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2 The Southfield Jay / October 2009 News
News briefs
New administrator
joins SHS staff
Columbus Moore has been hired as
a new assistant principal.
The former Southfield-Lathrup
football coach and Michigan State
alumnus says he loves sports and
traveling. Moore brings 10 years of
experience with him, doing what
he calls, the “same job” at different
buildings in Southfield Public Schools
and elsewhere, such as Ann Arbor High
School, Cooley High School in Detroit,
and Redford High School.
Moore says, “Kids are the same”
wherever he goes.
One of Moore’s first tasks is to
create an Emergency Education plan
that includes posting numbers on the
school exits. He says his main role is to
lend support to Principal Michael Horn
and the rest of the administrative staff.
- Rachael Robertson
WSHJ 88.3 is back
After months of silence, WSHJ
88.3-FM is going back on the air. The
school’s radio station was shut down
at the end of last year because it was
uncertain who would run the station
amid the staff layoffs.
English teacher Julea Ward has
replaced Jason Topp as the radio
teacher.
The station kicked off its mid-
October return by giving away candy
and stickers promoting the station.
The station has been promoting the
hottest jams, and new and improved
radio shows featuring news, sports and
school events.
- Logan Patmon
About the cover
Senior Jazmin Miller ran a savvy
campaign for Homecoming Queen that
featured four-foot tall posters of herself.
The cover of this issue features one of
Miller’s eye-catching Homecoming
posters that helped her earn the tiara.
The poster-sized photos, which
graced the school halls, were taken by
Timothy Paule and reprinted here with
written permission of the photographer.
- Logan Patmon
District tightens attendance policy
Tardy students will feel pinch in grade point
By Logan Patmon
Editor-in-Chief
For the third year in a row, the district
has changed its attendance policy.
Just as students were getting used
to last year’s attendance policy, the
2009-2010 school year began with a
brand new policy. This school year’s
policy is drastically different than last
year’s.
While last year’s policy allowed
an unlimited number of tardies and
absences, this year’s policy allows
students 5 tardies or absences. Upon
the sixth tardy or absence, the student’s
grades will be reviewed. If he or she is
passing the class to which they were
tardy or absent six times, he or she will
receive credit for the class but will get
zero honor points added to their grade
point average for the class.
This means the student’s grade
point average will severely drop if a
student has more than five absences or
tardies to any class.
“I think the new attendance policy
is too strict, especially for first hour,”
said senior Michelle Fitzgerald. “It’s not
always the student’s fault that they are
late. Some students have to drop off
siblings, and other people have a hard
time getting transportation to school.”
The policy is more strict this year
because last year’s policy didn’t work out
very well, said Deputy Superintendent
Ken Siver. After reviewing attendance
records, administrators realized that
many students were late to class last year,
while others chose not to go, he said.
This year’s tighter policy won’t hinder
students from graduating, Siver said, but
it will impact their grade averages.
The loss of honor points isn’t
written in stone, though. It is possible
for some students to get those points
back, Siver said. The policy allows
students, parents and an administrator
to have a conference to discuss the
student’s attendance. At the end of the
conference a student could be offered a
contract in which the student promises
that there won’t be another problem
with attendance.
But to recover the honor points, the
student would have to go before the
school board and make an appeal. The
board would decide on a case-by-case
Photo by Alisha Sterling-Miles
Bus stop: Junior Taylor Hunter arrives to school with his backpack, ready
for another day of classes. School starts at 7:20 a.m.
basis whether to restore the student’s
honor points, Siver said.
“This policy is designed to help
students and to prepare them for the
real world,” said Siver. “In the work world,
you can’t be late to your job very often,
and that is what we are trying to teach.”
Three years ago, the school used to
fail students based on poor attendance.
But the State of Michigan made it illegal
to fail a student based on attendance,
thus the policy has been modified.
Southfield Jay expands Web coverage
Andrew Melton
Staff Writer
The Southfield Jay has recently
revamped its Web site.
The web address is www.my.hsj.org/
mi/southfield/jay.
The new additions to the site include
videos of activities such as pep rallies,
band performances and special events.
There will be music clips, along
with Web exclusive stories and photos.
“The Web site allows us to be a
multi-media publication,” said Editor-in-
Chief Logan Patmon. “We are embracing
new technology and hoping that our
readers will find us in the paper and
visit us on the web.”