On April 8, 2010, a crowd of students and staff waited outside the door of Park Square.  Three green ribbons stretched across the door, waiting to be cut by the planners of the school store.  

            For over five months, the Econ Club has been planning Park High’s first ever school store.  “We started planning about the beginning of October,” said Mr. Hyland, one of the economics teachers and advisor of the Econ Club.  “It really started with deciding the furniture and then the product, as well as the Econ Club.”

Gradually, items began to be added to the store: beverages, candy, t-shirts, and even a cash register.  The windows read: “Park Square—Opening Soon.”  Students began to wonder if the store would open before the end of the year.  And it did, on April 8.

            At 8:00 AM, Mr. Hyland began the ceremony.  First to cut the ribbon were three underclassmen:  Shauna Meyer, Alec Taft, and Tyler Verhey.  The second ribbon was cut by two upperclassmen, Matt Struve, ’10, and Anthony Gockowski, ’11.  The final ribbon was cut by the two students behind the school store: Jared Kean, ’10, and Luis Ortega, ’10. 

            As soon as the third ribbon was cut, the crowd rushed into the store, where the ribbon cutters/workers handed out green, black, and white beads to celebrate the opening.  Teachers and students filtered in and out throughout the morning, buying t-shirts, candy, and most importantly, Arizona Tea. 

            “We hope to break even by the end of the school year, pay for the things we’ve bought, and make a profit by next year, first time,” Mr. Hyland stated.  By the time they begin to make a profit, the money will go to help entrepreneurs in third world countries start their own businesses through a site called Kiva.org.

            Students seem excited for the opening of the store as well.  “We have a place so you don’t have to go anywhere else to get breakfast,” says Maddie Sockness, a senior.  “I forget breakfast sometimes.”

            One deal that the store offers is the coffee mug.  It is $15 but you can use it at the Coffee Bar, which is located in the concessions stand, to receive discounted coffee.  But that isn’t the hot seller.  “My favorite product would have to be the $0.25 Blow Pops,” says Mr. Hyland.  “I didn’t think they’d sell.” 

            So rummage around your house for loose change and head down to Park Square!

            The town of Cottage Grove has very few things for young adults to do. No malls or recreation centers are located near by, apart from a few neighboring cities which teenagers need transportation to get to. Very few areas are strictly for teenagers, without the risk of encountering pestering children. Young women have shopping places like Target and Kohls, but that is only as fun as long as their money does not run out. Young men have their video games, but they do not get anything out of staring at a screen for hours on end. Once all that gets old, the next best thing for them to do is something they probably should not do.

            Drugs and alcohol are very common among teenagers. It keeps them occupied, since all there is for them to do is homework and school. Where do teenagers go and what do they do on Friday night? A clean, safe place for young adults to go would keep them away from drugs and alcohol. It would also help expand their social skills. Meeting new people will fill a huge opportunity gap for growing minds. A teen spot would ensure security among its members and no drugs or alcohol would be allowed. A center for teens would not only open up time for them to have fun, but also open up more job opportunities in town.

            As everyone knows, the economy is not at its best right now. Many people have lost their jobs and this could create an opportunity for teenagers to earn some side money to help prepare for college. Teenagers would be more motivated to get a job because it would be at a place that is fun, and they would be able to see their friends while working. It would be in town, so even if they didn’t have a car they could ride a bike or even walk since it is right in town. This could also be another beneficial factor to the youth of Cottage Grove.

            Giving teenagers activities to stay out of trouble, give them job opportunities and to fill the empty store left behind by Home Depots owners are all valid reasons to build a teen spot. A recreational center might be just what our economy needs and with your help in fundraising, it just might be possible.

            If you are interested in helping go to:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=100846779955138&ref=mf

The presentation began with Park’s Step Team, known as the Wolf Riders.  This popular group, which is in its second year,

performed their African style dance techniques in which intricate percussive rhythms are created by using one’s body as an instrument. The Wolf Riders combined these rhythmic moves with hip-hop dance and their signature howl to impress the audience.

Next, Park High School’s Hip Hop Crew performed. Dressed in green t-shirts and black pants, the team, created last fall by senior Sandra Yang, danced to a montage of songs including energetic tunes such as “Tic Toc” and some slower ballads. 

