Recently, I had the chance to attend a Romney-Ryan “victory” rally in the lovely little town of Powell, Ohio. What follows is a first hand look of my day with R-Money and Pauly R (their gangster names) :

4:30 a.m. Wake up, alarm blaring. Briefly wonder if this rally is worth getting up early.

5 a.m. Leave, with my parents worriedly looking on from behind.

They know all too well my driving skills (or lack thereof ).

5:30 a.m. Blast music, in an effort to keep myself awake. The tunes playing at 5:30 in the morning are surprisingly catchy—or maybe that’s just my sleep-addled brain playing tricks on me.

7 a.m. Arrive in Powell, following the lines of people. I can already tell this thing is going to be huge. I briefly feel a twinge of excitement—I’ve never been in the same place as 5,000 other Republicans before! Usually it’s just me and 20 other Demo- crats.

7:02 a.m. Park in field behind rally. Right after leaving my car, I realize I’ve left my ticket in it. Typical.

7:15 a.m. Use money Mom and Dad gave me for food and parking to buy a dark blue Romney/Ryan T-shirt. Parking was free, and, well, who needs food when one can have a T-shirt instead? The T-shirt costs me $20, but this is a steal compared to the $30 shirts selling on Romney’s website.

8:02 a.m. A plane flies overhead, displaying the message America is Better Then Birtherism. Shockingly, I am not the first to notice this grammatical error. Instead, several of my fellow Republicans notice it, all at once. We all have a good laugh at this irony. Looks like Republicans aren’t so stupid after all.

8:05 a.m. I begin talking with the people near me to pass the time. Next to me is a middle-aged man who owns his own store and a woman who owns a horse farm—I begin to see a pattern here. They are also suitably impressed by my dedication and tell me that I am the future of the GOP.

8:10 a.m. The amphitheater is PACKED. There are 5,100 people and a whole bunch of signs. The best ones are wooden cutouts of the letters R-O-M-N-E-Y and R-Y-A-N, held by a bunch of college-aged students. Pretty impressive for a rally that was planned only two days in advance!

8:30 a.m. Pat Tiberi, congressman for Ohio’s 12th district, appears to raucous applause. Wearing an OSU golf shirt, he eagerly makes fun of Miami University—Paul Ryan’s alma mater and OSU’s upcoming football opponents.

9:10 a.m. Romney and Ryan finally show up. Sadly, my camera dies this exact moment. However, I am too caught up in shouting, “Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!” with the rest of the crowd to notice at first.

Is the high school trying to make a statement?

Perhaps the AHS faculty is attempting to promote more clothing on students, raise awareness to save endangered polar bears, or even prove the school system genuinely has no money. Whatever the cause, I am tired of my locker becoming a closet of overflowing with jackets and sweaters each year.

Soon the Athens Bulldogs will have to trade in the Bulldog mascot for a Penguin to be more accurate.

In due time, some benefit could come from freezing during class and maybe snow caps will be allowed to be worn due to frostbitten ears.

Hopefully, in the near future, the school board will hear the plea of freezing students and staff. Then AHS could finally convert to a boiler system used for the majority of schools and bigger buildings. Having a boiler system would heat the whole school, not just each individual hallway.

Even if the board does not have the money needed, there are companies that can supply government funding for heating projects such as schools and hospitals. This

is not an impossible task, considering that Athens High School is, in fact, a school. Until someone rises up to change the

heating at AHS, the best time to wear a striped sweater is all the time.

To put it bluntly, we don’t care about anything. In fact, we pride ourselves in it. For some reason, staying ignorant and oblivious to the world around us gives us an odd sense of accomplishment.

And yet, I only discovered this because I, myself, didn’t care for much at all.

Editorial articles are always about big issues. New education bills and what they mean for our future. School policies and what they mean for our students. Scientific findings and what they mean for our health.

And yet, I couldn’t find a single topic that interested me enough. In discussing possible ideas with friends, I constantly found myself repeating the same words: “I don’t care.”

Is that bad? Yes, Holly. That is bad. Why don’t I care? Because, even by caring, by spending

hours honing an article, I couldn’t change anything about the issue at hand. And the fact is, I’m a teenager, which automatically

endows me with the right to laziness. The fact is: Why do we try when we think we can’t do anything about it?

Therefore, when we say, “I don’t care”, it’s more of recognition of defeat and an acknowledgement that we’ve already lost rather than a lack of compassion.

