Journal Sentinel Trip

2009 Spring Foursquare staff

Seniors .... and school ....

Comic composed by Melvin Coulter

Fine Arts Night Is Here!

By Sydney Walls

This is the 12th year that Messmer High School is celebrating Fine Arts Night. Every year the school has created a new theme for this celebration. This year the theme is “The Streets of Paris”.

Unlike the former celebrations this year is expected to be a formal affair. Everyone in attendance is encouraged to dress up. Not dressing as formal as prom dresses and tuxedos, but more like cocktail dresses and pant suits are encouraged. Then there is always music and food to make the night more enjoyable.

The first time Messmer had Fine Arts Night there were thirty people in attendance. Last year, for the “Green and Growing theme”, there were eight hundred people that came to view the artwork that really showcased the talents that the students possess. This year, Mrs. Flierl expects the attendance to be around five hundred people. There’s no cost and the date will be April 30th.

Sophomore Giovanni Rodriguez had her self-portrait showcased last year. She stated, “Having my artwork showcased made me feel proud of myself.”

Junior, Tieara Stewart spoke about students having the chance to express themselves.

“I think Fine Arts Night is great because it gives students the chance to express their individual talents and who they are if they feel misunderstood,” Stewart expressed.

Out of students surveyed about what they like to see at Fine Arts Night 32% percent of the students enjoy seeing the paintings, 30% like the sketches, 25% percent were more drawn to the sculptures, and 13% percent of the students liked seeing the pottery.

Art teacher, Mr. Mike Boyle, works with all of his art classes to decorate and hang murals in the basement’s hallway that display this year’s Fine Arts Night theme, “The Streets of Paris.”

Bookstore Manager, Mr. Jeremy Armstrong, wishes we had a Fine Arts Week because he feels that the nightly event is not enough. “Fine Arts Week is an exciting idea”, Mrs. Flierl thought when it was brought to her attention. She wants to share that idea at the next Fine Arts Night meeting and hopes that gets approved. Mrs. Flierl also mentioned that the most important thing is the student’s artwork.

“All year I save the best pieces from my students, mount all of the artwork, and help plan activities for the night. There will musical performances and a judged art contest. The night is to celebrate all the hard work our students do over the course of a year and share the beauty of art and music with friends and family.”

Leadership in Washington DC

18 Messmer students visited Washington DC this past weekend to find out what it is like in our Nation's capital.

Japanese cuisine is a new experience for most

Mardi Gras kicks off Lenten season

Who is it?

Post a comment with your name and the name of this teacher and you will have a chance to win Bishop Bucks!

Picture of the week - Teachers play, too.

Vince LoCoco, Josh Reiss, Greg Flattery, Justin Armitage KC Simon, Kris Puddicombe, Jeremy Armstrong, Kim Stein, Abby Vogt, Rachel Dobrauc, Mark Ketterhagen and Liz Flattery use the snow day productively for a snow football game. And yes, teachers do have first names.

Hip Hop influences some students but in various ways

By Shayla Wesley, Senior

Hip Hop is a culture that includes rap music, style, language, and the way one presents themselves, and it influences well beyond those categories. Many are touched by this culture which as become its own industry of sales and promotion, but are teens at Messmer any more or less attracted to the ways of this world?

“I don’t think I am influenced by the Hip Hop world,” says senior Jasmine L. Davis. “I am my own person, and I do not let it get me to do anything.” Davis, then, is not one of the 46% of students that say that style influences them the most.

Junior Anthony Spicer claims, “Style influences me because if I am watching BET and I see a jacket or a belt that I like, I am most likely going to go out and buy it.” Surprisingly, only 14% say that the use of good and bad language influences them. “I am not influenced by the bad use of language because I do not repeat what other people say if I know that it will get me in trouble,” Spicer continues. Regarding others, “I think people do mimic of the Hip Hop World for kids because if a child sees something that they will like to try then they will eventually try to experience what they just saw,” stated Spicer.

Fashion trends are mostly routinely modeled by teens. If the Hip Hop trends bring out a new fashion such as skinny jeans or the puppy dog hat, a majority will most likely mimic that or try to find a similar style. Over three fourths of the studnets admit to buying into the trends they see.

There are both positive and negative affects of this culture on the general public. A positive effect can be encouraging people to stop all the violence and hatred towards one another.

“Nas is a perfect example because he wants people to come together as one and he wants to see change in the world,” states senior Shakira Taylor.

On the other hand, one negative effect trickles down to young kids. Children can be listening to a radio or watching television then all of a sudden a bad word is said and now the child is just going around saying that word they heard. Parents must be aware of what their children are watching or listening to and have a discussion about what is acceptable to model.

Where is study hall?

By Brittany Miller

Sixteen year old Alexandria Rodgers walked into her first hour study hall at school. She expected it to be quiet and a good place for her to finally be able to finish her eighth hour’s homework. However, when she opened the door she saw something completely different.

“Study hall was a class that basically was gossip hour or a way to catch up on last night’s party that you might have missed. I was shocked when I walked into the door of study hall for the first time because I could not find anyone studying,” Rodgers, a sophomore at Pulaski High School, claims.

