GRACE PATTERSON / Senior
If you or someone you personally know that has been in a toxic relationship, here is some advice to help you out. We all know that you don't have to have a significant other that's harmful towards you, it can also be a relative, friend, classmate, teacher, colleague, or boss. Signs of a toxic relationship are a lack of trust, extremely bitter communication, control freak behavior, you feel drained, lack of support, jealousy, narcissism, compelled to perform naughty activities, and physical abuse as well. You should take notes on the warning signals, record your feelings, try your best to confront the abuser by telling them how you feel, pencil in your safety, disconnect communication, and reach out for support from a parent, sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent, friend, pastor, counselor, or anyone you trust with your message. Sometimes when you think about confronting your abuser, it may take a sinister turn. They will attempt to start an argument with you. What to do instead of confronting them, you should write a letter to them, send an email or text, write what you wanna say to them, and practice your conversation with your abuser. LUCAS RAY / Senior Penn State's largest disappointment this year.
Penn State's (7) loss against Illinois (unranked), went into 9 overtimes, record setting. Penn State has now dropped to the 20 spot in AP rankings. Don't count Penn State football out just yet, they have a tough schedule ahead of them but winning out could get them close enough to a top 4 spot to get a respectable bowl game, or even in the top 4. Out of Penn State's upcoming 5 final games, they have 3 top ten teams, those teams are Ohio State (5), Michigan (6), and Michigan State (8). Penn State's other 2 games are just as important as the top ten teams, they cannot afford to lose anymore games if they want a chance at making their way back to the top 4. Penn State has a real chance but it all starts with this Saturday's game against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Getting statistics from Sports Illustrated, Ohio State has a ranked top 3 offense. They have a killer offense with good weapons, but can Penn State’s defense hold them off? That is a question we all wonder going into this week, with Sean Clifford still not 100%, we aren't so sure how Penn State will produce against Ohio State’s defence. I attended the Pitt game vs. Clemson and what I saw live at Heinz Field is something that the Pitt program has not seen in years. Good football. BRANDON UNCAPHER / Junior In a crowd of around 60,000, my father and I were two that attended Pitt vs. Clemson. Coming into the game, Pitt was 5-1 and off to their best start since 2015. Meanwhile, Clemson at 4-2, their worst start since 2014. Pitt was ranked 23rd in the nation in the AP top 25 while Clemson was the first team out (basically 26th) so it was set to be a great game, and it was.
The first quarter started out really slow, especially for Pitt. Their first 5 drives consisted of 4 punts and a lost fumble. Despite an early interception, Clemson’s offense was still looking a lot better as they scored an early touchdown and after that lost fumble they were driving down to make it a 2 score game, but they were stopped and were forced to punt. In the middle of the 2nd quarter, you could really begin to see a trend that Pitt had throughout the game: their elite 3rd down play. Pitt ended the game being 12/20 on 3rd/4th down conversions, while Clemson was 4/11. This was shown as Kenny Pickett threw a dot on a 3rd and 7 to his best receiver Jordan Addison for a 23 yard TD. After another Punt, They reached a 3rd and 5 on Clemson’s 39 yard line, and it was incomplete. They decided to go for it on 4th down, and he threw another touchdown with 40 seconds left in the half, in turn giving Pickett the all-time completions record for the team. With Clemson getting the ball to start the 2nd half down 14-7, it looked like Clemson could take over control of the game again. However, QB DJ Uiagalelei threw a shovel pass right to a Pitt lineman and he ran it back to the house. Despite a field goal on the next possession, that seemed to break the spirits of Clemson as they were much more sluggish defensively and Pitt added to their lead with 2 field goals to make it a 3 score game. Even though Clemson had a touchdown early in the 4th, a 15 play 8 minute drive iced the game for Pitt as they move up to 17th in the nation while Clemson looks to be in shambles. Being at the game, it was the most electric crowd I’ve ever been a part of, and the only one that even comes close was a Penguins game I attended. Even though I went to the actual Death Valley of Clemson, which hosted about 25,000 more people, both games were blowouts and it wasn’t close to as intense as this. I was sitting next to two depressed Clemson fans, but they and everyone else were really nice and it was a truly great time, to the point where I almost lost my voice from screaming so much. It was a truly unforgettable experience and it felt like I was sitting front row to the greatness of this team. Females are affected by perfection more and more in their everyday lives, and most feel that they fail. What makes the women in our society feel as though they are performing so poorly? ABIGAIL DOPERAK / Senior Standards set in at a very young age. How a child should be acting. What age you should be talking by. When you should be starting school. Every move is held to a standard created by society. These expectations have a hold on us and while we may think that we outgrow them at a certain age, this is a myth. And while everyone faces problems with reaching the approval of others, these standards in our world have been influencing women for decades and are still haunting the majority of the female population. Comparison. Perfection. Standards. Women are affected by these elements and more in their everyday lives, and most feel that they fail. They