Thursday, November 18, 2010
The Start of Winter Sports
On Wednesday November 17th, winter sports season started. Girls and boys basketball tryouts began on a great start. Winter track for boys and girls also began yesterday out side on the track . Down in the wrestling room, the wrestlers started preparing and working out for upcoming matches. Boys and girls bowling also started and they practice at the Smithtown AMC Bowling lanes. Also girls softball and lacrosse are getting ready for the spring season. Most of the sports this year had a large turnout of students from Smithtown West trying out and practicing on the winter teams. Winter sports will continue until about Febuary break and then spring sports will start.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Student Parking at Smithtown High School West is Potentially Dangerous
At Smithtown High School West, seniors that drive are forced to park in a specific parking lot depending on when they arrive to the building. For some students this means parking in the fourth parking lot from the school, where the buses also park at the end of the day.
The buses stop and wait for students while parked directly behind the seniors’ cars, potentially causing a safety hazard for the teens who have parked there. Some students have afterschool jobs and other obligations that they must attend at a specific time, so many don’t have the time or patience to wait for the buses to leave. They may try to get out of the lot with the buses still behind them, creating the possibility of hitting a bus that is parked.
Melissa McGuire, a senior here a Smithtown High School West who drives to and from school everyday, explains that she doesn’t like the set up of the fourth parking lot. If she doesn’t get to her car before the buses arrive, then she has to wait to leave. She has a babysitting job three days a week, so waiting in the school parking lot isn’t convenient for her.
Some students attempt to guide others out of their parking spots with the buses behind them, and on occasion they are successful, but the cars come very close to crashing into the parked buses.
The way that this parking lot is set up is a safety hazard, and the location of where the students and buses park should be altered. One solution to this problem would be to force the buses to park in a different area, away from student parking, to prevent accidents from occurring. Another solution would be to create a divider in the lot, so that one half of it will be for buses only, the other half for parking.
Something must be done about this matter to prevent future problems, and to protect the safety of student here a Smithtown High School West.
Editorial: Mall, Movies, Town and Repeat
Friday nights are usually a way to de-stress from a long school week. Most teenagers who live in Smithtown, don’t have that many options on how they are spending their Friday nights. The main things students do in Smithtown is go to town, go to the mall or catch a movie at the movie theatre. These three things can get boring after a while.
Going to the mall quickly gets boring and repetitive. Also, since the price of a movie ticket went up to $11.00 it’s expensive for kids to go to the movies often. Town is fun but is really just based around the restaurants and small coffee houses like Starbucks. Marisa Sehested a sophomore states that “there are things to do in Smithtown you can go to the movies the mall or even red mango!”
Most students go to parties at peoples’ houses but they are rare to happen every weekend. Also most kids don’t have jobs so they don’t have a lot of money to go to places like the mall or the movies. Since most students don’t have cars they are very limited as to where they can go. Nicole LaMonica a sophomore from Smithtown West says that “Smithtown should offer more activities to do on the weekends so that kids don’t resort to destructive decisions such as alcohol or drugs.”’
Activities also vary due to the seasons. In the summer fun places like the beach, Adventureland and Splish Splash are open and then closed in the winter months. This gives students less options on what to do. As the winter months approach kids are left with even less things to do because of the cold weather. Emily Doveala a sophomore from Smithtown West states that “There aren’t really many things to do in the winter besides hanging out with your friends at someone’s house.” Some other activities include ice skating, bowling and many other activities.
If you have a car you have more options but then you still end up leaving Smithtown. Smithtown could really grow or feed the local economy if they had more activities for kids.
Going to the mall quickly gets boring and repetitive. Also, since the price of a movie ticket went up to $11.00 it’s expensive for kids to go to the movies often. Town is fun but is really just based around the restaurants and small coffee houses like Starbucks. Marisa Sehested a sophomore states that “there are things to do in Smithtown you can go to the movies the mall or even red mango!”
Most students go to parties at peoples’ houses but they are rare to happen every weekend. Also most kids don’t have jobs so they don’t have a lot of money to go to places like the mall or the movies. Since most students don’t have cars they are very limited as to where they can go. Nicole LaMonica a sophomore from Smithtown West says that “Smithtown should offer more activities to do on the weekends so that kids don’t resort to destructive decisions such as alcohol or drugs.”’
Activities also vary due to the seasons. In the summer fun places like the beach, Adventureland and Splish Splash are open and then closed in the winter months. This gives students less options on what to do. As the winter months approach kids are left with even less things to do because of the cold weather. Emily Doveala a sophomore from Smithtown West states that “There aren’t really many things to do in the winter besides hanging out with your friends at someone’s house.” Some other activities include ice skating, bowling and many other activities.
