Mixed signals about cell phone use in classrooms

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer At the beginning of each school year, students go to their classes for the first time to meet their new teachers and receive a syllabus. At this time, students are told each teacher’s cell phone policy – some lackadaisical and others extremely strict. Cell phones are a part of students’ lives. If you walk through the halls each passing period, you will see students navigating seas of people while trying to text friends or look at a social media site. I am guilty of doing the same. When a teacher bans use of phones in that class for the whole year, they are inviting students to try to use their…

Earth Space Science classes gaze at the stars

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer Tonight, students from Earth Space Science (ESS) classes met up at the CHS student parking lot to socialize, eat hot dogs, burgers and tofu burgers. While the friends and food were fun, the students were not just there to eat and talk, they also looked at the moon and stars with a telescope while teachers pointed things out to the students about the stars, moon and atmosphere. Many students enjoyed being able to look at the distant stars with classmates, but would like to see a little more than the moon and stars next time. “It was a really cool experience,” senior Jake Elliot said. “But next time we do…

Students and teachers to observe MLK Day

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer With semester exams ending on Friday, students will have an extra day to sleep in and decompress after a stressful week of studying and test taking. On Monday, Jan. 21, CISD will have a holiday to observe Martin Luther King Jr. day. This day celebrates the very famous civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who gave the famous “I have a dream” speech in Washington D.C. King also led the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, which was a non-violent protest which also led to the Supreme Court decision that Alabama and Montgomery rules of segregated buses are unconstitutional. In Nov. of 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill…

School Resource Officers provide sense of security

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer With recent shootings at a mall in Portland, Ore. and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, many parents and students have started to wonder if walking around school is safe anymore. Coppell High School has School Resource Officers, also known as SROs to the students and faculty. The job of the SROs is to keep the students safe from harm and prevent incidents such as theft and fights. “While [there are] outside threats such as shootings and suspicious people walking into the building, we are worried about the smaller scale issues such as thefts and fights,” CHS student resource officer Rachel Freeman said. The SROs have not changed anything since…

Semester exams arrive next week

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer This time rolls around twice every school year, it is filled with students cramming in as much studying as possible, drinking caffeine and stressing over the upcoming tests in each class on their schedule. Next week is finals week for the fall semester, and while the Monday and Tuesday are typically for studying and reviewing in class, the finals will start on Wednesday  the 16, with the fourth period final. the fourth period final will begin with the typical school start time and end at 9:38 a.m. After that the students will resume the normal schedule with classes being 48 minutes. On Thursday, Jan. 17, students will be taking their…

Tips to stay healthy during cold and flu season

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer With Christmas break just around the corner, the winter sniffles and illnesses are already in full force at Coppell High School. It is important to stay healthy around this time of year, and it may seem hard as you are crammed together next to people sneezing and coughing in the hallways between every class period. Some quick tips to stay healthy this cold and flu season are, get a lot of sleep, sleep may seem hard to come by as students but you have to make sure you get as much sleep as possible each night to stay healthy. It is also important to try and exercise each day, it…

Newspapers need bailing out

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer Times have changed; the world we live in today is dominated by cell phones, laptops, tablets and many more forms of communication technology, but it has gotten to the point to where people are starting to lose their jobs because technology is simply taking over. Print media has been hit especially hard. Many newspapers and media companies around the country have had to cut the number of newspapers that they will print to only three newspapers a week. In Alabama, the three largest newspapers, The Birmingham News, Mobile Press-Register and Huntsville Times have recently announced that they are cutting 400 jobs. It is a similar story in New Orleans where…

St. Ann’s to hold annual Nativity scene

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer Throughout the holiday season many churches will host nativity scenes, but St. Ann’s Catholic Parish, located across the street from New Tech High will be hosting a live Nativity scene for the next two weekends. People who drive past the church during the next two weekends from 6 p.m until 8 p.m will be able to see the live Nativity scene where  kids play the roles of Mary, Joseph, wise men, angels and shepherds. The church has been doing a live Nativity scene for the past twenty years. If you are trying to find things to do over the weekend, then go drive past St. Ann’s annual Nativity scene to get in the holiday spirit.

Oak Fest provides fun for entire community

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer Isaac Lozano sat with his son, eating the assortment of foods that were available to him, and watching people big and small wait in lines and partake in activities at this year’s Oak Fest. This year Coppell held the annual Oak Fest on Oct. 20, at Andy Brown Community Park East, from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Oak Fest is an event in Coppell, which occurs every October; there is an assortment of food and activities for all ages, including a rock wall, obstacle courses, bounce houses, along with food like kettle corn, hot dogs and much more. “We came to Oak Fest this year because we have never been…

Petition for Texas secession gains national attention

By Jay Carroll Staff Writer After the reelection of President Barack Obama, many Americans have started petitions in their state to secede from the union, while many states have petitions, not as many have exploded as much as the petition that was started for the state of Texas to secede. The petition, that was started in the “We The People” section of the White Houses website, has now gained over 104,000 signatures, all trying to get the state of Texas to secede from the union. The petition has officially gone way over the total number of signatures (25,000) in order for the White House and federal government to address this issue, although, the president has…