Election to shake up school board, two seats up for vote on Tuesday
April 29, 2008
By: Grace Baranowski and John Shi <gbaranowski@hilite.org, jshi@hilite.org>
On Tuesday, the names of the seven candidates for the Carmel Clay School Board will appear on the Indiana primary ballot, along with the names of the presidential candidates (though voting-age Carmel Clay residents can opt to vote only for the school board).
The school board election is given through the Hamilton County Board, according to Superintendent of schools Barbara Underwood, and they generally know the results that evening. The candidates take their positions on July 1.
The seven members seek to fill two seats on the school board in this election held every two years. On alternating elections, according to Underwood, either two or three board seats are elected. According to Joseph Miller, secretary of the board of trustees and school board member, elections are staggered in order to prevent the complications that would arise should the entire school board change hands at once.
Underwood said, “The issues may or may not change because three members continue to serve. The majority won’t change.”
However, the policies examined on the board are “truly dependent on who is elected and what issues they want to address,” according to Underwood.
Miller said he is up for re-election, since it is the end of his four-year term. Campaigning as the experienced candidate, Miller said that although there is always speculation that the election will be easier for an incumbent, he doesn’t “take (the election) for granted at all.” But according to Underwood, a candidate running for a second time is a “fairly common occurance even though last time it didn’t happen.”
As a superintendent in her eighth year, this 2008 school board election is “either the third or fourth” for Underwood. She said she doesn’t involve herself, though. “The school board supervises me; that’s why I don’t get involved,” she said. “I have five bosses, and every two years they change.”
Senior J.C. Pankratz’s mother, English teacher Sherri Pankratz, was the campaign manager for the last school board election. According to J.C., her mother managed the campaigns of Bruce Calabrese, Stephen Backer and Greg Philips, all of whom ran together.
J.C. said, “I remember when the school board members won. I came home from rehearsal for the musical, and I called my mom because I heard that we had won, and she was hoarse from crying because she was just that happy. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment because she had worked so hard, and she was so happy.”
Underwood said she also finds significance in the school board elections. She said, “This is pretty important.” She also said that she hopes that the people who vote do so with knowledge of the candidates.
But to Underwood, fulfilling community obligations on the school board is also a valuable undertaking. “Serving as a member of a school board is one of the best service contributions someone can make to their school board.”
Administration changes
April 29, 2008
By: Michael Wang <mwang@hilite.org>
Starting on July 1, several administrative changes will occur here because Assistant Principals John Abell and Bob Grenda are retiring. According to Assistant Principal Kathy Luessow, there are eight assistant principals currently. John Abell, John Newton, Ronda Eshleman and Luessow are 12-month assistant principals while Bob Grenda, Amy Skeens-Benton, Doug Bird and Kerry Hoffman are 10-month assistant principals.
Luessow said, “The way it is set up, each of the four 12-month assistant principals (has) a 10-month assistant principal working with them.”
Under the current system, according to Luessow, she works with Grenda, Newton works with Skeens-Benton, Eshleman works with Hoffman and Abell works with Bird. Next year, though, as a result of Abell and Grenda’s retirements, Luessow will move to Abell’s position and Skeens-Benton will transition to Luessow’s position. These moves, however, still leave two vacancies for two 10-month assistant principal positions. One of those positions is already filled by newly-hired Kevin Gallman, and the other position was scheduled to be announced at Monday’s school board meeting, which occurred after press deadline.
According to Skeens-Benton, she, Luessow and the two new administrators were chosen through a process of resumes, applications and interviews. She said that the candidates first went to four separate groups which interviewed them. Then, if they were selected, Principal John Williams interviewed them. After that, they went over to the central office where the central office staff interviewed them and forwarded their names on for school board approval.
As a result of the administrative changes, Luessow will now be in charge of buildings and grounds, which is anything that has to do with the facility, and also scheduling, a job she currently does. Eshleman and Hoffman will still be in charge of the school’s curriculum, and Newton will still be in charge of student services. Next year, Skeens-Benton will be in charge of anything related with the Freshman Center as well as keeping her current job working with student activities, and Bird will still be in charge of attendance.
