Education Policy

our eDiTorial

The youth must keep their

political stride Young people don’t care about politics.This is the assumption that has been made on a

number of levels against our generation. We’re too busy hanging out in dark alleys with our friends, bullying middle schoolers. We don’t leave our rooms, we’re self-ish.

Oh really?On Tuesday, Nov. 6 a turnout of 60% young demo-

crats spelled victory for incumbent Barack Obama. This is in contrast to the 36% that voted for republican Mitt Romney.

We apparently cared enough to sway the election in our favor.

Exit polls show that 18 to 29-year-olds made up an in-fluential 19% of the overall electorate, which is a 1-point increase from the 2008 election. Romney had to secure at least 15% in order to win, and by not doing so, he lost.

The young voter demographic is only growing larger with time. In the election of 1996, 37% of young people voted. Now, reports by CIRCLE show that the participa-tory number in the 2012 election is near 50%. In four presidential terms, young voters became confident in themselves – enough to leave their couches and be-come a large influence in who rules this nation.

We youngsters may pay more attention to MTV than than CNN, but it doesn’t mean that we aren’t listening.

Teenagers and twenty-somethings of the U.S. actu-ally do hold some power in the political world. We saw that in this election.

The Republican party has even been advised by the co-founder and president of the millennial advocacy group Our Time, Matthew Segal, to “modernize itself” in order to appeal to a younger demographic, a demo-graphic that tends to value equality in income, in mar-riage and in voice.

This was the appeal Romney was lacking, and he clearly paid the price.

This is a revolution. Political parties are looking to us to see how they can appeal to our values, how they can gain our interest.

We should not take our more recent power for granted. As high schoolers, we have four years to reflect on our ideals for this country before we enter the voting booth. Four years to watch the news, to become pas-sionate, angry, or informed. If you were unhappy with the turnout of this election, a large responsibility lies in your hands – change it. We now know we possess that power.

After all, in some of us lies a future leader and legisla-tor.

Our demographic is essentially the voice of politi-cal change, we’re old enough to understand the past but young enough to breathe new hope into America’s future. Losing this new momentum would mean put-ting America’s youth in the dark and having our voices drowned out by those who’ve already ignored them for decades. We can be louder than that.

We’re the future, let’s make it bright.

“What sports do you play?”

This should be a no-brainer. For most, it is.

When I answer, I rattle off cross country and track first, and then I end with, “and I do synchro.”

“Synchro!?”This is the normal, be-

wildered response I get.Then, more questioning:

“What’s that?” or “What do you even do?”

Most synchro girls would just say meekly ... “Oh, it’s sort of like dancing in the water ... .” Often times, I have resorted to this an-swer for a lack of better ex-planation for this unheard phenomenon. Deep down though, I think of these trite remarks and would love to ask, “Haven’t you watched the Olympics?”

Actually, synchronized swimming is hard to ex-plain without eliciting more confusion and un-clear images. Some might picture those ridiculous, rubbery, pink-flowered swim caps in 1950s Esther Williams films, or maybe pinched noses with “those nose things” we crazy wa-ter dancers call nose plugs.

Everyone just needs to see it for themselves – it re-ally is a lot more than it’s made out to be.

Synchro gives you the chance to be individual at times, but also to be united as a team. Most sports don’t always have both aspects. It seriously is hard work and dedication. You can’t just dive in and expect that wa-ter will keep you up as you lift your leg into some crazy position or go upside down (“Whoa, how can you be upside down!?”).

Exactly my point. It takes skill. And no, synchronized swimmers never touch the bottom of the pool. Come on, then anyone could do it.

Thus, good treading and sculling (treading but with your arms) skills are neces-sary. You have to continu-ously move your arms in order to stay afloat.

As is good breathing con-trol for long routines. Being underwater for minutes at a time, feeling like your lungs are about to explode while staying focused and on count with your moves and teammates is just the start of this sport’s challenges.

“Nobody’s perfect” is one of those consoling phrases that people tell you when you mess things up, but in synchro there is no room for mistakes; we are judged on being absolutely perfect. Not many sports give you that chance to achieve perfection the way that synchro does.

Yes, it is extremely dif-ficult to be all the way per-fect, but coming close is the ultimate goal. Few sports are judged by these nuanc-es. Nothing about it is easy.

Now that all the truths about synchro have been laid out, it may have put down fantasies and im-ages in your head, but you should be well informed. Pursue some more synchro knowledge (I suggest You-Tube Olympics videos) and even try it out yourself.

