It’s been a long time since he’s seen a smile on his younger sister’s face, but when the box containing her brand new wig arrived, she smiled for the first time in a long time. Locks of Love delivered more than just a wig that day.
Principal Tonya King denied junior Jim Stack’s request to grow out his hair for Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for sick children. The school board will vote on this request Monday.
“I can’t bend the rules for just one student. There are other ways Jim could help the Locks of Love group,” King said.
King declined Stack’s request of growing out his hair to avoid problems with other students who want grow their hair out as well.
“Had I approved Jim’s request, then I would have students everyday asking if they could also break the dress code. The school would be in chaos then,” King said.
The school dress code states that a male student’s hair must be no longer than collar length and of natural color. King offered other ways to help the organizations that wouldn’t break school rules.
“I was disappointed when Mrs. King turned my request down. Mrs. King said I should just have a fundraiser instead,” Stack said.
Though the Locks of Love organization is always up for donations, they prefer hair rather than money.
“I’m told a lot of people donate money. Not very many donate hair. Anyone can donate money, but it takes time and dedication to grow out your hair and donate it,” Stack said.
Stack has attempted to come to agreements and make compromises with his principal, however, his request remains ungranted.
“I even agreed to tuck it into my shirt so it won’t be noticeable. After I reach my goal of 10 inches of hair, I hope I can inspire more people in the town to donate their hair,” Stack said.
Stack hopes to inspire people to support and help the Locks of Love organization by donating their hair.
“I hope the board approves my request. Donating my hair is a very special project to me. When we received her wig, she was so happy. I had not seen a smile on her face in a long time,”
Stack was inspired to grow out his hair by the smile on his little sister’s face, and hopes to inspire other people to grow out their hair and put those same smiles on other people’s faces.
“I think it’s cool that Jim wants to do this” student council president Gilbert Castillo said. “Rules were made to be broken, and this is a very good reason to break one.”
The Ladyneck basketball team and Coach Hutchins will be going into their district part of their basketball season. The date of their first basketball game happens to be undecided, however their district season will start with the new semester.
“Starting last year, all of our current juniors on the team had to step up and take the role of seniors when we were just sophomores. So we [the current juniors]…only got one year of leadership from any older basketball players and that was our freshmen year. Although, I think that us having to step up and take responsibility for the basketball program really helped us grow as players… All we can do now is do our best and try to be good examples to the other underclassmen,” junior Landry Seimears said.
As the oldest members of the team, Seimears and the other junior basketball girls lead and set the examples for the underclassmen during practices and games. The coaches don’t make practices any easier for the younger girls.
“It’s hard [being the youngest group on the team] because we have the least amount of experience… but it makes us work harder and pushes us to get better so I guess it works out for the best,” freshman Katie Warren said.
The freshmen basketball girls practiced and worked out with the high school basketball girls their eighth grade year. However, high school basketball means different coaches and different expectations.
“When I’m practicing with [the upperclassmen] I’m constantly worried about messing up… because, although I’m not as good as they are, I feel like I should [make myself better.] They definitely help [me in practice] because they push me to try harder and prove myself as a player,” freshman Sabrina Smith said.
Though the freshmen are the least experienced on the team, they are still expected to be able to do what the upperclassmen do. The juniors push the underclassmen to do their best in practices.
“Even though the season just picked up, I feel like everyone [on the team] picked right back up to where we were at the end of last season,” sophomore Bella Sacco said when asked about her bond with her teammates.
With practices everyday after school, and going to games with each other, the girls’ shared time with one another forms relationships between them.
“We work hard and pay the prices of not doing our best together, but we also laugh together which I think has really brought us close together this year,” Warren said.
Four students who used the Internet to buy research papers got suspended for a week. The school board will meet Tuesday to determine whether the students can return to normal classes.
“It’s unfortunate these students felt they had to cheat to succeed in this class when all they had to do was to put in the time it takes to create a quality research paper and they would have passed,” principal Susan Aleman said.
These students who bought the research papers were suspended for seven days and given the opportunity to re-write their research papers and receive a maximum of 70 as a final grade. They may not make up work for other classes, however they may spend their suspension in the library, re-doing their research papers.
“It is written in the agreement that if they are caught with buying [a research paper] they will be punished…” English department chair Clara Barton said. “All four broke the honor code of the English class by doing this. I think their punishment is equitable for what they did.”
The students read and signed the agreement, however they broke the rules of the honor code. Barton believed that their punishment equaled out with their choice.
“I admit, I was one of the people who bought a research paper. It was one of those things, though, that I had to do,” senior William Jefferson said. “I have to work 30 hours a week to help supplement the family’s income since my dad got laid off two months ago.”
Jefferson and the three other students who bought research papers all went to court and lost the case because of their actions.
“The agreement is like everything else in school. They stick it under our noses, and we sign it without really reading it,” senior Sandy Peoples said.
Every student signed an agreement at the beginning of the year stating the rules that the four students broke. The school board will decide if the students should carry on with their suspension or return to school.
“I guess kids will start reading what they sign from now on,” Peoples said.