Several members of the Hip Hop crew stayed on stage after their number to display their break dancing moves .These five young men, who won last fall’s talent show, are the Funky Munkys, and have become a very well known group at Park High School. The men impressed the audience with their break dancing skills including several handstands and head spins in their

short routine.

Finally, the last of Park’s students displayed their dance moves. Seniors Chris Nimely, Peterson Pierre, and Nick Pieper did a tribute to the late Michael Jackson by free style dancing to Jackson’s song “Smooth Criminal”.  The three men were dressed in suit coats and fedoras, matching the outfit that Jackson wore when performing this song for the musical movie Moonwalkers   . The student’s performance featured some Jackson moves including the moonwalk and some unique moves such as back flips by Pierre.

To close the event, Park allowed the special guests, a group of Mexican folk dancers to take the stage. The group had prepared a special routine for the students that included dance styles, music, and clothing from three states of Mexico. The first state shown was Yucatan and two women came on stage wearing white floor length dresses with flowered embroidery and bright bows in their hair. The women danced a singular da

nce that featured feet tapping and twirling a bright colored scarf around in the air.

Next, a young boy and girl came out to represent the Mexican state of Chiapas.  The two teens danced a partner dance, in which the girl and boy would dance across from one another, making eye contact but not touching. The girl wore a beautiful flowing dress and the boy looked distinguished in a white dress shirt and black pants.

Woman dancing in a Mexican ribbon dress

Finally, the last state featured was Jalisco. This area’s style of dance, known as ribbon dancing, is the most well known dance style in Mexico.  The routine featured a woman wearing a purple pastel ribbon dress that she twirled to make an intriguing optical display.

Diversity Day offered the students to see some of the unique cultures in the world through various types of dancing. Students of all different races were featured in the show and all came together to bring entertainment and awareness to the student body.

Theme: Masquerade

Date: May 15^th 2010

Location: Prom Center (Woodbury)

Grand March Info.: This year we will be bringing back the grand march! In order to do this we could use a lot of help from parent or community volunteers. If your parents, guardians, or community members are interested please have them e-mail Ms. Anderson (jander20@sowashco.k12.mn.us) or Ms. Scott (jscott2@sowashco.k12.mn.us),Prom organizers. We would greatly appreciate any help for our “masquerade” themed prom!

            This earthquake hit 15 miles out of Haiti’s capital and unleashed disaster in its wake; it was the worst earthquake in over 200 years.  The tremors lasted throughout Tuesday night and into Wednesday.

Haiti’s president, René Préval, told The Miami Herald, “Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed.” 

As Mr. Préval stated, the earthquake plunged the country of Haiti into a state of misfortune.  The government’s infrastructure was fragile already and many important cultural symbols were destroyed, including the National Palace and the main cathedral.  This earthquake was definitely not the first blow to the island.

In 1942, when Christopher Columbus first discovered the island, it became a Spanish colony where disease and harsh working conditions devastating the native population.   When Haiti is handed off to France in 1697, the island’s forests are torn down as slaves clear them for sugar fields.  The nation of Haiti is born in 1807 after 13 years of revolution; former slave Jean-Jacques Dessalines takes the title of Emperor but is assassinated two years later by rebels and a civil war breaks out.

In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson orders the U.S. Marines to occupy Haiti, citing the Monroe Doctrine.  The United States did not help out well, standing with the biracial elite over the black Haitians, and they withdrew in 1934.

By 1957, voodoo doctor Francois Duvalier is elected President and turns the country into a police state.  Duvalier’s son declared himself President for life in 1971.  Jean-Bertrand Aristide wins the country’s first free elections in 1990, but is disposed of in less than eight months.  This causes tens of thousands of Haitians to flee for Florida via small boats. 

Bill Clinton sent in 20,000 U.S. troops in 1994 after the militaristic government agrees to give up power, followed by an outbreak of HIV and entrenched poverty.  In 2001, Aristide returns to power but is forced into exile in 2004. 