If you have a car you have more options but then you still end up leaving Smithtown. Smithtown could really grow or feed the local economy if they had more activities for kids.
Maroon 5 concert review
On August 11th, 2010, people were rushing into Jones Beach around 7 o’clock to see Maroon 5. The night was perfect for the concert. People rushed into the stadium to get ready for the concert. Souvenirs and food were being sold outside the stadium.
First, VV Brown started the concert by singing a couple of her songs from her album: Traveling Like the Light. At the end of her performance, she sang one of her hits, “Shark in the Water”. By the end of her performance, it was starting to get dark and then Owl City was next up.
Owl City’s performance included background singers and a couple of string instruments like the bass and violin. I really wasn’t a fan of Owl City before but when they played live they were excellent. Adam Young, the lead singer of Owl City, was very friendly to everyone and helped make everyone pumped for the band everyone was waiting for Maroon 5!
It was around 9 o’clock when the lights went dark and slowly rose as the musicians of Maroon 5 came out .The crowd was going wild. Finally, out of the dark the music starts playing; the song was “Misery”, which is their hit single from their new album: Hands All Over. Maroon 5 played some of their old songs from their previous albums such as Songs about Jane and It Won’t Soon be Before Long. Maroon 5 only lasted about an hour and a half. Although they were really good, they should have made the concert long because they have so many great songs.
The band left early and everyone was shocked. But the crowd called for an encore, and that is what the band gave us. They played many songs that got the crowd pumped. The night ended with the song Sunday Morning from their album: Songs about Jane. This classic song caused a sensation of people singing along and dancing. At the end, Maroon 5 gave their bows and the crowd went wild. People left in a good mood and the night was a hit.
First, VV Brown started the concert by singing a couple of her songs from her album: Traveling Like the Light. At the end of her performance, she sang one of her hits, “Shark in the Water”. By the end of her performance, it was starting to get dark and then Owl City was next up.
Owl City’s performance included background singers and a couple of string instruments like the bass and violin. I really wasn’t a fan of Owl City before but when they played live they were excellent. Adam Young, the lead singer of Owl City, was very friendly to everyone and helped make everyone pumped for the band everyone was waiting for Maroon 5!
It was around 9 o’clock when the lights went dark and slowly rose as the musicians of Maroon 5 came out .The crowd was going wild. Finally, out of the dark the music starts playing; the song was “Misery”, which is their hit single from their new album: Hands All Over. Maroon 5 played some of their old songs from their previous albums such as Songs about Jane and It Won’t Soon be Before Long. Maroon 5 only lasted about an hour and a half. Although they were really good, they should have made the concert long because they have so many great songs.
The band left early and everyone was shocked. But the crowd called for an encore, and that is what the band gave us. They played many songs that got the crowd pumped. The night ended with the song Sunday Morning from their album: Songs about Jane. This classic song caused a sensation of people singing along and dancing. At the end, Maroon 5 gave their bows and the crowd went wild. People left in a good mood and the night was a hit.
Title- Coach Harmon : The passing away of a beloved coach
On July, 17th 2010 a beloved coach of Smithtown School District passed away. Patrick Harmon passed away after fighting brain cancer for several years. Despite Coach Harmon’s struggles , nothing stopped him when he coached and taught at the Smithtown High Schools. Harmon worked at Smithtown East as a permanent substitute teacher and coached football. At West, Coach Harmon coached winter and spring track and field for the boys and girls.
At Smithtown West, most of the kids knew Coach Harmon as one of the coaches of the track and field team. One of the track coaches in our school, Mrs. Flynn (works in the math office) worked with Coach Harmon for many years. “He was a very dedicated coach, he was at practice every day even when he didn’t feel well. He was supportive of the athletes and other coaches and will be greatly missed this season,” said by Mrs. Flynn. Senior Kate Feulner worked with Coach Harmon in shot put every winter since she was a freshman at High school West. “Coach Harmon was loved by all who knew him and was a great coach. He spent all his spare time training our shot-put team to be the best we could be and because of his help and dedication we all improved. I will miss all the jokes and laughs we shared with him”, says Feulner.
Gianna Glock an 11th grader who was on winter and spring track since freshmen year also had a few things to say about Coach Harmon. “Coach Harmon was, and always will be, an amazing coach. He was such an inspirational person who didn’t take life for granted. I’m so grateful to have had him as a shot-put and discus coach for the past 2 years and he will never be forgotten”, says Glock.
