Students miss school due to Ravens parade
23.4 percent of students were absent, tardy, or dismissed early on Tuesday, Feb. 5. While some students were actually sick, Attendance Secretary Molly Tebin said that “about 95 percent of the people that were out were out because of the [Ravens] parade.”
These 162 students were among 200,000 people who went to M&T Bank Stadium to cheer on the returning victors of the Super Bowl.
Junior Emily Patrick was one student who missed school for the parade.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it was a good opportunity to support our home team,” Patrick said.
Patrick described the experience as “a lot of fun,” and said that “it felt good to be part of such a big day.”
“It was an historic day and weekend in Baltimore, and I clearly understand why they wanted to attend the parade. The decision for them to attend was a decision made by their parents. I do not have any control over those decisions,” Principal Madelyn Ball said. “I wish I could have been there. I’m so proud of our Ravens.”
Hope Kelly is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.
The Patriot honored on state, national level
The Patriot has been nominated as a Crown Finalist by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and has been named the 2011-2012 Best Online Student Newspaper from the Maryland High School Journalism Contest Committee at Towson University.
Though The Patriot has been named a Crown Finalist before, this year’s nomination has a twist. Along with 16 other school newspapers, The Patriot has been nationally ranked as a hybrid paper, a combination of its print and online papers. This is a first for the CSPA, who previously awarded print and online papers separately.
The 16 High School Hybrid Publication Crown Finalists will receive either a silver crown or a gold crown award, to be announced in March.
In addition, The Patriot won the 2011-2012 Best Online Student Newspaper Award from the Maryland High School Journalism Contest Committee at Towson University.
In a letter from Chairman of the Maryland High School Journalism Contest Committee John F. Kirch, the committee described The Patriot website as “easy to navigate, had strong headlines and photographs, was updated regularly, and contained stories that were well written, comprehensive in scope, and relevant to a high school audience.”
Brianna Glase is the Online Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.
Speech and Debate dominates in competition
Nine Speech and Debate members finished with ribbons after competing at Bel Air high school against Harford County public schools on Thursday Jan. 31
Junior Kayla Bynion placed first in Declamation with senior Martha Schick placing second. Bynion also won second place in Dramatic Interpretation.
Sophomores Justin Hawkins and Austin Eiseman took first place in the debate category of the competition.
In Readers’ Theater, sophomore Billy Jump and sophomore Hanna LeBuhn won second place, with junior Hope Kelly and junior Casey Reil placing third.
Senior Rebecca Kotula placed third in both Children’s Literature and Interpretation of Prose.
“It [the competition] was a really great team domination. Everyone did their best and tried really hard,” sophomore Billy Jump said.
In an email announcing the victory, speech and debate team moderator Bob Schick said, “We have a terrific group of kids in this program, and coaching them has been an enriching experience.”
Caitlin Wolfarth is a News Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.