Volume 88, Issue 1September, 2012

Meet the Technology Center staff!

In this photo: Back row left; Jules Worl, Deb Lampman, Kelly Rounds, John Stile. Front row left; students Jacob Isaac and Jacob Higgins. Not pictured: David Fringer and John Fuller. Photo by Allie Townsend.

All students at T.J. now have a laptop; and with all of that tech-nology, it is bound to break down. The TJ Tech Center, located in room B140, is the computer and technology solution center. So who is entrusted with all of that responsibility? The tech center is currently maintained by six technicians, along with seven student techni-cians, available to help students and teachers who have unresolv-able issues with their computers. Mr. David Fringer is the Ex-ecutive Director of Information Systems for the Council Bluffs Community School District (CBCSD). In the center, Mr. John Stile, Supervisor of Technology, over-sees the department. He moved into technology after studying electronic management at South-ern Illinois University. Stile has been with the CBCSD for 11 years. “I’vebeenatcentralofficeforroughly eight years, so I like be-ing back in the building where all the action is,” Stile said. “I’m also looking forward to directly work-ing with students.” Mr. John Fuller is a district technician, and has been working here for seven years. He has been in the profession for the past 25 years.

“I took accounting in college. And by the time I was out of school, computers hit in the 7’s. Accounting went to computers, and that made me want to go into computers, too.” Fuller is also looking forward to success with the one-to-one and tech center helping in both T.J. and Abraham Lincoln.Ms. Deb Lampman, another dis-trict technician, helps manage the daily activities in the Tech Center. This includes the students, walk-ins, and the Chromebooks. “The Tech Center is new, so it’s trial and error. We are having students with varying, to grand, knowledge work in the tech cen-

ter. We also are managing the work tickets at the same time as teaching students, so it’s all-en-compassing,” Lampman said. Work tickets are what staff members send to the IT depart-ment. The Tech Center help desk assigns these requests to different queues, where the techs can work with them. “I came to computers because there was a nee d for it, and it’s al-ways changing. The information will always be useful to you, and you’re always learning,” Lamp-man said. She compared how to operate a computer being like putting oil in a car.

“In today’s society, you need to know to operate a computer to apply for a job. If you don’t, that limits you tremendously.” Mr. Jules Worl is originally from Arizona. He has been work-ing in this school district for 13 years. He studied aviation and commercial flight, at Universityof Central Missouri. Worl is a district technician who works on network devices and peripherals on the west end of Council Bluffs. He normally sees around 20 to 35 people a day. Mrs. Kelly Rounds keeps track of every student’s login informa-tion, not only T.J. students, but all of the students in the school dis-

trict. “I have one of the most impor-tant jobs,” Rounds said. She and thestudenttechsarethefirstlineof defense when someone needs help. Rounds, along with her hus-band and three children, gradu-ated from T.J. She has worked in the district for 10 years but just started working for T.J. this past January. “I love it,” Rounds said. Round’s title is Help Desk Tech-nician; she assigns the technicians to tasks. Student technicians also help out in the tech room when there are problems with a computer. They are the first to look at thecomputerstoseeiftheycanfixit.If they are unable to, they send it to one of the other technicians. “Student helpers do everything we do,” Stile stated. “They are the firstlineofdefensetofirstlookatthe computers and also to process in all of the work.” The students currently in-volved with the tech center in-clude sophomores, Jacob Higgins and Jacob Isaac during second hour; junior Trevor Ceder and Sophomore Paris Hoang in third; senior Brandon Lawrence and ju-nior Anthony Rea in fourth; and sophomoreElijahFisherinfifth. There are currently student helperspotsopenduringfirsthourand every hour for the second tri-mester. To apply for a position, speak with a counselor or talk to Mrs. Hoag for more information.

By: Dana Mefferd andKaylinn Taggart

Laptop ManiaBy: Kelsi Thurman

Reporter

The Google Chrome lap-tops started off as a distrac-tion for students and faculty. With the server not working, faculty schedules were in turmoil because the stu-dents are so de-pendant on lap-tops. In August, lap-top orientations were held to pro-vide information about the excit-ing new technol-ogy. Students were given the Chromebooks for educational pur-poses in and out of the classroom. But at the beginning, some people were concerned with being too dependent on technology. August 15th was the day the system was finally tested. The time had come to put the technological advancements

into play. Students walked into classrooms eager to use the Chromebooks, but the in-ternet was not working. The complaints followed. Facebook had students protesting the system, teach-

ers were unsure of the prob-lem, and the Tech Center was doing everything they could.John Stile, Supervisor of Technology in our building, emphasized that it was not the computers.