Is technology to blame? Our generation often jumps to the conclusion that Facebook and the Internet are the roots of all our problems, even though we refuse to live without them.

Perhaps the “like” button and the status updates are guilty. With something as powerful as the Internet at our fingertips, we feel that just by posting a status, or liking one, we’ve done enough.

Does the name “Kony 2012” ring a bell?

We “share” things, tweet for causes, all with good intention. But when does that start to hinder us from truly accomplishing anything? Don’t get me wrong.These days the Internet is more powerful than it’s ever been.

Therefore, we’re the first generation who “tweets” rather than says, “shares” rather than presents and “likes” rather than participates.

It’s our new norm. We’re a guinea pig group, as if a bunch of scientists gave

us “The Internet”,” a powerful tool and watched as we accomplished absolutely nothing with it.

If anything, the Internet should make us care more. As we hear about more issues, we’re exposed to more solutions.

And yet we’re not taking advantage of our situation. We have the ability to make the world a better place, but not the mindset for it.

Still not ready to change the world? Don’t feel too bad.

Decades of scientists have been completely confounded and befuddled by the one species they can’t seem to understand: Us. After frustrated studies and years of exasperation, they’ve settled on a decision: Our “prefrontal cortexes” (a part of our brains) don’t operate as well as adult ones do. We can’t care.

In other words, it’s not our fault!

But since when has our generation accepted limitations? Have we ever not given into the temptation of exploring what adults have told us not to do? We do things in spite, just because you told us not to.

We “can’t” care? Well, let’s show them wrong. Think of it as the ultimate sign of rebellion, proving to adults that we can be much more than apathetic babies.

Six times a year, every Matrix staff member comes to brainstorm with five different ideas prepared for articles.

Six times a year, I wait until eighth period to come up with my ideas, for ninth period.

This means, that six times a year, I ask whoever I happen to be sitting next to wherever I happen to be what they would like to read an article about.

Sometimes there’s a bit of variety, but for the most part, it’s all the same. Teacher A assigns too many assignments and doesn’t have the time to grade them all. Student 1 breaks all the rules and Teacher B never punishes them. Student two sleeps in class and Teacher C yells at only them and nobody else. Everyone has there opinion about how things should be, and how others should act.

The fact of the matter is, it does not matter how interesting the latest gossip is, or how unfair a certain teacher’s grading policy is, there are certain things that as a high school newspaper, Matrix just cannot publish, by law.

To an extent, I think that is a good thing.

Before each issue of the Matrix goes to print, we send Mr. Meek a copy to read. He goes through and makes sure we aren’t breaking any laws.

Freedom of speech does not apply to high school newspapers in the same way that it does to other publications. And that is because we are minors.

To me, that just makes sense. We’re kids. You don’t open The New York Times and read articles that tear down kids. That’s the job of tabloids, and even then, they keep it to a minimum.

But I always get asked, “Why can’t you just write one little thing about said student?” And I always think to myself, “Because who would want to read an article that’s all about his or her mistakes, especially when you’re a teenager?”

I for one would not.  It’s hard enough hearing people talk about you, so why should you have to read about it? Why should you have to watch everyone else read about it?

We try our best to put out a newspaper with articles that interest the students and teachers of Athens High School, but at the same time, there are laws to abide.

wants

I spend entirely too much time checking the clock. Sometimes I’m just counting down the minutes until I can be released from class.

Why is this?

School is exactly the sort of thing a girl like me should love. No one can deny I love learning, especially not me.

After all, I spend 24/7 looking up Wikipedia articles and reading through them until I come upon a fascinating link. I know more random facts and tidbits than I do math, despite 12 years of the latter.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’m too cold and too tired to have any fun in school. Or maybe the reason goes even deeper, to the root of our education mentality.

Our education system dates back to the Industrial Revolution, when the world grew rich enough to start offering public education.

However, public education was seen more as an assembly line (start with a child, add math, sprinkle in a dash of reading, affix a diploma on his chest, and sell him off to the labor market) meant to provide skilled service to the workforce than something intended for the benefit of the child.

This ideal resonates even today. Many schools resemble nothing so much as a “student factory.”

As Sir Ken Robinson pointed out in his excellent talk “Changing Paradigms,” schools are organized through ringing bells, separate facilities, specialized subjects and the products (the students) being turned out in batches, every year, right on the dot.

Students are trained to think in the same way, and many are told their opinions are not correct, even when they find evidence for them. They become unable to “think outside the box,” a hallmark of all great American entrepreneurs.