This sport’s been around since the 1930s and for eight Olympic Games. May-be in another eight Games my hope will finally be true – perplexed “Synchro!?” questioning and this col-umn of explanation will no longer be necessary.

North Pointe – Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 – 7iDeaS

Maria LiddaneEditor-in-chiEf

Jordan RadkeEditor

Dayle MaasnEws Editor

Emma OckermanManaging Editor

A book judged by her coverI am not your average genius

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Maria Liddane SECTION EDITORS: Dayle Maas, Kim Cusmano, Lauren Semack, Gabby Burchett ASSISTANT EDITORS: Kristen Kaled, Andrea Scapini, Amanda Berry, Marie Bourke, Izzy Ellery

STAFF REPORTERS: Patricia Bajis, Colleen Rev-eley, Melissa Healy, Natalie Skorupski, Sara Villani, Libby Sumnik, Rachel Cullen, Jacob Barry, Danae DiCicco, Sydney Thompson, Taylor White

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Caroline Schulte (Photo Editor), Emily Huguenin (Assistant Photo Edi-tor), Sean O’Melia, Kaylee Dall

INTERNS: Ashley Brown, Haley Reid, Sarah Schade, Audrey Kam, Anna Hopkins, Jenna Belote

EDITOR: Jordan Radke

MANAGING EDITOR: Emma Ockerman

ILLUSTRATOR: Jordan Jackson

The North Pointe is edited and produced by Advanced Journalism students at Grosse Pointe North High School and is published every two weeks. It is in practice a designated public forum without prior review. Com-ments should be directed to the student editors, who make all final content decisions. The views expressed are solely those of the authors or the student editorial board and do not reflect the opinions of the Grosse Pointe School System.We are a member of the Michigan Scholastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press As-sociation and Student Press Law Center. We subscribe to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services and iStockphoto.com.

One copy is available free to all community members. Additional copies may be pur-chased. Our editorial policy and advertising rates are available online at myGPN.org. The North Pointe is printed on 100 percent recycled paper.CONTACT US707 Vernier RoadGrosse Pointe Woods MI, 48236Phone: 313.432.3248Email: northpointe@gpschools.orgWebsite: myGPN.orgTwitter: myGPNFACULTY ADVISER: Shari Adwers, CJE

our editorial represents the opinion of the north Pointe Editorial Board consisting of the editors above and staff members Melina glusac, audrey Kam and

Jacob Barry.

Whatever you were expecting when you heard the word genius, I can almost cer-tainly assure you that I do not fit that mold.

Unless you were under the impression that genius meant being a short, skinny, clumsy, short haired girl who has ADHD, who also constantly sits on the floor and whose shoes are always untied.

In that case you would be ab-solutely correct.

You are now probably think-ing ‘Then what qualifies this crazy person to be a genius?”

My I.Q. above 175, evidently. Whew. Now that I’ve got that off my

chest I would like to ask you a favor. Please, do not think of me any differ-

ently now that you know. I will not be able to do your math any

better than you will, I promise. Mostly because I would forget to do your

homework, along with my own homework because I was watching hilarious YouTube videos.

But in all seriousness, the one bad thing about being a genius is that I can’t tell any-one because they tend to start thinking differently of me.

Even if they have known me for years, they still look at me differently. And quite honestly, this irritates me!

It’s not as if I am even bragging about anything.

Rather, I am confiding in them. But the second the words leave my mouth, I regret saying them.

Another thing: Why does everybody as-sume that I am good at math?

I may be in an advanced class, but that

has no bearing whatsoever over whether or not I am doing well in the class.

In fact, I’ve never had an ‘A’ in math for four quarters straight.

Never. So while I’m here, I might as well clear

something else up. I am not a genius by achievement stan-

dards.My I.Q. has nothing to do with my

grades, but more with how I think. This has been explained to me several

times by several doctors: I am not super smart. My brain is just wired differently from everyone else’s.

Which brings me to another point. The wires cross sometimes, and the re-

sults are just short of insanity.Why do they want to label me? I am still

a human being. I eat, drink and sleep. I am still a high-schooler. I study hard, do three hours of home-

work a night and have failed my share of tests.

I am still a child. I listen to music too loud, play games online and goof off with friends.

I just also happen to belong to the 0.4% of the world who are classified as genii.

And this is what some people have cho-sen to focus on as soon as I told them.

Please don’t be one of those people. Keep an open mind.

So the moral of this column is: Don’t judge a book by its cover, or, (in my case) by the secret that the book tells you that doesn’t really affect you. Unless the secret is about murder, or other crimes. Then you should both judge that person/book and call the police.

