Carter High School has a variety of vending machines to choose from that contain both food and drinks, and despite having an ice cream machine there’s one problem with it; the machine doesn’t work at all. The ice cream machine was installed at the beginning of this semester and yet it hasn’t functioned at all since the very beginning. It takes up pointless space if it can’t actually be used. If the machine were to be fixed it would have a better reason to still be here at Carter but it hasn’t worked since September of this semester. 

“It would be better if they just fixed it.” Gavin, a senior, had said in an interview. Another student, Asha Carter said, “I think it’s cool but I wonder when it will work.” Many varying interviews seem to have a common complaint, they want it to work. If the machine at the very least started to work, it wouldn’t take up so much senseless space as it can’t do anything currently. I feel that if the machine was fixed up it would be better for every student in the building, including staff and teachers. 

The machine working would be able to rake in some money and could even help the school funding a bit better. It could benefit a lot of people who could potentially need it to cool off during a hot day, like in the spring or closer to the summer. A functioning machine would arguably help if anything, but even so the process could be more costly than anticipated. Despite this small issue, it could really help out with either funding or letting someone enjoy the environment here a lot better. If it can’t be fixed, at least remove it from the school so it could make room for something more convenient.

  “Whys the bathroom locked?” is a question asked by multiple students of Carter High School every day. In the mornings the upstairs bathrooms are locked sometimes. This is something that is very inconvenient for students, especially when they get silent much for being late to class. Sometimes they have to backtrack and go all the way back to the downstairs bathroom because the one closest to their class is locked. 

    In my opinion, I think locking the bathrooms is stupid. Especially if I’m gonna get silent lunch for being late because I had to go all the way to the downstairs bathroom to use the restroom after I walked up to my class and tried to use the closet bathroom possible but it was locked. I talked to some other people in my class, and they pretty much felt the same way. Celeste Smith says “I can’t stand when I have to go to the bathroom really bad and I walk to the closet bathroom and its locked, I honestly think it’s ridiculous.” This just goes to show how much kids hate this. However, I wanted to get the teacher’s points of view as well. I asked multiple teachers on the 2nd floor, why the bathrooms are locked before and during 1st period. They responded with” There’s no one to supervise cause we all teach during 1st.” To me, this made no sense. I know stuff goes on in the bathroom that does call for it to be supervised, but it makes no sense to leave them locked during 1st period and not 2,3, and 4th. Don’t the teacher teach then as well? 

  Altogether, I think locking the bathrooms is silly. I understand that sometimes they need to be supervised, and I know you can’t put a camera in there, but I feel like it’s wrong to lock the bathrooms. People need to be able to use the bathroom. It is inconvenient for them when they are on a whole different floor and have to go out of their way to go to the bathroom. It is also inconvenient for the teachers. The students are staying out of class longer than they would have to because the bathroom on their floor isn’t unlocked. I honestly think the bathrooms should always be unlocked during school. 

I have never seen or heard of a middle school and high school next to each other and rides the same buses before I moved to this school.I ride a bus that combines with another a few times a week and there is barely any room for anyone to sit. The middle schoolers take up more room than us high schoolers. They like to put their stuff beside them so nobody can sit there. If the other school rode another bus then we would all be able to get home sooner and we would have more seats for when buses combine. It may seem like I am just saying things about the buses because this is the only time I have ridden a bus but that is not the reason. I am here to speak for the students at this school who ride the buses. When our buses combine I do not get home till after 4:30. That only gives me only a few hours to be at home and take a shower, do homework, cook dinner, and do laundry. It is hard to be a good student when I have to ride a hot bus with loud kids for an extra hour and a half when I can be home and have my homework finished already and other things on my list. This newsletter is not for hate against middle schoolers, it is for students like me that would prefer to get home before five. Riding the bus can be very dangerous and I believe myself that middle schoolers can be in danger from some high schoolers. We never know the intentions of the high schoolers against the middle, such as a middle school student saying someone towards a high schooler that makes them mad. Middle school and high school students should ride buses separately.

Students are challenged daily at school. Seven hours a day, five days a week, teenagers wake up, then go to school for a long time doing things they do not want to do. In addition to this, most students either play a sport, have a job, and some even do both. Schools encourage students to participate in as many extra curricular activities as possible. However, they fail to mention that the more things you participate in, the less focus you have on school. Another topic heavily discussed when this topic is mentioned is students’ mental health. Students already spend roughly ⅓ of the day doing what is asked at school. The school does not know the situation every student has at home, they just assume they can do assignments and projects at any time. The next reason students should not receive homework is sports. Students that play sports have either a practice or a game almost every day of the season, and have off season workouts throughout the year. When these student athletes have homework on nights they have games, it is nearly impossible to complete all the assignments they are assigned within their 4 different classes. For most student athletes, high school is the last time they will ever play that sport for a team in their life. Students are only in high school once. Projects can be done within the class period. The last reason is jobs. Similar to sports, lots of high schoolers get a job to pay for gas, insurance, and to have some spending money. Some students work until 11 on school nights, and they need that money for gas and insurance. However, some students are forced to quit their jobs to have time to do homework and projects. The majority of students agree that students should not have homework, because it interferes with their life outside of school. 