In today’s world of constant stimulation, formal education seems boring, often tiresome, despite the importance of all that we are learning.

Perhaps it’s the subject material itself, or perhaps it is the way in which we are being taught. Lectures excite some, but bore others. Many people enjoy interactive experiences better. I know that I loved using Sheppard Software, an online interactive site, to learn geography—and it worked a lot better than just plain old memorizing.

Maybe it’s time we stop treating school like an education factory and more like a playground, a place that uses all five of the senses and interactive materials to promote learning.

Maybe, just maybe, that clock on the wall won’t be so fascinating then.

For example, at some schools, detentions are issued for low grades in school as well as inappropriate behavior. Straight A’s are required some places in order to attend school events, including dances. (Let’s be honest: we would not make much money at dances implementing that rule at AHS!)

Some schools make freshmen decide what major they want to pursue, and allot them classes, such as computer programming, for example, based on those choices, giving the students themselves no say in the matter– freshmen, could you have made this choice? We certainly would not need as many math teachers if this were the case.

Some have zero-tolerance fighting policies; kids who fight are arrested no matter what the circumstance and sent to juvenile hall immediately without given a chance to defend their side of the argument. In comparison, AHS is generous in their leniency.

Many schools don’t allow backpacks that are not clear, exposing many things that ought not to be exposed, I’m sure. Water-bottles that aren’t clear are prohibited as well, for … obvious reasons. In addition, many school crack down on dress codes too; pants with holes are not allowed, and boys must wear belts. (That, I personally wouldn’t mind.)

And finally, the rules that AHS students would perceive as most atrocious: some schools do not allow PDA. Not even hand holding; clearly the most sexual and heinous crime one could commit.

Many schools ban kids from wearing hoodies, (a rule implemented before Geraldo Rivera’s commentary on Fox News), a rule that clearly violates the right of teenagers to be comfy.

Dances at other schools are regulated harshly as well; in many schools down South, “dirty dancing” is forbidden, and phrases like “face to face, leave a little space” are the words to live by. Could AHS students bear such abominable rules?

Probably not.

If that, Athens High School, does not make you grateful for our considerably lean rules, then I do not know what would.

Everyone knows the saying: “You don’t appreciate it until it’s gone.” I myself did not realize that having a backpack was a privilege until I discovered that our neighbors at Alexander aren’t even allowed that allowance. We, high school students everywhere, take for granted what we’re given.

All it takes is a look at what other schools don’t allow, and what we do, to fully appreciate our school.

We’re all guilty of whining about the administration. Sometimes they give us good reason to do so, and other times they don’t. But next time they pass a rule, like “no cellphones”, maybe we ought not to complain so much. After all, AHS, I’m sure we value our hoodies, dirty dancing and backpacks much more.

 The Class of 2012 will be graduating on Saturday, May 26. 143 are college-bound seniors, and 130 of those seniors will remain in Ohio. Congratulations to the Class of 2012!

Adult Career Center

• Kayla Carder
• Tiffany Dowler
• Jeremy Zeigler

Baylor University

• Chelsea Pangburn

Bellarmine University

• Matthew Petrik

Brigham Young University – Idaho

• Matilda Jarvis

Boston University

• Rebecca Chalfant

Capital University

• Eliza Christensen

Denison University

• Elena Lein

Hocking College

• Becca Allmand
• Richard Bagley
• John Bolin
• Ashely Braglin
• Carly Carpenter
• Dru Clemons
• Andrew Deddens
• Jon Denhart
• Sidney Dotson
• Jenny Dowler
• Jordan Fiddler
• Alec Foster
• Chrissy Gregory
• Casey Grimm
• Kelsey Hartley
• Bethany Hewitt
• Victoria Jarvis
• Kari Johnson
• Neil Lucas
• Natasha Mash
• Caitlin McKinley
• Marla Mixon
• Dylan Mullins
• Christina Norris
• Christopher Norris
• Justin Phillips
• Devon Ross
• Catherine Russell
• Trevor Sorrell
• Seth Stalder
• Zack Stevens
• Travis Todd
• Jordyn Williams
• Jonathan Williford
• Austin Ziolkowski

