Freshmen Teams Take a Trip to the Movies

    Sounds of cashier registers ringing, popcorn popping, and excited teens means one thing, the Freshman team, Abraham, is going to the movies. Team Abraham offers an end of the year field trip at Star Cinema to students based on the students work, grades, and much more, while the activity of what team Lincoln is doing is yet to be announced.  Students that go pay for the trip and the other students stay back at school and go to class just as a normal day.

    " This is what team Abraham is doing , " said Denise Talbott, Math teacher. "[We decided this because] it was the end of the year and it motivates students that don't do their work"

   Students attending the movie will leave in the morning and miss class on May 18. One student attending is excited for all of the fun, mostly because of the movie, Letters to Juliet.

 "I am excited for two reasons, one, I have always wanted to see Letters to Juliet and two, i get out of five classes," said Sarah Bach '13.

   Not only do some students and teachers express excitement over the movie. From all the hard effort that students put in to go to the movie the students and teachers actually learn about what the reward means.

    " We really want to turn around kids that screw up and tell the kids that stay on top and do their work that we appreciate them ," said Talbott.

    Bach, learns things such as multiple ways to learn since joining the team. Other than learning some things from the team, leaving the team brings some things to miss.

    " I will miss Mr. Dawson's and Mr .Larsen's class because they made school more enjoyable and I actually looked forward to going to their classes," said Bach. " I have learned that you have multiple ways to learn and some teachers try to meet everybody's needs and wants."

    Whether one on the team takes something back from joining the team such as ways to learn or meeting a nice teacher, students gain much more than learning.
    " I want them to know they are capable of doing anything and they have a support structure with the Freshman teams," said Talbott.

    From all of the excitement to the support, students earn a reward for all the hard work done and much more from the team. Whether what team one is on, students as well as teachers gain a lot from a freshman team. 

-by Lauren Myers

Students Progress Through Levels If Not Learning Recovery

Photo by Pat Whitsell

With the end of the year near failing students rush to teachers to see what stuff needs to be done to pass the class. Students then attend Learning Recovery which prepares students to make up tests and redo projects. 
    But when some other students neglect to go to learning recovery they enter levels.  Levels of the learning recovery process start with students meeting with teachers, then if one still neglects to go, a contract gets written up by teachers and students sign the contract and then mailed home. If the students still neglect to go after signing a contract, students go to the last level where teachers contact the department, the administration, and then the administration figures out ways to help the students to earn a passing grade.

        "In Level 1 [students are] with a teacher, in Level 2 [students sign] a Contract, in Level 3 [there's] contact the department," said Cyle Forney, vice principal.

     Levels became a start in the school in the learning recovery process at the beginning of this year.  Since the levels started, the levels offered students every opportunity to earn a passing grade for failing students, including the ones who rush around at the end of the year.

  "Last fall, from the District Grading Committee, [levels were created] to identify what stage a particular student who has not passed a performance level assessment is at," said Forney.  "[Levels] serve as documentation that attempts were made to offer students every reasonable opportunity within an identified time frame to earn a passing grade on a performance assessment."

     From last fall to now whether what level a student enters, the amount of students entering certain levels decrease. Students that start attending earlier levels reach a point where a student does not have to attend a higher level of the learning recovery.

     "Yes [the amount decreases] because some of them pass," said Ruth Dowell, English teacher. "A couple pass level one then level two."

   When a student rushes to learning recovery to finish work to help a grade, he or she accomplishes much more. In the end attending all of the learning recovery sessions helps some students with the goal of reaching graduation.

    ”It establishes communication and time frames for student and teacher," said Forney " It enables students to earn a passing grade thus learning the essential concepts, ideas, benchmarks of the curriculum; designed  to keep students aware that they need to complete and earn passing marks on performance assessments in order to earn credit toward graduation requirements." 

    So when one rushes to learning recovery students either reach a goal of finishing a project to passing a class. When a student neglects to go to so many levels the student enters higher levels that vary from signing a contract to parents being contacted. In the end when Learning Recovery helps a student pass, the student earns credit which helps the student towards graduation.

    Next year the learning recovery process will change. Instead of attending certain levels the new process allows students that fail a semester to make up a project to pass the class other than retaking the class, the year after. The new process still includes a contract made by teachers that students sign so the contract gets sent home. Finalization of the new process still awaits announcing.

-by Lauren Myers

Photo by Chet Coenen

AL Annual Post Prom A Success

  Waking up early, getting one's hair, nails and make-up done, pictures, dinner, then prom. One of the exciting last chapters at the end of the school year for upperclassmen. But after the excitement of dancing for three hours, one may find themselves back at AL at midnight, something that isn't found very often. Following prom activities, AL's Booster Club, staff and parent volunteers hold the post prom event annually. At post prom, students have numerous different options to pass the time. There was a concession stand which is free of charge, obstacle courses, laser tag, money machine, a hypnotist, and prizes.

