Sitting in a classroom, staring at a teacher, listening as they teach, and copying notes from a whiteboard. This is how most students are expected to learn at Carter High School, but what exactly are they being taught? To stay quiet, and still in their chair, or how to write fast enough so they can get the words on their paper in order for studying later because they have a test next Friday and their grade in the class relies on getting a good score? Most students may say they learn a lot at school, but what do they learn for seven hours a day that will help them in the future when they move on from high school and into the big wide world? Most of the time, it’s not much. 

Students may have great communication skills and remember some of the math, English, science, history, and even a little bit of the skills from electives. Teachers may think that those are the skills students need but a lot of times, classes only emphasize memorization, fast writing, and good test scores, which don’t even connect directly to the subjects taught. What will get students a boost in today’s society is a new learning system that focuses less on how much each student knows about each subject currently taught and more on improving the skills each individual student already has. For example, if a student does not know much about how to solve an algebraic equation and wants to work at a hair salon or be a magazine editor, then the student should not be pressured as hard to learn how to do the equations as another student who wants to become a worldwide known engineer.

If the way students are taught changes then their environment should change as well. Instead of being in a four-wall room all the time students should be able to explore the environment that they would in their career choice. This would mean that desks may be needed for some classes but maybe not others. Carter High already does this with the shop classes, the cosmetology classes, the musical theatre, and a few others. If all schools improve their learning it could better prepare them for the future.

Most of us have heard a teacher in this school complain about our lack of supplies or the importance to turn in school fees. It’s very common for this to take place; our teachers constantly harp on turning in money for the class at the beginning of each and every semester. They say this will cover classroom expenses like supplies such as: paper, pencils, books, etc. but why do we have to pay these? What about the kids who can’t? In the past, the schools’ money has been spent on new lockers and sprucing up the restrooms. The student body greatly appreciated these improvements to the school but it would be better used going towards things that we use every day instead of just the schools physical appearance. If the students have to pay fees it should go to other things than basic necessities like pencils and stuff that we need for classes. The money they spend on luxuries should be spent on everyday items instead of the students paying for them with fees. Carter High student, Anya Beckner, says, “I wish they would put more money towards clubs and programs.” Another Carter High student, Meghan Thornton, says, “I wish the school would fix the walkway to the freshman academy, it floods if it rains in the slightest.” Therefore, the schools money should go towards necessities and the student fees should go towards luxuries. Students shouldn’t have to miss out on activities and projects in a class due to lack of supplies because their peers didn’t pay their fees. We appreciate the efforts the schools makes to provide us with an enjoyable and comfortable work environment, but there are always things to improve on.  

Have you ever been in a class with more than 15 students? Most of us have. In a class with around 25-30 students, it can be very difficult for a student to focus. Classes with so many students can cause the teacher to only go to certain ones. It can be expensive to add more classes or more teachers but you can have fees and it would be such an advantage for the students.. A “Small” class to most public schools is about 20 students. In my opinion a small class would be about 10-15 students it would allow students to focus better and not have to worry about their surroundings. 

Students seem to have better grades and improve in a huge educational way when in smaller classes. The students in the class don’t have as much anxiety because there weren’t so many people in the class. They don’t feel pressured to do anything their more comfortable in smaller classes. In classes with very few students it’s easier for students to ask the teacher questions without feeling pressured. It also gives the teacher time to work with each in every student in no hurry. It is shown classes with fewer students the grades are significantly higher. Having fewer students in classes will improve the grades and help them understand homework. 

