Instead of the tradition-

al Amazing Race event,

students were treated to a

Back-to-School barbecue

and games on Thursday,

Sept. 3.

The afternoon event

was organized by Diana

Juarez’s freshman class.

For lunch, Cindy Clark

and several volunteers

barbecued meatball and

chicken kabobs, along with

a variety of other foods.

After lunch, several

games and activities were

held in the field, including

Capture the Flag.

Juarez said there were

no technical winners of the

game, but all who partici-

pated got candy.

“I thought Capture the

Flag was a lot of fun,” said

one student.

Several students, and

the new social studies

teacher, also participated

in a rap battle. Rappers

were required to use origi-

nal content and received

candy for participating.

Another contest includ-

ed lip syncing with candy

as its prize.

After the Parade of

Potatoes, pathways clas-

ses competed to see who

could throw their potato

the farthest. Juarez’s

class won this contest.

“The Back-to-School

event was pretty fun. It

was different than I was

used to but I got to meet

new people,” said one

student.

Volume 1, Issue 1

Students celebrate start of new school year

September 30, 2015 P h o e n i x C h a r t e r H i g h S c h o o l

Phoenix Times Upcoming Events

Sept. 30 — Open House, 4-7 pm

Oct. 8 — Progress Reports #1

Oct. 9 — No school

Oct. 9 — Capture the Flag event, Elk Island

Oct. 26-29 — Spirit Week

Oct. 29 — Picture retakes

Oct. 29 — WIT Bingo

Oct. 30 — No school

Off-Campus Policy 2

Smarter Balance Results 3

New format, schedule 3

New Kitchen Freezer 4

Day Care Closes 4

New Staff 5

Blood Drive 5

School Projects 6

9-11 Commemmoration 6

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

(above) Math teacher Chelsea Ross (second from left) belts out a Spice Girls tune with members of her

Pathways class, along with other students. (below) Two of the “Dress a Veggie” entries.

By Maya Baney

said one student.

In order to get an off-

campus pass, a student

must be passing six out of

seven classes and their

teachers must approve

their application.

In addition, the student

must maintain 70 percent

attendance, as well as

pass a urine analysis.

Once approved, the

student will be given a blue

pass with Chelsea Ross’

signature. New passes in a

different color will be grant-

ed each trimester.

According to Ross, the

Each year, the student

council is asked to decide

the off-campus policy for

the year.

The council has decided

that for the time being, off-

campus privileges will only

be given to juniors and

seniors. The council will

discuss second trimester

whether sophomores can

have the privileges.

“I think it’s fair. Sopho-

mores and freshmen aren’t

mature enough, but there

should be some kind of

deal you can work out,”

passes must be shown at

the exit when leaving and

any time upon request. The

pass will be taken away if

the student shows up late

even once after lunch

break.

If the student crosses

Diamond Lake Blvd., the

pass will be taken for the

remainder of the year. In

addition, if there are ex-

cesses amounts of litter-

ing, the campus will be

closed for up to two weeks.

Most students seemed

to be ok with the policy,

with many stating that they

never leave.

PAGE 2

Student Council drafts revised off-campus policy Why does Snoop Dog

always carry an

umbrella? Fo’Drizzle

What happened when

the shark became

famous? He turned into

a starfish.

What did the red light

say to the green light?

Don’t look! I’m

changing.

PHO EN IX TIMES

(above left) Students enjoy the

sunshine and the barbecue.

(above right) Chef Cindy Clark

tends to the kabobs. (above)

Another entry in the “Dress a

Veggie” contest. (right) Students

play a round of Capture the Flag.

By Brytny Sanders

VO L UME 1, ISSUE 1 PAGE 3

New format, schedule receives mixed reviews from students

At first glance, this year

is no different than any

other year. But look closely

and you will see many

changes.

Starting this school year,

Phoenix is not one but

three different schools in

one.

These schools/programs

are called Readiness, Early

College, and Instructional,

which includes LOFT

(Learning on the Fast

Track).