Many natural disasters hit Haiti one after another, especially hurricanes in 2005 and 2008.  This earthquake that occurred in January of 2010 certainly is not the first disaster to hit the island nation of Haiti.

The impact of earthquakes in the Caribbean has been quite extreme, due to the fact that most of the islands rest on the Caribbean and North American plates.  One earthquake in 1692 caused Port Royal, Jamaica, to disappear underneath the Caribbean Sea.  It is still there today.  Not only was this earthquake very powerful but it was also very shallow.  Combine that with the soft ground and the muddy hills around Haiti’s capital made the impact of the whole event even worse. 

The worst part of it all was that it “struck at a rare moment of optimism,” writes Time Magazine reporter, Michael Elliott.  “After decades of natural and political catastrophes, the U.N. peacekeeping force an international investment campaign headed by former President Bill Clinton, the U.N.’s special envoy to Haiti, had recently begun to calm and rebuild the nation.”

The Haitian Red Cross has estimated the death toll to be between 45,000 and 50,000.  As with all earthquakes, the toll is merely an estimate.  Many bodies are trapped inside school building and others that collapsed due to the tremors.  Nearly 3 million people have been affected. 

Fifty percent of Haiti’s population is children.  Dr. Irwin Redlener, a professor of pediatrics at Columbia University’s medical school, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, and the president of the Children’s Health Fund, states, “Kids are much more fragile—a 30 pound block of a wall that would only seriously injure an adult will kill a child.  They die much more rapidly of dehydration, of loss of blood, of shock.  An infection will cause explosive diarrhea, which can kill a trapped child.  Everything about this is devastatingly worse for kids than for adults.” 

Many countries throughout the world are pulling together to send any relief to this island nation.  The United States alone is donating $100 million for rescue efforts, with President Barack Obama stating that financial assistance will increase throughout the coming year.  He says this to this to the people of Haiti in an address on January 14: “You will not be forsaken, you will not be forgotten. In this, your hour of greatest need, America stands with you.” 

Germany is sending $2.2 million for emergency assistance and China is sending 60 rescuers and sniffer dogs along with $1 million in aid.  The European Union pledged $4.4 million and various groups such as Doctors Without Borders have set up clinics and open-air triage centers to treat the injured. 

Relief is making its way to Haiti.  Although large shipments can be sent, they cannot be received as of yet due to heavy damage to the sea port in Port-Au-Prince.  Much relief cannot make it into the interior due to no railroad network.  It can be transported via trucks but it is a long and difficult journey due to debris.  The biggest challenge of it all is getting the relief effort coordinated in an orderly fashion—getting things unloaded and giving it to the people who need it.  The United Nations World Food Program plans to distribute200 tons of food to 95,000 people at eight location on January 18.

Day by day, more relief makes its way to Haiti.  For those of us who are unable to make the trip to Haiti to help out can do so here at home.  There are many legitimate websites that are raising money as well as other efforts:

American Red Cross— redcross.org

AmeriCares Foundation— americares.org 

Catholic Relief Services— crs.org

CARE— care.org

Doctors Without Borders— doctorswithoutborders.org

UNICEF— unicefusa.org 

There are many other organizations out there as well who are donating money to Haiti.

            For those of you who have an account on Facebook, there is a group called “Operation Help Haiti – Division: PHS.”  There you can also access information on how to help out here at Park, as well as other updates.  During Snow Week in February, all proceed from the Valentine Match results will be sent to Haiti. 

            If you do not have any money to donate, please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers. 

ALL INFORMATION WAS COMPLIED FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES AND TIME MAGAZINE.  PHOTOS ARE COURTESY OF THE NEW YORK TIMES.

                Then in 2001, there were the attacks on the World Trade Towers in New York City on September 11, as well as the attack on the Pentagon and the plane crash in Pennsylvania.  We were only in grade school, whether we were kindergarteners or fourth graders.  Maybe we understood it and maybe we didn’t at first.  But we will always remember. 

                From September 11 on, the United States has faced difficult times.  First, we invaded Afghanistan and from there Iran, where we searched for weapons of mass destruction.  Americans began to question the decisions of government even more with the fiasco that was Hurricane Katrina, which the country is still picking up the pieces from.   There were the outbreaks of the avian flu and then H1N1 influenza (first known as swine flu). 