Indiana University

• Lauren Pach

John Carroll University

• Jacob Schriner

Kenyon College

• Eli Redfern

Middlebury College

• Larson Lovdal

Northwestern University

• Anne Li

Oberlin College

• Callie Blazier

Ohio University   

• Noah Alassaf
• Jon Baker
• Aggie Barnett
• Seth Brooks
• Phillip Brozak
• Michael Bruggeman
• Ronnie Burt-Docie
• Jeremy Cantu
• Michael Carson
• Adam Chapman
• Chloe Cline
• Cydney Crew
• Will Drabold (HTC)
• Jacob Elliott
• Jake Engelmann
• Abdul Fauzi
• Castle Frame
• Linsey Groeneveld
• Daniel Harrington
• Aaron Hatfield
• Eli Hiller
• Tyler Hoisington
• Chris Howerth
• Connor Huiss
• Tyler Jackson
• Sean King
• Brenna Lollar
• Gabe Lopez
• Katie Luehrman
• Cody Mack (HTC)
• Kathryn McCollum
• Orhan Mentese
• Austin Miles (HTC)
• Timothy Moquin
• Lauren Nichols
• Grace Pauley
• Garet Payne
• Amber Perpich
• Mitchell Rider
• Emily Riggs
• Christopher Russell
• Natalia Sanchez Alvarez
• Brandon Scheaffer
• Cassie Sharp
• Allison Smith
• Madison Stricklin
• Michaela Thompson
• Wesley Thompson
• Kayla Tinkham
• Erika Williams
• Zachary WIlliams
• Sativa Wirtshafter (HTC)
• Emily Wolfe
• Kevin Xiao

Ohio Wesleyan University   

• Patrick Crist

Otterbein University

• Angel Romina
• Amanda Staten

Owens State Community College

• Zach Howard

Shawnee State University

• Nathan Bolin
• Codi Butcher
• Austin Howard
• Tyler Lutz

Stanford University

• Meelim Lee

The Ohio State University

• Hannah Baker
• Nathan Cotton
• Ella Hackworth
• Jessie Kirk
• Tirosh Matzuba-Ehrlich
• Abby Pomento
• Alane Suhr
• James Watson

Taylor University

• Abbie Brewer

Tiffin University

• Josh Maxson
• Emilie Seyfang
• Devon Sharp

University of Cincinnati

• Eli Catania
• Caitie Crock
• Jessica Lawrence
• Sophia Newman
• Alexander Showalter
• Joshua Skinner
• Nicholas Stanley

University of Dayton

• Elena Smith

University of Detroit – Mercy

• Andrew Gibbons

University of Kentucky

• Elyssa Smith

University of Oregon

• Katherine Wight

University of Pittsburgh

• Lucy Powell

University of Rio Grande

• Katherine Rodgers
• Alexandrea Warren

University of Toledo

• Hope Dalrymple

Washington State Community College

• Terrence Glasser
• Jacob Young

Wittenberg University

• Emilie Naccarato

Xavier University

• Jordan Ostrander

United States Air Force

• Luke Walburn

United States Army

• Michael Balch
• Tony Bishop
• Josh Parsons
• Casey Stage

United States Marines

• Travis Taylor

United States Navy

• Brandon Brumfield
• Matt Jordan

Gap Year/Study Abroad

• Adele Ardrey
• Mindy Braasch
• Emily Butcher
• Justine Harding
• Nick Jagers
• Lauren Markovich
• Ruth Riesbeck
• Caleb Sarchione

Entering the work force

• Justin Cambell
• Nick Domosher
• James Dotson
• Sara Osborne (home maker)

Hockey in Cinncinnati

• James Ervin

Volume XXXVIII: Issue 6: Page 1 

Mr. Thomas Stork has been teaching physics at Athens High School for quite a long time. This year, he has decided to retire after 32 years of teaching. Matrix interviewed him about the school, the students, his favorite moments and more.

 When was your first year here? What was it like? How long have you been teaching?

I was 32 years old, 32 years ago when I first started teaching at Athens High School. Both the structure of the school day and the building were significantly different then. Athens High School still employed what was called “modular scheduling.” “Mods” were fifteen minutes in length, and depending on the course or activities to take place, a scheduled period could last from one to four mods. Rather than being assigned to study halls, students could go to any lab, the library, or just hang out in the gym lobby or smoker’s patio behind the cafeteria. Naturally, students took advantage of this unscheduled time for academic enrichment and opportunities for public display of affection. Modular scheduling did permit class time to be tailored to the kind of activities planned to take place in a class and the level of engagement that could be expected from students, but it was a nightmare to arrange, and many students and teachers had their unscheduled time snipped into disconnected fifteen minute blocks scattered through the day. By 1980 the administration had already begun to phase it out.

