Perfect attendance for November, Manuel Perez

Congratulations to the following students for the perfect attendance award for November 2008:
Alejandro Aguilera, grade 9
Mariza Alvarado, grade 11
Gabriela Carrasco, grade 10
Luis Arnoldo Gallo-Abrego, grade 9
Jessica Gutierrez, grade 9
Thalia Olmedo-Jimenez, grade 9
Hector Perez, grade 10
Christopher Veliz, grade 10
Gabriel Veliz, grade 10
Alansia Wellington, grade 12
Adler Xiloj, grade 9

Bad hair day, Manuel Perez

Dang, my hair looks like I put my hand in the electrical socket. Does College Park show me any love, any empathy, can't a student get a hat?

College Park students have many excuses for not taking their hats off during class time, but one of the most famous one is that they didn’t comb their hair that morning. In reality though, having a hat head is not as bad as having Mr. Sutton’s helmet head.

Another lame excuse students give is "it is getting cold nowadays." Are you students serious? I hear your excuses and I see your hats, which don't even cover your ears. You and I both know, you're head is still cold, even with that hat on. So take it off!

For you ear muffs wearers, such as Josue Alvaradro, when you say it's cold, I believe you. Your hat is more functionality than fashion. You have a good excuse for wearing a hat.

I, on the other hand, use lame excuses, but honestly lame excuses are not the problem. The problem is there is no clear rule at Leadership Public Schools -- College Park regarding wearing hats inside the building. Mr. Reed, dean of students, says that there are different rules regarding hats, which are dependent upon what class you are wearing a hat in, but you are required to take off your hat once you enter the building. Different teachers have different policies regarding hats in classes. That sounds like a lame excuse of a rule(s) to me.

The hat rule at College Park is confusing and hypocritical, for example you can wear a beanie and walk by Mr. Reed, but not a baseball cap.

What it all comes down to is, this is not about a bad hair day, the hat problem is about a poorly written and enforced rule -- an excuse for a rule. Teachers should not tell us our excuses for wearing a hat are lame, when the rule they are enforcing is unclear and is a poor excuse for a rule.

Cartoon #2, Selso Perez-Mares

Perfect Attendance Award, Mr. Sutton

A special shout out to the following students who have "Perfect Attendance" in school:

Swade Edwards (9th grade)
Jasmine Eubanks (9th grade)
Cristian Gonzales (10th grade)
Marcos Gutierrez Ramos (10th grade)
Daniel Harris-Lucas (12th grade)
Roxanna Juarez (10th grade)
Terrill Mitchell (12th grade)
Alex Pena (12th grade)
Hector Perez (10th grade)
Genaro Piceno (9th grade)
Jose Ramirez (12th grade)

Congratulations!

Desert oasis, Pablo Galindo

You call this a snack bar? Photographer: Caleb Lottie-Hill.

Really, it comes downs to quarters, dimes, and nickels . . . pocket change could save the world or at least the lunch program at College Park or take it up a notch . . . an oasis in a desert filled without skanky food . . . a snack bar.

Snack bars have proved successful at other schools. Think about it -- no more tardy students in the morning, because they don't have to rush to the store to buy some chips for their lunches. They could buy the food they want here on campus . . . at the College Park oasis of a snack bar. Variety is key, when it comes to the taste buds of 325 students. A snack bar would meet that need.

Currently, students at College Park are starving of thirst for non-skanky food and soon may die. We need to give them an oasis -- a snack bar.

Cartoon #1, Selso Perez-Mares

On behalf of our mascot, here at Leadership Public Schools -- College Park, please click the picture to enlarge the comic strip below to learn about our knight's first and last experience with the food served here on campus.

Who put $100 in the trash today?, Geraldine Ramirez

Money is just being thrown away. College Park feeds us, but we're not eating. Our lunches overflow the trash cans in our hallways and restrooms every day. There is enough food being thrown away to feed a small country.

If I were Principal Gordon the mathematical equation I would have nightmares about is: lunch = money. And I would picture those trash cans overflowing with crisp ones, fives, tens, and twenty dollar bills. Imagine all that cash being picked up by Oakland's Waste Management and taken to the dump.

Those lunches, oops I mean money, could be used for more important things, such as books, computers, or school supplies -- things we students really need to succeed academically. Principal Gordon is not to blame, we the students are.

If the students don’t take care of our school who will? Instead of throwing our money, oops I mean lunches, away maybe the student-body should have communicated with Principal Gordon that we do not like the lunches and would like to create an alternative with him and avoid wasting money, but we didn't. We sent the school's cash to the Oakland dump.

Principal Gordon responded by forming a Food Committee to resolve this issue of waste. It sickens me to think that College Park students would so easily fill up the Oakland dump with crisp cash and then have the audacity to complain about being a poor school and having a lack of supplies and resources on this campus.

For more on this topic, please read the article on our school newspaper website.