Science Department Chair Rebecca Jansing-Kaestner introduced juniors to the option of graduating with a distinction in science at a class meeting a few weeks ago, to the joy of many students.  “I was about to jump out of my seat.  I was going nuts,” junior Carol Zubrowski said.

To graduate with a distinction in science, students would be required to have a total of five science credits and center their senior project on science.  The last part of the requirement is up to the student:  he or she could participate in an internship, take a summer science course, shadow three different scientists, or participate in a science extracurricular activity for two years, according to Jansing-Kaestner.

“I was seeing a handful of students doubling up on science and also doing summer internships.  They were really beefing up on sciences,” Jansing-Kaestner said.

Junior Hunter Kothenbeutel was one of these students who planned on signing up for extra science courses even before the option to graduate with a distinction in science was offered.  “I had always been interested in science, and I wanted to take AP Biology and Physics,” he said.

Jansing-Kaestner strongly suggests that students do an internship if they are able to.  “Colleges see that you’re serious about moving into training.  Part of that job training is being reliable and learning to work with others,” she said.

Jansing-Kaestner “can’t guarantee everyone an internship,” which is why Zubrowski is looking into the job shadowing option.  Zubrowski grew up in a family full of scientists and engineers.  “My family’s one big group of nerds and I love them for it,” she said.  She hopes to be able to become involved with her family’s work in the field of computer engineering.

Zubrowski had first gotten hands-on experiences with different types of science during a summer science camp at Stevenson University during middle school, where she learned about physics, forensics, and how to ride a hovercraft.

Jansing-Kaestner hopes that students will take advantage of the new option to graduate with a distinction in science in order to have that same kind of hands-on experience that Zubrowski did.

According to Jansing-Kaestner, a few options for students would be shadowing various engineers and scientists at the University of Maryland or signing up for internships at Aberdeen Proving Ground or Edgewood Proving Ground.

Sophomore Abbie Swanson is looking into these various summer programs to find the one that best suits her interest in anesthesiology and medicine.  “I sent in an application to APG [Aberdeen Proving Ground] and SEAP [Science and Engineering Apprentice Program] for this summer.  I might be too young, because the age is 16, but I’m hoping I’ll still get in,” she said.

Swanson also hopes that graduating with a distinction in science will make her stand out to colleges when the time comes to start searching.  Jansing-Kaestner similarly feels that a diploma with a distinction in science will give students a leg up.  “When colleges find out about it and look at the rigor that the student has done, it may open up the possibility for scholarships and getting into a better school,” she said.

Jansing-Kaestner hopes that, in the future, more students will be interested in graduating with a distinction in science.  “I’m hoping for more [students] to be interested, because we have to look more towards science and engineering.  I don’t know that this generation realizes that that’s their task to work on…I don’t think they understand the ramifications of not doing it. It opens up so many doors,” Jansing-Kaestner said.

Brianna Glase is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

To read more about the upcoming STEM Academy, go here.

On Jan. 12, Principal Madelyn Ball sent a letter to the teachers about how the school is addressing the Twitter controversy.

Ball decided to separate the students who have gotten in trouble for inappropriate Twitter usage into “three different categories.”  The first group includes kids who said inappropriate things to or about a teacher.  The second group is composed of students who openly stated on Twitter that they were tweeting during class.  The third group encompasses students who posted things about drugs, alcohol, or sex abuse.

Ball revealed that parents will be notified about everything.  “When there is something that is shocking and has come to my attention, I have to share it with parents.  Parents will be called and they will know what it is, and then it’s up to the parents with what they want to do with that information,” Ball said.

As of Jan. 30, “The students have been identified and we first dealt with the students that made inappropriate comments about teachers.  We’re still in the process of dealing with students that wrote about drugs, alcohol, sex, things like that that we had to make their parents aware of what they were writing about.  Not necessarily because this happened in school but because we operate under contract law.   As an administration, if we know of a child writing about these sorts of things we have to share it with the parents,” Ball said.

For those students, no school disciplinary action was taken, however parents were called in and shown the tweets.

Thus far, the administration has given detentions to those students who have been identified and proven to be tweeting in class.  Because tweets are date stamped only, the administration can only give detentions to students who explicitly state in their tweets that they are tweeting in class.

For those students who have tweeted inappropriately regarding teachers, the administration has sentenced them to suspensions and a disciplinary board in which they will “plead to go back to school,” according to Ball.

Even though the administration is taking action in regards to Twitter, Ball does not think that this will be the end for Internet abuse.  “We have had these things with Facebook, and there will be other things,” Ball said.

