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HS Newsmaker: Sasha Chesnakova–From Russia, with, uh, well…
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Written by Cody Davis, for The Eagle
17 year old foreign exchange student Sasha Chesnokova has been here at Obama since the school year started and is here for the year. She is from a well-known town in Russia called Saint Petersburg.
She considers Pittsburgh a fairly small city due to the fact that her city has around 7million people living in it. After talking to her she seems to miss her home and of course her mom very much.
Amazingly enough, Sasha is not a huge fan of Pittsburgh. She told me she won’t miss anything about our town after she leaves. The fact of the matter is, we just have differences from Russia.
Russia has more police, her hometown has 6 million more people than us, and the main thing is that she really misses her mother.
With winter coming, Sasha wished to correct an American misconception , “People have the wrong opinion about Russian winters. Saint Petersburg is not a very cold, very snowy place.”
Sasha may soon find out that Pittsburgh certainly can be just that.
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Ilana Diamant: Definitions
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Written by Ilana Diamant, The Eagle Senior Writer
Wealth:
I thought leaving a private Jewish middle school would stop all the “Oh my god, did you see what she’s wearing?!” comments. I spent years hoping for the day when I didn’t have to straighten my hair or spend a small fortune at Abercrombie to fit in. “Who did you vote for in Student Council? I didn’t vote for Sarah…her curly hair looked so weird today!” This was the type of thing I heard on a daily basis.
At first, high school seemed different. More styles, more people who didn’t grow up in neighborhoods with average incomes of $150,000. Now that everyone has settled in, there’s more criticism. You’re no longer worried about first impressions. So when you see someone in the hallway, and don’t like their outfit, or accessory, and you call them “poor,” it leads me to the definition of “wealth.” Not the dictionary’s version, mine.
Having money is important, sure. Money runs the world. Debt talks run rampant over D.C. and the country’s news outlets. But “wealthy,” or “rich” doesn’t necessarily mean to be rich in monetary terms. This sounds corny, and you might’ve read messages like this in cheesy storybooks when you were a child, but isn’t being happy so much better than a new purse? Wouldn’t a college education be a better investment than designer boots? There are people who know this, and they are the people that shop sales because they are thinking of their future. I’m tired of “poor” being a common insult. Have you picked up a paper since the recession began? Nearly EVERYONE is poor! Maybe you’ve read about these Occupy protests going on. They’re there because there is 1% of the population sitting on all the money, and the gap between them and everyone else is huge.
Our country is a mess. I’ve seen legitimate poverty in places most people don’t get a chance to go. THAT is poor. In the end, unless you’re going into the fashion industry, or if you’re going to be a high-ranking executive that’s constantly under scrutiny, no one in the real world is going to ask, or maybe even care, if your polo is Ralph Lauren or Walmart.
“Poor” is not acceptable. It’s no teenager’s fault if they don’t have as much money as their neighbor. If you must insult someone, insult something you might not like about them, not their portion of the Great Recession.
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Sidony Ridge: In praise of Obama
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Written by Sidony Ridge, The Eagle Staff Reporter
The good thing about this school is opportunities for afterschool events. Sports are only one category Obama Academy offers in their extra-curricular activities. Unlike most schools, Obama prints their own newspaper and gives so much for students to succeed in their SACK books.
The SACK book means Service, Action, Community, and Knowledge. This book was made for students to show proof of their out-of-school activities. The teachers and the principle remind them that colleges look for these volunteer working students to add to their collection of A students. Though many slack on the SACK, I don’t and feel it a great opportunity for any resume.
Sports are endless at Obama from golf to basketball. Most schools don’t give golf or even volleyball unless their tuition is high enough to afford or they are a big public school. In the fall, the sports that go on are football (all year round), soccer, and girls volleyball. Now that winter’s coming swimming and wrestling are open in addition to football games and basketball. The spring holds tennis try outs, boys volleyball with the last of the football season. The sport that appeals to me is soccer but since it passed the options are still endless. Sports have been the most popular for SACK hours until we get into theater.
In the late winter until late spring the musical fever goes strong with afterschool going beyond hours for rehearsals. It may sound like a drag but trust me, the musical turns out great with a Jeanne Kelly Award to top it. I plan to audition for the musical but currently am immersed in Cabaret. Cabaret and One Acts are two separate activities that start in the very late fall and early winter. Cabaret and One Acts are very similar to the musical but are about different aspects on it. Cabaret is all about singing, which is good practice for chorus parts and solos. One Acts are focused on acting/drama that would be great practice too.
Speaking of singing, Glee (which everyone should know) is especially popular. Clubs in Obama are picked early September with tons of options for not one but two clubs. Glee is one of them along with Youth and Government, Chess, Math, Football (obviously), Quiz, Foreign Films, and many, many more. The two clubs that I have picked were Youth and Government and Foreign Films. Youth and Government is a great way to experience student elections and professional debates and learn in depth how it works. The club contains a club President, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, Lawyers, etc. Each school’s YAG in Pennsylvania goes to Harrisburg where they debate about bills they’ve made on serious topics. The person that organizes the whole debate is the Governor who is elected by all the schools. It’s a fun way to earn SACK book hours especially when it is all year round. These clubs are every Tuesday switching for club 1 to club 2.
The options seem to increase every year at Obama now that a ski club has been added this winter. There is no possible way to avoid fun, free hours to earn SACK book hours and tons of friend time.