Because there will be a number of administrative changes, there will also be room changes to accomodate. According to Luessow, Skeens-Benton will move into Luessow’s office, Luessow will move into Hoffman’s office and Hoffman will then move into Abell’s office.
As a result of these changes, Skeens-Benton said the incoming freshmen will be more connected to this school.
She said, “I think (by) tying in freshman activities with the Freshman Center, we will hopefully get a lot more freshmen involved and connected with (this school), and that is a big goal and just to make the transition and connection to (this school) even better.
Sophomore Shataakshi Dube said, “I think that all our administrators would be good no matter what position they take, and I am sure that the school has thought a lot about the decisions that they are making. So I think the administration will be in good hands, and it will be an overall positive change for the school. So overall I don’t think we will really notice the change if the transition is smooth.”
Luessow said, “There will be some shifting around. I bet it will take a little while for (the administrators) to get accustomed because it is a lot. I love what I do. I really do love my job, (and) it has been a great opportunity for me.”
Elections officials enact new policies
April 29, 2008
By: Michael Wang and Lexi Muir <mwang@hilite.org, lmuir@hilite.org>
For sophomore Adam Burns, his dreams of becoming Junior Class vice president are finally within reach because the elections for class officer and Senate begin next Tuesday and end on May 9. Burns said, “I really just wanted to get more involved in school. I have good leadership skills. I like getting involved and I like to think that I am a good person. I would love to get people to vote for me and win.”
Despite the excitement from possible candidates, like Burns, who are eager to begin campaigning, according to Assistant Principal Amy Skeens-Benton, who has been in charge of student elections for two years, there have been several new policies implemented this year, which, including the upcoming class officer and Senate election also applied to last week’s Student Body President and Speaker of the House elections. Skeens-Benton mentioned these new policies to the candidates at a mandatory meeting on April 2.
She said candidates running for Student Body President and Speaker of the House could not spend any more than $150 for campaign materials and candidates running for class officer and Senate cannot spend any more than $75. According to her, this budget limit was enforced this year because in past years some candidates have spent lavish amounts of money on campaigning. After the election ends, she said all candidates, including the ones who did not win, will have to turn in a budget form to verify they adhered to the new policy. If a candidate wins but didn’t adhere to this new policy, Skeens-Benton said, “We may have to go with the next candidate.”
In addition to the new budget limit, students could only campaign beginning on April 21 if they were running for Student Body President or Speaker of the House and can start this Tuesday if they plan to run for a class officer or Senate position. Ways to campaign include T-shirts, posters, fliers, Internet, candy and freebies.
Under the new restrictions, according to Skeens-Benton, the Internet would be the best and easiest way to campaign.
Though some candidates have already made support groups on Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, Skeens-Benton said those new groups need to stay inactive until campaigning officially begins, which was agreed upon by all the candidates at the April 2 mandatory meeting. She said, “(Students) have already set up pages. We had to get people to agree that they didn’t have to put down the site but it had do be inactive for right now. Then they can reactivate it at the time of campaigning. You cannot be sending (any messages) out.”
Despite the new policies this year in regards to elections, Skeens-Benton said the voting process will remain the same.
In order to be eligible to run for class officer and Senate, candidates need to turn in their forms by tomorrow. Skeens-Benton said she will tell candidates who the class officers and Senate members are on May 9, and winners will be announced to the school on May 12.
Tough Choices
April 29, 2008
By: Rosemary Boeglin <rboeglin@hilite.org>
Seniors Stevan Stankovich and Scott Williamson have good timing. They are eligible to vote this year and both are registered. They have sorted through the ideologies of the candidates and decided they want a Democrat in office. Both students are just in time to vote in the first influential Indiana state primary since Nixon and Kennedy.
“It is amazing for my first time voting to be involved in such a critical election. I could not have been more lucky to get to start voting this year,” said Stankovich, a moderate Democrat who supports Hillary Clinton.
Williamson, also a Democrat, said, “I am a strong supporter of Barack Obama and want to do whatever possible to help him wrap up the Democratic nomination.”
This year, the Indiana Democratic primary takes place on Tuesday with Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the ballot. According to Mary Beth Schneider of The Indianapolis Star, this is the first time in two decades that Indiana has been influential in the Democratic primary.
