January 2012 Chatterbox - Ruston High School

AcademiaChatterboxRuston High School January 19, 2012 Page 5To the Freshman of Ruston High…by Polly Michelle GwanAcademics ReporterTime has flown by and the first semester of your freshman year has finally ended! But instead of slacking on your grades or taking an “academic” break, it is imperativeto finish out the rest of the school year strong. Many may not know this, but your two semester grades are combined together to make your final grade for the year. If youdid not achieve that “A” that you were shooting for or even barely passed with a “C” fear not! The second semester is your opportunity to turn over a new leaf and start offafresh! But remember, this semester can make you or break you. So plan to do your best academically these two last nine weeks and finish out the year with a bang! GoBearcats!New Tech @ Rustonby Thristan CecilClubs ReporterNew Tech @ Ruston has been focusing on its Global and Community Service learning outcome. The program continued its partnership with the Louisiana Tech UniversityArchitecture Department and the SOCA (South of California Avenue) Project, working at the Fall Block Party held in November. Freshman and sophomore studentsjoined teachers Sarah Wages and Tara Griffin, along with administrators Catherine Letendre and Cathi Cox-Boniol, to provide games throughout the event. Then for the firstyear, a New Tech team prepared an entry for the Lincoln Parish Library holiday wreath and tree event. Students created a "nontraditional" wreath entitled "A New TechChristmas" that was built from a giant '@' with greenery added along with NT@R accents. The wreath was then displayed in the hall between the Lincoln Parish Library andthe Events Center where it will hang until after New Years. For the second year, New Tech @ Ruston partnered with the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and LincolnACHIEVE for the annual Adopt-A-School holiday food drive for Christian Community Action. All New Tech classes contributed to the canned food collection while HenryThompson served as captain for the pick-up efforts. Malik Taylor, Stephen Hall, Keon Johnson, Jack Lindsey, Caleb White, and Adam Rankins served on the team withThompson and traveled with Rotarian Bill Cox, Super 1 Manager Chris Turner, and New Tech administrators Cathi Cox-Boniol and Catherine Letendre to visit every schoolin the district and load their food collections. Because of the hard work of the New Tech team, it was the most efficient and successful collection to date with 16 schools visitedand another record-setting load of food taken to Emmanuel Baptist Church for volunteers to sort for CCA and the use of those in need throughout our community.