fail to please others, fail to please themselves, and fail at being the perfect woman. Why? What makes the women in our society feel as though they are performing so poorly? A woman on the other hand, will only apply for that same job if she meets 100% of the requirements. According to Katie Hurley in her article, “How Perfectionism Fuels Teen Anxiety,” she explains how perfectionism is fueled by anxiety, especially in teens. Teenagers nowadays face enormous amounts of stress in and outside of school. "When teens strive to achieve, they are invested in the learning process," Hurley explains. "When teens strive for perfection, they become paralyzed by the fear of not measuring up in some way.” What makes these standards, anxieties, and perfectionistic tendencies so damaging is that there really is no “growing out of it.” They follow women into their fields of work causing them to take less risks in their professional lives. It has been proven that men will apply for a job when they only meet 60% of the qualifications. A woman on the other hand, will only apply for that same job if she meets 100% of the requirements. We are easily able to see these issues present at Derry Area High School. Seen by students and teachers, people in our building can sense perfectionistic tendencies from not only young girls but adults too. Teacher Mrs. Smith sees perfectionism in all different grades for all different reasons. She feels as though the standards are different for every individual because perfect for one, may not be perfect for another. Along with her own personal experience, Smith also sees her students face some of the same challenges. Students face many pressures in their academic life. Senior Taylor Myers can agree. Myers can easily say that all the “perfect” standards that pressure her, she places them on herself. “I pressure myself to succeed in whatever I choose to pursue," Myers admits. "I don't want to struggle like I have seen others struggle around me.” I am guilty of it myself, always wishing for more. As a teen girl, I personally feel the main factor in the perfectionist challenge for women is social media. I see the way young women compare themselves to complete strangers on the internet. I am guilty of it myself, always wishing for more. It is damaging to a girl’s self esteem to be continually comparing their every move to people who live completely different lifestyles and questioning if they are good enough. As teenagers, we are already facing so many struggles and having to deal with constant worries of societal approval is just another block in our roadways.
Both Smith and Myers agree that the presence of social media impacts these standards. Smith stresses the word inadequate when explaining how girls feel when scrolling through their feed. Myers expresses that just being surrounded by posts where people show the best version of themselves we are only seeing 20% of what is on the surface. She feels that “we are being surrounded by perfectionism and the perfect versions of other people makes you feel that they may be living like that all the time, but in reality they aren’t.” Our younger generations acknowledge this problem and are taking a stand. Influencers, such as Emma Chamberlain, are speaking out against the “perfect Instagram feed” and encouraging users to expose their more messy sides in life. Being truthful, everyone knows that no one’s life is perfect, so why try to depict it in such a manner that tricks everyone into thinking it is? Influencers are now taking that step to post things that their followers can relate to instead of posting things their followers will compare themselves to. It is the first step in eliminating the perfect standard that so many are striving for. Stu Smith, VP talent for Fullscreen can agree with Chamberlain. “This new generation of talent is more willing to let their audience in on what they’re struggling with," Smith says. "That’s not only positive for them, but it’s also positive for their audience, as well as for other content creators who realize that they’re not alone.” Managing your finances might seem obvious to many, but most Derry Area students are clueless. REBECCA HUSS / Sophomore I’m going to ask you a series of questions. Depending on how many you can answer confidently, the content of this article will speak for itself. How do I cash this paycheck? Where does this go when I cash it? How do I create a bank account? What are the types of bank accounts available? The most important thing to know about living in this world is finances. Any job available requires you to know financial information. You don’t have to be an accountant or banker to have to know finance. ...students should be taught how to manage finances in high school. The answers to these questions are important to know for everyday adult life. However, most teenagers aren’t taught the answers to these questions in high school. That means that when high school students graduate and get hired, they are clueless and stressed about what to do and how to do it when it comes to finance. “My job was stressful enough and not knowing what to do with my paychecks made everything more chaotic so I just let my parents handle them so I could focus on my job, ” says sophomore Tori Hutchison. Because of this, students should be taught how to manage finances in high school. Currently at Derry High School, the courses available regarding finance are Accounting I, II, and III and Business Apps I, II, and III. Accounting teaches students the operations and terms involved in banking and accounting and Business Apps teaches how to operate Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Although these courses are available, there might be other courses that students want to take that they’re more interested in. Finance is an important subject in school. Because students might not take one of the courses listed above, I think there should be a required course regarding students