Taking the ACT junior and senior year is a task that the majority of students stress over. Studying for, preparing for, and retaking the test itself are all a part of the process of the ACT, making it time consuming and oftentimes overwhelming. While the ACT is used by a multitude of postsecondary institutions to determine the work ethic and intelligence of students, one might wonder if basing students’ further education on one multiple choice exam is actually an effective way to determine acceptance. Logically, the performance of one test is simply not a better outlook for college performance than high school grades are. It is difficult to tell if a student actually works hard on his or her studies from a one-time test. Maybe they were feeling off, did not get much sleep, or forgot to eat breakfast on the day of the test, affecting his or her test performance. Test anxiety is also a real thing that can prevent well-performing and high achieving students from doing well. Since the ACT does not allow for corrections or time extensions, those who have trouble taking tests are already at a disadvantage. Not to mention, the test itself is flawed due to the fact that it is based on testing strategies rather than actually learning the material. There are many stories of kids using the Christmas tree strategy that got the same score as kids who took ACT practice classes, proving the test is faulty and easy to manipulate. The ACT is depended on entirely too much for both acceptance into colleges, financial aid, and students academic validation. If one does not have a good score, his or her future might be affected in a negative way. Though there does need to be some sort of standard for students in school, the ACT is a flawed marginalized multiple choice test that is not accurate for determining or judging one’s academic motivation, especially when held at such a high determining point for some kids’ entire lives. Overall, a small standardized test would not be a bad idea for small decisions; however, the spectrum of the ACT is entirely too broad for such little information it gives about students. 

The new Halloween movie of 2021 Halloween Kills is gruesome and frightening. I’m a big fan of the Halloween movie series. They have always been my favorite scary movie to watch during the spooky season or just any time of the year. This movie is about a  man called the boogie man or most call him by his name, Michael Myers. Whose a night stalker that kills on Halloween nights his victims are innocent people that are chosen by ransom and no one really knows the reasons for his killings. For 1 hour and 45 minutes, you’re going to need a stomach for this movie to handle all of the killings of his victims and blood splattering everywhere. Halloween Kills are very good and lives up to its name, “kills”. Even though there is a lot going on during the movie. The plot was there and was executed thoroughly.  But to be honest I wish they weren’t going to leave it on a cliffhanger, which makes it seem there is going to be another Halloween movie. It might even become a large series like the ‘80s Halloween movies. Hopefully, if they do make another Halloween movie it will be the last because I think we can all agree that they need to put an end to this evil madness. But the story is going to end anytime soon because of Michales Myer’s madness for killing innocent people. Overall this movie is quite gruesome and frightening. But hopefully, when the film writers produce another movie it will be the last because I don’t think we need another series of Micheal Myers killing sprees. And no one understands why he kills innocent people on Halloween night where it’s supposed to be fun for kids and parents not worrying about if this serial killer will kill you or your family. My overall review on Halloween kills, it’s a breathtaking movie with all of the events that accord. I enjoyed the Halloween movies and always do. Everything was like the ‘80s Halloween classics but slightly more gruesome and horrific. 

The wellness class has greatly decreased in activity ever since the recent incident of coach Beaty resigning creating extreme boredom for students in the class and also the lack of a teacher. With the issue of one less teacher there have been multiple substitutes taking coach Beaty’s role and since coach Beaty was the only coach that actively tried to get the wellness class to play games but now students have had to walk until there’s only 20 minutes left of class. Not only is this extremely boring to the many students that are in the wellness class it creates a problem. With the first wellness class you had to go to a classroom every other day and actually learn a curriculum but since we do not have a teacher for quite a while the students will not even learn half of what they’re supposed to! Briana Montgomery, a freshman in the CHS wellness class even said “The class is just boring. All we do is walk” and adding on to that Lillian phipps said “Ever since coach Beaty left we haven’t learned anything although it is kinda fun.”  The reason that no one likes the class is all because of the lack of a teacher. With no teacher there are no games to be played so we have to walk a lot. With no teacher we don’t learn anything! See the pattern here, although some students are glad we have no teacher for the exact reason that we don’t have to play games because it’s less active and an easy grade. With that being said though is that not the point of the class to learn about health and to be active. With no teacher this class is both boring and useless.