According to administra-

tor Ron Breyne, the Readi-

ness portion of the school

is for the “students who

benefit from having primari-

ly one teacher, rather than

up to seven different teach-

ers”, while Early College is

for “students who are close

to graduation (their last

trimester) and plan to go to

UCC”.

The Instructional group,

said Breyne, is for students

who have been at Phoenix

before, or have fewer cred-

its to finish up that are

found in regular instruction-

al classes.

LOFT continues to be for

students who only have 14

or less credits left in order

to graduate and are a junior

or senior. The students stay

in one classroom where

they can either do packets

or Odyssyware to earn their

credits.

New Schedule

In addition to the differ-

ent schools-within-a-school

format, Phoenix has decid-

ed to try a new class sched-

ule, as well.

For the Instructional

School, classes are on an

“A-B” schedule, which mim-

ics college schedules.

On Mondays, Wednes-

days, and Fridays there are

five periods: Pathways

(homeroom), which is 30

minutes; second period,

which is 90 minutes; third

period, which 90 minutes;

fourth period, which is ei-

ther 70 or 40 minutes de-

pending on if the day is

early-release; and fifth peri-

od, which is either 70 or 40

minutes depending on if

the day is early-release.

The only difference be-

tween the schedule for the

Instructional School and

the Readiness School is

that students in the Readi-

ness program stay with

their homeroom teacher

until lunch. In the after-

noons, they switch classes

and mingle with the Instruc-

tional students.

On Tuesdays and Thurs-

days, Instructional students

only have three classes.

By the end of the tri-

mester, students have been

exposed to six different

classes in just one period

and can earn .17 credit for

each of those classes.

Administrators state that

this format will allow stu-

dents to catch up on credits

and can earn more than the

traditional seven credits a

year.

During the afternoons on

Tuesdays and Thursdays

there is just one class,

which is 105 minutes, plus

a study hall time with hom-

eroom.

This block class is open

to both Instructional and

Readiness students. Some

of these blocks rotate, but

most are year-long courses.

Student Reactions

In an informal survey

amongst students, reac-

tions about the new sched-

ule were mixed.

Those who don’t seem to

like the new schedule most

often cited confusion as the

reason, other comments

included:

“I hate it because I

think Tuesday and

Thursday classes are

useless and I would

rather go to seven

classes a day.”

“I hate the new sched-

ule because there’s no

block classes I like and

I would rather have it

on Wednesday since

that’s a short day.”

“The new schedule is

okay, it’s really confus-

ing though.”

For those students who

like the new schedule, com-

ments included:

“I enjoy the schedule,

it’s definitely different

than normal schools.”

“I’m going to be able to

most likely graduate

with it.”

“It lets you earn more

credits and I like how

it’s not the same thing

everyday.”

By Anna Taggart

First-year Smarter Balance test results are in This spring, Phoenix

joined other schools across

the nation by testing juniors

with the new Smarter Bal-

ance assessment in read-

ing, writing and math.

The Smarter Balance

test is supposed to not only

challenge students with

more rigor but give a na-

tion-wide picture of today’s

schools.

According to the Oregon

Department of Education

website, “Based on field

test data from 2014, offi-

cials had expected roughly

30 to 40 percent of stu-

dents to meet these higher

expectations this first year.

Students surpassed those

estimates by an average of

10 percentage points.”

Six Phoenix juniors

passed all three tests.

English teacher Ann

Susee said that 27 out of

43, or 63 percent of Phoe-

nix juniors passed the read-

ing test.

“Most of these students

had already passed the

OAKS reading test as fresh-

men or sophomores, but I

was really pleased to see

On the writing portion of

the test, 17 out of 43, or

40 percent passed.

While many students

found success on the Eng-

lish test, most of the stu-

dents struggled with the

math portion — a trend

seen across the state. Only

7 out of 41 students

passed, or 17 percent.

Administrator Ron

Breyne said, “A letter will

be going out to students’

families with mid-term

progress reports. People

were nervous about the

new test because it is

more challenging and very

different with teachers

having little information

about the test or time to

prepare students.”

He added, “However,

our eleventh graders (the

only grade they allowed to

test) did well on reading

and writing and our com-

pletion rates were similar

to completions of OAKS

tests that were in use until

last year.”

