theGrowlMassaponax High School, 8201 Jefferson Davis Highway, Fredericksburg, VA 22407 - (540) 710-0419 - mhsgrowl@yahoo.com - October 15, 2008 - Volume 11 Issue 1

Panthers gear up for new season, begin journey GRIDIRON GREATNESS

Sportspage 3

Toth wins regional teacher of year award

Kyle Toth

by Anna Rice

Staff Writer

AGENT OF CHANGE

News Feature

Presidential candidate Barack Obamavisits Mary Washington

page 6

After several years of inactivity, and a large addition of new students arriving, the school’s previously unoccupied trailer classrooms have been reopened and filled for the new school year.

Acting on the enrollment influx for the upcoming year, the school board decided to reopen the trailers behind the building.

“They were so under used in the past because they didn’t need the space,” said freshman English teacher Kelli Benefield. “I volunteered to teach out here, I have no complaints, mainly because of my control over the [air] vents in here, and there’s less distractions for my kids.”

“I don’t like them, and I have Spanish out there,” said sophomore Grant Garland. “I figure they can fit more people in the classes we already have.”

Freshman Julie Huffman had a different take on the outdoor classrooms.

“I don’t have any classes out there, so I haven’t seen them yet, but I’m hoping they’re built well enough to last the year of storms,” Huffman said.

Benefield, however, feels the trailers are better than the average classrooms.

“The trailer itself doesn’t move, and the rain isn’t really bothersome at all.” Benefield said. “Since the trailers are a distraction proof classroom, I hope the storms will be considerate and let us stay.”

by Chris Baker

Staff Writer

Trailer rooms return to MHSreally important,” Food Services Director Jessica Escobar said. “If you do not have breakfast you get will have increased visits to the nurse, more headaches and stomach aches and overall poorer grades, especially arithmetic.”

Besides the addition of breakfast, Chartwells has given the commons a new make-over.

The “snack line” has now moved into the old teacher lunch room area. Instead of just snacks, the line now has cold wraps which will also shorten the lines in the other two kitchen areas.

“Unfortunately the cafeteria was not built for the capacity of students,” Escobar said. “We needed more room and cashiers and after the renovations, we have that.”

The new line now has a protective wall that offers more protection from those who cut in line.

“The wall is great because we have noticed that less people are cutting in line.” Cafeteria Manager Linda Ballangee said. “It really helps.”

Chartwells makes revisionsThis year Chartwells is debuting

an up-to-date version of the commons area along with a new breakfast menu.

Chartwells has decided to add breakfast to the daily menu. Every morning between 7:15 and 7:30, pancakes, sausages, and eggs are some of the things that can be found in Commons A.

“Your brain only works on sugar, so eating breakfast helps get your body up and moving,” school nurse

Susan Fulton said. In the Outtakes

section, hot breakfast sandwiches such an egg and cheese

sandwiches on an English muffin can be found.

Studies have shown that eating breakfast will help boost energy

levels and attentiveness, allowing for people to do better at school.

“Research says that breakfast is

by Emily Branham

featureS editor

Waiting in line, sophomore Shawna Harris utilizes Chartwells’ new and improved commons. A breakfast program has also been added this year.

photo by Lizzy Meppen

NUMBERSSpotsylvania’s new GPA policy has some students cheering, others scratching their heads

by Mike Barnes

editor-in-Chief

With every new school year, change inevitably seeps its way into new policies and procedures.

Spotsylvania County Schools and the school board ensured that this year would be no different, as this summer the school board approved a drastic overhaul of the county’s grade point average calculation policy.

The new policy, which was suggested by two concerned parents, was enacted to ensure that Spotsylvania county students’ GPA’s were competitive against those of students from other school systems.

“The policy was enacted because the county wanted to help students be more competitive for college admissions and potential scholarships,” Massaponax guidance director Bart Nave said.

The new GPA system leaves the county’s seven-point scale unaffected, but instead of awarding a 4 for an “A” towards a student’s GPA, students can now earn as much as a 4.5 depending on the grade.

As with any rule change, the new policy has faced its share of praise and controversy, alike.

After the policy was enacted, all students soon found that their GPA’s were recalculated retroactively under the new system.

Although all students experienced a rise in their averages, some

students rose higher than others, affecting the class ranks.

