Monthly Archives: April 2017

Don’t exclude Homeschooled Children

Did you know that Connecticut is one of the 21 states that doesn’t allow homeschooled children to participate in sports and other activities in public schools? There are approximately 1.7 million homeschoolers in the United States ( A House Divided; Homeschool Students on School Sports Teams ), and only 25 states in the U.S. allow homechooled children to play public school sports. At this current time, more than 19 states allow home-schooled children to participate in public school activities ( some with requirements ), while 21 other states only allow children with full enrollment to participate in their activities. The state of Connecticut doesn’t allow any homeschooled children to join and participate in their activities, and this is because Connecticut follows the rules of  the CIAC. The CIAC (Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference ) says that, “Home schooled students are not eligible to participate on CIAC schools’ interscholastic teams”. Only students that are fully enrolled into the school that is under the rules of the CIAC are allowed to play and do the activities at that school.

Image result for homeschool

By excluding homeschooled children from participating in public school sports, its discriminating against parent’s  right to educate their children how they see fit. Everyone should have a right to tryout for and if they make, participate in any organization or  athletic team that their  tax paying dollars support. ( Pro/Con; Should Homeschoolers be Allowed To Participate in Public School Sports? ) There are many positive  benefits for children who play on a school-based sports team, this includes weight control, self esteem, social skills, leadership skills and better academic achievements among children who play on sports teams.  Even though children have the opportunity to attend  public schools in the area they live in, some children choose not to  attend them, and this can be because their parents are in  the military and they move around alot, religion reasons, and bullying issues.  I was very disappointed when I found out that in Connecticut the CIAC wouldn’t allow my friend and travel basketball teammate to tryout for the Dodd team.  So, I wrote to my local representatives asking them to create a new  law that would ban the CIAC from discriminating against home schooled children. All in all, if you pay taxes for the school system and you chose to educated you child at home  your children should still be able to participate in your schools team sports and activities.  It would  benefit the homeschooled children and it would make the school team stronger because you never know the next Michael Jordan or Rebecca Lobo might be homeschooled in your town.  

~Sophia

The Ships of Space

One of the things that I love to think about is technology advanced space ships. When I do end up thinking about this I like to think about how they are built. What they would do. How the would be used and, where they would go. Whenever I get lost in my thoughts, I can see my inside one of these spacecraft exploring the universe as if i’m riding my bike around the neighborhood.

Whenever I picture one of these magnificent boats of space being made I think of the final scene from Star Trek “Beyond” when the U.S.S. Enterprise is being rebuilt. I would picture some sort of advance engine type firing up and preparing to warp with a low humming sound and the humming gets louder until they fire and the ship begins to move at immense speed to some far away solar system, even a galaxy where mankind has never seen before. Speaking of exploration, I imagine ships all over the universe thriving at the fact that there could be a new home (not saying earth isn’t good for humanity) and searching for minerals and more elements on the periodic table trying to advance our technology even more. Wouldn’t you want to see the vastness us outer space without full astronaut training?

~Kyle

Dress Code, Harmful or Helpful?

You may have run into the moment where you had to change what you were wearing to meet the requirements of the school dress code. What is dress code you may ask? Dress codes are requirements given by the school, on what you can and cannot wear. Dress codes have been around for centuries restricting your clothing choices, but the first school dress code law was established in 1969 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Some people find dress codes bothersome and unnecessary, while others say it helps keep students from being distracted while promoting discipline. This brings up the question: does dress code really help shape students to their advantage?

Some people think that dress codes are unfair and assist to the shaming towards females. Dress code rules state that they help “prevent distractions towards young boys.” But the reasoning here is that girls should not have to change what they wear for the boys, boys should learn and respect what the girls wear. And to think that boys cannot learn if they can see a girls shoulder is said to be absurd. Dress code as well as telling girls to change, can be hard to follow. In an article by Mckenzie Foust, she dressed according to school dress codes around the country. She said, “I was appalled to see what schools were calling dress code violations for and some of their punishments. This article showed me just how easy I had it.” Although, the other side of the argument is that it encourages students to learn more and worry less about their fashion choices. Dress codes have been proven to decrease the pressure on wardrobe choices for students. In addition, dress codes decrease the amount spent on clothing because they do not have to buy clothes based on expensive trends. This decreases the amount of bullying and the pressure to look popular. In my opinion I think that we should start teaching everyone, from a young age, not to be distracted or judgmental of other’s clothing. Dress codes are important to teach students what is appropriate to wear, however extreme dress codes with punishments are not needed. Nevertheless, what do you think about dress codes? Are these rules necessary or beneficial to students education and growth?

~Sophia

How Easy Is It To Steal Your Fingerprints?

Let’s admit it, we’ve all taken pictures while making a peace sign or a thumbs up and sent it to a friend or decided to post it on Instagram, harmless, right? Well, you may have given all of your followers or your friend the password to your device without even knowing! Now many of our devices allow you to use your fingerprint as a way to unlock your phone, but your camera could allow others access your devices. Pictures taken from smartphones are so detailed that they can pick up your fingerprints! Although you may think that they can only notice the fingerprints when you take a selfie, you may want to think again. Your fingerprints can be retrieved from pictures that have been taken up to ten feet away.  

Image result for girl taking selfie

If you think that none of your followers could have the technology to steal your fingerprints, you may be frightened to hear it’s easier than you would think, I know I was. Professor Isao Echizen from Japan’s National Institute of Informatics explains that, “your fingerprint data can be recreated if fingerprints are in focus with strong lighting,”. By compiling photos, or even just using one, thieves can recreate your fingerprints and hack into your devices, all they need is good lighting and a focus on your fingers. However, for me, the scariest part of stealing your fingerprints is that they, unlike passwords cannot be changed, we’re stuck with them forever! The thought that a harmless picture could give someone the password to all of my devices, forever, makes me think twice every time I go to make a peace sign or thumbs up in a picture. However, I think I’m just not going to do a peace sign or thumbs up in any picture I take, it’s not worth the risk. And just think about how easy it’ll be to steal your fingerprints in the future!

~Isabella

Will the Pittsburgh Penguins say “hello” to Stanley again this Year?

Yes, they did win the cup last year.  But can they repeat those stellar playoff wins?  Putting up a total of 241 goals during the regular season, they had a great start.  Also when new coach Mike Sullivan over Christmas break stepped in, he had a large, positive, impact on the team.  His prior experience coaching Pittsburgh’s minor league team, the Wilkes-Barre Penguins, gave him the knowledge needed to bring up young players without taking too much money out of their salary cap.  Also the Penguins captain Sidney Crosby started to contribute after Christmas break, racking up an explosive 85 points on the season.


Personally, in my opinion, I believe that the Burgh can do it again this year.  With the new phenom Conor Sheary, winning star of the week, scoring 6 goals and 9 points in the past seven days, it is very much in their realm.  Furthermore, being in the top three of the metropolitan division for most of the season, it looks like we should make the playoffs with ease. Also, Sidney Crosby is having yet another great year, leading the NHL in goals right now with a very solid and consistent 28.  Plus, in a recent stadium series game against the Flyers, the Penguins had a demanding 4-2 win giving them nice confidence boost to play well in the last leg of the season.  The penguins as whole have only three losses at home this season right now, being a threat to the whole national hockey league.  As you can see, the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise have shown many promising results that could lead to yet another Stanley Cup win this year.

~Mark