“We shut down Twitter for now, I’m not going to say we shut down Twitter for good, but it’s shut down right now until we get a handle on this,” Ball said.  To listen an audio of the interview with Ball, see above.

Other schools in the area have also had problems with inappropriate Internet usage.  Archbishop Curley High School Technology Director Joseph Jancuk said that teachers don’t use Twitter in class, but some of them use Facebook.  “Essentially students outside of school must keep Christian values and respect others,” Jancuk said.

Archbishop Curley High School Assistant Principal Jamey Becker said that students who tweet inappropriate things have the same penalties as if they had said the things that they tweeted in school.  “Nothing major has ever happened, only some inappropriate student-to-student tweets,” Becker said.

“The only use of Twitter on campus is done by our communications department in conjunction with our media strategy.  Twitter is not used in the classroom and social media is typically blocked on campus,” Calvert Hall High School Network Administrator Austin Ewachiw said.

“We strongly discourage the use of social media during school including Twitter and Facebook,” Mercy High School Director of Communications Tess Veloso said.  She stated that the punishment is the issue of demerits, but so far, they have had no incidents regarding social media and Twitter.

Amanda Graziano is an Opinion Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

Additional reporting by the Patriot staff.

Approximately 350 students bought bands, raising about 3,500 dollars for the senior class. In past years, the Variety Show generated about 6,000 dollars towards the senior class, according to Senior Class Moderator Sue Greig.

Many students decided to participate because they wanted to feel more relaxed during exam week. “I just wanted to wear sweatpants and be comfortable,” freshman Eric Johnson said.

The price had originally started out at 15 dollars, but was reduced to twelve dollars after initial complaints from the student body, according to Senior Class President Maria Edwards.

Some people still thought the bracelets were too pricey after the price reduction. “It was only three days and I did not want to pay twelve dollars to dress down when we are only in school for a few hours,” junior Katherine Langrehr said.

“Simply put, it was a risk vs. reward situation. We felt that lowering the price of the bracelets would actually help us to make more money, and the huge number of students who participated in the dress down days shows that these reductions paid off,” Senior Class Vice President Nick Henninger said.

With the cost of prom tickets estimated at 100 dollars or more, additional fundraisers are coming.

Henninger encourages members of the senior class to get involved. “We have some ideas in mind to raise money, but we really need the ideas and manpower of our entire class as we move forward. We have a Facebook group, which I ask that all members of the Class of 2012 join. We need all members of the senior class to reach out to Maria, [Senior Member-At-Large Maggie Cassidy], or I, tell us their ideas, and/or offer to lend a hand in future fundraisers.”

“We are doing a black light dance and we have some other little things we are working on that hopefully will pull through and become fundraisers,” Edwards said.

According to Greig, the black light dance is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 24, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets will be sold for 12 dollars each.

Sarah Kearby is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

“It’s themed as a Eucharistic retreat,” Harkins said.  A mass will be held on all three days of the retreat, and there will also be a night of silent adoration.

“It’s held annually for high school students,” Harkins said.  Activities will include in-depth talks as well as a “praise and worship band” that will perform during holy hour.  Holy hour is a separate time for meditation, prayer, and adoration.  The retreat is now closed for sign-up.

 Chioma Iheoma is an A&E Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

Teachers are required to take attendance in the beginning of every class, which started Jan. 24, the first day of the second semester.

Previously, attendance was taken during the first class of each school day.  However, this system has changed due to certain safety precautions and legalities.

“You have to think about it in terms of an emergency.  If there was an emergency and we had to do a lockdown, I would have to know immediately who was not in a classroom.  We would have to account for [the students] in some way or another,” Principal Madelyn Ball said.

“Legally nowadays, the school has to be held accountable for attendance at a moment’s notice because of the things that happen in schools nowadays. If there was an emergency, myself along with Ms. Tebin and Mr. Wilson we have to just be able to grab a report that will say exactly who’s in class and who isn’t in class,” Ball said.

Grace Kim is Online Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

The total excludes those students who participated in the annual March for Life which occurs on the same day.  A Respect Life Day was planned for those students opting not to go on the March for Life, and the administration announced beforehand that there were to be no regularly scheduled classes on that designated Monday.

“If the parents write us a note, then we trust that that [the excuse indicated in the note] was the case,” Dean of Students Thomas Vierheller said.  This means that if students bring in a note, there will be no further consequence.

“Having the special day here depends on how many kids go on the March.  I think it’s a great idea to plan to have a Respect Life Day.  The whole concept of respecting life is more than just abortion,” Principal Madelyn Ball said.

“We have to debrief and make some discussions for next year…it would have to be a completely different program.  I just have to communicate better with parents about what is actually happening at school that day and its educational relevance,” Ball said.