The retroactive recalculation caused quite a stir, especially among seniors.

“It unfairly changes the rules of the game. As a senior, I abided by the fact that an A was a 94 and that was what I needed in order to obtain what I perceived as an A in the class. Now, however, my definition of an “A” no longer applies,” senior Robert Lee said.

Concerns expressed at a recent meeting swayed the school board to act on behalf of seniors and issue another new policy in an attempt to preserve the grades achieved under previous system.

In effect, the college hopeful seniors will report their new recalculated GPA, but their transcript will show their class rank as “frozen” from the 2007-2008 school year, which is unaffected by the new policy.

“The rank being frozen was done to benefit students who have worked hard to achieve their class rank prior to the GPA change and in most cases there will be very little change once it is unfrozen [at the end of the semester],” Nave said.

Either way, Nave is excited about the new policy and its positive effects on students, but contends that the policy must be kept in perspective.

“Students need to keep in mind the GPA is just one factor that is considered by admissions departments.,” Nave said.

Weather

Worst Case Scenario

Baseball

Index

LOVIN’ LUNCH

In the middle of a creative lesson comparing Greek mythology to a Jerry Springer episode, room 227 was visited by a group of congratulators, including Department of Education officials and Superintendent Jerry Hill.

Soon following the small ceremony Principal Joe Rodkey interrupted all A2 classes with an intercom announcement that Kyle Toth had been chosen as the Virginia Division III Teacher of the Year.

“I was in absolute shock. I don’t want to sound too cliché but this whole ride has been like an out of body experience. I have been numb to the honor and I am

just now beginning to realize the magnitude of it,” Toth said.

Toth and other region winners represent the best of more than 100,000 VA teachers. The award came after being declared as the Spotsylvania County teacher of the year last May. In further review of Toth’s creative and fun methods of teaching, he was named the region’s greatest teacher.

“Kyle is so creative, like a creative genius. He takes something basic in English and makes it an adventure for the students. It creates an atmosphere where the students want to learn and that can be hard to come by in a high school,” Rodkey said.

A former student of Toth’s, junior Morgan White expresses that Toth’s strongest attribute is his dedication.

“Toth’s dedication towards students is overwhelming.

It’s more than most teachers I’ve ever had before. I can really tell that he spends a lot of time planning and preparing for the lessons that he teaches,” White said.

On October 24, Toth and winners from seven other VA regions will travel to Richmond to be interviewed for 2009 Virginia Teacher of the Year. The decision will be announced later that night at a ceremony. If Toth wins the Virginia Teacher of the Year award, he is eligible to become the National Teacher of the Year, an honor which two other teachers from VA have been granted.

Toth would rather help Massaponax High School learn in a fun and unique way rather than winning awards.

“I appreciate the praise and rewards but all of these are pale in comparison to the overall feeling I get from reaching a class in a way that they haven’t been reached before, Toth said.

TODAYMostly Cloudy

High: 72 Low: 54

WEDNESDAYRain

High: 74 Low: 53

THURSDAYMostly Sunny

High: 72 Low: 48

2. Editorial3. Sports4. Sports5. Photo Essay6. News/Feature7. Entertainment8. Style

In the sports world, Oc-tober and playoff baseball go hand-in-hand.

This year, an interesting mix of teams find them-selves in the playoffs.

On a recent A-day lunch, we asked 310 students which of the four remain-ing teams was most likely to win the World Series.

20%

34%

27%

19%

PhilliesRed Sox

Dodgers

Rays

BostonRed Sox

95-67AL Wild Card

Los AngelesDodgers

84-78NL West Winner

PhiladelphiaPhillies

92-70NL East

Tampa BayRays

97-65AL East

How to survive:

AN ELEPHANT STAMPEDE

Take available cover: Don’t try to outrun them, they can run at speeds over 25 mph. Even while charging, they can make sharp turns and climb steep slopes so seek sturdy structure and take cover.

Climb a tree: The elephants are likely to avoid trees when running. If you can-not climb the tree, stand behind it. Elephants will avoid large ob-stacles when running.

Lie down: Unless the elephant is intent on trampling you because you are hunting, elephants typi-cally avoid stepping on a prone human being, even during a charge.

Taken from the Worst Case Scenario Sur-vival Guide: Extreme Edition