Oregon shoots ahead with CCSS standards
By Hannekah Aquino
After a three year process that began in the fall of 2010, the Common Core State Standards are now finally and fully implemented, and will play a vital role in the education of McNary students. The CCSS are agreed upon standards of what most of the states think students should learn in English and Math. The CCSS will always constantly shift through reflecting, re-evaluating and improving in education in order to do things effectively. This allows every student from kindergarten to twelfth grade, despite where a student lives, to have equal education for each grade. That way students will have clear expectations of what is to be expected from them and have a fair winning chance to go through college or the workforce against others in the United States and abroad. According to Mrs. Andrea Lockard, teacher coach at McNary High School, the CCSS demands standards to have a lot of critical thinking, and analyzing and focusing of evidence to support an argument. There also has to be an awareness of content area because the constant shift of standards each year can be interpreted differently, so the McNary students must become aware of the content area of what teachers are doing and identify the connections of it. According to information on Corestandards.org, the CCSS takes consideration to set standards that give opportunities to help improve those with disabilities and English language learners. For example, the English standard for the Freshmen is Reading Literature 1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. While in Sophomore year, the English standard is Reading Literature 4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings. The CCSS will also take a part in the test called the SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) because it’s the assessment for the CCSS which students will take to demonstrate their skills in reading, writing and math. This will take place next Spring of 2015 for the McNary Sophomores who are turning into Juniors next year. For those who do not pass the SBAC may have work samples to reach the requirements to graduate. Yet the decision of what the scores are expected from the students has still not been decided by the Oregon Department of Education. Though the scores may be low since it is replacing the Oaks as a new type of assessment for students. “We are definitely moving ahead with the Common Core, and where our instructions and grading are aligned for the standard,” said Mr. Adam Watkins, Assistant Principal at McNary High School. The teachers are a critical voice in all the committee meetings of how the CCSS will affect our education as students. All teachers are affected by this, and are provided training monthly with the school and district. They are also given time for weekly plans. The CCSS will tell them what to teach, but it won’t tell them how to teach it, so the teachers still have the freedom to create their own lesson plans and modify the instructions for the individual needs for each of their own students. It also turns out that Oregon is, “Far ahead of the proportion of the country,” said Lockard, since Oregon is one of the first few states to fully implement the CCSS. |
McNary High switches gears to new grading
By Brandon Meulink
Things have, and will change here at McNary. One change that affects almost everyone here, is the new grading system being worked in. Many students don’t have a clue as to what the new grading system is or does. To really get an idea of what McNary students know, McNary sophomore Adam Raschko added his opinion. The first thing Raschko added was what exactly he knows about the new system. “All I know is that it’s like a 1 through 4 scale, and that a lot of teachers don’t follow it yet,” Raschko said. For Raschko the new grading system will change some things but it won’t change his overall approach to school. “I’ll still do the same things I always do, it won’t change my approach at all,” Raschko said. Overall Raschko had a very neutral approach to the situation, just kind of “rolling with it” if you will. But when asked about whether or not he would like to have the old system back or just continue on, his thoughts were a little different. “I would just like it to stay the same, I just don’t think it’s necessary,” Raschko said. Raschko also used an old quote to express his feelings to the new system. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” Raschko said. After a while I had a good idea of how Raschko felt about the system, as well as other students around Raschko’s age. According to Raschko a lot of his friends or acquaintances, pretty much felt the same as he did. “I think a lot of kids are just trying to get an idea of what’s new,” Raschko said. So to answer Raschko’s and many students’ questions, I took to the McNary staff to ask some questions about what’s new with the grading system. Mrs. Shalese Stroup a math teacher here at McNary, felt like someone to look to because she is incorporating the new system this year. Stroup first gave an explanation as to what exactly proficiency grading is. “Proficiency grading is a way for students to know how they are really doing based on their academic achievement and not on their behavior” Stroup said. Stroup added to that