A Daily Cup Of Jo
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School Security: What is enough?
By Veronica Oscilowicz
The tragic school shooting in New Town, Connecticut not only affected that community, but people all over the U.S including many schools and how they approach safety.
Some schools have added more technology such as cameras, others locked all doors and have visitors sign in, the list of changes and upgrades could go on. At Josephinum Academy a school located on the northwest side of Chicago there have been several changes to the schools security.
All staff and students are now required to wear an ID while they are in building. There has also been several lockdown drills when students and staff practice what they will do in an emergency and all doors are locked. Lourdes Weber, principal of Josephinum Academy says, “the purpose of the IDs is to know who is in our building. If we have any weather disaster, a bomb threat, or an intruder, the ID will help the adults identify the Josephinum students in a more efficient way.”
As Josephinum continues to grow by adding more students, teachers, and extracurricular programs safety is going to be more of an issue. Weber adds that having open communication with students as well as continuing to closely monitor students who are having behavior and academic issues will help create a safer environment at Jo.
Jasmine Manuel a senior at Josephinum said she thinks the security precautions are steps in the right direction, “I think that more could be done in the ways of security actions, specifically in making the lockdown drills better.” She added during the last lockdown drill no one came by and locked her classroom door and that did not make her feel safe.
School safety is on the minds of many students, parents and educators and schools are making changes to ensure the safety of their students but many feel more can be done. I think that those schools should enforce tough punishments for students who bring weapons to school,” said Manuel.
Too Much Homework
By Karissa Jackson
“Wonder what it’s like to have a peaceful life,” Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting.” - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Many students at Josephinum Academy, a northwest side Chicago high school, complain about the heavy load of homework they receive each night. They also complain about the lack of sleep, which is a direct result of the hours of homework each night. Some argue too much home will affect children negatively and turn learning in a chose instead of a positive experience. Despite America’s focus on testing, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development reports that students in Japan and Finland get less homework and they still outperform US students on tests.
Josephinum teacher Heather Hendrix disagrees and thinks students get the correct amount of homework.
“I think it appears to be because they get assigned a lot at once but with time management the homework would be equal to what they would receive at another institution.”
If students received less homework, they would have more time available for sleep and learning would not be as tiresome. Out of the five students interviewed, all five said they would be more rested in the morning, if they had less homework to do that night and sometimes they do not complete all of their homework because it is so time consuming.
Valeria James-Campbell a parent of a Josephinum students, said "Long and tedious homework is just as bad as not getting any, since the child only hurries to complete it absentmindedly in order to avoid the penalty for not doing the work.”
Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, said there is a minimal relationship between how much homework young kids do and how well they test, in a study he conducted.
Yoga Education
By Samantha Smyser
Josephinum Academy, Chicago IL, is just one school in America that has recently integrated yoga into school. The students occasionally practice during gym and several students have responded positively to the practice. Amy Medina, senior at Josephinum, states that she would like to practice yoga more often in school, balancing it with other forms of exercise. She added, "yoga would be a good thing and I can see it being very beneficial for the students".
The topic of yoga being implemented in schools is currently a hot topic with a few different sides to it. One says that it is important to integrate yoga into school curriculums because, obesity and ADHD rates would go down, and students’ quality of life could improve. The other side argues that yoga has religious connotations and would also be a distraction in the school day.
Columnist Brigid Brett cites in a 2003 study by Cal State Los Angeles :that yoga improved students' behavior, physical health and academic performance, as well as attitudes toward themselves". Research also shows that the benefits of yoga are especially prominent among children with special needs. Schools that have already implemented yoga somehow into their schools note positive feedback and results from most students.
Today teens have a lot more stress and pressure placed on them and it starts at an earlier age. The pressure to please their family, to earn good grades and score high, to look good, dress well, and be cool, to have the most friends on Facebook...the list goes on and on. All this physical and mental stress does accumulate. According to Nischala Joy Devi author of The Healing Path of Yoga, this accumulation of stress can lead to almost countless mental and physical health problems starting with minor issues such as fatigue, a drop in performance level, and feelings of anxiety, and if not checked leads to more serious issues and disease occurs. Some believe if yoga was incorporated into schools the benefits could combat some of the most prominent issues in schools such as: stress, and rising obesity and ADHD rates across the country.
Local Chicago yoga instructor, Marcy Cole, believes that "it is quite possible for yoga classes to be incorporated into schools", adding that she has seen it being offered as a class more and more every year. This instructor believes that "yoga is for everyone, every race, gender, and age group" and states that she has personally seen yoga help "transform people's lives for the better".