learning financial information in life. The classes available only focus on specifically accounting or business. Although there's some information useful for everyday finances, I think there should be a course required only for everyday finances because students might not want to go into accounting or entrepreneurship, but every student when they graduate will have to know financial information specifically regarding everyday life. To gain more knowledge, I asked the current Accounting teacher at Derry Area High School, Mrs. Battaglia, why she thinks it’s important to know financial information during high school. “Financial literacy is important in today’s world to help people know how to manage their money. Students can benefit from financial literacy with simple knowledge on banking accounts,” Mrs. Battaglia says. “As teenagers join the workforce, they will be getting a paycheck and need to open a bank account to cash their check. It is also important for teenagers to understand how a credit card works so that once they go out into society, they aren’t tempted to get a lot of credit cards and go into debt.” I just let my parents handle every paycheck I received because I was so confused and didn’t know what to do with them. Even if students aren’t interested in finances, every student is going to graduate and get a job. Whether their job is a lawyer or working at a fast food restaurant, every job requires a paycheck; therefore, finances are involved. Regarding the questions listed above about paychecks, graduated students shouldn’t be left clueless when it comes to a job.
Some students even get jobs during high school. One student, Danielle Dominick, got her first job as a freshman in high school and was clueless as to how the system works. “I just let my parents handle every paycheck I received because I was so confused and didn’t know what to do with them,” says Dominick. Adding in the course regarding only the basics of finance and making it a requirement will help every individual student entering high school to prepare for their future. When it comes to making purchases, paying for college, and getting a job, the importance of knowing the basic financial information is vital. JAYDN HART / Sophomore
What makes us happy? For almost 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been studying this question, examining 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through career, war, marriage, divorce, parenthood, and old age. These Harvard researchers have been trying to learn the secret to a good life, so what makes us think we could figure it out in a day? When observing the people around you, you can quickly see the habits that have been taught to them by their schools, parents, and society. Some of these habits could be good, while others could be bad. I've personally been taught that habits can be broken if you give it enough time, so I also believe that if the habit you have learned is bad, or negative.. get in the mindset that you wanna change it. You cannot change your happiness, your mental health, or your mental illness in a day, but you can take small steps to achieve what you want. Researchers are able to study lives in such depth, and over so many decades, and still not figure out anything, and we can now just self diagnose ourselves into a mental illness. Now you are in the mindset that you haven't been in before, all because of what you have told yourself or what you have assumed to be correct. Meanwhile real researchers and doctors are out studying for 50 years plus trying to solve mental illness. It's a hard topic, but now it's what most people are talking about. Mental well being seems to be the most trending topic. Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are more positive our mind starts to become more creative, energetic, and balanced. We think that if we work hard and be successful, we will be happy, but that's not the case. This is also something researched in psychology. So what makes us happy..? Is it the mindset we put ourselves in? Is it Success, physiological adaptation, work and love, or a formula of it all? I'll leave it to the researchers to figure it out, but using your own knowledge and brain, you have the ability to figure out your own formula of happiness. GRACE PATTERSON / Senior
Have you ever been a victim of peer pressure? We're in this together! Not all peer pressure is negative, there is peer pressure that is extremely positive. I want to give out advice on how to handle negative peer pressure. Focus on how you truly feel, express to whoever is pressuring you that you are highly uncomfortable in a polite way, speak to a trusted adult about what's going on, and stay away from the wrong crowd. Negative peer pressure involves joining in sexual activities, abusing drugs or alcohol, pilfering from a person or place, or bullying someone. Positive peer pressure includes pushing a friend to study harder for better grades, disapproving of gossiping or bullying, trying new appropriate goods, forming a study group, volunteering in community service or get a part time job, and helping others. Sometimes when you are pressured to attempt new effects, it can take a greatly sinister turn. If you were to participate in suspicious activities, please don't engage in them, it will ruin your life and reputation. I want to let you know, you are not alone in peer pressure. Don't be afraid to reach out for help. BRANDON UNCAPHER / Junior This country is supposedly based on this idea of the American citizen having power. However, at what point does this power become too much? Well you can find that line in the NBA, especially in the case of two players, Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving. These guys show what can go wrong when a side is given too much power but has also exposed the hypocritical nature of the media and America itself. The first player is Ben Simmons. Although he was a 3x all-star and 2x All-Defensive team