All cell phone usage while operating a vehicle should be illegal.

Inzaina is from Arzachena, Italy which is located on the island of Sardinia off the coast of Italy. She has travelled to places such as, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Tunisia, and Germany but even after having visited all these countries she decided to study for a full year in America.

“I chosed [sic] to come to America because for me it was a dream. Fortunately I won a scholarship and I could choose between America, UK and Ireland, and I chosed the United States,” Inzaina said.

After arriving in Fort Atkinson she has travelled with her host parents, Bill and Terry Johnson to St. Louis, Missouri, Chicago and Springfield, Illinois. From visiting these famous American cities she got the opportunity to learn about historic people and places, such as the 16th president Abraham Lincoln. Travelling to these places made the beginning of her stay in America interesting because it gave her chances to see parts the the United States other than just Fort Atkinson. Inzaina and her host family plan to visit New York in the spring, which will give her another opportunity to see how diverse different parts of America are.

While seeing many parts of the United States proved to be exciting for her, the real excitement came when the school year commenced. Schools in Italy differ from schools here and unlike American schools, Italian high schools don’t have sports teams, so our somewhat intense commitment to our sports teams came as a bit of a surprise to her. She has attended a few sporting events while in America, like going to a Brewers game as well as school football and volleyball games.

The cultural differences between American and Italy are vast and Inzaina has had the chance to see some of the differences first hand during her time here.

“Some differences are language of course, then people are different, food, clothes, teenagers’ life, school, almost everything,” Inzaina said.

Although Fort Atkinson is unlike the school she attended in Arzachena, Inzaina is really enjoying her time in America thus far.

“I like the Fort High School, because it’s completely different, everything is new: lockers, people, language, subjects! It’s pretty interesting,” Inzaina said.

It’s the unique differences between America and Italy that will hopefully make her year here very memorable and fun.

Sophomore David Firari works on his iPad during APUSH using Wi-Fi

As the start of the new school year rolled in, FAHS made many changes to its system including the campus-wide Wi-Fi access.

“The decision was made to install a building wide Wi-Fi network because technology is a necessary support to learning.  The school district believes access to the Internet is the first step in building a strong base of technological resources to support student learning,” Principal Jeff Zaspel said.

In previous years, Wi-Fi was only accessible in certain parts of the building and many complications existed with the bandwidth.  Bandwidth is the amount of frequencies used to transmit a signal; it is limited and, when overused, starts working very slow.  Social networking sites shrink it like a cotton t-shirt sent through the dryer.  The intended purposes of the Wi-Fi were ultimately being pushed aside, not only because students chose to use it differently, but because students that wished to use it for schoolwork could no longer access a fast and reliable network.  Changes now have been made; the amount of bandwidth has been increased allowing students to use these sites without slowing the Internet of other students and staff.

“The cool thing about [the WiFi] is that we don’t know how students are going to use it.  There’s programs and apps. that are being developed every day and access to the applications will be helpful to their learning,” Teacher Todd Carter said.

Wi-Fi allows students to be up to date at all times through email, PowerSchool and other sources throughout the web; this makes for better communication between students and teachers and a way for students to keep up with classes.  Students can also complete homework during study halls and study through online sources.  This new Internet option even opens up computers for students that do not have handheld devices and cannot access the Wi-Fi.

“[Students] are the top consumers of the Internet,” Zaspel said.

Widely used for the independent studies of students, teachers are also considering using it in the classroom. Many activities such as online quizzes, games and assessments can be used to benefit the learning of students in the classroom and widen teachers’ abilities and options.  Students that are visual learners could also benefit from the Wi-Fi by including an online visual device in a lesson plan.  Internet will be accessible for each class which will make for less of a hassle for teachers to schedule a lab with enough computers to suit the class’ needs.  Along with larger class sizes, comes more of a need for Internet sources and many of the labs cannot obtain enough students to suit these needs; the Wi-Fi can help this problem.

The District Technology Committee’s decision to add this new tool has brought in a new way to enhance learning; welcome, campus-wide Wi-Fi, to FAHS.

The continuous clicking of keys and even a slight movement from taking your phone out of your pocket can cause someone to look at you instead of paying attention to their work. Every moment wasted by distraction adds up and the more time spent unfocused, the less productive work is done.

The question of whether to allow cell phones  has been debated over the years; this year at FAHS, administration voted “yes”. While there are few benefits to texting, the set-backs seem to overrule.

The intended reason for a study hall is to accomplish homework and to study, of course. If students are not using their time effectively by using their cell phones their progress on homework is delayed and maybe even ignored.

“Students in study hall are texting other classmates in school which are probably sitting in class,” Teacher Sharon Kontny said.

Kontny, who is against the policy, has consulted with administration about whether it is appropriate for cell phones to be in use during schools hours. Teachers have to be cautious with this new rule because students could be abusing their rights by texting answers around to other students in classes.  Once an answer is out through a text, you cannot take it back and  have already cheated.