The day to get dressed up, to have some fun, and to go out with the one you like. Yes, Thomas Jefferson’s homecoming! It only comesannually,thefirstdanceofthe school year.Everybody is wondering what the theme is really all about, though. “ A Night In Neon” said head of Student Council, Mrs.Gray,“ I would say that it really brings the school, the student body, together. It unites everybody with a com-mon purpose to win the game and have fun and have competitions and to really make high school memorable.” Students are excited but some can’t quite find the right thingto wear because of the difficulttheme. “I don’t like it” said sopho-more Hunter Hendrickson. “It’s really hard to shop for.” A lot of people agree with her in not knowing what to wear. “Kindainformaloutfits.Somegirls get cocktail length dresses, bright colors would be great, some people have some glow in

the dark glitter that they found.” said Mrs.Gray. People need to find whatthey’re going to wear quick though, because September 22nd is right around the corner! Students are trying to finddates whether they are asking on facebook or asking in person. They’re posting pictures on the site saying things like, “Me, you, homecoming,?” and tagging their crush in a status asking them to go. “Will you go to homecoming with me. -with Kelsey Rhianne Botten” said Devon Kermoade on August 26th. Kermoade was not the only student to ask this way. Other students asking over facebook included sophomore Nick Hammers, sophomore Gage Fisher, and junior Matt Raes. All of them, in turn, received yes’s. Not everyone is going with that special someone, though. “I’ll probably be going with a group of friends or something,” said junior, Kayla LeDoux. Homecoming is an experience that you can never have past high school. Enjoy it now, because you can’t get it back once it’s over.

“Currently, we’ve only got one of our Internet Service Provider (ISP) that is being utilized. There is a process for getting the second ISP working, which would create 300 megabytes.”

Since the in-terview, we have tripled our capaci-ty for information on our servers. Imagine regular size M&M’s trying to push through a small straw. The M&M’s would get stuck. If you got a bigger straw and put M&M’s in the larger straw, they would flow, and not get stuck. This

process is like the ISP. The Chromebooks were giv-en to help students and teach-ers to be involved more in today’s technology. “As far as technology in general, it’s the world we live in,” said Stile.

By: Isabella MooreReporter

Photo of Austin Taylor by Allie Townsend

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Thomas Jefferson High School has been viewed as a School In Need ofAssistance (SINA) by the Iowa Support System. A por-tion of our students did notparticipate in the ITEDS, or did not achieve proficiencygoals on their reading andmathematics tests for two consecutive years, as well as not meeting the graduationstandards and future goals. The Federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires schools to assessstudents every year to meet a student’s goals. If the school does not meet those goals,identifiedasAdequateYearlyProgress (AYP), the school is put on a list forimprovements. If the government does not see improvements, the school will be subjected tofederal sanctions with the most severe having the school shut down . Students arerequired to meet 95% partic-ipation rate for assessments, their achievement goals, and to exceed graduation rates during the time they’re on the list. However, Thomas Jeffer-son is not receiving any Fed-eral Title 1 funding that is abenefittothosenotonthelist, so they will not be sanc-

tioned. They are being super-visedby the government for ame-lioration (improvements). The school’s staff have beenworkingtofindwaysforenrichment in the studentsparticipation and knowledge. “It depends on the kids and their levels on how they per-form. A lot of kids in thecountry are struggling, and thats hard to avoid in schools.The better you do insomething, the more pride you will have,” said Ms. Christina Nelson, an English teacherat Thomas Jefferson. The school will be using strategies such as Gradual Release of Instruction, silentreading (TJ Reads), 20 minutes of math re-mediation 3 days per week, new mathcurriculum, literacy strategies for advance-ment in vocabu-lary, and tutors after school 3days per week (Home-work Help). The Iowa Depart-ment of Education and Council Bluffs Com-munity School Districtis providing technical assistance to T.J . as a necessity by the NCLB Act. “The school could

reward students for their good work, to convince more kids totry harder when taking the test. That could have helped back when I had to take those tests,” said Gustavo Espino-za, a graduate of TJ. Parents can help by com-municating with their chil-dren and teachers about fu-ture goals, and encouraging their children to assist their classes with no tardies. Helping with homework at home is a key factor for a stu-dents success. Getting more involved with their child’s