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Monet Murphy: Not a fan of PSU trustees
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Written by Monet Murphy, The Eagle Staff Writer
The Penn State Scandal! It’s been all over the TV, newspapers, magazines and the internet. I’m not a juror and no one asked me BUT I’m going to give you my opinion anyway! I honestly feel badly for Joe Paterno. Sure he should’ve called the cops after he told his bosses but guess what!…There was another person that could’ve called the cops and didn’t, so you want to play the ‘Morality Game’? Then let’s play! The janitor who saw Jerry Sandusky, (aka: Mr. Pedophile), performing sexual acts on a young boy didn’t call the police, he went to his boss; his ‘higher up’, as did the assistant coach who saw a similar act a few years later. But the janitor isn’t getting his morality questioned, nor is the assistant. So in my opinion morality shouldn’t have been a factor in firing Paterno, he followed the basic rules and told his higher up.
The only people I’m really mad at are Sandusky himself and the Penn State trustees, and while it’s pretty obvious why I’m mad at Sandusky, the Penn State trustees have me wishing for their downfall. They did nothing! Everyone but them technically did their ‘job’; they let Sandusky continue on running his program and teaching children when he should’ve been fired a long time ago.
For those of you who don’t understand why I said that, there was a mother who reported that Sandusky sexually molested her son in his camp Second Mile, the police did investigate but the investigation came up empty, I don’t think he should’ve been fired after this because it could’ve easily been an over-protective mother but I think Sandusky should’ve been kept under very close watch; and even when someone ELSE accused Sandusky again, no investigation was done! Not at all!
Well, I hope Penn State finally can understand the quote “Better Safe than Sorry” because first of all there should have been an investigation and Sandusky should’ve been fired! After two times of being accused of being a pedophile no one thought it was suspicious? Or at the very least fired him as a safety precaution! They should’ve did something sooner, but even when people came to them and told them Sandusky was doing these things, no one did anything and I’m glad they’re suffering for it now.
To end my rant all I’m going to say is that Penn State only fired Paterno because of pressure from the media, he was being paid too much and they wanted to fire him anyway (and this was the perfect excuse), and he was the scapegoat for what was happening.
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Up close and personal with the Steelers
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Written by Dynae Shaw, The Eagle Senior Writer
How many Steelers games do most teenagers attend? Typically not many, that is unless you are Rondell Harris, a junior at Obama Academy. At first glance, Rondell is your typical teenager. He has a job, but it is not in retail or food service. In fact, he is at Heinz Field quite often for his job. Rondell Harris is the ball-boy for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I spoke with Rondell about his exciting occupation.
His responsibilities as the ball boy are to manage the players’ needs and equipment. He gets footballs and sometimes water. He is also has duties in the locker room.
I asked Rondell what are the things he likes most about his job. He said he loves working the sidelines. He also spoke upon how great the environment is. He said, “It’s an unbelievable and enjoyable experience. It’s like nothing he has ever seen before. It one thing to watch or even go to a game, but it’s another thing to be at the game on the sidelines with players running past you.”
Although Rondell loves his job and he loves working, there is one catch to the job. He isn’t too fond of the hours. He says he wishes the hours were more consistent. They change almost every week and they are tiring. He also said that it is hard to know when you will be working until.
Even though Rondell dislikes the hours, he still wouldn’t give up his job. He knows that very few teenagers get this chance and he would still like to be a part of that group. He thinks it’s an amazing job. And whenever he feels discouraged he asks himself, “What 16 year old can say they go to every home game and watch the Steelers play right in front of them?”
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We made AYP! We made AYP! So what?
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Written by Chloe Mobley, The Eagle Staff Reporter
If you ask the average student what AYP means, most will have no clue. They’ve seen the letters before, but they are a little hazy about the meaning. Well, now you’ll know.
Put simply, AYP stands for annually yearly progress. Every year a certain percentage of students have to be proficient or advanced on the standardized tests to demonstrate a school’s continuing growth. Well, last year we made our goal of 72% of our students being efficient or advanced in reading and 67% in math.
Many high schools only dream of making AYP. As everyone knows, our school is unique; we pride ourselves with our holistic learning style. I talked to Mr. Chapman about what AYP means to our school and he said, “It shows that what we’re doing here works.” Some schools focus all their energy on test prep for math and reading class.
Mrs.Berry (Math)and Mr. Kocur (English) are in charge of ensuring each student’s success on the tests, as each are ITL’s of their respective departments. They organize the PSSA prep work, and work with students individually that need help. They ensure that every student knows the importance of PSSA testing, not only for the school but for themselves.
Making AYP is important for many reasons. For one, when you don’t make the expected percentage, the district and the state will have concerns about a school’s progress and the learning environment may become stressful. After all, everyone wants to see continued progress. And if you don’t pass the test personally, you ultimately can’t graduate high school without re-taking it and/or doing portfolio papers. That makes for a tough senior year.
The next time you hear someone mention AYP think of how important it is for our school, and when you face the tests this spring, be confident! Our school’s strategies have worked in the past, and we continue to broaden our horizons.
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Poetry Corner 2–Who can I trust?
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Written by Name withheld
“Who Can I Trust”
It’s sad that you don’t see it
Our friendships in the dust
Cause lately I’ve been thinking
And there’s something I can’t trust
You always want to gossip
You always want to lie
You always tell me people’s secrets
What do you do with mines?
Are you ever truthful?
I guess I’ll never know
You are the greatest actor
But I need to end this show
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