Because that would be murder, which is way different than having a high I.Q.

your turn: do you get enough sleep every night? By Sara Villani, Danae DiCicco & Sean O’ Melia

“No, because I always wake up tired and am always like ‘I will go to bed early the next night,’ but I never do.”

Lauren HarttsoPhoMorE

“No, because I’m a teenager, and something always comes up and seems more important than sleep.”

Lisa ZmyslowskiJunior

“I get an okay amount of sleep because I don’t have a tremendous amount of homework.”

Cameron SchreiberfrEshMan

“No, I don’t get enough sleep because I am a night owl. I tend to do most of my work in the evening.”

Dan QuinnEconoMics tEachEr

“No, because I’m always up doing homework and (I) wake up early.”

David KrachtsEnior

“I get plenty of sleep every night. I need to get it so I have the energy to make it through the day every day. I have a long day and I get my eight hours of sleep.”

Glenn Lachowiczhall Monitor

My turnauDrey kam

ILLUSTRATION BY JORDAN JACKSON

Unappreciated sport: synchro

North Pointe - Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 - 8IN-DEPTH

By Caroline Schulte, Emily Huguenin & Kristen KaledPhoto Editors

By Kim CusmanoEditor

Honestly, who cares? Is there an all-bearing fashion god who is

going to throw a rhinestone-encrusted light-ning bolt at me if I choose to wear baggy sweatpants to school? Probably not.

Sure, if I was in a movie, a mean girl might spill her half-finished, low-fat

latte on my less-than-styl-ish frocks, but in all real-ity, who actually cares?

I, a self-acclaimed “scrub,” hold no grudg-es against students who dress up for school. And, other than their abnormally slow, five-inch-pump-induced pace on the stairs, what they are wearing has no effect on me.

In return, I expect this indifference be reciprocated.

Ignoring their cuteness and stockpile of compliments, non-scrubbers miss out on the undeniable advantages of scrubbing that I so relish.

I can wake up at 7 a.m. on a regular school day, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast and leave the house by 7:40 a.m. only slightly in-convenienced by my damp hair.

The final bell doesn’t mark an awaited freedom from the incarceration my blister-ing feet were so subjected to all day.

I can self-assuredly walk (or run, which

my shoe choice allows) around the school without a worry of “is my hair caught in my lip gloss?” or “can you really see up my skirt as I walk up the stairs?”

See, I don’t believe in the “pain is beauty” mantra, that to be beautiful one must be a martyr who suffers through all the so-called trials and tribulations of “style.”

Didn’t Audrey Hepburn believe that hap-py girls are the prettiest girls? The constant anticipation of any fashion faux pas I would undoubtedly make doesn’t sound very favor-able to my Hepburnian happiness.

Feeling comfortable in your own skin isn’t a function of the fabric with which you cover it, nor that fabric’s price tag – only of confi-dence.

But this isn’t a justification of my “style-less beauty,” or some rebel cry against fash-ion. It is a reminder though: You don’t need to justify your style (or lack thereof) to any-one anymore than I do.

And if you find yourself in those five-inch pumps, girl, I’ll be wincing for you from the sidelines.

As for me, if I can feel beautiful in my Parcells volleyball sweatshirt from seventh grade, and if my three full drawers of T-shirts bring a smile to my face, I can’t see any rea-son why it would matter to anyone else.

And may the mighty fashion gods strike me down if it should.

By Emma Ockermanmanaging Editor

Audrey Hepburn may have said happiness makes for a beautiful woman, but it doesn’t mean she didn’t find any bliss in her Yves St. Laurent flats and Ralph Lauren shift dress.

Yes, happiness makes for a confident and lovely fe-male. But I tend to feel happiest when approaching a plethora of shoes or when frolicking in one of my many cardigans. Who are you to say happiness is defined by comfort, and not those five-inch heels?

You may choose your UGGs from middle school over Tory Burch flats, and I do not pass judgement on you for this decision. You may very well have a reason for this choice, or you could of have just recently suffered a head injury.

Really, I don’t judge.At North, however, you “scrubbers” are the majority,

leaving my impeccable sense of style for the ashes.Oh, you and your sweatpants. You are so above me

in ways I will never understand. How comfortable you must feel in all of your sloppiness. How fun it must be to scoff at those who dress professionally to school.

You see, I don’t dress for others. If this were the case I would probably ditch the knee socks and mouse flats. No, my dear scrubbers, I dress for myself.

