Every summer, a few weeks before the year starts, the high school sends students a large manila envelope containing schedules, internet approval forms and the hefty handbook containing rules and regulations.
BY ILANA GRATCH
Fields for Kids is a community-based organization with the aim of raising moey to provide adequate playing fields in Larchmont and Mamaroneck. At the homecoming football game on Sept. 26, the group announced its newest goal: “Turf by Ten.”
The conditions of the Coast dance have always seemed potentially hazardous, and this year changes are necessary in order to adhere to safety codes. The number of students at the dance last year far exceeded regulations and broke fire codes, and this year the Coast Board faces the tricky task of finding a new, safe way to continue the tradition. The Harbor Island location is simply too small to accommodate all of the students who want to attend which leaves members of student council with the difficult job of locating an inexpensive venue that has a capacity larger than 500.
BY CATHERINE GERKIS
In recent years, the class size of AP courses at MHS has grown. While many students enroll in these classes to gain in-depth knowledge in a subject area for which they have a passion, others have been taking AP classes to be with their friends or to make themselves more desirable to colleges in the increasingly competitive application process.
BY ISABEL GENECIN
On Sep. 17, MHS hosted its first Shared Read Day, a school-wide discussion of the five different summer reading books and their connection to current genetic engineering issues.
BY JODI MILLER
Like other epidemics, senioritis has a mild winter but a very dangerous spring. As the days grow longer and the temperature rises, seniors lose their motivation, or what is left of it, to work. By the second week in May after the completion of AP exams, few seniors remain unaffected. Common side effects of the epidemic include decreased motivation, frequent absences and fewer completed assignments. Teachers who have AP classes that finish in May are left with a very hard decision: what to do with the suffering seniors?
Students’ final days at Mamaroneck High School are marked by a series of traditions and events that are a celebration of the four years we spend here. One such tradition is Rent-A-Senior Day. For five dollars underclassmen purchase the services and company of a senior who has volunteered himself or herself. While it is intended to be a fun day for students of all grades, it serves another purpose as well. Rent-A-Senior Day is a way to celebrate and honor the previous four years and bridge together the different grades. It is a symbolic passing of the torch; the current seniors participated as freshmen, now it is their turn.
BY JOANNA LYONS
For our generation the phrase “community service” has, unfortunately, become associated with another, far less pleasant phrase: college applications. Though students may volunteer at a soup kitchen or help build a home for a family in need, many will admit that they are doing these things not because they have a strong desire to help their community, but rather to gain a competitive edge when applying to colleges. Performing some form of service grudgingly is not the right way to help one’s community; volunteer work should have nothing to do with personal benefits such as enhancing a resume. If Mamaroneck High School were to create a community service requirement, students would be more likely to choose something that interests them and perhaps even perform this service on their own time.
By the middle of October, seniors face some very difficult decisions: whether or not to apply early decision and, if so, where. Colleges offer early action, early decision or regular decision and often a combination of an early deadline and a regular deadline.. With three different options, one would think that this process would be easier, but in reality it is not so. The distinguishing characteristic of early decision is its binding agreement. Upon applying, students acknowledge and accept that if they get in, they must attend this school.
BY ISABEL GENECIN
When the students are released on the last day of school before summer break, the last thing that they want to think about is summer work. The summer is supposed to be a fun, relaxing vacation away from school, yet upperclassmen are still given incredible amounts of homework. Though many arguments can be made for the importance of summer work, there should be a limit imposed on the amount of work assigned.
BY JODI MILLER
For juniors and seniors taking on AP classes, summer does not have the same meaning it once had. What used to be ten weeks of unlimited freedom and no responsibility has now become an extended period of time to complete a significant amount of work.
BY CATHERINE GERKIS
Summer is a season associated with sunshine, carefree behavior, and of course, no school. However, prior to the start of the school year, students often have to complete numerous assignments that will be collected and graded upon the moment of return in September. This situation usually applies to juniors and seniors to whom AP courses are made available. While summer homework in these classes is often necessary, as the teachers must cover a whole year’s curriculum before the mid-May test dates, many students drop courses they find difficult at the start of the year, and in some cases, students are forced to drop certain classes due to scheduling conflicts.
BY LUKE SCHANZ-GARBASSI
Recently, debate has surfaced surrounding the school’s lack of interference in elements concerning the senior prom. Some argue that more should be done to detect, prevent and punish students under the influence of alcohol/drugs who show up to the prom. Measures would include using breathalyzers, which schools across the nation, including one in Long Island, employ; busing students to the site of the dance, like at junior prom, rather than having students find private means of transportation; and, if caught, banning students from the graduation ceremony.
BY PETER GELMAN
Starting May 4th the sound of number two pencils scratching across infinite little bubble sheets will reverberate through the classrooms of Mamaroneck High School, so this is an opportune moment to discuss the flaws inherent in the College Board’s monopoly over standardized testing and our education.
On Feb. 10, the $38 million infrastructure bond failed to pass by 80 votes, or a mere 1.8 percent. The question that should now be plaguing the minds of the Mamaroneck School Board is not will we be able to pass a bond, but how will we pass a bond? The voted-upon bond included funds for vital structural improvements. Conditions of certain structural elements at schools in the district are dire and, in some cases, in violation of legal codes. Undoubtedly, a bond of some form must succeed.