For years, Phoenix has

been using a small freezer

and because of the size,

the kitchen has had trouble

storing food.

Thanks to a $17,000

grant, however, the kitchen

now has plenty of room for

its needs.

Sharon Logan, who is in

charge of the school’s culi-

nary program, said she

came up with the idea to

get a bigger freezer.

Freshman teacher Di-

ana Juarez helped her by

applying for a grant, which

paid for both the freezer

and the installation.

Logan said the old freez-

er was so full with boxes

that when Cindy Clark, the

school’s cook, needed

something from the freez-

er, she had to dig through

PAGE 4

Low teen parent numbers leads to daycare closure

While there is no official

daycare, the school is cre-

ating an alternative option,

called the “co-op”.

The co-op will be located

in the former teachers’

lounge on the first floor

across from the adminis-

trative offices.

In this room, the teen

moms will have a place for

the babies or toddlers to

sleep, play, and be

changed.

To be considered a co-

op and not a daycare, the

school can have no more

than three children in the

room at a time. One or all

the parents must be with

the children at all times.

Teen parents are en-

couraged to take turns

watching each others chil-

dren, so students can fo-

cus on tests or other pro-

jects.

Senior Gabrielle Mead

has consistently brought

her son to the daycare for

the past few years but

can’t now because of her

schedule.

“I’m missing a lot of

school because I have no

one to watch my son,” said

Gabrielle. “I don’t really like

the co-op because it’s hard

to watch my son and do my

work.”

Because of the closure,

Donna Fowlkes, who has

headed up the daycare for

the past few years, lost her

job.

She has, however, been

hired by Head Start as a

teacher. She said she loves

it at Head Start but misses

the students at Phoenix.

Due to this year’s low

numbers of teen moms

and budget cuts, the Phoe-

nix daycare has been

closed.

According to administra-

tors, it costs $70,000 to

have the daycare open for

the school year.

Without a daycare, teen

parents must take their

children to class with them.

Katelyn Hemmila, who

is expecting a daughter

next month, said she is

disappointed because she

had looked forward to

bringing her baby to the

daycare.

To bring back the day-

care, Ron said the school

would need more then 10

babies, infants and/or

toddlers.

PHO EN IX TIMES

a ton of boxes or order

more food, which wasted

money.

Clark said she is glad to

have the freezer, but that it

is still a work in progress

and she hasn’t been able

to fully utilize it yet.

By Maya Baney

By Michelle Wommack What is a bee that

can’t make up it’s

mind? A maybe.

What did the cell say

when his sister stepped

on his foot? Mitosis!

How does NASA

organize company

parties? They planet.

What do you call dan-

gerous precipitation? A

rain of terror.

Why did the tomato

blush? Because he saw

the salad dressing.

VO L UME 1, ISSUE 1

Phoenix Charter High

School has added five new

staff members and a stu-

dent teacher to its 2015-

2016 roster.

Melissa Cornejo

Melissa Cornejo is one

of the new AmeriCorps

volunteers this year.

“Ameri-Corps” she said,

“is a national service pro-

gram similar to the Peace

Corps. However, the ser-

vice is conducted in the

United States rather then

abroad."

Melissa’s official title is

Career Pathway Connec-

tion Leader and she is facil-

itating the Early College

program.

Right now there are 10

students in the program.

She said her responsibili-

ties so far consist of “assis-

ting students with college

planning, enrolling stu-

dents in classes at UCC

and holding work shops to

prepare for college life".

Melissa said she grew up

in the suburbs of Los Ange-

les and remained in south-

ern California to attend

college.

She earned her bache-

lor of arts in feminist stud-

ies and French culture at

the University of Redlands.

"I feel fortunate to be

working with the Early Col-

lege students, as I am a

first-generation college

student just like many of

them," said Melissa.

Her plans for the Early

College program will ex-

pand each trimester as

more students join and as

the needs of the current

students change.

Shannon Mullins

Shannon Mullins is a

student teacher this year in

math teacher Chelsea’s

class.