 "My favorite thing about the hypnotist was when he made Chelsea Colpitts think she was an alien," said Tyler McGee '11. "And especially when she spoke the weird alien language."

 Post prom has proven to be effective in keeping students and their dates off the streets and out of trouble. Post-prom is scheduled 11:30 all the way till 4:30 in the morning. Cost for coming to post-prom was only five dollars, making it more available to go. And the same rules apply to post prom that are enforced at sports games and dances: once one leaves, he/she is not allowed to re-enter. The reasoning behind this is to prohibit any alcohol/drug, especially if someone plans on returning to the event. Students that are still under the age of 18 also have to worry about curfew rules once leaving post prom, if they chose to leave early.

 Usually, the post prom activities will switch every other year. One year, the activities will be held at AL then the following year at a local recreational facility. Although for last two years, AL has had their post proms at AL.

 "I thought it was great having it at AL. the things to do were so much fun," said Ashley Cross '11. "And it made it a lot cheaper than going somewhere else."

 The turnout for post prom this year turned out great, over 400 tickets sold! Post prom is an effective way of keeping AL’s students and their dates safe and away from danger. "Post prom provides an opportunity for kids to get together and have a lot of fun without feeling like they're being babysat," said Cross. "So there are fewer students on the street and less in trouble because such awesome things are put together for us to do."

 Thanks to all the volunteer parents, staff, and AL's Booster Club for putting together another successful post prom. 

-by Tory Robinson

Scholarships Awarded at Senior Recognition Night

From left, Fred Maher, Jeff Novotony and Cyle Forney watch as seniors walk up to receive their awards. (Photo by Sabina Grenaderova)

A long standing tradition at AL, Senior Honors Night took place on May 10 at 7 p.m.. Senior Honors Night is a ceremony to honor those seniors who have shown outstanding progress, academic achievements and who have been awarded scholarships over their senior year.

-by Erin Kinen

Photo by Chet Coenen

Student Council Election Winners Announced

Photo by Pat Whitsell

Photo by Pat Whitsell

Student Council elections have always been a major part of AL. Classmates competing against each other for the chance to have their say in what the school participates. This year’s winners were announced on Friday, May 7, 2010. The senior class president and vice president are Erin Addison ’11 and Kevin Kups ‘11, and the student body president and vice president are Daniel Hopper ’11 and Andrew Moats ‘11. Students are excited to get started on their jobs and show how they can make AL a great school.

“Now that we have been elected we are going to start planning the first part of StuCo year and the first part of Homecoming,” said Hopper “We are also in the process of making and getting the word out about our Facebook site.”

            Aside from the immediate plans, Hopper and Moats also have great plans for the future during their term.

            “Our plans for next year are to bring back old events like the carnival and powder puff football,” said Moats. “Also we want to increase the school spirit and involvement.”

             A student’s senior year is the most anticipated of all. The senior class president and vice president Addison and Kups are looking forward to trying to make this year the seniors’ best.

             “Erin and I want to unite the senior class by having senior exclusive events,” said Kups. “We want to bring back the carnival, Mr. and Miss. AL, and other events that have disappeared.”

             In order to have a good year, there will need to be cooperation from the students, but all presidents and vice presidents would just like to help out as much as they can to do their part.

 -by Amber Michael

Walk for Multiple Sclerosis Held at Convention Center

Graphic by Sabina Grenaderova

Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic and usually disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system. The severity of the disease varies from person to person, as do the symptoms. On April 24^th, people from all over Council Bluffs and Omaha gathered at the convention center to walk for donations to help find a cure for this disease.

"My family came here to raise money because my aunt Robin has MS," said Jennifer Green. "She means a lot to us so we wanted to help out."

There are four different types of MS; relapsing-remitting MS- which 85% of the people are diagnosed with, primary-progressive MS- which is diagnosed in about 10% of the patients, secondary-progressive MS- which about 50% of the people with relapsing-remitting MS develop this within 10 years, and progressive- relapsing MS- which is very rare, about 5% of patients have this form of the disease. With the many different forms of the disease, its hard for the doctor to determine which path the disease is taking, at first.

Symptoms of MS vary, but there are some general symptoms. Fatigue, numbness, bladder dysfunction, bowel dysfunction, and vision problems are just some of the symptoms that a victim of MS may experience.

The reason for volunteering differs from a loved one having the disease to just wanting to exercise. New treatments and advances in research are giving new hope to people affected by the disease, and people gave the time out of their day for a 5k walk to raise money to help with the advantages.