Alicia Smith, U.S. History and U.S. Government teacher, said that Indiana’s newfound importance in the national elections has affected Carmel. “I think it is creating more excitement because people are hearing about presidential candidates campaigning in Indiana and this is helping to generate more interest at the state and local level as well,” she said.
Because Indiana’s primary is of consequence this year, Williamson said that it is meaningful for every person to vote. “Especially in Hamilton County, where Democrats are such a minority, every vote counts for the Democratic Primary. As far as support goes, I think that organizing works like the movie ‘Pay it Forward,’ where every person you bring to your side might reach out to a few more people, creating a strong, grassroots campaign. So everyone can play an important role,” Williamson said.
Obama and Clinton know that Indiana is important this year, too. Kip Tew, the chairperson of Obama’s Indiana campaign, told Schneider, “I anticipate an all-out campaign here in Indiana.”
Similarly, Clinton’s Hoosier campaign chairperson Joe Hogsett said in an interview with Schneider, “It’s exciting, the voice of Indiana Democrats will be heard.”
Williamson echoes Hogsett’s statement, but specifically pertaining to young Hoosiers. “I think Indiana youth will be very excited to have a say in this election,” Williamson said.
Williamson said he is enthusiastic about the campaign and elections in general. “I have been following the campaign since the beginning, and knew that I would be supporting a Democrat,” he said. “ Initially I was attracted to Obama for his person life story and the lack of Bush or Clinton in his name.”
Stankovich was drawn to Clinton for the exact opposite reason. “Well, what first interested me (in Clinton) was that I was a big fan of Bill Clinton, so I thought I would like Hillary as well,” he said.
After Williamson’s initial gravitation toward Obama, he said he dug deeper and said he only found more to support about him. “After doing more research, I found that I agreed with the majority of Obama’s policy ideas. I also believe that his abilities to speak, persuade and build up political coalitions would make him an excellent president who could unite the country and overcome Washington gridlock,” Williamson said.
Stankovich was also confirmed in his preference for Clinton after further investigation. “The core reason I support Hillary is after researching both candidates, I saw Hillary Clinton had the values that really matter to me,” he said. “She is trying to get universal health care coverage for Americans, which is long over due. She knows how Washington works and has the experience to fight for what needs to be done in America. She also supports the middle class and wants to decrease taxes for the Americans who make $200,000 dollars or less and roll back the Bush tax cuts for the absurdly wealthy. She is also going to try to make college more affordable. Finally, and most importantly, she has the experience, passion and drive to fight to change America for the better.”
Even though Williamson said that he is a strong supporter of a Democratic candidate, he said he was not always aligned with the left. “I am a Democrat,” he said. “After living overseas and watching the Bush presidency with disgust and doing a lot of reading on my own about history and politics, I realized that I was liberal.”
Due to the magnitude of this election, Williamson said he has taken steps to get other students involved.
Smith said the social studies department tries to make the process easier for students so they are more apt to get involved. “The teachers in the social studies department make the forms available to juniors and seniors,” she said. “We also collect and turn them in for students so that they are more likely to register to vote. We also make forms available for students to sign up and work the precincts on election day so that students can be actively involved on election day.”
Stankovich said his plight for Clinton is not always easy. “I talk to my friends and try to convince them to vote for Hillary. Most of the time it doesn’t work because a lot of them are very conservative and wouldn’t vote for a Democrat in a million years,” he said.
Teachers take steps to get students informed about the elections according to Smith. “We encourage them to watch the news, discuss the topics with their family and friends, incorporate the current election information into the curriculum as well as have student’s complete current events in our government class,” Smith said.
Although he is hoping for an Obama victory, Williamson said he is unsure about the results of the primary. “As of now, it’s a toss up. The demographics lean toward Hillary, but I think there is a lot of excitement about Obama in this state, so I could definitely see it going his way,” he said.
Despite his enthusiasm for Obama, Williamson said, if it came down to it, he would vote for Clinton. “I do not like how Hillary has run her campaign, and I do not believe that she would be as strong a president as Obama. However, I agree with her policies over those of McCain,” he said.
