Defining 09-10 School Year

1. 6 Minute Passing Time
2. New Conference
3. Football Playoffs
4. ISS for Cell Phone Policy
5. Snapgrades
6. Interclass Games
7. Yoga Pants
8. Justin Lookadoo
9. Power Outage
10. Cameras Banned

1. Three minutes is practically a lifetime: Going from a nine minute passing time down to six minutes, students have been struggling to get to class on time. Trying to balance social time and the time it takes to get to class, students are finally learning to manage their schedules in order to incorporate both things.
2. New surroundings bring hopeful competition: After being in the Big-9 conference and dominating for as long as most people can remember, GBHS was challenged with joining a new conference, KLAA. Although many times there are longer drives and tough competitors, such as Brighton, our school welcomes this newfound rivalry.
3. Going the distance: For losing some key football players in the past few years, the team had a successful season. The Varsity and Junior Varsity teams played their hardest during the fall season, and because of their dedication and hard work, Varsity went on to win divisions and the conference. They then went on only to lose to Romeo, a very talented team.
4. The new cell phone policy caused more ISS’ than ever: Although given more freedom last year with being able to use phones during school, the new policy upped the discipline for having a phone during class from it being taken away to it being taken away plus a day in ISS. Even though some teachers may give the phone back as a warning, there are always the toughies that enforce the rule in efforts to teach the student a lesson.
5. Staying on top with Snapgrades: This year is really the first year that most teachers started using the easy and convenient grading system, Snapgrades. Although not the best thing for some students who don’t want their parents to see their grades, this grading system really helps in keeping you (and your parents) aware of your grades.
6. A yearly tradition, yet it is never quite the same: Being in tenth grade, I am proud to say that this year, the sophomores took home the trophy. With the combined efforts of the Homecoming “truck” and the competitions at the games, the unexpected sophomore win was a sweet surprise to many people.
7. Anything but yoga pants: Girls marvel at how comfortable these oh-so-tight yoga pants are, while guys are marveling at the body wearing them. Although the pants were never officially banned, students were prepared to protest and still to this day get worked up at the though of losing the right to wear them.
8. Oh the infamous speaker, Justin Lookadoo: Girls loved him, and guys hated him. Thanks to your glorious “Guys are dirt-bags” speech, drama was stirred up all throughout the school. To this day, your name is still brought up and will be remembered as a defining moment of this school year.
9. Whether a squirrel or raccoon, we all have a newfound appreciation for forest animals: The recent power outage was a sweet surprise to most GBHS students on a Friday morning. No one really knows for sure which animal it was, but either a raccoon or a squirrel chewed through some wires in the city power box resulting in the school losing power and about 2,600 happy high school students.
10. Not so picture perfect anymore: This year was the first year that cameras have officially been banned, even on cell phones. What used to be a lenient policy has turned into a very strict rule. Now you might want to think twice before you whip out your camera in school.

What is it exactly that the Wilderness Club does? This club provides opportunities for adventure oriented students to participate in a variety of team activities to not only bring them together but also keep them in close contact with their environment. The latest talk has been about their trip to play three competitive games of laser tag! This event took place at Zap Zone in Waterford.

The president of UNITE, junior Nathan Setto also takes an interest in the school’s Wilderness Club. He stated, “I am a part of the Wilderness Club because I love a sense of adventure. Laser Tag was the first event I have been to, but it was fun teaming up with my friends and going after the freshmen and sophomores!”

Some students see clubs as a fun way to get involved with school activities, and it is also a great way to meet new people. Junior Caitlin Smoot described the experience, “Though we started off teaming up with our friends, we switched it up and played with other peers. Some of the teachers even participated and thought they were much better than the rest of us!”

This event seemed to be a lot of fun for the club (and faculty) and everyone won a prize, even those who came in last place.

The Wilderness Club does one event each month to provide a fun opportunity while enforcing team building. They have already gone canoeing and horse back riding as well. Next month they plan to play paintball together. While they take fun trips, this club also does their share of giving back to the community by recycling, cleaning up yards, and doing fundraisers. Those interested in joining this club should visit business teacher Kim Farthing in room 502.

In a hot, doughnut and coffee filled room of ninth graders Hannah Freeman, a guest speaker from the Reach program stood at the front, “Have any of you been bullied?” she asked.

“My brother calls me fat, constantly,” said a clearly not fat freshman boy. This type of bullying, according to Freeman, would be caused by the bully’s insecurities being funneled into aggression towards other people.

This was at the “Coffee talk with your Counselors” meeting that counselors at Grand Blanc set up to allow for more interaction with students. With only a few parents and the freshman “pack leaders” in attendance, Hannah Freeman talked about the many different types of bullying, the impact of bullying, and what to do if you or someone you know was being bullied.

Freeman says she still regrets picking on her sister about her weight in high school, although she acknowledged that this is just what sisters do, she also told us her sister, who is now 3 to 4 inches taller than she and weighs less still has problems with her weight. “ No matter how skinny she gets she wont be happy.”

Freeman even said that some types of bullying are against the law. She gave examples like making fun of mentally disabled people, people with speech problems, and even people with glasses. While it’s unlikely you could go to jail for this you could definitely be sued.
Freeman challenged the freshman to not gossip or talk bad about someone for one week and see what they thought of it. She said if their whole class stopped picking on each other in 2 to 3 years the school would be a completely different setting.

They all learned how just because some people are different doesn’t mean they’re and that everyone should get equal treatment.

And with that being said, to wrap the meeting up one of the counselors stood and said to the room “Now you can have doughnuts, but there probably won’t be enough for everybody.”

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