Month: September 2016

Voting Tips for the 2016 Election

story by Gabby Elder

 

Qualifications to Vote — must meet all requirements

  • You are both a U.S. citizen AND a resident of Indiana.
  • You will be at least 18 years of age on, or before, the next General or Municipal Election.
  • You are not currently in prison after being convicted of a crime.
  • You have lived in the precinct where you vote for at least 30 days prior to the election.
  • You are registered to vote.

Dates to Know

  • Oct. 11, 2016: Voter Registration Ends (you can register to vote at http://www.in.gov.com)
  • Nov. 8, 2016: General Election Day
by thecalbert

HP Chromebook Tips

Story by Kyle Sanders

As the new school year kicks off, Greater Clark County is introducing new HP Chromebooks. Here are a few tips to make these new Chromebooks easier for you:

1.The  Chromebook is full of many keyboard shortcuts. These can easily be found by pressing Ctrl+Alt+?. From checking history to reopening a tab, the keyboard shortcuts makes it easier to do many things on your Chromebook.

  1. Sometimes throughout the school year, students find themselves copy and pasting (without plagiarizing). To paste text without having to fix the fonts, color or text size, simply press Ctrl+Alt+V when pasting to a document or email.

3.If you need to get to a calculator, or need to easily convert units in a quick way, just go to the Chrome App Launcher and type it in.

  1. The touch-pad can be used to swipe between pages without having to click on them. Just use two fingers and swipe in the direction of the page you would like to go to.
  1. Teachers may ask you to take screenshots on your Chromebook. To do this, simply hold Control (Ctrl) and press the window shifting key, which can be found right above the 6 key.

 

by emtully

R.I.P Former Red Devil, Mike Ehringer

On July 31, former JHS employee Michael Ehringer passed away. He was 69 years old.

    Ehringer was known for being an assistant principal, boys track coach, boys cross country coach, math teacher and athletic director at Jeff High. He was also the principal of Parkview Middle School at one time, too.

“In the words of Mick Hennegan, former JHS principal, ‘Mike taught not only the material, but more importantly, he taught the student.’ When he retired, he planned on fishing every day. But in reality, he rarely had time to fish. His days seemed to always be filled helping other people,” said former JHS assistant principal and athletic director Ralph Scales.

Ehringer would always have the crowd puzzled as he announced track trivia during track meets after his years of coaching the team. Many people that knew him would say he always knew how to make someone smile: from his trivia, to his singing in the Louisville Thoroughbred Chorus.

“He was a true Renaissance man in that he loved athletics, academics, and the arts,” said former JHS teacher Mark Lambertus. “He will be missed mightily by his friends and family and friends from Greater Clark Schools,”

by cpolk99

Return of Class Beneficial for Future Education Majors

Story by Evan Garcia

Twenty-one Jeffersonville High School students will have the opportunity this year to gain insight into teaching, and potentially begin their careers, in education. Cadet Teaching, or F200, is a program designed to steer students to pursue a degree of education at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany.

Not only is this a dual-credit class, but the students will be able to establish relationships with professors and college students majoring in education at IUS.

Part of this course is about building relationships, according to assistant principal Ginger Whitis. The students will have a faculty member at Jeff High, as well as college students in the education program at IUS, serving as mentors to them.

“The students will have these mentors to aid in the bridge from Jeff High to IUS when they graduate,” Whitis said.

One other goal this program is striving for is to attract minority students to the education department at IUS.

“I think part of the focus truly is to bring minority students to IUS because they are so underrepresented in the education department,” Whitis said.

For the program’s first year back at JHS, Scott Hawkins will take the lead. Hawkins has taught social studies at Jeff High for over 15 years.

When asked about what he needed to do to be the instructor for Cadet Teaching, Hawkins said, “I need to have a Masters degree in education. This summer also I went to training courses at IU Bloomington.”

Andrew Gustafson, a senior at Jeff, is a member of the Cadet Teaching class. In taking the class, Gustafson strives to be a physics professor at a university in the future.

“My schedule worked out so that I had a free period this year,” Gustafson said. “I figured taking Cadet Teaching would be able to help me in the future.”

Gustafson is pleased that a class like Cadet Teaching is offered at JHS.

“I think Mr. Hawkins will be a great teacher for us,” Gustafson said. “It’s not super challenging, but it is for people that are committed to trying to learn about education.”

by gelder2500

Turf Wars

Story by Jalin Ernest

Jeff has strived to produce many great improvements around the school these past two years, such as the new Radio/TV station, new basketball court and bleachers, and getting the approval for a new auditorium.

These improvements have made JHS students and visitors interested to see what everything looks like, which should help bring out more people to the games. The additions draw more attention to Jeff High as a whole, including the basketball program.

But despite living in a basketball hotbed, Jeff High has more than one sport that could bring in a lot of fans, not to mention money, for the athletic department.

