Teachers convert to new SharePoint

For the 2013-2014 school year, teachers will be required to switch from their current SharePoint site, where students can view assignments, get course documents, and send documents to their teachers through drop box, to a newer, more convenient version.

According to Director of Technology Greg Russell, the old websites will be shut off in June, so all teachers need to take anything they don’t wish to lose from their current site and transfer it to their new one.

Teachers using Edmodo will not need to make the switch. 41 of JC teachers use share point and over 20 teachers have an Edmodo account. There is some overlap between teachers who prefer to use both forms, but the majority of teachers will have to change their SharePoint.

Teachers and Technology is the company that has been used by JC up until now. Now though, “the person hosting the [original] one is basically retiring and closing up shop,” Russell said.

Teachers will be using the program Office 365. This program is already being used by teachers for email, but it also offers a SharePoint program as part of the package. According to Russell, this change will allow everything to be conveniently under one username and password as it is linked to their email accounts.

“I find it a little bit more user friendly. It takes a little bit more time to get used to. I find it’s much more superior in its organization of folders and documents,” Del Puppo said.

Anthony Del Puppo and Spanish teacher Sandi Seiler have already made the switch.

Hope Kelly is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

Harford County honors Arbor Day

Harford County Government is celebrating its annual Arbor Day on March 29 to recognize the tenth consecutive year of achieving the Tree City USA award. This award is given by the National Arbor Day Foundation to “recognize the work of elected officials, staff, and citizens who plant and care for the community,” according to a flyer on the website of Harford County Government.

The Arbor Day 2013 activities will be held at Edgewood Elementary School. Displays and demonstrations will be held and volunteers will plant “500 seedlings and 130 balled and burlapped street trees,” according to the Harford County Government flyer. “Civic organizations, school groups, scouts, and individuals are invited to participate.”

According to Outreach Coordinator Tony Martin, the Arbor Day celebrations are “open to the entire [JC] student body and is a great way to give back to the community and environment.” Because this event occurs over spring break, students will receive service hours for participating.

“To my knowledge, JC does not have anything scheduled to commemorate Arbor Day here on campus,” Director of Facilities Stewart Walker said.

Senior Kiana Wright plans on attending Arbor Day. “I have a passion for the environment, and I love trees so this project basically called to me. As soon as I heard about this service opportunity I jumped on it,” she said.

“I am trying to get one of my friends from school to do it with me, but I can’t seem to find anyone who is willing to get up early and do a lot of manual labor,” Wright said. “Sometimes I wish more people cared about the environment … If everyone cared a little more, our school could make a huge impact on our waste and consumption.”

Rebecca Driver is a Copy Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

Student and teacher win math award

Math teacher Jean Willan and senior Claire Zurkowski both received awards from The William J. Sacco Critical Thinking Foundation on March 10 for their achievements in mathematics.

Willan received the award honoring math teachers. According to Willan, each school in Harford County was asked to nominate a math teacher for the award. Willan was then chosen from a pool of other competing teachers. “I’m proud that I won the award,” Willan said.

Zurkowski won William J. Sacco Mathematics Student of the Year award. The award included a $3000 scholarship to the college of the student’s choice. Zurkowski also won a $500 dollar scholarship for being the finalist at JC. Math teachers nominated two students from JC, one of which would be selected as a finalist. Claire became the finalist from JC.

“I was really surprised because everyone had a biography about them and a lot of them had really good biographies and had taken classes I had never even heard of. I was in a pool of people just as smart or smarter than me,” Zurkowski said. “It was very intimidating.”

According to Willan, both awards were created to honor William Sacco, an applied mathematician. “He encouraged students to do things with math and he would offer them jobs related to math,” Willan said. “He wanted people to find the joy in math.”

Cole Alban is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.