DeSoto Eagle Eye

Organized by Kathy Goad, Peer Assistance and Leadership (PALs) is a mentor program present on campus that has partnered with Big Brothers and Big Sisters to travel to local grade schools to interact and mentor children. PALs is comprised of seniors who completed a certain amount of community service hours, and followed all the standards to be a part of the program.

The purpose of the program is to inspire children into achieving the highest potential and provide them with the ability to gain confidence and self esteem. “Children encouraged to succeed,” said Ms. Goad, PALs instructor. “When we help them with academics, it usually improves test scores.” Goad believes by having a PAL, young children get a chance to have a friend, if they are in need.

PALs are assigned to students who are believed to work well with. Counselors of the school the students attend, Goad, and other instructors choose the particular pairs of PALs. Students who are involved with PALs have to connect on a deep level in order to fulfill the purpose of being in the program.

“Some students open up more but we just have to keep working with them,” said senior Lee Darius Robertson. “We talk, get to know each other, and express being a role model to the younger students.”

Students active in PALs attend numerous field trips pertaining to the learning atmosphere of PALs. By the end of the year, students have learned how to connect with younger children. Both the students involved in PALs, and the younger children in which PALs assist, make friends that sometimes may last a lifetime.

Written By: Celeste Arrendondo Staff Writer

Transportation to school for some students may be provided by their parents, or carpooling with friends, but for many others they have to rely on the school bus. Quite a few people may think the bus is a peaceful simple way to get to school, but for some of the actual bus riders it is a chaotic journey.

Many bus rides start as early as 6:45 AM on a ride that can become loud, and hectic.” When I rode the bus it was really loud in the morning and kind of quiet after school, said Senior Maria Christodoulides. Contrary to the bus Christodoulides rides, others buses are more quiet in the morning than in the morning.

After school most students are excited that the day is over, and ecstatic about the opportunity to take a nap to relax from the long day, but on the journey to their destination it is quit noisy.” In the afternoon my bus is real loud”, said sophomore Kierra Lacey. Students tend to get hyperactive, and energetic which leads to the erratic behavior on the bus.

Bus behavior can vary throughout the day, some buses have very mild behavioral students and others are chaotic with disruptive behavior. These behaviors can make it difficult for fellow bus riders and can distract the bus driver. There are rules and guidelines for bus riders, and they are not followed. Riding the bus is a privilege and should be treated as such. Therefore, students should be thankful of the transportation provided by the school, and show respect to the drivers that take their time to get students safely to school and back home, and show good Eagle PR during each route.

Written By: Kylania Brooks Staff Writer

As second semester swings into a rapid beginning, many juniors have felt the challenging transition from pre-advanced courses to advanced placement courses. Not aware of what they were in for, many juniors soon experienced a challenge to maintain a stable grade point average, and be involved with a whole line up of extra curriculum activities.

“I am co-captain of the swim team and currently enrolled in two advanced placement level courses,” said junior Laura Lopez. Although Lopez is currently enrolled in two advanced placement courses, she has learned how to adapt to the ample amount of work in which advanced placement courses produc, all while maintaining her spot in the top twenty-five of her graduating class. “The moment I walk in into Mrs. Chastain’s English three AP instruction class, I expect nothing but work bell to bell,” said Lopez.

Although some students, who are experiencing the transition, have learned to adapt, others have learned the hard way, that it is pertinent to maintain both advanced level courses and extra curriculum activities on a healthy schedule.

“Advanced placement classes did become stressful at one point, because I had no idea of what I was getting into, and I had too much on my plate,” said junior Bianca Henderson. By being vigorously involved in tennis and advanced level courses, Henderson learned how to become a more organized student. “If I didn’t organize and learn from my mistakes, I knew things would get tough,” said Henderson.

Advanced placement classes can get rough and tough, and are thoughtfully designed for those determined headstrong students, however they do offer their perks and advantages. “I am enrolled in advanced placement classes not only to prepare myself for college work, but also for the learning environment,” said Lopez. While offering a chance to recevie college credits while still in high school, advanced placement classes do offer a positive learning environment in which the majority of the students enrolled in advanced courses have the same goals, to be successful in high school.

Aside from the double amount of work in which an advanced placement course provides than that of a regular course, advanced placement students also notice another difference in between the two. “In advanced placement classes the attention is focused on the students who really want to learn, and the immaturity is left outside, and more work is done,” said Lopez.

Overall, advanced placement classes are beneficial to those who are willing to commit to the work ad rigorous lesson plan in which an advanced level course offers. “By demonstrating that I am not afraid of trying something new that will benefit my accomplishments throughout the rest of my high school year is the true benefit of being enrolled in advanced placement classes,” said Henderson. After all, many advanced placement courses are actually college courses, so a high school attitude in an advanced placement course must be left outside the door.

Written By: Eboni Monroe Editor-in-chief

For years, the campus has been following the grading policy that allowed students to receive no lower than a “50” for the final grade for the six weeks’ grading period.

However, with the arrival of the 2009-2010 school year, the grading policy changed, allowing teachers the option of giving the student the grade they actually earn- despite the poor quality of the average for the first semester. Many students believe that it is unfair. However, according to a recent survey, most teachers who were surveyed believe that students should receive the grade they earned. However, the reality of the situation is that most kids do try, but contiue to fail. However there are still those students who just sometimes fail regardless.

“Most kids try and sometimes fail,” said sophomore Pablo Suraez. According to Suarez, sometimes tutoring just does not help, and some kids don’t improve. “If students try, they should at least be given a chance, and others that don’t care should just leave,” said Pablo Suarez.