And then there was the biggest difficulty of the decade: the recession.  So many jobs were lost, homes were foreclosed, and families began struggling.  This was even worse than the crash in 1929 that began the Great Depression. 

                Over the last ten years, we have lost many influential people: Charles Schulz (2000), Dale Earnhardt (2001), John Ritter (2003), Johnny Cash (2003), Steve Irwin (2006), Heath Ledger (2008), Bernie Mac (2008), Billie Mays (2009), Michael Jackson (2009), Patrick Swayze (2009), and many more that were near and dear to our hearts. 

                But the decade of the 2000s has had many good events, especially for us teenagers.  Cells phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players such as the iPod became the norm in American society.  DVD’s replaced the old VHS tapes.  Many websites became popular due to the rising popularity of the internet: Google, Yahoo, eBay, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  The 2000s were definitely the beginning of the technology age.

                Trends became popular for some and not so popular for others.  There was the rise of the Crocs, which many people love to hate, as well as Uggs.  For boys, the fauxhawk became popular and the straighten hair became popular with girls. 

                Popular book series were Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and the Twilight Saga.  Movies that made it big in the box office were the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Harry Potter films, Pirates of the Caribbean series, the Spiderman series, Ice Age, and many more.  

                Maybe the 2000s weren’t so horrible after all and maybe they were.  But we can see this as a period of growth for our nation and the world.  We have become stronger as individuals and as a whole.  So here’s to 2010 and beyond!  May the next ten years be better than the last ten!

This has been a great year for Park High School.  The school looks great, we’re getting some super new technology, and we’ve been approved to become a World International Baccalaureate School.

 As if to place a cherry on the top of this hot fudge sundae of achievement, Park was just awarded the School Spotlight award by the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation (MAEF).  This award recognizes schools that show academic excellence through significant gains in student achievement.  Yep!  That’s us.

The foundation looked at our curriculum, instruction and all the things Park is doing to help their staff perform better.  Congratulations and props to our hardworking Park teachers who do their best every day. 

It appears that an MAEF Board representative will present a certificate of recognition to our school with great pomp and circumstance.  It will hang in our hallowed halls until it yellows with time as a reminder that we have made awesome gains in year 2009-10. Congratulations Park staff and students!  We do, in fact, rock.

                So, what exactly is an International Baccalaureate (IB for short) world school mean?  The intention for IB schools is that “teachers, students and parents will be able to draw confidently on a recognizable common educational framework, a consistent structure of aims and values and an overarching concept of how to develop international-mindedness”, according to the International Baccalaureate Organization.  Basically, the goal is to help students grow into lifelong learners and internationally minded people.  IBO says that “IB learners strive to be inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective.” 

                In the IB world, there are three programmes: Primary Years Programme (ages 3-12), Middle Years Programme (ages 11-16), and the Diploma Programme (ages 16-19).  Park falls into the last programme.  The DP lasts for two years, so students at Park would begin taking the classes beginning in the eleventh grade.  There are six groups that DP students focus on: language A1 (the student’s native language), a second language, individuals and societies (i.e. history), experimental sciences (i.e. physics, chemistry), mathematics and computer science, and the arts.  It is a rigorous curriculum, especially with the extended essay assessment, to go through to get an IB diploma.  But IB has its benefits.

                For students, it really prepares them for college.  They’ll be able to research and evaluate sources of information, organize and prioritize, have knowledge of another language and culture, and they are aware of the principles of academic honesty.  Being a student that is in the Diploma Programme, it puts them one step ahead of other students who do not take the courses by increasing their chances at admission. 

                As for teachers, the IB program can seem a little overwhelming.  But as IB teachers, they become a part of the global community, become better teachers, and are able to take advantages from multiple opportunities within the IBO. 

                So as Park transitions from a 4×4 block schedule to a 3×6 schedule, they also will become the IB World school.  By taking the IB courses and maybe even getting the diploma, Park students will be one step ahead of the others, such as Woodbury or East Ridge students.  Park students should be proud of their school if they aren’t already.