Something I think that would help build Jeff High’s overall fan base is turf fields for the football, soccer and baseball teams. (I’d say softball, too, but most of the infield is all dirt.)

The turf product would give a new look to the fields, and maybe even be the first of many to come in the future if other schools in our area, or around the state, like the idea.

“Turf has better traction and would keep our jerseys cleaner,” senior football player Ian Francisco said. “I think it would look really good, and we all want it. Some of the schools we play have them and I love playing on it.”

So why turf?

According to FieldTurf.com, the world leader in artificial turf, the total cost of a having an artificial field put in would be around $750,000. For that price, the field would last between eight and 10 years, or roughly $75,000 every year.

Yes, this is a lot of money. However in the long run, the price tag would be worth it. Turf fields are easier to take care of and the grounds crew would rarely, if ever, cut the actual turf.

“I think it would be a great idea,” junior baseball player Gabe Bierman said. “I’ve played on many turf baseball fields across the country, so I’m very used to it. Plus it’s nice.”

Many would say that they do not need turf because of the cost, or because it could interfere with the season. In my opinion, it would look so much better, especially during our unpredictable weather patterns.

With the new East End Bridge set to open in December, students from high schools in Kentucky may decide to explore high schools in southern Indiana. If we got turf for our football, soccer, and baseball teams, we could also potentially attract more student athletes because of our facilities.

After all, the better our facilities are, the more highly people will think of Jeff High as a whole when it comes to athletics.

If other local schools can support turf fields, such as New Albany and Seymour, who says we can’t? And these schools are our rivals — we can’t fall behind any more.

by gelder2500

Jeff shows its PRIDE

Story by Alek Long

Jeffersonville High School alumni Evan Stoner and others worked day and night to mark a large historical milestone this summer.

On June 25, Jeffersonville officially hosted its first ever gay pride festival, which took place at the Big Four Station at the base of the Big Four Bridge. With parades and live performances, the Jeffersonville community came together to celebrate something all people, no matter sexuality, can relate to: being proud to love.

Although successful, like all events, this was not just an overnight job. Evan, and Jeffersonville Pride organizer Nicholas Moore, managed to get it started with larger than expected support of both queer and straight Jeffersonville locals. Approximately 2000 people showed up to the event.

The festival included the larger parade with individuals and non-profits in the morning. Approximately 40 different vendors and businesses, including food trucks, provided the refreshments, while live entertainment, like Jake Parker Band and a Cabaret LaCage Drag Show, took place that evening.

With the Pride celebration becoming an all-day affair, the entire area was secured by the Jeffersonville Police Department.

Even in light of some of the tragedies targeting LGBTQ this year, Jeffersonville, as a community, could still progress in the celebration of equality.

 

by chloetreat

Out with the Old; Now, Worthy of the Gold

Story by Haylee Hedrick

It is a place that has seen a visit from U.S. Olympian Ryan Lochte, a swimmer that has racked up 12 total medals in his three Summer Games. It has helped train Ben Hesen, a 2004 JHS graduate, to become an NCAA champion and three-time All-American.

Now, the Jeffersonville High School swimming pool is undergoing a major renovation for the first time in the pool’s storied history.

A big part of any school renovation that is commonly overlooked is the preparation beforehand. Maintenance man Jim Dodds took part in the strategic preparation process, which included repainting, updated record board, new utilities installed and improving the air quality of the facility.

Dodds and plumber Paul Berry were responsible for draining the pool. Due to the design of the pool, the last three feet of water had to be manually pumped out and completely dried so that it could be repainted.

“It took three days and 240,00 gallons of water to refill the pool,” Dodds said.

He also stated it took 12 gallons of chlorine to get the pool back to swimming conditions.

“Once finished, it’s really going to enhance the facility, making it look more professional,” Dodds said.

Jeff High swimmer Caroline Elliot (Junior)  feels it was time for a renovation to be done and that her and her teammates really deserve it.

“I believe that the pool renovation was 100-percent necessary. It hasn’t been renovated since it was built, ” Elliot said.

She stated that it was time to show the pool some TLC, even though it left her JHS swim team members without an indoor pool for the last couple of months to practice in.

She added that she can’t wait for their first home meet to show off the hard work that has been put into the renovation.

Swim coach Michael Pepa was thrilled when he first heard about the renovation.

“Yes, (the update) was needed from the standpoint of improving the air quality,” Pepa said. “Certainly improving the aesthetics allows us to house a facility that the school and community can be proud of.”

With the renovations, Pepa said the swimmers will be able to train under better conditions thanks to the installation of new, large ceiling fans. In the past, high chlorine levels caused swimmers to have “ chlorine cough” and warm conditions made it difficult for swimmers to breathe.  

The bottom of the pool has been painted with new black lane lines and a new “records” wall will be utilized to give the facility an updated look.

The completion date that Pepa is hoping for is in Fall 2016.

by emmakellis