By Alexis Smyser
April 8, 2013
This year the city of Chicago will see up to 53 public schools closed by direct orders from Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration. The amount of school closings went down from 120 to 53 however, if all 53 schools are closed this will be the largest school closing in the nation. Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration claims that these decisions had to be made because of the 1 billion dollar deficit Chicago Public Schools are facing.
Officials say the shutdowns would affect 30,000 students with most attending poorly performing schools in African-American neighborhoods on the South and West sides where enrollment has sagged in recent years. The closing of these schools had sparked uproar and protests all around the city from parents, teachers, and alderman. This issues has garnered a lot of negative attention to the city, the mayor, and his administration panel, especially because the mayor decided to have his administration release this sensitive information while he was out of town on a skiing vacation. In mid-March Mayor Rahm Emanuel told a large crowd that, “the time for negotiations on school closings is over”. Chicago Teachers Union and hundreds of other people participated in protest as a part their continuing efforts to stop the closings, the mayor did not respond..
While the reasons behind the closings might seem legitimate on paper: financial crisis, poorly performing schools, low enrollment, etc.- there are still many questions. How will these 30,000 children transition? Who will help these students get to their new schools which require them to cross dangerous neighborhoods and crisscross over competing gang lines? Will other school buildings and administrations be able to handle the new population of students? Will the transition schools be equipped with the upgrades they’ve been promised, such as air conditioners, computers, and advanced programs? And possibly the biggest question of all; Will these changes help our children’s education or is it just in the interest of saving the city money?
Alex Rejman, a CPS student expressed fear of violence that might occur due to her school becoming a transition school for the closing schools, "Remember in 2008 when there was that shooting at Crane High school? Afterwards they needed 10 cop cars and a helicopter flying overhead to get kids to school safety because everyone was so scared. How are they going to be able to provide safety for all of these thousands of kids who are displaced in uncomfortable and foreign environments, especially if fights break out for whatever reason." She continued on with blood rushing into her cheeks, "I'm really scared, my sister is starting high school this year. How are kids going to be able to focus and receive one on one attention in overcrowded schools and classrooms?". Alex's concerns with the school closings are not rare, tens of thousands of family and teachers are thinking about the same issues. When asked her opinions on the school closings, Ms. Cicchetti , the assistant principle at Josephinum Academy said "The whole thing seems very rushed. The decision is extremely drastic and I wonder what other, perhaps more realistic, changes where looked at before this one was chosen". Ms. Ciccehtti also expressed her concerns by saying "While I know it's a very complex issue and some schools need a lot of change, I worry about displacing all of the students and kids being pushed into schools that already have their hands full. But who knows maybe this could be a good thing for Josephinum. With more families becoming frustrated with CPS they could turn to private institutions such as our school."
Largest School Closing in Modern History
By Karissa Jackson
April 8, 2013
Finally spring is here, and as the birds chirp in the trees, 14 girls are actively engaged in throwing punches, grunting, somersaulting and sweating in the movement class at Josephinum Academy, on the northwest side of Chicago. This class began in the fall semester of 2013 and has been providing an outlet for student's emotions through movement in the arts. The class has a huge impact on those who have had the opportunity to participate in it, since they learn how to connect their emotional center with their physical movement and breath. A senior in the class, Nancy Pureco said, "I'm glad that I have had the chance to be apart of this class because it has helped me to open up and be more aware of my movement."
During the course of the semester, students learn how to do onstage combat with fake fights and sword fighting. A day never passes without someone throwing a punch, doing a somersault or doing grid work. Sonya Everett, a sophomore who is currently in the class said, "The stuff that we learn is really cool! It's about your movement, but its also about your acting, so it makes the class super fun since we have to transform into a new personality." Many students have favorite moves, Everett's favorite is the somersault, Sanay Ma's is the superman choke and Aimee Medina's is the stomach kick.
According to the Maggie Flanigan Studio, "Movement class for acting helps actors to immediately move beyond physical constrictions and use the body as a full acting instrument that can interact fully, with all the senses, to the world around them and to the other "players' in that world. Fehr goes on to say that it is important to have a movement class in high school when he says "I think that it's during high school where people start to separate all of those things out or they've been sensitized to separate all of those things out to get through school and things like that. By having it (the movement class) in a high school class, it gives the student a head start on the kinds of things that get reintegrated at higher levels."
The teacher, David Fehr, has been a professional and dexterous actor for 20 years with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and he completed his graduate work at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. He has also studied at Balliol College at Oxford University and has been teaching since 1996. He characterizes the class as a Fine Arts class, which can double as a physical education class. When asked what his objectives for the class were, he said "What I am trying to do with movement class is to integrate the student's mind with the student's breath, with the student's physicality and the student's emotional center into one bigger machine."
Expression Through Movement