Students have many options for help if needed. Tutoring and homework help is available for those who need more assistance. Although, there are some who have not made much academic improvement according to averages, the new grading policy is all up to the teacher for that particular course that the student is failing.

“ I give my students what they actually earn,” said Brandie Whetstone, Spanish teacher. Whetstone wants to encourage her students about accountability before they actually leave high school and enter the real world.

Changing the grading policy is believed to bring improvements in the averages of students and very much bringing plenty of encouragement in the fight of pulling in above “70” semester finals.

Written By: Celeste Arrendondo Staff Writer

Class Meetings Inform All

Why are there monthly class meetings? The answer to this familiar question amongst the students on campus is simply because there is an adequate amount of important information, according to different grade levels, that needs to be distributed to all students. Rather it be an issue regarding sophomores and dress, code or plans for senior trip, class meetings are pertinent in order to make sure that all students receive the important information and notices regarding their class of either sophomore, junior, or senior. However, are class meetings actually beneficial to all of the students?
“Class meetings are a benefit to all grade levels to get information about what’s going on in their class year,” said senior Spruce Wilson. Spruce believes that class meetings are important in the event that there is an issue with a certain class that requires immediate attention, such as attendance or dress code. “I like class meetings, they keep me very informed on crucial information,” said Wilson.
On the other hand, however, some feel as if class meetings are inefficient and not needed. “I don’t think they [class meetings] are needed,” said senior Christopher Henry. Henry believes that class meetings aren’t beneficial because they inform students on general information in which they might already know. “Class meetings are a waste of time”, said Henry.
Overall, class meetings have proved to be beneficial to the majority of students. With official class boards and class councils, new decisions pertaining to each grade levels are decided on constantly. In order to get the classes informed on the decisions, class meetings are essential to have monthly.
“Class meetings are beneficial to us all”, said senior Donvian Green. “They are especially beneficial to inform seniors regarding information pertaining to the activities and traditions of seniors.” In order to keep students informed, class meetings will be the in the norm for a monthly event, until the end of the school year.

Written by: Eboni Monroe

In school suspension. This is what a great majority of students on campus experienced in the first week of school, due to dress code infractions. Buses were packed with students wearing an aura of lime green polos, and violators were given only three minutes to correct the dress code infraction and return back to school. The message is clear: administrators mean business when it comes to dress code, and the violators will be prosecuted-at all causes. prosecuted-at all causes.
The majority of students have been correctly adhering to the dress code policy. Most students on campus are presenting colored shirts, and tucked-in shirt tales. However, it is quite frustrating when the young lady with the lime green polo, or the young gentlemen who decided to not tuck inhis shirt tale seem to slide by the system, and not get the same punishment as another student who had the same dress code infraction, and got caught.
Why do these students seem to not be punished for their violation? The answer is quite simple. Administrators can’t be at every corner of the school at every minute at an attempt to catch these few dress code violators. Even with frequent dress code sweeps, teachers often times just glance over students in order to return to their lesson that often times requires more time than is given in the class period frame. It is obvious as to how these few violators seem to slide by, but the real question is how to stop these violators. The solution is simple. The violators must be stopped before they even enter the building. Although there isn’t enough administrators and teachers to cover every inch of the school at all times, there is more than enough to cover each entrance of the school. If a student is caught out of dress code, entering the school building, then necessary actions for their violation should be handled from there. That way, those few violators will be punished before they even enter the building. Students who choose to enter the building knowing that they are out of dress code should defiantly pay the price, because the knowledge of what’s in dress code, and what’s not is something that is stored in the majority of all brains of students on campus

Written by: Eboni Monroe

At the beginning of each school year there is chaos; ranging from traffic in the hallways, to having trouble finding classes. However, schedules are the most troublesome of all at the campus.

 Misguiding schedules have been a problem for a few students. “My schedule said that I have D lunch, but when I got in my class my teacher told me we have B lunch” said Senior Maria Christodoulides. Other problems with schedules have been mixed classes, such as a class marked as fifth period, and is actually a students sixth period, and core classes, such as english, mathematics, science, and social studies

 Some students faced a problem of being positioned in a TAKS Class, but have met the standard passing score of the TAKS Test.“ I passed all my TAKS Tests, and they still put me in a TAKS class,“ stated Senior Ashley White. TAKS courses are limited to juniors who have been identified as at-risk for non-mastery of exit level TAKS, and for seniors who may have failed a portion of the TAKS .

Other students had the problem of being set in classes that they have already received credit for. “I took this class my sophomore year, and they still put me in it,” stated Senior Camille Forbes, who was placed in Child Development . On the other hand, students aren’t the only people who are affected by the chaos, teachers have had much on their plate.

Teachers have to face the constant adjustment to the change of students, and continue to go over assignments that the new students missed. Also, teachers who have seating charts have to cut time from class to rearrange them to place new students. These mild miscommunications can cause a significant amount of stress for everyone, and leave people lost without any guidance, but counselors, assistant principals, and Principal Dr.Ensley, have been working very diligently to complete necessary changes.

Although help from administrators and counselors are speeding the correction process up, there are still a number of students in the midst of troubles awaiting a new schedule. Correct schedules are best for everyone; it saves time, and allows students to focus more on schoolwork, than having to find time to go to the counseling center.  Correct schedules also give teachers more time to teach and focus on moving forward with lesson plans. Schedules help to direct students and teachers towards the new year, and with conflicts affecting our direction it makes it hard to move forward.

Written by: Kylania Brooks