Before deciding to be-

come a teacher, Shannon

was a caregiver and re-

cruiter for FedEx ground.

She has also been a pack-

age handler for United

Parcel Service (UPS) and a

home-schooling mom.

Shannon said she

earned her associate’s

degree at UCC and her

low iron or no ID.

“We try to remind peo-

ple to bring ID but some-

times they don’t have any.

Since we are having pic-

tures taken soon, I’m posi-

tive that more will be able

to donate next time

around,” she said.

Webster added that

parents and community

members are more than

welcome to donate.

Six students helped run

Phoenix held its first

blood drive on Thursday,

Sept. 24, and was consid-

ered a success by organiz-

ers.

“Each person who do-

nates can save up to three

lives. We were able to save

48 lives with this blood

drive,” said health teacher

Gab Webster.

Webster said that 25

attempted to donate, but a

few were turned away be-

cause of either sickness,

this blood drive, with soph-

omore Kenzie Young and

senior Ashley Burns lead-

ing the group.

Webster said that Phoe-

nix tries to do 3-4 blood

drives a year, but must wait

56 days in between each

one.

“The next one will prob-

ably be in early December

but I don’t have a date set

yet,” she said.

PAGE 5

Trio of AmeriCorps, student teacher join Phoenix staff

First blood drive of year deemed a success

By Michelle Wommack and Dusty Flora

bachelor’s degree at

Southern Oregon Universi-

ty. She is currently attend-

ing Northwest Christian

University in Eugene to get

her master’s degree.

“I picked Phoenix to do

my student teaching be-

cause I knew it would

make me a better teacher

no matter where I end up,”

she said.

She said that her plans

this year are to learn as

much as she can from both

the students and the

teachers.

“I really enjoy that Phoe-

nix uses the strategies and

teaching concepts that

have been proven through

research to be the most

effective in meaningful

learning,” she said.

She added that she is

learning a lot about project-

based learning, block

scheduling and “creating a

unique plan for each stu-

dent’s success rather than

a one-size fits all ap-

proach.”

Shannon’s hobbies in-

clude painting, cycling,

hiking, camping and read-

ing.

As for next year, Shan-

non said that if she could

teach anywhere in Oregon,

it would be right here at

Phoenix.

AmeriCorps volunteer Melissa Cornejo (left) goes over UCC’s col-

lege schedule with Early College student Kansas.

Student teacher Shannon Mullins will be teaching Chelsea’s

math classes later this school year.

3131 NE Diamond Lake Blvd

Roseburg, OR 97470

Phoenix Charter High School

Phone: 541-673-3036

Fax: 541-957-5906

www.roseburgphoenix.com

One of the new clas-

ses being offered this

year is Introduction to

Trades, which is taking

place during Block A

every Tuesday and

Thursday.

Intro to Trades is a

class where you use

your math knowledge

and building skills. It’s a

very hands-on-class

(which is expected). The

teachers are Chelsea

Ross and Sam Batman.

On the first day of this

class, I sat next to Dan-

ielle Risley and Brytny

Sanders. When we heard

of an option of building a

table for charity, we just

had to do it.

Our table was built by

Sanders, Risley, Jamie

Osborne and myself.

“I built a spice rack

for my mom as a birth-

day present and she

loved it,” said Tyler

Mask.

(above) Ellie uses a wood burner to create a plaque.

(right) Danielle, Tiana and Jamie paint the table they

built. (below right) Tyler makes his mom a present.

The Phoenix Times is published monthly

by the Journalism class: Maya Baney,

Dusty Flora, Kassie Huse, Jared Jelly,

Jeron Price, Tashi Risley, Brytny Sanders,

Anna Taggart, Olivia Thompson,

Michelle Wommack and adviser Ann

Susee.

By Tiana Shira

The Phoenix Times

will be starting an advice

column where students

can ask questions about

any topic — as long as

they are school

appropriate.

To submit a question,

bring it to Ann’s class-

room, where there will be

a box.

Each month, we will

pick one question from a

girl and one question

from a boy.

We will keep all

names anonymous.