As a guy, I feel personally attacked that our school system thinks that us guys are unable to handle ourselves and that we don’t know how to be mature and  solve situations where we get “distracted” at females shoulders. The rules of the dress code are as follows: 1. Pants must be worn at the waist. No sagging allowed. Holes in pants or shorts must be below mid-thigh length. 2. Shirts, blouses, and dresses must completely cover the abdomen, back, shoulders and must have sleeves. Shirts or tops must cover the waistband of pants, shorts or shirts with no midriff visible. Low-cut blouses, shirts,  or tops or extremely high tube tops, or any top that exposes cleavage are prohibited. 3. Head apparel , except for religious or medical purposes must not be worn in the school building. 4.Footwear is required and must be safe and appropriate for indoor and outdoor activity. 5. No racial or ethnic slurs, gang affiliations, vulgar, subversive, or sexual language. 6. Shorts, skirts, or dresses must be below mid thigh length. 7.Sleepwear, pj’s, and/or blankets cannot be worn in school. These rules have not been updated since the 1990 when most of our parents were still in school and/or have just graduated. Studies show that in Roanoke county in Virginia allows their students to wear tank tops in schools. I believe that we need to reevaluate our dress code and update it to fit with the current and upcoming generation. We should allow tank tops at school. We should also allow blankets in school to make the class a little more comfortable instead of those hard chairs and desk. Our school board needs to have a little more faith and respect for the upcoming generations and should take in student opinions when updating the dress code.

How much has technology changed in the last 100 years?  Think about how much manned machinery (cars, motorcycles, planes, cranes, etc) have changed, how they’ve become so complicated and complex. Now think about school, the place where we learn how to follow certain procedures, and in some cases, the place where we learn how to man certain machinery. How much has school changed in the past 100 years? We have the internet now, and that is basically it. So while all those machines are improving, getting more efficient, more complex, we’re staying the same. School’s are not making needed changes to boost these kids to the level needed to work with today’s machinery; we are not making them smarter, and we aren’t trying to teach the future workers of society how to do these things. We need to improve public education or we’re basically looking to have a whole generation of failures, miscreants, and idiots.

Classroom layout is quite important in educational situations and does differ from teacher to teacher, sometimes even day to day, but the basic gist is kids lined up in neat rows (like a factory). Lining up kids like this was important to do when the main jobs were factory jobs and neat rows helped factories become more efficient. It was just helping them get ready to join the workforce. In the present day, factory jobs are becoming less prevalent and the industry is becoming more media influenced, so now there is really no need for neat rows. In reality, children should be able to sit wherever they please to learn how to make independent decisions and become more individual and creative with anything they do. With me so far?

 With mental illnesses such as ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning impairments teachers should be taking extra steps to ensure all students know the information, but some teachers aren’t even thorough enough to make sure any of their students understand the given material. But this isn’t all the teachers fault though. Teachers are severely underpaid and sometimes cannot afford needed supplies for the classroom, bringing down the potential their class could have to impact kid’s education. It’s generally known that teachers are underpaid which makes the teaching profession less sought after by working adults. So the criteria needed to become a teacher has been reduced due to not having enough people vying for said profession.

With all the knowledge needed to function in the adult world, the public education system is really underperforming. Kids today may not function as well in society when they grow up due to the “information malnutrition” school has been going through. At least we have Google.

The No-Hats rule has been highly contested. Students often find this rule ridiculous, as we are allowed to wear bracelets and hairbows. What is so wrong with hats? They allow students to express themselves and can be worn in so many intriguing ways: front, backward, curved, and even sideways. After school, a variety of students put on their hats anyway. From beanies to ball caps to cowboy hats, the possibilities are endless. 

“I really like hats!” said Isaac Shoopman, a sophomore; he explained that he would wear a beanie everyday if the rule was taken away. “There’s no reason to have this rule it doesn’t make sense,” he added as he shook his head. It’s not just men that this rule affects, girls want to wear hats too. “I do not agree with it, kids deserve the right to wear what they want,” said Jayde Trammell, a sophomore, who every day after school puts on her red ball cap. Even some teachers would prefer to wear a hat. 

 I questioned numerous teachers and students, and no one can really explain why we even have the rule. 

“It’s just Knox County policy,” said Head Principal, Mrs.Messer. 

Some individuals argue that it is a distraction in the classroom, that students gain an attitude while wearing hats, and that they can even become disruptive and draw attention away from the lesson. Yet disruptive students will continue to find a way to be disruptive, hatless or not. It is not the hat’s fault that the student chooses to act like an imbecile. Why must others who have done nothing wrong suffer?

If this rule is so controversial, we shouldn’t have it. 

With the multitude of changes made this new school year, it is natural to assume anything different is an inconvenience or a disruption to the average student’s day. However, many of the recent adjustments made within school can have a positive impact on our student-education. Teaching high schoolers ACT prep. during the school day, as Carter High School has recently begun doing, can increase the potential for those students to achieve higher composites or practice strategies to develop better test-taking methods.

