Raider Rumbler

Keeping in Touch

adviser — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:26:55 +0000

Summer is right around the corner and you can definitely tell. The humidity is rising, pools are opening, and school is winding down. Some will be leaving town, while others will stay around. Either way, it’ll be a challenge to keep in touch with most friends. But with all the latest technology staying connected can be much easier.

For instance, Facebook has over four hundred million users and most of your friends are probably connected. Checking your Facebook is a good way to keep in touch, even plan get togethers and parties. It is also a good way to see what your friends are doing over the summer. The few months we have off in summer can be a lot when it comes to friendships and relationships.

Nearly every teenager has a cell phone and texting has become the big thing. Teenagers now have full conversations through text messaging and it has become part of our daily lives. Texting is a great way to keep in touch with friends over the summer when you can’t see each other. But calling up your friends and having a conversation where you can hear each other’s voices can be a good thing too.

Take advantage of all the technology in our lives and keep in touch with friends and family.

Rouse Is Getting New Freshmen

adviser — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:24:11 +0000

RHS will soon have three different grades in the school. “Incoming freshmen should expect to take on more responsibility, projects, notes, and more,” said Ms. Neumann, a biology teacher at Rouse.

On the first day of school, freshmen should bring “Something to write with and a spiral notebook” said Coach Harrison. However, some teachers had a more joking opinion about first day supplies “Bring your teddy bear, in case you get scared. Some Play Doh, because you never know when you might need some,” said Mrs. Sneed. But there were also some serious suggestions given from her “bring your schedule, a flash drive, and a backpack.” She explained that the schedule was so you could find the right class, the flash drive to carry any summer assignments in, and a backpack to help you not lose the papers you will be given. Freshmen will receive their books before the first day of school, and might consider placing those in a locker in order to not have to carry them on the first day.

“Millions of others before us have made it through and I believe the freshmen this year will too,” said Ms. Palazzolo who will be teaching World History next year. Freshmen should not be afraid to enter high school “as long as you do what you’re supposed to you’ll be fine” added Ms. Neumann.

Freshmen this year had knowledge that they wished somebody had told them at the beginning of the year. “Take good notes” said Jacob Fox. “Don’t skip school, because you’ll lose your exemptions” added Matt Doughty. “Turn your work in on time” said Nathan Knoblett. In general the opinion was: do your homework, make good friends, and learn your way around the school.

High school will definitely be a change from middle school, with lots of new things to get used to. “They will have to start keeping an assignment book, and deal with more responsibilities” said Ms. Neumann. Ms. Palazzolo agrees. “They need to get used to the six weeks marking periods and finals.” But, she also says that new freshmen should not be scared. “If you do what you’re supposed to, you’ll be fine. You have to try to fail.”

In the years since their high school days, the teachers said that a few things had changed, “Technology is definitely better and more helpful” said Ms. Palazzolo. “The teachers are definitely nicer and there is no more hitting with a meter stick” said Mrs. Smith. She later added “the hair styles today are a lot better than back in the 80’s!”

As a closing remark in most of the interviews teachers added “NEVER EVER TURN IN YOUR WORK LATE!” exclaimed Mrs.Smith.

Does Facebook Make You Dumber?

adviser — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:55:20 +0000

Facebook is a very popular and widely used networking site. Most everybody has this some-what addicting website as a favorite on their computer or even an “app” on their iphone. Even though Facebook is clearly popular and has its benefits, such as being able to communicate and keep up with your long distance friends, share pictures, and just let everyone know what you’ve been up to. But is it possible for Facebook to actually make you dumber? According to studies, in a way, it can.

According to studies, students who have a Facebook spend more time on the networking site than they do studying. This lack of studies results in poorer grades than non-Facebook users. The 219 students surveyed by Ohio State University, doctoral candidate Aryn Karpinski, had GPAs that ranged from 3.5 to 4.0, while Facebook users had GPAs between 3.0 and 3.5. Not surprisingly, the Facebook students averaged 1 to 5 hours of studying per week while non-users hit the books for 11 to 15 hours a week.