Breaking school policies are at risk with texting. Cyber-bullying is also a way of abusing cell phone use.  In a study halls you have more free time to text friends the latest gossip which is violating the privacy of others.

”Rumors can spread quickly and with the new amenity of the cell phones in study halls you can communicate them a lot faster along with more free time to use during the day.” Sophomore Sam Gukich said.

Even though texting in study halls can serve as an advantage for some,  it may be paving the way towards a disaser for those trying to work.

Texting in study halls is giving the students a new way to connect with others; with this new option  the students are being treated more and more like young adults.This is preparing high-schoolers for the world after they graduate.  For many students this preparation is extremely important. At the moment, though, students are able to use smart phones to look up information for homework, enabling them to get things done in study halls and have more time after school for sports and other activities.

Many students desire the communication with family during school to notify them of things such as staying late after school. Since students are now able to text during study halls it takes away some of the after school chaos between parents and their kids.

During study halls they are not allowing talking, so being able to text it gives friends a silent way to communicate with each other.  Letting  students text in study halls is giving us the chance to talk with out the constant noise of voices, leaving it peaceful to students  who are  working  on homework. Many students use texting to communicate with classmates who they don’t have a lot of other classes with.

“It gives me a break from studying and I can talk to people I don’t see a lot,” Sophomore Abigail Stahl said.

Students who have jobs can message co-workers to request a back-up in the event that they get sick or otherwise cannot make it that day. Being able to contact others during school without having to go through the office eliminates stress for both students and the office receptionists.

This new privilege takes away the urge to text in other classes; this allows students to pay more attention during credited courses.Teachers will no longer have to deal with reminding students to keep away from their phones during class. This allows for a smoother class period without as many distractions.

The staff has given us a new responsibility. Having more power to communicate with others is a great option that FAHS gives their students. Being able to communicate with family members, more freedom and less urge to text in other classes has opened many doors for students.

This issue really hit home in 2008-2009 when the Southern Lakes conference removed teams including Fort Atkinson, Jefferson and Milton. Due to the disbanding, Fort Atkinson found a new home in the Badger South Conference.

Some athletic programs had a tough time adjusting to the bigger and more talented schools. In the Southern Lakes, Fort Atkinson seemed to be a bigger school in terms of students which in turn brought more athletes. Now, in the Badger South, Fort seems to be a school with a smaller enrollment and therefore less athletes.

At the college level this issue is becoming prevalent as well. Teams such as Texas-Christian University (TCU) feel they can be an athletic powerhouse in a big conference such as the Big East. TCU went on to join the Big East.

This issue doesn’t seem to be a problem if one school makes a conference change. The issue comes into play when fifteen or twenty teams want to become more competitive and ultimately win a championship.

Currently collegiate teams like University of Texas, Notre Dame and Texas A&M all have intentions of moving to a conference in the near future. This causes a problem with alignment and how many teams can be in one conference.

There are currently no restrictions on how many teams can play in a conference. Many conferences (including the Big Ten) are taking advantage of that and adding a few schools. It seems the trend is spiraling out of control.

If realignment spirals out of control, it could lead to the formation of “super conferences”. This would mean putting twenty to twenty-five schools in a single conference compared to the tradition ten or twelve. Experts seem to find one benefit to super conferences and that would be the installation of a playoff system.

Talks have been in progress over these super conferences for the past couple months and the discussions appear more serious. Imagine the Wisconsin Badgers playing teams such as the University of Kansas in sports like basketball. Although this sounds like a match made in heaven for fans and students alike; the fact is there will only be one winner in a conference that could easily host three previous conference winners.

On the high school level, realignment is currently not an issue, but the example being set by colleges and the NCAA doesn’t appear to be a good one. This could lead to high schools second guessing their current system which in turn could lead to turmoil. As the old saying goes: If it is not broke, do not fix it.

The fall musical captures the life of a confused Egyptian princess who battles with capture and freedom of not just her own personal life and safety but the lives of others weighing down on her shoulders.

“I think its a good choice! It’s classic theater, but it’s still fun and modern and its something people can relate to,” Freshman Blair George said.

Who knew that Egypt could be a romantic place? Ancient Egypt can be a enticing place where Aida and Radames learn the enthralls of danger and love at the same time.  As Aida is captured by Radames’s parents the cast sings  Fortune Favor Brave a song liked by many roles in the play.

Along with the stress in the musical plot stress often arrives for actors and actresses trying out for the foreign musical. Nerves and excitement adds to the adrenaline running through each performers veins.

“While like most actors and actresses there are nerves and there is a point in that they are pumped to audition, for me it was both,” Engstrom said.

A repeat of the much liked past musicals are the hopes for this one as well with many experienced performers to fill out the cast.

“About 10 or 12 I think,” Engstrom said.

As Aida works on navigating her way out of this dangerous situation as well as maintaining her relationship with her love Radames the cast audience alike await the final performances of Aida.

Reason for joining:  I thought it would be a fun learning experiance.

Other information:  n/a