Every day after school hundreds of students, from freshmen to seniors all crowd around each other, waiting for their ride home. Student choice, or safety concern? Students don’t seem to pay much mind to this issue, as we are used to crowded hallways, classrooms, and cafeterias. But seeing as most of the students’ buses don’t arrive until after the 3:30 bell, I believe it is a safety concern for almost everyone involved. For one, large, near unsupervised groups of students present numerous problems on their own; such as the risk of fights, vaping, smoking, or PDA. Most of these instances get glanced over just because of the sheer amount of students in one spot, it is difficult for the 2-3 teachers looking over the group to keep these things under control. This issue, however, could be largely solved just from student intervention, such as spreading around the ramp or keeping themselves in groups. Aside from issues of violence or rule-breaking, having so many students in one place outside, with most of them not wearing masks, creates a dangerous environment where COVID can spread quite easily; and thus, again, this issue could be solved, or at least minimized, by student intervention, whether that be by social distancing, or properly wearing their masks. And while some may say this closely packed environment is helpful to make students feel included or help students socialize with each other, but the thing is, students can do this while maintaining an open environment. Students don’t have to be packed together in order to talk. And while these issues could be simply solved by student actions, many students have stated to want more seating options available outside, so that instead of being forced to stand in groups under the sparse places of shade, or the rare walls to lean on, they could spread out somewhat to sit down. So, in all, if students took the action to spread out slightly, or if the school added new seating outside at the bus ramp, student comfort and safety would improve significantly.

A school year typically lasts 9 months starting in August and ending in May, depending on the school. Some schools have a different way of learning. Those schools stay all year round instead of taking a 3 month long break after every school year, which can be even more helpful to some students. Year round schooling has a more structured environment and students wouldn’t have to sit through the agonizing first week of school where teachers explain all the stuff they already know. 

Year round schooling also allows teachers and students to develop closer relationships. By becoming closer, it allows students to feel more comfortable and relaxed while learning, instead of spending the entire class period wanting to leave. 

With the absence of summer vacation, students will not forget everything that they have learned in the previous school year. All the material that they have learned up to that point will stay fresh in their mind and won’t have to spend time relearning stuff that they already spent time learning. The absence of summer also helps students become more prepared for the real world and what it is like to work. When someone has a job they don’t get breaks as long as summer. Just because students do not get a 3 month long break, they do get more sporadic breaks that last longer. They get more time off for their winter, spring, and fall breaks. 

And because it lasts all year long it would give teachers more time to accurately explain the curriculum and make sure the students have a deep understanding of the material. 

While the privilege of year round schooling does cost significantly more money than just 9 month long schooling, the advantages far outweigh the cost. It provides more engagement and better learning. While it does have its downsides, year round schooling can significantly improve students learning experience.

Draping and styling, my oh my, but who is the wonderful lady behind it??? And the answer is Mrs. Flatford! 

Mrs. Flatford is the cosmetology teacher here at Carter High School. But who is she away from school and who was she before becoming a teacher, did she ever consider going a different path, or is this her dream life? 

Mrs. Flatford is a Carter High School graduate and before becoming a teacher she went to the University of Tennessee and got her bachelor’s in Retail and Consumer Science. She then proceeded to work in retail for a few years until she had the opportunity to start teaching. Mrs. Flatford stated, “I originally wanted to be a kindergarten teacher.  But I love the world of cosmetology so much.  My old teacher encouraged me to start teaching and I haven’t looked back since. I love helping my students find their passion in cosmetology and achieve their goals of getting their license and finding their dream job.  I have so many successful students out there, supporting their families and doing what they love every day.” Flatford has been doing a spectacular job as a teacher and many of her students love her and her class, she’s glad she pursued what she has loved since a young age, stating, “I knew as a little girl when I learned how to braid my My Little Ponies tail that I loved doing hair.  Then in the 2nd grade, my parents got me a nail kit and I started doing acrylic nails then. I have always wanted to work in a salon making people feel beautiful!!” It is always great to pursue what you love and pass that love onto other students. There is so much more to Mrs. Flatford than cosmetology, for some homelife/family background she states, “I have two beautiful “Bow” babies – Mackenzie and Lillianne and a sweet hubby – Daniel.  We serve with the children and youth at our church – Holston Baptist Church and work in my salon that I have in my house.” Wow she is one busy lady and it sounds like she has an amazing family and she still has some time outside of school to do some great things. When passing by Mrs. Flatford’s room, you’ll most likely definitely see her standing with her bestie Mrs. Pollard. Mrs. Pollard says, “She is my best friend and my partner in crime!” and she also told me that some of Mrs. Flatford’s favorite things are all things glittery, purple, Swiss cake rolls, and Disney. And to add to that Mrs. Flatford also enjoys watching baking shows, doing cosmetology stuff, and spending time with her family. There are so many great memories teachers could make but this is the best teacher memory I’ve heard so far, as stated by Mrs. Pollard, “I have to pick just one? I think it was when she came running and screaming from the hallway into my classroom because a HUGE bird was in the hallway. Turns out it was a tiny little sparrow.” To witness that would have anyone laughing, and according to Mrs. Pollard, Mrs. Flatford doesn’t do things ‘nature’. All of this information for one amazing lady, Mrs. Flatford is a great teacher here at Carter and if you are in her class, make sure you enjoy it while you have it because time goes by fast when you’re having fun and of course you are going to have fun in Mrs. Flatford’s class.