I’m not saying that Facebook will ultimately ruin your career at school, but guys, instead of updating your status, maybe try and memorize some of those SAT words instead.

RHS Choir and Band take on Corpus

adviser — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:03:07 +0000

RHS’ band and choir took a trip to Corpus Christi for a competition on Friday May 7th, 2010 at the A&M campus. They will stay for 2 days and 1 night. This will be the first weekend trip for band and choir from RHS.
The band attended the American Classic Music Festival. Both the Cadet and Concert bands competed, as long as the students were eligible. “We will be at the pool, the beach, shopping, Texas State Aquarium, dinner at Pier 99, and more beach time” announced Mr. Crochet. “Between the coral cuts, stitches, jelly fish stings, and … awkward remedies, the trip was all in all great fun and was successful.” said band member Rowan Armour.
The concert band was named “Best in Class” in 3A and received the status of “Premier Group”. Freshman Nathan Knoblett was named outstanding soloist. Both the Cadet and the Concert bands won first division trophies and shocked the judges when they heard that the bands consisted of only freshman and sophomores “One of the judge’s jaws physically dropped” explained Mr. Crochet. This was the final band competition for this school year. The raider band achieved an “undefeated” status for this year.
Choir attended the Buccaneer Classics Music Festival on May 7, 2010. They received a rating of “excellent” for their efforts and both the freshmen woman’s choir and the mixed choir received first division. Most of the students enjoyed the trip and Jordan Sandoval’s favorite part was “Friday night, we were all at the condos and got together to have a pool party.”

Future AP World History Students Prepare

adviser — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:03:08 +0000

Ninth grade students this year who are enrolled in AP World History for next year attended a meeting on May 27, 2010. They discussed the course and were given the summer assignment. Over the summer the students are expected to read the first three chapters of the textbook and take specific outline notes over them.

This assignment will be due on the first day of school, and will be the first major grade of the year, so if a student decides not to do it, they will be starting the year off with a failing grade. Coach Hjort, says that “Usually about 90% of the students will actually do the assignment, and the other 10% will have to complete it, along with all the other work they will be assigned.” The same goes for any students joining it last minute, although they will have around three weeks to complete it.

The class is open to any student wishing to join, and the test at the end of the year will be for college credit. However, the class is hard work and the student must be willing to take on that commitment. Coach Hjort said “I expect all the Pre-AP world geography kids to take AP world, however in reality I know they all won’t. I think they should because sophomore year is the only year with one AP [class] all the other years you have multiple AP [classes].”

“The assignment introduces the students to the foundations of world history, and teaches them how we take notes,” said Coach Hjort. Coach Hjort taught AP World History this year, but next year he will be moving up with the sophomores to AP US History. Next year, the AP World History teachers will be Ms. Palazzolo and Ms. Howard. While both are currently World Geography teachers, they will be moving up as well.

AP world might be a challenging class, but it is definitely worth the effort. Coach Hjort says that “Everyone should take AP world, at least if they plan on going to college.”

Spanish Honor Society

adviser — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:25:36 +0000

The first Rouse Spanish Honor Society induction was held on May 10th, here at RHS. The induction was held for three sophomore students. In order to qualify for Spanish Honor Society, you must be a sophomore who has completed at least five semesters of Spanish. For Spanish III, students must also have received at least a 95 each semester to qualify, for Spanish III pre-ap, students must have a 90 or above. They must also be enrolled in Spanish at the time of the induction.
The purpose of Spanish Honor Society is to recognize achievements of high school students taking Spanish classes. Spanish Honor Society began way back in 1953. “Rouse students are worthy of recognizing,” said Mrs. Sandoval. This is her very reason for wanting to start a Spanish Honor Society here at Rouse. She also believes that this program will be very successful here at Rouse once word gets out. Spanish Honor Society gives students an opportunity to use Spanish. It also gives the students a chance to be surrounded by people who have the same academic goals. This service organization helps the community with their Spanish language trying to do all that they can do.