The reasons are varied for the students who did decide to attend Respect Life Day.

“My mom said I could get my nails done if I did,” freshman Nicky Clauter said.

“My mother made me come into school [on Respect Life Day],” freshman Olivia LoPresti said.

The Patriot will further investigate both student and teacher responses. Check back for future coverage.

Grace Kim is the Online Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

On Jan. 24, the four participated in their normally scheduled classes and began their study abroad experience.

According to Coordinator of International Student Programs and English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor Sandi Seiler, the students celebrated the Chinese New Year with a special dinner with their host families on Jan. 23 at freshman Bethany Toy’s house and had an overall successful start to their school year.

“From my perspective, everything went well,” Seiler said.  During their first year, all new international students will have Seiler for advisory.  They will also take her English for International Students (EIS) class in place of their foreign language class until they can achieve a certain score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Seiler hosts Maggie.  The other students, William, Iris, and Yi are hosted by math teacher Susan Kraft, Toy, and Nurse Laura Frank respectively.

“I’ve always been interested in Asian culture,” Kraft said.  “I’ve been to Japan, my husband goes to Asia, and my parents had visited where [William] was from.”

According to Kraft, the experience thus far has been “wonderful” and she has been “learning from [William]” and hopes to learn more about the Chinese culture.

“He’s very helpful.  His English is good and he’s good with computers and he likes sports.  We watched the Ravens game together.  [He’s] interested in what we’re interested in, and he likes to try new things.  He wants to be here and he wants to experience everything.  He’s very good with technology, and my sons have that in common [with him],” Kraft said.

“[My family and I] thought it would be a good experience.  It’s something we wanted to do and we would love to learn some things also.  My eleven year old was very excited and he wanted to do it, too,” Nurse Laura Frank said.

A challenge, Frank said, is that “I want to help him but I can’t sometimes because there’s that language barrier.”

Despite this, Frank said “[The experience so far is] wonderful, we have been doing very well.  Yi is comfortable at my house.  He’s settled in and he’s very polite and he’s very fun.  He’s happy and we’ve enjoyed it tremendously.  We laugh a lot, and we do have fun.”

Grace Kim is the Online Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

To read the previous news piece previewing the arrival of the Chinese transfer students, click here.  For introductory interviews of the Chinese students, check out the video to your right.

According to Principal Madelyn Ball, teachers prompted the time change. “The teachers asked me earlier in the year if they had to be two hours long, and I said, ‘No, not as far as I’m concerned.’ The teachers really wanted it to be that way,” Ball said.

“The whole idea of two hour long exams was to increase the rigor. It’s the questions, not the number of questions, which affect the rigor,” Ball said.

The time reduction will remain in place for final exams as well.

Senior Nandin Dave thinks the changes will make preparing for his exams easier. “It’s harder to concentrate with the tests being longer. It being shorter gives a more precise idea of what to study,” Dave said.

Sophomore Travis Nelson echoes these sentiments. “I think that midterms’ being shortened is nice because the shorter time guarantees a slightly less stressful exam experience,” Nelson said.

For tips on avoiding midterm stress, check out the Lifestyles story here.

Junior Shannon Olsen prefers the longer exam time. “I liked the two hour time slot better, so I had more time to take the exam,” Olsen said.

Some Advanced Placement classes require extra time for midterms to reflect the actual time limit for AP tests. Teachers of these classes will decide the times for these midterms individually.

In addition, students with learning disabilities will still have additional time to complete their exams.

Ball was motivated to enact the midterm changes to improve conditions for students. For this reason, exams next year could be held before Christmas break.

A meeting was held on Tuesday, Jan. 10, to determine whether midterms will be held before or after break this coming year. The Patriot contacted Ball for information on the meeting results, but she was unavailable for comment. This story will be updated with results of the meeting when they are available.

Freshman Emma Kleinberg thinks this is a wise move. “I think that exams should be before Christmas break, because then the information will be more fresh in your mind, and when you have so many days off, you have more time to forget what you learned,” Kleinberg said.

Test scores would reinforce such a change. “Students usually perform better on exams before Christmas break. Instruction before Christmas is then more meaningful,” Ball said.

Because of current scheduling, the midterms would not mark the end of the semester. “It’s very different to end the semester before Christmas because of when we start school. You can give exams before Christmas and have two weeks of school after Christmas,” Ball said.

Nelson believes this is in the best interest of the student body. “Exams being before Christmas is something that I think will benefit students in the long run because that stress of preparing for exams will not be perpetuated over the break,” Nelson said.

Adam Kuester is a News Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.