By Logan Smith

Welcome to the Gear Grinder! The gear grinder will be a recurring column about different school issues that agitate you, the student body. If there is anything that really grinds your gears, feel free to contact us and we will publish your thoughts, as long as they are expressed appropriately.

Nothing’s peppy about punishment

Pep assemblies are an opportunity for the student body to let loose and celebrate the school. It is here that many of the school’s traditions are born; one example of such traditions is the class chants. During the last pep assembly, there was a collective groan when the teachers shut down the booing at sophomores and the group admonishment delivered shortly after really grinds junior Ty Caron’s gears.

“Booing Sophomores is a tradition, It’s not going to die off,” said Caron, who thinks that the current method of group punishment is ineffective. “If you’re acting like a fool, say using your phone or something like that and you’re not listening to the teacher and then everybody gets punished for using their phone, you don’t feel any remorse for it. But if the teacher specifically says ‘you, give me your phone’ your face gets all red,  you get embarrassed because of it” Caron said “The position it puts you in can feel embarrassing.” However,  is calling students out and embarrassing them the only way? “I’m not saying it’s the only way, I’m just saying it’s part of what can help. It’s like getting kicked through the door y’know? Just extra emphasis, ‘cause it doesn’t only suck getting detention, it also sucks getting called out in class, that’s why you wouldn’t wanna do it again,” Caron said.

Take-Out Is Off the Menu

School food is sometimes the only option for students during lunchtime, and while the school provides a variety of options, the food isn’t satisfactory to everyone. Some students would like to visit different restaurants outside of the school for lunch, but this is not allowed due to the school’s closed campus. This really grinds Junior Olivia Prussman’s gears. Prussman thinks the school should adopt an open campus policy so that students may go somewhere else to get food. Her suggestion is that possibly students could earn the privilege to leave campus at will, and that Janet would have her eye on them.

Hot and sweaty in all the wrong ways

Junior Rashad Holland is upset about the temperature at the school’s assemblies, which are mandatory to attend. He feels that the assemblies are “too hot” and are “clustered.” He would rather not go unless the issue is fixed. His suggestion is to move the band to the Sophomores seating area because, according to him, there is more room in their seating area as opposed to the Junior section.

This concludes the first Gear Grinder! If you have a pet peeve that pertains to the school, please contact us at our email:  [email protected]