Stankovich said he might take the Republican road if Obama were to receive the nomination, “(I) probably (would not vote for Obama) unless Hillary was the VP of the ticket. Obama is too inexperienced, and so far what I have heard from him has been empty and not with a lot of real solutions.”
For Williamson, the long-term effects of this campaign are not entirely in the hands of either Clinton or Obama. “This election has really drawn me into politics,” he said. “And as a result, I think I will stay involved throughout my life.”
Clinton’s visit precursor to primary
April 29, 2008
By: Jaclyn Chen <jchen@hilite.org>
The pounding beat of country music, the daunting American flag hanging front and center and the roar of the crowd were only appropriate to welcome to school Monday morning former President Bill Clinton. Read more
CHS journalists earn awards at annual Ball State J-Day
April 29, 2008
Several Carmel High School publications students earned awards at the annual Ball State University High School Journalism Day, an event that occurred on April 25. Students could enter work in several different categories which fit in six separate areas: yearbook, newspaper, news or feature magazine, photography, broadcast and online. Newspaper entries were taken from the 2007-08 school year while yearbook entries were from the 2007 publication. Carmel competed in the AAA category, which includes schools with enrollments of 1601+ students. In total, Carmel publications students earned a total of 31 awards in a variety of categories listed below. Of those 31 awards, judges ranked 11 of those entries as Superior, the competition’s highest ranking.
Additionally, 12 students attended the J-Day event, where they had the opportunity to listen to keynote speaker Roy Peter Clark of the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, FL. Clark is vice president and senior scholar of the organization and is the editor or author of 15 books on journalism craft and values, including his most recent release, Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer. Students also attended several breakout sessions covering a variety of topics throughout the day.
Students who attended the Ball State convention were Hope Boyer, Cassie Dugan, Kati Feller, Elizabeth Flaherty, Julie Kippenbrock, Mackenzie Madison, Brielle Peters, Sarah Rothenberg, Elizabeth Russell, Jade Schwarting, Ellie Seta and Tyler Zipes.
Yearbook adviser Lisa Morris and newspaper adviser Jim Streisel also attended the event.
NEWSPAPER AWARDS (All awards from HiLite newspaper unless otherwise noted in parentheses):
Superior
Sports Page Design - Kristen Bartheld and Christine Bertsch
Feature Photo - Katelin Carter
Web Site Overall Content - HiLite Online (www.hilite.org)
Web Site Splash/Intro Page - HiLite Online (www.hilite.org)
Magazine Cover - Tian Yang (Acumen)
Excellent
Sports Photo - Ashley Elson
Information Graphics - Matt Kanitra
Newspaper Front Page Design - Jennifer Siriwardane
Honorable Mention
Sports Page Design - Kristen Bartheld
Column Writing - Rosemary Boeglin
Photo Illustration - Ashley Elson and John Shi
Feature Page Design - Amy Flis
Editorial Writing - HiLite staff
Feature Story - Mary Queisser (Acumen)
Sports Photo - Maris Schiess
News Photo - Jinny Zhang
YEARBOOK AWARDS:
Superior
Student Life Spreads (entry 1) – Lauren Reising, Stephanie Grass, Riley Morrisson
Student Life Spreads (entry 2) – Jennifer Cannady, Hena Ahmed, Allison Farrer
Yearbook Cover Design – Allison Farrer & Lauren Reising
Yearbook Theme Development – Allison Farrer & Lauren Reising
Divider Spreads – Lauren Reising
News Photo – Lauren Trancik
Excellent
Sports Spreads (entry 1) – Katelin Carter, Michael Hays, Allison Chiles
Sports Spreads (entry 2) – Hena Ahmed, Stephanie Grass, Meredith Iacocca
Organization Spreads (entry 1) – Kelli Beckman, Allie Hindman, Amanda Burkert
Organization Spreads (entry 2) – Elizabeth Trancik, Lily Lannon, Amy Tiberi
Academic Spread (entry 1) – Navya Kumar, Nate Woeste, Amanda Burkert
Academic Spread (entry 2) – Navya Kumar, Junairah Dipatuan, Emily Homes
Yearbook Feature Story – Allison Farrer
Sports Photo – Lauren Trancik
Sports Photo – Lena Gerber
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