 -by Taylor Bright

AL Student Sponsors Cystic Fibrosis Walk

Photo by Sabina Grenaderova

Have you ever had a loved one become disabled or diagnosed with a disease? Is there something you wish you could do to help those people with that disease? For most terminal or serious illnesses, there is a walk or run you can participate in. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects peoples lungs and digestive systems, and people are going to “take steps” to help find a cure for this disease. Hannah Zimmerman, future NHS Vice President, has been getting ready to walk for a cure since January, and promoting the walk at school.

“I think it’s a great cause,” said Zimmerman. “A lot of people are interested because it’s a walk and you don’t have to do much.”

Great Strides for CF is taking place at the Lake Manawa North Shore Park on May 15th 2010. Check in is at 8:00 and the race starts at 9:00. There will be a 5K version of the race, or a 6K version. The race is free, but donations from friends and family are encouraged.

CF is a disease that makes living a long life look almost impossible, but people are trying to help out by walking. People who have CF, know someone that has the disease, or just like doing things for a good cause can join Zimmerman for the race for a cure. Everyone has a reason to join the cause what’s yours?

“Dave Davidson is a very close friend of mine,” said Zimmerman. “He’s one of the oldest people to have CF.”

Disease takes place all over the world, and affects everyone involved. Lives have been lost and hearts have been broken. People work hard to earn money to prevent broken hearts and lost lives, and you can join them on May 15.

-by Taylor Bright

TJ Hosted 5th Grade Vocal Festival

At noon on March 26 all fifth grade students in the Council Bluffs School District came together to perform for parents and some staff at Thomas Jefferson. The children performed the songs Information Age, Education Rocks, Agents of Change, Discovery, T.H.I.N.K and more to promote learning and show that education can be cool by rapping and using robots. They had props and entertaining dance moves to go with their songs. The students stood together and got along great.

“I was so proud to see my granddaughter standing up there,” said Teri Kunik. “They all looked so cute singing together.”

The students worked hard on learning these songs and fancy moves for a month before the show. They also spent all morning practicing before their performance, spending the day in the Thomas Jefferson gym and eating lunch there. Their work paid off in the end. The performance went off without a hitch and the students got along very well with each other.

“I had a lot fun," said Josie Hill, a fifth grader at Bloomer. "I had a solo and it was exciting."

The Annual Fifth grade Vocal Festival was a hit, and everyone that attended enjoyed themselves and the performance, the students even got a standing ovation at the end of the performance.

 -by Taylor Bright

AL Student Expands Knowledge in Medical Field

Photo by Christian Schlater

In the medical field, no matter how many years of study one gets at any Ivy League college in the nation, if an individual wants to succeed in this field they surely should start out early. So a few months ago when high school students all around our area had been offered a chance to further widen their medical studies for half of  the day at University Of Nebraska Medical center, many students jumped on the opportunity.
“I saw it as a really good opportunity and thought it would be real asset to helping me figure out what I wanted to do in the medical field applied to,” said Henry Black’12
The program at UNMC is designed for students planning to have a career in the medical field, and especially designed for students showing proficient movement towards their advancement in this field. Black is somewhat lucky to make it to the program because he was the only one from AL, and was only one of four in our school district to catch one of the 36 spots available.
“When I found out I had made it into the program I was very happy because of how exclusive it was and I was excited to learn new things,” said Black.
 Yet in most ways he is more qualified then lucky. Black has a list of accomplishments to fill up his professional portfolio well before his career has started. He started volunteering at Jennie Edmundson’s Hospital his freshman year. Usually all of the volunteers are in the program for a year and then can be promoted to a higher rank in the program. For him, six months into his term he was promoted to supervisor, and then he promoted to the Treasurer of the Executive Council at the hospital.
He also has somewhat of a driving force for his choice to be involved in the medical field.
“I have Cerebral palsy and as a kid it was really bad,” said Black  “once I had a mild seizure and had to go to a neurologist,” said Black.
From then he said that he wanted to know more about the body and how it works.
“I tried to learn everything I could, it really helped that my mom was a massage therapist and my dad is a mental health therapist so I learned about alternative methods to,” said Black.
As Black prepares to embark on this new test of his knowledge and skills he heads into this journey full of intelligence. Though there will be many long nights of hard work in the future for him, he plans to take it head on.

-by Devon Jefferson

LC Hosts Large Group Contest

This is it.  It's the moment that you've worked for all year.  It's the moment to show everyone what you've been working on all year.  It's a Saturday morning, and all of your friends are still snuggled up in bed, but you are wide awake, and already on your way to AL to dress for the band's final performance of the year.  
    Each year Large Group Contest is held at Lewis Central Middle School.  All musical groups compete in this contest including the band, choir, and orchestra.  The AL band was the first group to perform. This made the band happy because they could "set the standard" for the day's performances.