Speaking of phasing, course levels then were assigned phases from 1 to 5 based on the level of academic challenge. Phase 1 represented remedial course work and Phase 5 the equivalent of our current AP or accelerated courses. We faced the same problems then that we do now of students sorting into various phases more because of socioeconomic and peer expectations than for substantive reasons. And the grade weighting associated with the various phases then as now acted to enforce students’ impression that their “pay” for course work was the grade points awarded and not the new knowledge and intellectual tools they gained. All this has taught me that students will direct their efforts toward meeting what they perceive are our expectations, and that this can lead to a fruitless “game of school.”

The building too was quite different. As I said, there was a smoking area for students behind the cafeteria, and both the gym lobby and the south end hallway were much larger then. The area which is now the atrium, and both building end lobbies where filled with hanging lockers beneath which were coat hooks with chains by which to secure your coat. Sometimes upperclassmen would secure freshmen there. All the rooms, hallways and lobbies were carpeted, and although most classrooms were by then partitioned off from adjoining ones, the partitions didn’t reach all the way to the ceiling, and the library was a wide-open space.

How has school changed since you began teaching?

Physically, the school and grounds have improved markedly. Our building, parking areas, playing fields, and land lab are beautiful and much more functional than 30 years ago. A great deal of the credit for this should go to Mr. Meek and to both Mr. Meek and Mr. Weinfurtner for the land lab. In addition, the educational technology we’ve come to take for granted was barely dreamed of when I first started teaching.

Our Athens High School students are pretty much the same as they have always been. They were and are bright, often intensely interested in issues and learning, naturally naive, mostly polite and caring toward one another.

On the other hand, what happens in our classrooms hasn’t changed much either. In some senses this is good because we have a dedicated and intelligent faculty who recognize the task of preparing our students to be capable, engaged citizens as the privilege it is. At the same time, we too often fail to make the most of the insights of educational research that have demonstrated repeatedly that students learn best when they are actively engaged in discovery. We have so many new tools and access to real data and original sources that can foster such learning given a knowledgeable guide, and yet we have too seldom pushed the envelope.

What are some of your favorite moments from your teaching career?

Here are just a few in no particular order: Witnessing my briefcase and the drawers of my desk being surreptitiously stuffed with folded paper cranes. (One of the original ones is pictured at the left.) Meeting with students of the caliber of John Beale,

Elizabeth Hollow, Atul Gawande, and the other members of the

AHS Debate Team in my living room on Sundays to eat popcorn and prepare for upcoming competitions. Feeling pride in my Mock Trial team placing third in the state tournament. Seeing An Lam launch his paper airplane that soared high above the gymnasium floor staying aloft for more than twelve seconds in the district-wide Paper Airplane Contest. Having the opportunity to help design and write the 2001 Science Content Standards for the state of Ohio. Watching students construct and fly hot air balloons that flew all the way to Chauncey. Working with my wife to develop the First Grade/Senior Buddies program where the physics students went over to Morrison Elementary to conduct monthly physics activities with the first graders. Dancing at my wife’s retirement party upon her completing 30 years of teaching grades 1, 2, and 3. Having so many of my top students choose to become teachers; some even returning to teach here at Athens High. Introducing the first computers to the district and using the food service truck to haul rolling carts loaded with those first computers out to elementary schools at night to teach the teachers there how to use them. Helping design and implement the SchoolNet infrastructure that now gives us all access to the Internet. Seeing the way in which the students have worked to improve our Peer Tutoring Program each year. So many favorite moments, so little space.

What is the thing you will miss most about teaching?

Hands down, I will miss the students most. They really are all that counts. And they’re so funny… and charming… and surprising in their insights and talents.

What is the thing you will miss LEAST about teaching?

I will least miss the ever growing burden of answering to the bureaucracy. Because everyone has gone to school they therefore think they know what comprises teaching and learning. For the most part they do not, and yet we who make this practice our profession are increasingly called to meet expectations dictated more by politics than sound educational principles.

What would you go back and change if you could?

Any times I quashed a student’s excitement.

What do you plan to do once you retire?

My wife and I look forward to joining the Athens Village, an organization in which more able seniors assist less able ones to maintain healthy, independent lives. We plan to be more active in service to the food pantry and St. Vincent de Paul committee. We plan to travel in the U.S. and abroad. I, personally, will take up drawing and painting again in a serious way. I want to renew a disciplined study of mathematics using visualization tools like Mathematica. I especially look forward to having more time for reading. Oh, yes, and cooking… and eating.