During the time when Coach Harmon was first diagnosed with cancer, he started to work with George Haines. Haines was also diagnosed with brain cancer like Coach Harmon. Both men worked together and they created BCMeetUp which was a support group for people who were affected by brain cancer. This gave people who were struggling with brain cancer a way to connect with other people who were dealing with brain cancer. For any more information on this website, check out: http://www.meetup.com/braincancer/.
After the passing of Coach Harmon, the students of the Smithtown School district worked together to create a fundraiser walk/run on behalf of Coach Harmon. All the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. This will be taking place on October 10th at the New York Avenue School building. To register and find out more go to: http://www.active.com/running/smithtown-ny/5k-runwalk-for-pat-harmon-2010.
The upcoming winter and spring track season at West will be a lot different without Coach Harmon. His dedication was a very positive feature to the track and field team. Although the team has lost a great coach, his memory will still live on for years to come. Coach Harmon will always be remembered as an amazing coach who was and his legend will live on at the Smithtown High schools.
At Smithtown West, most of the kids knew Coach Harmon as one of the coaches of the track and field team. One of the track coaches in our school, Mrs. Flynn (works in the math office) worked with Coach Harmon for many years. “He was a very dedicated coach, he was at practice every day even when he didn’t feel well. He was supportive of the athletes and other coaches and will be greatly missed this season,” said by Mrs. Flynn. Senior Kate Feulner worked with Coach Harmon in shot put every winter since she was a freshman at High school West. “Coach Harmon was loved by all who knew him and was a great coach. He spent all his spare time training our shot-put team to be the best we could be and because of his help and dedication we all improved. I will miss all the jokes and laughs we shared with him”, says Feulner.
Gianna Glock an 11th grader who was on winter and spring track since freshmen year also had a few things to say about Coach Harmon. “Coach Harmon was, and always will be, an amazing coach. He was such an inspirational person who didn’t take life for granted. I’m so grateful to have had him as a shot-put and discus coach for the past 2 years and he will never be forgotten”, says Glock.
During the time when Coach Harmon was first diagnosed with cancer, he started to work with George Haines. Haines was also diagnosed with brain cancer like Coach Harmon. Both men worked together and they created BCMeetUp which was a support group for people who were affected by brain cancer. This gave people who were struggling with brain cancer a way to connect with other people who were dealing with brain cancer. For any more information on this website, check out: http://www.meetup.com/braincancer/.
After the passing of Coach Harmon, the students of the Smithtown School district worked together to create a fundraiser walk/run on behalf of Coach Harmon. All the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. This will be taking place on October 10th at the New York Avenue School building. To register and find out more go to: http://www.active.com/running/smithtown-ny/5k-runwalk-for-pat-harmon-2010.
The upcoming winter and spring track season at West will be a lot different without Coach Harmon. His dedication was a very positive feature to the track and field team. Although the team has lost a great coach, his memory will still live on for years to come. Coach Harmon will always be remembered as an amazing coach who was and his legend will live on at the Smithtown High schools.
Library Closing Time a Hard Transition for Smithtown West
As school started and the new year began to transcend, students at Smithtown High School West were faced with homework and projects. For some kids, the library after school is a place for them to do their work and meet up with other students for studying.
Due to the budget cuts, Mrs. Masrour says that the library now closes at 2:30 p.m. this year, when last year it didn’t close until 3:00 p.m. This has been a problem for most of the students that use the library regularly.
Jackie Falk, a student here at Smithtown High School West, said that, “it is really annoying and I find that I need more time to work on my work.” With the amount of homework and projects that are given at Smithtown West, time is valuable to the students and they need to use library time as often as possible. Kids have a hard time concentrating at home with multiple distractions, which is why they sometimes choose to stay after school to do their homework, but if the library closes at 2:30, the students only have a maximum of thirty minutes to try to get all of their homework done.“The staff cut last year caused the library to lose one librarian and now three are left which leaves two for the morning and one in the afternoon,” says Mrs. Masrour. Since there is a lack of librarians, the time for after school library has been significantly cut from last year. The library is open 5 days a week.
Mr. Coady is planning to make changes that are going to be released at a later date. Teachers that currently work in the building have been walking around the halls making sure that students have something to do after the library closes-while they are waiting for the bus-but students need quiet time inside of a library where they can ask a librarian for help with whatever they are working on. Kids become bored and reckless while waiting for the bus and bad things are bound to happen. If the students have a place to sit and do their work while waiting for the bus it can benefit the teachers and the students.
As the school year progresses, Mrs. Masrour states that the chances of having the library close at a later time is “very unlikely this year .” She also stated that “the librarians didn’t make the decision, the budgets did.” For the students at Smithtown High School West, this new time change at the library will be a hard transition to get used to.
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