“But why Emma?” you may ask. “Sweatpants are com-fortable, and what if you suddenly feel the urge to jog af-ter school? My heavens, you wouldn’t be dressed for it!”

I assure you that the sweatpants are safe at home, tucked away in a drawer for Saturday nights spent eating ice cream and studying late into the night. I never en-gage in any form of athleticism, so you need not worry in that department.

But on any other occasion I take genuine comfort in my skirts and sweaters. In my mind, this attire sets me up for success.

And it doesn’t hurt to look good, either.I’m sure Holloway sweats and hoodies are a nice al-

ternative for being fashionable, and I’m not one to de-cide whether you deserve to be comfortable or stylish. But for those who haven’t felt the rush of slipping into your favorite flats or choice chinos, I highly suggest you give it a try.

Fashion has been an art form and a creative outlet for me, not defined by trends, but by my own standards on how I wish to be represented. The euphoria of a favorite outfit is incredibly understated with today’s youth. At this, I cringe.

If you really want to be remembered by your co-ziest sweats and track jacket, by all means, go right ahead. Many of you seem to prefer this alternative.

But I can guarantee that my affinity for mouse flats and knee socks will be remembered, and a little part of North’s hallways will echo with the strut of my well dressed feet.

I am that fashionista you may wince at from the sidelines, but you can’t deny you’re a little envious, too.

By Andrea Scapiniassistant Editor

Rolling out of bed at 7:15 a.m. with enough time to hastily shower and throw her hair up into a messy top knot is the sta-tus quo for senior Blake Moncur. She is the epitome of the scrub life.

“Scrubbing is just when you’re so com-fortable at school and you don’t care what anybody thinks about what you look like at all,” Moncur said. “I probably scrub al-most every single day of the week.”

Still, dressing down to school means not having to worry about hair, makeup and wardrobe malfunctions, and students are more apt to pay attention in class.

“I’m pro-scrubbing because it’s more comfortable. You’re more likely to pay at-tention instead of just moving around in your seat because you’re just uncomfort-able,” sophomore Charlie Delaney said.

Among staff and students, definitions of scrubbing differ.

“There are some days when I look at some of those students and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh they look so comfortable. That looks so wonderful.’ I like jeans and comfy boots and things like that, but probably sweatpants for me is taking it too far,” so-cial studies teacher Bridget Cooley said. “There are probably some people who think that if one is dressed down that they have a more casual attitude towards school and that might translate to less fo-cus in the classroom. For some people, be-ing in certain clothes can be a distraction as well. If you’re wearing a miniskirt and heels, that’s not necessarily the most com-fortable clothes, either.”

Dressing in more formal attire may be preferred because it gives a reassurance of looking acceptable.

“I normally don’t scrub because I like

getting ready in the morning. I’m more confident when I’m put together,” junior Brielle Ahee said.

If a student is dressed in pajama-like clothing, they may be more susceptible to dozing off in class.

“When I’m comfortable I tend to be kind of lazy and then drift off every now and then,” sophomore Peter Gritsas said. “If I use my own style I tend to be more alert and awake.”

A study by Fresno Pacific University on Philadelphia public school students tested whether students’ individual style affect-ed the learning environment as a whole. When the school established uniforms as their dress code, 68% of parents thought that it improved their child’s academic achievements.

“Uniforms would be problematic in a public school system. I don’t think uni-forms are an appropriate choice for our

school,” Assistant Principal Kate Murray said. “I love that our students are able to express themselves through the choices they make in the morning as long as they don’t impede the learning environment. When a fashion choice impedes the learn-ing environment, then it becomes a prob-lem for us.”

The way someone dresses themselves reflects more than just a simple outfit choice – it relays a message.

“Individual expression of dress is very important because for some people, you look at their dress and taste and you can tell that some people are more casual and some people are a little more dressed up,” former principal Caryn Wells said. “It kind of goes along with the personality they want to present. We want everybody to be respected and for their dress to represent their own sense of dignity.”

The

FashionistaT

HE

SC

RU

BDoes comfort or formality translate to success?

Scrub bing v. not dressing for fashion, but for comfort

0 days

17people

4 days3 days2 days1 day

7people28people27people46people

Every day: 13 people

How many days per week do you scrub?How long does it take you to

get ready in the morning?

*survey of 125 students

36.8%

10.4%

21.6%

22.4%

5.6%5 minutes or less

10-20 minutes

30-40 minutes

1 hour

over an hour

By Amanda Berry, Haley Reid & Danae DiCiccostaff rEPortErs