member, he is still looked at as a disappointment for the Philadelphia 76ers. Being drafted with the 1st overall pick, he was getting comparisons to guys like Magic Johnson and LeBron James, 2 of the 10 greatest players in pro basketball history, which he has not come close to living up to. His biggest problem is his lack of development, as he has put up worse numbers in his 4th season than he did in his first, and he still cannot shoot outside the rim as a point guard, the position where they take the ball up the court on the perimeter. This got completely exposed in the playoffs this season as he shot 34.2% from the free throw line and took 3 shots total in the 4th quarters of the 7 game series vs. the Atlanta Hawks when he was their supposed 2nd option. These guys show what can go wrong when a side is given too much power but has also exposed the hypocritical nature of the media and America itself. After getting some justified backlash, he decided that he was either going to not play or get traded. The only problem is he is under contract until 2025, and he is either going to have to play or lose that entire contract. With him refusing to play, Philly looked for offers, but his trade value tanked because of his refusal to cooperate with the team. With no move and training camp looming, he was set to miss it despite no leverage….until he realized how many millions it cost him and he begrudgingly joined the team. This situation could set a scary precedent for the league as players could just not uphold their contract and force their way out of a place just because they don’t like it, and although it’s happened before it has only been with franchise, established stars. If it starts happening like this it could make things like the draft and even contracts useless as players would just not uphold it to go to their preferred team, again with no leverage like Simmons. However, it gets much worse in the case of Kyrie Irving. A champion, a perennial all-star, arguably the greatest ball-handler of all-time, Kyrie Irving is without a doubt one of the best players in the world. However, with these new vaccine mandates for players he would be forced to either get the shot or sit out all home games plus other games where the arenas don’t allow unvaccinated staff. He decided that he would not get it, citing “doing what’s best for yourself” and “making your own choice.” He also stated if he was traded, he would retire. With the Nets informing him that he wouldn’t participate in the team unless he got fully vaccinated, he stood his ground and it could cost him everything, as his contract for this season will be void if he doesn’t play plus he wouldn’t be eligible for a super-max contract the Nets could offer him, which in total would be over $200 million dollars lost, over this vaccine. He claims that he is “giving a voice to the voiceless” in protest of others losing their jobs to the mandates, but it is important to get the facts straight. According to the CDC, as long as a person is not allergic to the ingredients of the vaccine, it has shown that a fully vaccinated person is significantly less likely to get the virus and even more significantly less likely to die from it, that is the results from all the “research”. Politics and sports have intersected at many points, and it seems some are only celebrating this when it is related to their own cause. This has opened for a lot of hypocrisy to shine through.
Fox news, the same company that had its host tell LeBron James to “shut up and dribble” and complained about the NBA making political statements, now want to talk to NBA anti-vaxxers. Politics and sports have intersected at many points, and it seems some are only celebrating this when it is related to their own cause. All of this was caused because out of the 5,000 shots he made, this was the one he refused to take. The NBA players have more control over their careers than ever before, and while that is a good thing in a lot of regards at the rate they are going it could tear apart the basics of the league as we know it. We are living in unprecedented times, and we are seeing unprecedented results. This has exposed so much more than basketball, though. It has shown the endless political firestorm for years from both sides and how hypocritical it can be. Above all, it has shown how divided people are for no reason, how things like respecting other people’s views or making minor sacrifices for the good of you and those around you are still highly debated and politicized. All of this is still developing, and hopefully soon everything will be sorted out. But right now, we are seeing everyone given their own power, but it’s up to them for how they will use it. ABIGAIL DOPERAK / Senior Sports connect the world. It is a common tie we all share. The rush of competition. The wave of adrenaline. The need to win. For most, sports is used as an outlet to release any stress or tension. It is a safe spot. Yet, that does not stay true for all ages. This is why we see a dramatic decrease in the number of high school sport participants. Derry Area High School is fortunate to be able to provide students with fifteen total sport options throughout the year, but is this too many for the number of athletes we actually have? Participation in sports is a staple for an elementary school student. Whether it be soccer, teeball, or ballet, sports dominate the realm of after school activity. The Derry Area School District is no exception. In the Derry youth football program we have 70 football players along with 63 cheerleaders. That makes for a total of 133 children participating in the youth program out of a total of 904 Grandview students across five grades. As they grow, they move onto sports in middle school. The middle school has 439 kids enrolled, and just between two grades, the middle school football team is able to support 26 players. Ideally these numbers should carry over to the high school level as well. The funnel