T.J. Under Supervision

On August 28th, the Varsity Cross Country team left for their firstmeetinGlenwood,Iowa. The team got out of school early for the meet, much like many other sports do. But asidefrom being able to skip a class, have you ever stopped and won-dered how many hours studentsare out of classes for activities? “I’ve gotten out of school ear-ly for a sport too many times to count,” said sophomorevolleyball player Hunter Hen-drickson. Many other students agreed with Hen-drickson’sstatement. Sports are a huge part of school and a stu-dent’s life. They can be used as a way to keepkids out of trouble, release stress, or a way to just have some fun. But some-times sports canrun over into school time, quickly blurring the line in the definition of the phrase student-athlete. “We get out of school for away games a lot,” said sophomore Ra-fael Vargas. There are times when the events run late, and students could arrive back at their houses

between 12:00 a.m. and 2 a.m.. Yet, students are still expected to be at school on time the nextday. “There are some kids who aren’t getting enough sleep,” said English teacher Mrs. Sandra Leaders. “There is actually one student who is a complete mess some days. You can tell when he’s been out in a sport too late.” “I’ve slept about two hours during school the next day, at the most, after a night like that,”saidHendrickson. Although the absences were

excused, this did not keep them from falling a day behind in the class(es) that they had missed. H e n -d r i c k s o n ’ s s t a t e m e n t shows that an event can take away from not only one, but two school days. T h i s kind of sched-

ule can cause a student to fall be-hind in a class very quickly. “It’s hard to catch up after missing a day of math, or an ad-vanced class. Some classes you can make up easy, but other’s are really hard.” said Hendrickson. “I mean, it’s a problem some-times, especially if I have a food

lab and it’s hard for them tomake up. But I realize you can’t really avoid that sometimes,” said foods teacher Mrs. Cathy Straub. Many other teachers have adapted to the students getting out early as well. “I wouldn’t say I give them longer to turn the work in. I try to get them to make up things as soon as possible. But yes, some-times they miss a lot of work and I understand it’s hard to make up that much stuff, especially if it’s a lab,” Straub said. “I try to make sure that they’re out of class time for as little as possible,” said ActivitiesDirector Mr. Jeremy Stucken-holtz. “We want them to be in class as much as possible, so thatreally factors into the decision of how early they get out.” Just this season the cross coun-try team will be spending around sixhoursandfifteenminutes of school time at meets. Our current school day runs seven hours long. But that’s notthe only problem. They get out at around the same time for each away meet, causing them tomiss the same classes each time. Each class is one hour and ten minutes long, so, with the amount of time missing, it is really like they are missing about six contact days of the same class. Junior Brian Collinson adds that getting out of school early “forces you to become a better organized student. And that’s a good thing.”

Athletes missing classtimeBy: Kiarrah Pleas

Reporter

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Truancy problem at T.J.

There are almost 1300 students at Thomas Jeffer-son High School. For a two-week period 11% of students were skipping or late. Be-tween August 20th and Au-gust 31st (10 school days), data collected showed TJ was about 6% off from their goal of 95% attendance. “We as an attendance team have been working hard to find any studentswhohavenot attended and should be attending,” said Mr. Kevin Mills, Assistant Principal at TJ. “Our graduation coach-es, counselors, teachers, and administrators are all work-ing to ensure students get to school and stay in school, and we do this each and ev-eryday.” According to Omaha news station WOWT, the daily attendance rate was 91% in 2010. At least for these two recent weeks, our rate has decreased from that number. On August 30th, Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan signed a proclamation ad-dressing the problem to fo-cus on increasing attendance for the all area schools in Pottawattamie County. Iowa law says that stu-dents have to go to school until they are at least 16 be-fore they drop out (at that time only with parents con-sent), or otherwise the par-entscouldbefined. “We spend a lot of time on attendance,” said Mills. “It is one, if not, the most important piece of educa-tion.”

By: Jonathan WheelerReporter

By: Kelly EspinozaReporter

schoolandvolunteerorfind-ing ways to spend more time with them. “We welcome and encour-age parent involvement in their childs education, and itis a lot easier when everybody is working in the same direc-tion to achieve graduation. We never use poverty as an excuse, dealing with the fu-ture of a student,” said KevinMills, an Assistant Princi-pal at Thomas Jefferson. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, what matters is how dedicated you are.”

Photo of Mr. Stuckenholtz by Allie Townsend

Welcome Back!! Welcome back to another year atTJ!Wehopeyouenjoythisfirstissue of The Signal. Any feedback or suggestions please bring them to Mr. Lindquist in room C128. You can also order your year-book online at: www.Jostensyearbook.com