thought by saying “There are many different forms of proficiency grading, but the common theme is based on a 4 point rubric or the GPA scale” Stroup said. The next thing she added was why we are switching, and the hopes for the new program. “We are switching because of House Bill 2220, which is a bill that will hopefully give a more accurate idea of where students are in their learning” Stroup said. Lastly Stroup added that she actually favors the new system to the old one. “My preference is geared more towards the proficiency based grading because I feel that students are able to better see where they are at based off their learning” Stroup said. She even had an overall goal for the new system and students. “The goal is to see what the student has learned over time and has finally reached the goal of proficiency” Stroup said. |
Behind the Kitchen
By Aaron Jenkins
Kitchen manager Ms. Sarah Jehnings has a big impact on students’ lunches and breakfasts. Jehnings used to work at a deli before working at McNary. In order for Jehnings to be our kitchen manager, she is required to have a G.E.D. Jehnings and the other staff have to prepare around 900 meals a day to feed the students and occasionally other teachers. Of these, Jehnings predicts about 40 percent is prepared from scratch. There is not a set budget for lunch and breakfast. Jehnings said some kids can be picky while others just take what is served. Jehnings’ day starts at 5:45 AM by serving breakfast, starting lunch, serving it, cleaning the kitchen and going home at 1:45 PM “Lunch can get hectic,”said Jehnings, but she has ten other cooks by her side. The health policies prevent cross contamination, require everyone to wear a hair net, and that the food is cooked to the proper temperature. Everything has to be sanitized and the staff cleans between lunches. According to Spinks, more kids than last year are picking up messes. “The kitchen is used to its full potential” Jehnings said. Due to all the equipment and the space in the kitchen, a restaurant is manageable and could be maintained if needed. The pizza we eat in the cafeteria is not homemade, the dough is frozen, but the cheese is fresh. The dough for the pizza crust is pre-made, the cooks roll it out and make the edges. If Jehnings could prepare any meal from scratch, “It depends on what mood I am in,” she said. Karen Spinks is the assistant food service manager and helps cook meals with Jehnings. She said an average day is pretty good and goes by fast. Spinks works the same hours as Jehnings. “Getting to work is easy considering there are no drivers in the mornings,” she said. Spinks schedule is usually something like: filling papers out, sticking food in the oven, and figuring out lunch. Spinks likes her job and works usually as the cashier. “I love cashier, it has more contact with the students,” she said. Spinks and all the other staff have no free time during the day except the occasional bathroom break. Everyone gets along with everyone and knows what their job is and how to do it. The staff are friendly, and cooperation is pretty good. They enjoy their time back in the kitchen by listening to the radio, talking with others, and most of them have a sense of humor. The cooks in the back usually eat the same food as students. Spink’s favorite meal is the mashed potatoes and chicken. “Lunch is pretty good, taco line is the longest” said Spinks. Spinks ends her day by cleaning up and putting everything away, doing cash work, and going home. Spinks says kids are usually good, there aren’t really any arguments, and everyone is pretty respectful. |
Photo by Brandi urban
Obbulia Sol is making pizza for lunch at McNary. Mrs. Obbulia Sol Makes lunch but it is not all that hard or complicated for highschool students. |
Theater flood wreaks unintended havoc
By: Emilee Carr
On September 5th, there was a flood in the auditorium in the pit which is the area below the stage. On the day of the flood, a student from the marching band came in to the auditorium and noticed water coming out of the bottom of the door that came from outside. McNary Senior Chelsea Pippert got a hold of Myers of the mess, and then she got the custodians immediately. There was an inch of water , but there was not that much damage as McNary drama teacher, Mr. Dallas Myers, thought there would’ve been. The custodians took everything, the props and the costumes, out of the pit, and put in a humidifier and a fan in the pit so it’ll dry quicker. Luckily, no productions will be slowed down because of the destruction from the flood. There is going to be a band in the pit for their production of “Urinetown” and he was worried about the water being in the pit. The custodians took four to five hours to clean up the water and the next day it was all cleaned up. So everything’s back to normal including the production. He didn’t lose any props or costumes so it didn’t cost any money. Just lots, and lots of stress. But he had discovered props that he thought he didn’t have before such as the bucket of baseball gloves that they could’ve used for one of his plays instead of having one of his actors or students get one. |
Photo by Brittany Pasco
Theater students are folding costumes that were in the pit. There were a lot of costumes and props on the seats in the auditorium. |