system is there and in place, yet the numbers do not show it. Why the sudden drop off? Where do the athletes go between middle school and high school? With 604 kids enrolled in Derry’s high school, currently in the fall sports we see registration numbers seem very reasonable with 33 football players, 36 volleyball players, 10 tennis players, 17 cross country runners, 29 cheerleaders, and 19 golfers. The only issue is that due to the small number of kids enrolled at Derry, compared to the number of sports Derry offers, it prompts kids to participate in multiple sports at one time. When this multisport athlete gets injured, it then leads to a decline in numbers in not one sport, but two. Because of this we see a drop of 33 football players to 17 participants at practice, and a drop from 29 cheerleaders to 14. As this explains the inner drop, what happened to the number of kids that should register? The resources are there for the athletes, but the number of kids taking advantage of them is not there. Derry Athletic Director Brett Miller believes there are a number of reasons we see a decline in high school sport athletes. The main reason impacting Derry Area especially would be specialization in sports. Kids are finding what makes them most happy or what sport they are best at and are sticking to it. Instead of branching out and getting their feet wet in multiple sports, kids are finding the one sport that is “theirs” and work only with that sport. At Derry this is very damaging to our athlete programs due to the fact we need students to be playing many different sports to maintain numbers on the teams. This is such a standard that cross country coach Greg Rager says, “ I have to work around to make sure they get enough training in to run their races well, but still leave them time to practice their other sport.” The resources are there for the athletes, but the number of kids taking advantage of them is not there. Along with sports specialization we also see the number of participants in travel, AAU, and all-star leagues grow. Athletes who wish to put all their time and effort into one sport wish to do it at a higher level and are joining outside of school programs. This is taking away many talented athletes from the high school playing field as they wish to spend all their time focusing on their more competitive teams. Enrollment numbers contribute largely to the size of our athletic programs. Derry offers a large variety of programs for students to participate in, yet this could lead to the downfall of the athletic program due to the fact that Derry does not have enough kids enrolled for all these sports. By offering sports that other schools our size do not offer, this sets the teams up for failure having to compete against larger schools with more of a pool of kids to pick from for their teams. This is a stigma that has somewhat recently been placed on the community that many would shy away from admitting is even there. Junior golfer Hunter Jurica has expressed how even he has noticed the uneven playing field while acknowledging that even the golf team can not properly move classes due to the size of the school. It is projected that over the course of the next seven to ten years, if enrollment numbers continue to decline, Derry Area could see some of their beloved sports be eliminated. This would lead to having to funnel the kids into the sports that are believed to be most popular that get to stay in the school’s program. Is this fair? Is it fair to take away sports that kids are passionate about and force them to play sports that the crowd is passionate about?
Athletes believe it is time for change. Some students like senior football player Brayden Mickinac believe that a change in the style of coaching at Derry would improve participation in sports, while others such as senior volleyball and basketball player Tiana Moracco believes kids need to realize the long lasting relationships through sports. Seniors like football player Noah Cymmerman, tennis player Emily Main, and volleyball player Makenzie Eades all believe that in order to gain more athletes, more advertisement of the sports and their programs needs to be spread throughout the school. Main offered the idea of having field days again at the end of the year in order to give students a taste of all the options available to them. Because sports are so prominent in our society, people tend to make inferences about communities based on sports. You remember a school if their teams really stand out. Whether it be in a positive way or a negative way, school athletics make your school memorable and keep the school’s name circulating through surrounding communities. All schools strive to have their name be thought of in a positive light and want their community members to be passionate about their sports, yet Derry is not seen in that light. Derry is not known for their outstanding athletic programs or their abundance of kids coming out for sports. This is a stigma that has somewhat recently been placed on the community that many would shy away from admitting is even there. For Derry Area athletes, this lights a fire within them. It makes them want to erase those stereotypes and change the view placed on them. They feel strongly about making change and being able to see their hard work reflect on Derry Area School District in a positive light. “It makes you want to work harder to make the community recognize our work,” Noah Cymmerman says. “It was so cool being at Heinz Field. People aren’t packing the stands like they used to. I just want it to be that way again.” REBECCA HUSS / Sophomore Teenagers are mostly viewed as lazy when it comes to getting out of bed in the morning. They are recommended to get 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night; however, on average, most teenagers get 7 hours of sleep or less each night. “I barely get enough sleep because I go to volleyball practice right after school, softball practice right after volleyball practice, then I go home and have to shower, eat, do my homework, and I make time to socialize with my friends,” Maizie Legge says. “All of this causes me to get to bed around 12:30 every night.” 