Study halls have been canceled out of many schools due to the fact that nobody ever studies in them. Instead, people talked the whole hour, never did any work, and many altercations came from this so called “gossip hour”.

“I hate looking down at my schedule every semester to see the words ‘study hall’ on it because what those words are really saying to me is, ‘Josh, get ready to get into a whirl of trouble and fail all your classes’. I try to get it switched immediately because I know I am not going to do any work, which will bring my grades down.” These are the words of Joshua Camry, a junior at Pulaski High School.

Many schools like Pulaski High School and Messmer have canceled study hall as a class since many students abuse the privilege. This is good for students like Camry but bad for the ones who desperately need a study hour and would use it appropriately.

“When I first came to Messmer I prayed that I had a study hall on my schedule. When I did not I went to my guidance counselor and told her that I desperately needed it and that is when I found out that there was not a study hall at Messmer. This effected me badly because I was so used to having it at my previous school to catch up on missing assignments or do a classes homework before it is time to go to that class.” Junior Charles Sutton is one of those who would have used it wisely. Unfortunately, Many students just like Sutton have suffered from their not being a study hall at schools. Although this is true, not all high schools’ study halls are this bad. “I go to Milwaukee Lutheran High and there when it says study hall that is all that is being done, studying. There is no talking, no eating or sleeping. Only work is able to be done in that class,” states fifteen year old freshman Stephanie Moore.

A study hall is what you as a student makes of it. It is up to the student’s behavior and increase or decrease in grades whether or not it stays around. At the end of the day a study hall, believe it or not, can make or break students’ grades if not taken seriously. Therefore, if you have a study hall as a class, please do not mess up the privilege for underclassmen, do your work!

Picture of the week - Irony

Mr. Mark Ketterhagen loves Ohio State Buckeye football. He actually is rather crazy about it! So you can imagine his surprise when this banner showed up in his doorway yesterday! Welcome back to school Mr. K!

Two things Messmer doesn't have: Block schedules and year round school

There are different types of scheduling within the nation’s different school systems. A majority are 10-month school years, and some schools are year-round schools. It may sound like too much school, but it actually means these type of school are given longer breaks but are in school over 12 months as opposed to 10 months. There are also scheduling called block scheduling. These types allow students to experience different classes on different days. What do students prefer in terms of the structure of their days and school year?

Going to a school that has block scheduling is better because “We spend more time learning the subject thoroughly and actually understand the lessons,” says Derrion Brown, a senior at Pius High School. He thinks that having a block scheduling is better than going to an all year-round school and includes that the block scheduling gives you the opportunity to ask questions and really get to know your peers better.

On the other hand Messmer senior Brittany Miller claims, “It is much better for me not to have a block schedule because my attention span is low and I get bored hearing about the same thing for more than an hour.” She goes on to include that having a block schedule means that you only have about three classes a day which is more stationary than being able to move around during the day instead of staying in three rooms all day.

Many people think that going to an all year round school means more school days than other schools. In reality, a year round school has more time off then a regular school. Destiny Eison, an 8th graded at Greenfield Middle School says that from her experience at a year round school she ended up liking it because they get more days off than regular school. She also adds that getting more days off she gets more to do homework.

Junior Charles Sutton has his own thoughts. Before he came here he went to a block scheduling school. “I would rather go to an block schedule because you learn more if you are in the class for more than 45 minutes.”

Overall, many schools have different routines and schedules to fit their student bodies. They pick what schedule that best fits for them.

Going Green

By Sable Harris

In this century the world has tried its best to stress the importance of recycling. “Going green” is the catch phrase, and it is hopefully not just a trend but a movement that will be around for a long time.

Television, radio, and all type of communication keeps informing the world about global warming and keeping the environment clean, but how many people actually take the time to listen to what they are saying? Freshman Jasmine Lowe does.

“My mom is really big on recycling and she hates seeing broken glass and bottles in the street, so she makes us clean it up and put them in recycling bins sometimes I hate ding it, but I look at it as I am helping my great grandchild.”

Lowe does not just recycle because her mom tells her to; Jasmine feels that it is good for the world to have a clean air, because there is too much population and harmful tings that keeps her away from the thins that she wants to do.

Many people who feel the same way that Jasmine does take sophomore Jesse Saphonphakdee for example knows that recycling and global warming is more then just saving the trees; his recycling goes deeper than that.

“I recycle because it saves me a little money. Many people don’t understand that recycling can go a little deeper than putting bottles in recycling bin. I recycle the paper I have. If I have paper that is wrinkled or has something wrote on it I will use it and get another assignment out of it, I mean, why waste money on paper when I can get something more valuable?”

Unfortunately, there are people who don’t recycle or that try to do their best but it’s not a top priority. Freshman Dazzire Hale thinks that recycling is good, but sometimes she just forgets.

“I don’t recycle, because it is not my top priority right now, and it kind of slips my mind. I want to but it’s not something that I can just do,” says Hale.

Global warming and recycling is really important and to get more involved contact Mr. Gottschalk in Admissions or any of the teachers and students involved in Messmer’s Green Team.

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