The classes focus on the four different sections within the ACT (Math, English, Reading, and Science) and consist of practicing common problems within each subject and going over how the correct answer is reached. Outside of having no risks/negatives, the provided classes also grant students half a credit per year for their time.

While applying for college can already be kind of difficult, the competition for good grades and a phenomenal score can make it even harder, especially if unprepared, so it is essential to put in some extra effort to be able to reach goals in the future and the ACT preparation courses help assist that. Many students may also argue that it takes away their time to do homework or make up tests, however, much of enrichment time isn’t regularly used and valued to do homework anyways and Wednesday’s Hive provides a time to make up tests or assignments that’s gathered from the week. With the provided additional education and effort from within the Carter Community, I believe there is potential for the seniors and juniors of 2020-2021 to succeed with flying colors and with higher composites.

Being an exchange student in a country completely different from yours is scary, I am not going to lie. 

Every day is a challenge, and things that people believe are ordinary are not to you. People will talk to you about stuff that you have never heard about, and sometimes you will find yourself nodding in agreement even though you have never heard about any of the things they are telling you. Your first week in high school will be the craziest week of your entire year. You don’t know where you are going and you feel like every day something new is going on. One of the craziest things that both Lina and I, an exchange student from Germany, had to face was enrichment. Nobody told us that students have to go to a different class depending on the day of the week. So, for a week, I found myself going to the office every day trying to figure out where to go. 

Another thing that really shook me was the dress code. In Spain, you can wear whatever you want to class, and nobody would mind. So on my very first day, I got dress-coded because I did not know that it even existed. Cultural differences are also something that surprised us both exchange students and students of the high school. Every time I talk to a student about my country they are surprised about all the things that we don’t have and that for them are normal l like food, certain food chains, types of clothes. But even though being an exchange student can be scary and hard at times, I would not change this experience for anything; all the people that I have met, all the different things I am experiencing. I am really glad I took this opportunity and I am really excited to experience even more new things.  

Are vending machines alright in school or are they being abused?

The vending machines are a great resource for the school. The vending machines at Carter High School are accessible to everyone in the school, Even visitors can use them if they please. No, not everyone has to use them, but they are available to your services. Carter High School is a lucky school to have vending machines because some kids do not eat the school lunch that is provided so they tend to get some things out of the vending machines and snack on that. Vending machines didn’t exist in the schools up until the 1950’s. While Some people may not think they are good because some may think they are only eating junk foods. However the federal regulations have gotten rid of junk foods in school vending machines and only are allowed to put in things that have calorie, fat, sugar, and sodium limits to them.They are very useful for when someone doesn’t eat lunch or breakfast so it keeps them going. All things range from a dollar to a dollar and fifty cents. Some profits from the vending machines go to the school so that the school also gets some money out of the students or visitors money they spend on them. Some of the snacks from the vending machine ranges from fruit snacks, water, soda or even beef jerky and chips. Vending machines are useful in schools so kids can find something to eat.

The material of AP classes sometimes feels out of place to the curriculum they will need to advance in their high school career, but AP classes in general provide a great opportunity for students looking for future success in college. AP (advanced placement) classes, are offered at most high schools across the country. These classes are often more challenging intellectually and take more time dedication for students to keep up. Mr. Martinez, the AP European History teacher, says that “AP classes are very important for students who want to go on to college; it prepares them for the workload and discipline.” In these AP classes, students often have the opportunity to take a final exam in order to gain some sort of credit in their future college career.  This is one of the many reasons why AP classes are a great resource for college-bound students to put themselves ahead. AP classes offered at Carter High School begin at 9th grade with AP Human Geography. In this class, one learns about geography, population, agriculture, etc. The alternative to the course is the regular placement World History class. Many students have argued that the World History class would be more beneficial in future classes to provide background information. For example, the next line of AP classes are AP Government and AP European History. Therefore, a more history-oriented class, like World History, would prepare students better for future classes than a geography oriented class, like Human Geography. Overall, there are flaws with the material choices for AP classes; however, going through a college level class will prepare students for college and provide a great experience either way.