73% of high school students do not get a healthy amount of sleep, according to Healthline.com. This can certainly affect how students act in the morning, especially how they respond to getting up early for school and how they perform in the early mornings at school. The biology of the teenage brain can explain this effect of “laziness.” The definition of “laziness” is “averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent." However, students aren’t unwilling to do work in the early mornings. Teens can have the drive to complete work and learn, but because our brains aren’t necessarily awake yet, that overpowers the drive to participate in school. Our brains release a hormone called melatonin that assists with sleep. For all adolescents, melatonin isn’t released until 10:45 pm and lasts until 8:00 am. This means that by the school start time, the late bell ringing at 7:45 am and the first period starting at 8 am at Derry High School, the minds of teenagers aren’t completely awake yet. This has an effect on their actions and the way they process information, meaning that they are more likely to forget something they’re told first thing in the morning compared to late morning or afternoon. Teens can have the drive to complete work and learn, but because our brains aren’t necessarily awake yet, that overpowers the drive to participate in school. An argument against this is that teens should simply go to bed earlier. However, what time teens go to bed doesn’t change the effect that’s given in the morning by not being completely awake by 7:45 am. Because of the sleep patterns of teenagers, their minds are not trained for processing information in the early mornings. Research on the sleep patterns of younger children allow them to wake up early in the morning and be ready to go. Teens being raised to get to school earlier, being in elementary school for 6 years, may also be a cause of the struggle to get up for school in the morning. My sisters are in third and fifth grade and go to Ligonier School District. They get up around 8 am to get dressed, eat breakfast, and catch the bus at 9 am for school at 9:15 am. The constant pattern of getting up around 8 am to get the bus at around 9 am from September to May for 6 years can cause teens to be comfortable with getting up around that time. From the day we were born, our brains have been training habits every single second. They know that we have to breathe, eat, blink, drink water, and our brains process muscle memory. These things happen effortlessly, without us even having to think about it. We automatically know to do these things and don’t have to stress about it as we would when we do something that’s out of habit. For example, if you make a peanut butter sandwich every day for lunch and suddenly one day you decide to make a ham and cheese sandwich, something will feel off because your brain isn’t used to that. For 6 years of our early life, from kindergarten to fifth grade, we’ve been getting up around 8:00 am for school around 9:00 am. So, when the sudden switch is made from getting up around 8 am to getting up around 6:30 am, teens are uncomfortable and unprepared for the day. Within the last few years, 33 of 500 schools in Pennsylvania have switched to later start times, according to the National Advocacy Coalition Start School Later, which boasts nine local chapters and one student chapter in Pennsylvania. According to the article “The Debate Over School Start Times” published in Voice, at least some educators in districts that made the switch have noticed a difference, stating that “there’s less tardiness and students are more awake,” says Shai McGowan, a 26-year veteran high school math teacher and current EA president in the State College Area School District. In her school district, the start time was moved back in 2018. Start times were also moved back in 2019 at Radnor High School by 55 minutes to 8:30 am. Radnor Township EA President Rob King, teacher at Radnor High School, stated how each student is unique and individual, so the start time can affect them all differently. Your mentality can affect your physical state. This is shown here at Derry. Mr. Slezak has a different point of view. “I don’t notice much of a difference in students throughout the day. If anything, they’re most tired at the end of the day compared to the beginning of the day because of how tired they are from classes. You get up, shower, get ready, walk to your bus stop, walk to your class. All of this activity leads students to be ready for class and more awake than if they just rolled out of bed. I think it mostly has to do with students’ mentality, ” Mr. Slezak says. “For example, if you get 5 hours of sleep because you have to get up to go to Disney, you’re gonna be more awake in the morning than when you have to get up for school. Your mentality can affect your physical state.”
However, other teachers have noticed something different. “My last period class is definitely the most energetic compared to my morning classes, ” Mrs. Croll says. “I would say first period is the most tired of all my classes.” A select few teens might be early birds, but the majority enjoys sleeping in. Not only for the comfort of their beds, but they’re more alert at 9 am in school rather than 8 am supported by research and first period teachers’ observations. Starting school at a later time will lead to more awake, active teenagers and higher overall test scores for schools. “I walk into school so tired that I’m barely interested in what we’re learning because I just don’t have the energy in the morning, ” Dani Dominick says. “I’m more interested at the end of the day than at the beginning of the day. I don’t like getting up so early in the morning.” |