The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/213648
The Bluffer Volume CXV Issue 6 November 15, 2013 Serving Red Bluff High School since 1901 Girls Tennis-Page 5 Weekend Forecast Friday: High 68° 'Ender's Game'-Page 4 Bazaart-Page 3 New administration grapples with ISP Headline right here, YAY YAY Low 43° Saturday: High 63 ° Low 39° Sunday: High 66° Low 36° Parking Lot Fall Play Red Bluff High's drama department is premiering their new play, Lauging Stock, a poignant look into the hectic life of an actor. The play will be showing on Thursday, November 21 and on Friday, November 22. Tickets will be three dollars at the door. Yosemite Trip College Apps. Due UC and CSU applications are due at the end of November. Be sure to get them in before the deadline! The Independent Study Program (ISP), a separate school and institution apart from Red Bluff High, is currently facing a lot of unknowns and diffculties. Although this alternative approach to education used to be a program, it was changed into a school anywhere from six to eight years ago. The school, currently run by Ron Fisher, principal of RBHS, is not officially WASC accredited. Due to the fact that Superintendent Lisa Escobar and Fisher are new administrators, it is unsure as to why the school is not accredited. However, this does create problems for students in ISP. A school can be officially accredited when it "possesses the resources, policies, and practices to achieve its educational goals and has provided evidence of the quality of its educational programs." With accreditation an institution's credibility and quality is measured, along with a student's ability to transfer college credits. According to Fisher, it was just recently that he found out the school was not WASC accredited. On top of this, problems have arisen pertaining to students and enrollment into the school. Out of the 66 that turned in applications to attend ISP, only 51 were approved. According to Fisher, more applicants have been denied compared to prior years because of the Least Restrictive Policy forcing schools to place students around their peers when necessary. Another reason for denying students is to ensure that they are able to fulfill the amount of credits needed to graduate. However, some students, specifically one, Zachary Smith, feel differently about the way students are being denied and accepted. ool chang ch es S Smith applied this past summer to be apart of ISP. His reasoning behind attending ISP was that he wanted to start his career as a minister sooner and participate in mission trips. However, Smith was denied from the school. According to Smith, he was denied because they felt as if he was not making "good life choices." Smith stated, "I thought it was inappropriate because they didn't know my life situation; I feel wronged." After appealing their decision and partaking in a meeting with Escobar, the verdict still stood. Smith had the opportunity to appeal it further through the Board, but felt as if it was of no use. After finishing off this semester here at RBHS, Smith hopes to transfer to eScholar, an online independent study program, or to a charter school up in Redding. "The whole thing about high school is you try to plan ahead for ec ru r For sophomores and juniors wanting to participate in a week long trip to Yosemite National Park, ten students will be accepted from Red Bluff High. The trip will be April 13 through the 18. Applications can be found on the McConnell Foundation website. The deadline for all applications will be Dec. 1. All lodging, food, and transportation expenses will be paid for if accepted. Marissa Chase Editor-in-Chief Bailey Patchen Topics Editor Joining the military right after high school is now not as rare as it used to be in past years. For many students, four to five more years of schooling after already completing tweleve, is not something they want to do. Also, some students feel that they cannot afford college and that joining a branch in the military is their only option. However, because of a recent change in a policy at Red Bluff High, students may be limited to the opportunity of getting more information about joining the military and the necessary steps to making that pathway come true. The change of policy is that military recruiters are only allowed on campus one day out of the year in order to give information about the military, careers in the military, and to assist students in begin ning the recruiting process. Each branch of the military has one recruiter that is allowed one day out of the year to the Red Bluff your future career and figure out a plan; it's frustrating because I know what I want to do with my life and the high school is denying me the opportunity," said Smith. Fisher hopes to improve ISP as a long term goal. "What I would like to see is kids having more options because there are a lot of different scenarios that affect a students learning," said Fisher. In addition to this, he wants to expand the program to encompass students of all varying levels. Smith wishes to improve ISP by changing the admissions process because he feels as if the minimal amount of information he had to provide, was not enough in deciding whether he was accepted or not. "I think in the future it shouldn't be a couple people deciding the admissions process; I'm just another piece of paper to them," commented Smith. itm poli ent cy If you park in the student parking lot, make sure to abide by the new rule. Students are only allowed to park forward and may not enter their spaces backwards. High campus at lunch. They will be able to give a short presentation about their branch of the military and why people should join. "Mrs. Escobar, our superintendent, decided that military recruiters should get the same treatment as college representatives," said Mrs. Gambetta, Red Bluff High counselor. This approach to the policy is a more balanced approach that gives equal treatment to all college and military recruiters. In the past, military recruiters were allowed on campus whenever they scheduled a date to come. This seemed to be unfair by many because they were getting more visitations to the Red Bluff High campus than college representatives. Gr B