Art Club

adviser — Tue, 18 May 2010 17:59:26 +0000

The Art Club does projects such as mobiles, posters, T-shirt designs, murals, and other smaller projects. Ms. Dougharty, the leader of the club, says that “It’s a great way to inspire community building in the school.”
Art club has accomplished various goals this year. Their main goal was to become the club that others turn to when they need posters made, murals drawn, etc. They have made posters for food drives, other clubs, sports tryouts and the club hopes to continue helping out around the campus.
“Anyone can be in art club” said Ms. Dougharty; there is no need to be in art to join. However, it’s better to wait until next year to join, as there is not much of the school year left.
Another reason to be in art club is the National Art Honors Society, or NAHS. Students must be a sophomore or older to join, and if they are participating their senior year, they get decorations.
Ms. Dougharty encourages all students to join, “Art club is a great way to get involved. Any extracurricular activity looks good on college transcripts. Even if it’s not art, everyone should be a part of something.”

EOC’s

adviser — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:50:46 +0000

In the past 3 weeks, students at Rouse took required End-of-Course exams or as most of us know them, EOC’s. Although some teachers do not count them towards their student’s grade they are still very important. EOC’s are also a way to obtain extra exemptions. This year students took an EOC in Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, and World Geography. It all depended on what courses you took.

“EOC’s are a waste of time because we have finals,” Rachel Sloan said. Some students here at Rouse find EOC’s a hassle because they have to take 3 sets of tests; TAKS, EOC’s, and finals.

The EOC’s are going to phase out TAKS test and all other state tests. The class of 2015 or our current seventh graders will have to take the EOC instead of TAKS. The state is enforcing EOC’s to “go green” and to establish a way to test more students all at once. Eventually, students will have to take the EOC’s in all core subjects and they will become the finals at the end of every year. The class of 2015 and beyond will have to take these exams all through their junior year or until they take all the required courses.

Students alternated between two and one hour classes during the weeks of EOC’s. The reason for the two hour class periods was to give students enough time to complete their exams.

TAKS week at RHS

adviser — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:21:57 +0000

April twenty-sixth through thirtieth was TAKS, or Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, week at RHS. There were mixed opinions from people around campus about the test. Some thought it was easy, others felt as though it was more difficult. Many people believed that the time length allowed to the test takers was long enough, however, some felt differently. “Some people aren’t good test takers, so the TAKS is not a good way to determine if they advance.” said student Toni Schmidt.
The TAKS test decides whether or not a student can move on to the next grade. This is considered fair by some; student David Carley believes that “It is a good way to tell, because TAKS is the basics of school learning. If you don’t pass it, you are definitely not ready for the next grade.” Others, however, feel otherwise. “It’s not fair, because you could have a bad testing day, but still be a straight A student.” argues Rayna D’Andrea.
So how is TAKS different from finals? For one thing, TAKS is over fewer subjects. Sophomores at RHS took a Math, Science, and World History TAKS while the freshmen class took a practice Science, real Math, and then a practice Social Studies. Finals are also often times longer and harder, and there is one in every subject.
The TAKS test is considered fair by some, however, some students, such as Jorge Mena say that “I don’t think a test should tell what you know. It’s not really fair.” Lauren Hammond agrees, “I think if you pass all of your classes you shouldn’t have to take TAKS.”
However, others disagree. Leslie Tate’s opinion is that “It’s the state’s responsibility to make us take TAKS.”
Louis Bonilla agrees, “TAKS is a great way to measure your abilities.”

National Honor Society

adviser — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:45:42 +0000

National Honor Society is an organization designed to recognize student’s hard work and leadership skills. It is well known across the 50 states. National Honor Society began in 1921 and still exists today. Although it is somewhat difficult to get in, it is worth it in the long run. NHS looks really good on a college resume and strengthens leadership skills.
In order to be selected you must have good grades, leadership skills, and community service hours. If you are selected, you will be given an application for NHS. Then, you must fill out an application that consists of all things you have achieved from your freshman year. This completed application will then be presented to a council who will decide who gets in.
“It was difficult to get in, but it’s worth it,” said Mikaela Moore, “It pushes me to be more active in school activities and community service.” NHS is a great opportunity for students and everyone should try to get into the program.