P.E. Mandate: Coming Soon to a School Near You

I stopped regularly exercising halfway through my freshman year. My first and last season rowing Crew had just ended (a sport I desperately hoped was unpopular enough for me to finally stand a chance at) and prior to choosing to do it all again, I […]

The Honor of Weighted GPAs

The Northampton High School Student Senate has decided to bring the issue of implementing weighted GPAs to NHS. If you are unaware of what a weighted GPA means, it’s when students who take an AP or Honors course will have a higher grade value than […]

Note the Nick Name

A new policy, which requires teachers to call students by their listed birth name instead of a preferred nickname, has stirred up much controversy among transgender students. The ethical ramifications of these decisions became particularly clear to me when interviewing transgender students who are required […]

Standardized Test Scores: Are Colleges Taking the Easy Way Out?

In a few weeks we will have February break. For some, this is a time to rest. For others, this is the time to start doing college visits. College visits mean thinking about college admission; are you looking for a small liberal arts college? Or […]

Weighing the Consequences

Beyond a pat-on-the back of from my parents for doing well in school, I receive little to no recognition for my efforts in AP courses. Sometimes, I wish I could be recognized for my diligence to work for good grades in the hardest courses at […]

Worth the Weight?

I have not met a single person — student, parent or teacher — who thinks that the education system we have is a perfect one. And they shouldn’t; it isn’t. The consistent issue seems to be that students are less interested in learning.  Members of […]

I’ll Pass on the Hall Passes

We all know that when you leave class, use the bathroom, or get a drink of water, you have to sign out and bring a hall pass with you – but is it really necessary?  At Northampton High School, all teachers have their own passes […]

Wake Up and Smell the Keg

I was standing in chemistry class lighting hydrochloric acid on fire when I first overheard two classmates  casually discussing an incident; NHS students were caught getting wasted at one of our Friday night football games. This was among several incidents I had heard of students […]

An Argument Against Email Etiquette

Invest in a Financially Literate Future

As I stood there looking down at the check, I came to a harsh realization. I have no idea how to fill it out. My friend had just taken my senior photographs for the high school yearbook, and it was quite embarrassing when I had […]