An extra year of middle school?

The urban environment of Washington, D.C. hasn't been known as the most "friendly" and some kids are taking notice. Some have even requested not to move up to high school once graduating from middle school.

Christian Carter's conversation with his mother began last fall just before dinner. The eighth-grader said he didn't like any of next year's D.C. high school choices. The places were too scary or too disorganized, he said. He wanted to stay at Shaw Middle School, a former educational disaster area suddenly doing well. Other classmates had similar chats with their parents, their principal and eventually the chancellor of the city schools.

Now, to the astonishment of nearly every adult involved, class president Christian and his friends have become, as far as historians can determine, the first eighth-graders ever to lobby successfully for a ninth grade at their middle school so they could have an extra year to prepare for the jarring realities of urban high school.

That's an interesting concept, and what might be taken from this is not just an escape from a bad high school situation but allowing for more time in middle school so that ninth graders can transition more. 

Plenty of people could probably tell you about how awkward their freshman year is, throw in the hostile high school environments of D.C., and you have a serious problem on your hands.

Do you think more middle schools should have a ninth grade? Do you think kids should be allowed to stay in schools that are in much better situations than the high schools that they have to go to? What do you think?

Illinois allows schools to drug test high school athletes at any time

Some interesting issues come up with this story, as prep athletes in the state of Illinois will be subject to drug tests at any time.

The Illinois House unanimously passed a bill Thursday that would extend the drug-testing window to include the entire season. This year marked the first season the Illinois High School Association conducted drug tests, but it did so only during the playoffs.

"You need to do that so people have no idea it's coming," said state Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock), the House sponsor of the bill, which needs Senate approval.

Matt Troha, IHSA assistant executive director, said six tests came back positive from the 264 taken during fall playoffs but were waived for medical reasons.

"We trust our coaches and trust our membership, and they told us there was a problem," Troha said, adding some schools have voluntarily tested for years.

It's kind of sad that we have to drug test kids but with the incredible pressure put on them to succeed and get a college scholarship, and the way parents are these days with sports, it's easy to see why something needs to be implemented.

And not only performance-enhancing drugs but the other illegal drugs that kids may be tempted to take in high school, such as marijuana, pose a pitfall to athletes. These tests could now prevent a lot of athletes from doing those drugs.

What do you think? Will the drug tests help? Is this a violation of student rights?  

Pizza place buys paper for high school class in exchange for advertising

Here's an interesting lesson in economics...

The students Jeb Harrison teaches in his economics classes at Pocatello High School in Idaho have learned one thing for sure about these hard times: for $5 you can get a 14-inch pizza with one topping at Molto Caldo Pizzeria, just down the street.

Earlier this month, after residents of Pocatello rejected a school levy intended to help address a depleted budget and rising costs, Mr. Harrison decided to find a way to help. He approached Dan McIsaac, the pizzeria owner, and brokered a deal.

If Mr. McIsaac paid about $315 for 10,000 sheets of paper for Mr. Harrison’s classes, more than a year’s supply, the pizzeria could run an advertisement across the bottom of every sheet handed out in class.

“Wow,” said Mr. Harrison, echoing the response of some of his students to the $5 pizza offer, “that is a pretty good deal.”

You can read the full story here.

I don't know whether we should applaud Mr. Harrison or criticize him, but honestly if more schools can find inventive ways to get funding - then by all means do so.

What do you think? Should schools have advertising schemes like this one?

WIAA sued over right to cover high school athletic events

The Wisconsin Newspaper Association and Garnett Co. are going head to head with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association about their right to cover high school sporting events.

The WNA claims the WIAA is violating newspapers' rights under the Copyright Act by granting exclusive contracts to private companies covering tournament events.

WIAA spokesman Todd Clark declined to comment, saying he hadn't seen the WNA's counterclaim. Jerry O'Brien, an attorney representing the WIAA, said he had a chance to scan the filing but would need time before he'd be able to comment on specifics of the case.

The WIAA filed its lawsuit in December against the WNA and Gannett, which owns The Post-Crescent of Appleton, after the newspaper's Webcast of a high school playoff game Nov. 8.

The WIAA says one of its contracted private partners owned the Webcast rights to the event and is owed a fee. But WNA lawyers contend that the host schools, all public, didn't object when The Post-Crescent streamed the game and three others over the Internet.

What are your thoughts about the WIAA's move to give exclusive rights for high school events to private companies? Isn't it the right of the newspaper to cover these events? And is it even the WIAA's right to do that since it's public high schools that are hosting events?

School district looks into later high school start times

The Juneau School District is currently looking at plans to have a later high school start time, largely by flipping times with elementary schools.

Juneau School District officials are looking into the possibility of flipping elementary and high school start times, giving high schoolers an extra hour and 15 minutes before classes begin in the morning.

District spokeswoman Kristin Bartlett emphasized that the idea is only in its early stages. Public forums, a thorough public explanation and more research would precede any decisions. No timeline has been set.

According to the article, the High Schools currently have a start time of 8 a.m. and go until 2 p.m. whereas Elementary Schools go from 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

Many studies have shown that teenagers are biologically wired to stay up later at night and wake up later than younger children and adults. Some experts believe starting school later can improve high school students' performance. There may be other scheduling advantages, too, Bartlett said.

Makes sense, think back to your high school days and all the times you slept in class or your classmates slept in class. What are your thoughts? Do you think high school's should start later?

The purpose of High School Buzz

It seems that sometimes, a lot of important topics get left out of the news that include high schools. The purpose of this blog is to provide a consistent flow on information on high school related topics. Hopefully you'll enjoy the posts the we make and the constant updating that we will do.