Month: September 2019

Three… Two… One… Bing! Mario Kart Tour Sets Off Suddenly

Popping into all Apple and Android devices has come a new game that almost everyone has downloaded already. Mario Kart Tour, since its release in App stores around 12:00 a.m. today, has been the talk amongst the folks of Jeffersonville High School and many other places. 

Though an hour after its release, it was taken into maintenance. This causes some people to freak out for a good second, but thankfully they were quickly able to put it back up and working again — letting people calm down and be able to keep enjoying it. 

Mario Kart Tour has become a fast growing addiction with the younger audiences (12 years and older). Many teens can be seen playing the game during their free time. 

Even though the game does not have the option to play with friends, people have created fun little competitions amongst each other. Seeing who can get this many races done first in a certain amount of time, or who can finish the most tracks done by the end of the week. 

One of the ups of this game, is that it gives its players a sort of nostalgic feeling. Those who had played the Mario Kart games as kids, whether on the Wii or nintendo devices, can now relive those fun moments through  the simple tap of a finger. 

Mario Kart Tour, only being out a few hours, has certainly made a wide fan base. And will no doubt be argued as one of the most popular games of the year. 

During 2017 and 2018 Fornite took over the video game industry. Now it’s time for an old family favorite to take over the reins for the remainder of 2019 and through 2020.

 

Written by Lydia Church

by jhshyphen

New GCCS Five-Year Plan Proposes Investments in Jeff High

On Sept. 17, 2019, Greater Clark County Schools Superintendent Mark Laughner presented his five-year strategic plan to the school board. Some of the proposed expenditures for Jeff High include:

  • Year one – 1 million dollars for a new football turf, 300 thousand dollars for a new track, and 2.4 million dollars for new football bleachers and press box.
  • Year two – 75,000 dollars for Radio and TV lighting
  • Year 3 – 2.8 million dollars for new locker rooms and weight rooms and 750,000 for HVAC

Jeffersonville High School Principal Julie Strait believes the bleachers are smart investments, saying, “Take a good look… it would be a much wiser investment, and something we could take pride in if we replace them.” She also was supportive of the new turf saying, “We’re the only high school in 6A without a turf football field. It’s part of pride in your community”

These proposed expenditures were part of a larger plan to support the school district’s goals in four focus areas. 

The first area is climate and culture, and the primary goal being to increase trust and communication. The district proposed many tasks in order to achieve this goal, including releasing a newsletter, providing more professional development, overhauling the website, increasing the marketing budget, and increasing many other forms of communication. 

The second focus area is community partnerships. The first goal is to engage diverse partners. The district hopes to implement a more formal tracking process to acquire more diverse partners that better represent the community. The second goal of this focus area is to make sure that these partnerships have mutually beneficial results. 

The third focus area is financial stability and responsibility. Within this focus area, a primary goal is maximizing and sustaining enrollment. The district proposed many solutions including creating more options for dropouts and homeschool children, adding a bus on Salem Noble Road to stop migration to other districts, transporting more students to their school of choice, redrawing school lines, and sending letters of intent to all 5th-8th grade parents. The second goal being reducing costs of programs and facilities. Some solutions proposed include a restructuring of the preshool system, a changing of instruction with elementary related arts, closing the River Valley Middle School Pool, and a possible retirement buyout. The third goal of this focus area is upgrading and updating facilities. The tasks of this goal include keeping the tax rate steady, implementing a five-year facility plan, reducing energy costs, and completing a five-year facility and demographic study. 

The fourth focus area is quality academics. The first goal is to improve student achievement by increasing the percent of students above their grade level in math and reading. The second goal of this focus area is to reduce the achievement gap in literacy, numeracy and PRIDE by transforming teaching and learning to increase student achievement. 

The school board will meet next on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m.

 

Written by Maxwell Fisher

by Max_Fisher

Chris Moore takes the top coaching spot for Jeff High Boys Basketball

New head coach has experience at the college level

 

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Moore (in blue) is announced as head coach at the GCCS board meeting on Sept. 17, 2019. (Photo: @JHSRedDevils on Twitter)

During the Greater Clark County Schools board meeting on Tuesday night, Chris Moore was announced as the new head coach for the Jeffersonville boys basketball team. Moore joined Jeff High this fall as an assistant coach. Prior to that, he coached at the college level at schools including Indiana University Southeast, Bellarmine University, the University of Cincinnati and Wright State University. Most recently, he served as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State. 

Because so many players who helped the team secure a 2019 sectional championship are expected to be back this year, expectations are high for the upcoming season. Moore acknowledges that taking over as head coach under those circumstances is stressful, yet exciting. “A lot of both,” he said. “I’ve taken over teams before,” he added, “but this one has the talent and potential to go a long way.”

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Senior point guard Jacob Jones (Photo: Kyle Tincher)

Jacob Jones, a senior point guard for the Red Devils who recently verbally committed to playing college basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, is pleased with the coaching decision. “He’ll be a good coach,” said Jones. “He has a lot of experience coaching at colleges.” 

Moore holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Kentucky State University and a master’s degree in sport administration from the University of Louisville.

Moore succeeds Joe Luce, who joined the Red Devils as head coach in 2015.  Luce resigned from his position as head basketball coach and principal of the Engineering and Manufacturing Academy on Aug. 29, 2019.

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The Jeffersonville boys basketball team celebrates their 2019 sectional win. (Photo: Kyle Tincher)
by jhshyphen

PDF: Sept. 17, 2019

September 2019 Cover Image

The Hyphen is back with a new staff and fresh views. Download the September issue to read:

  • An in-depth report on how the American immigration system works, featuring real-life stories of people who are caught in it
  • A profile of this year’s student council co-presidents, Bethia Busingye and Amelia Epperson
  • Opinion columns about pronouns and terminology in the LGBTQ+ community
  • Student views on dress code changes and E-learning days
  • And more …

Download PDF

by jhshyphen

Saying “Bye” to Our Old Friends

There has been a wave of panic settling over the people of America (and other countries, as well) as Netflix revealed their most popular shows, The Office and Friends, will be taken off as of the year 2021. This has caused a lot of fans to worry and scramble to binge all the episodes again one last time, before they’re taken off.

Both shows have a fairly large fan base, full of loyal watchers who are most likely heartbroken about this news. So, obviously, they weren’t happy when this news was announced. Jeff High sophomore Elyse Hoessle, a faithful Friends fan, says “I don’t see the point in even using Netflix anymore!” Alex Metzing, another sophomore here at Jeff, replied, “I am deeply saddened to no avail. The sadness I feel inside, the sheer, raw emotions whirling around in my head are those that carry heavy negativity.”

netflix logoAn article on CinemaBlend.com by Will Ashton talks about the loss of these two shows and how it will affect Netflix’s subscriber count. Ashton states in his article that “Netflix will be dealing with two giant losses to its catalog. And the streaming service will need to fill it with something worthwhile.”

On the other hand, some think the change is well overdue. They believe it will be a great opportunity for people to expand their vision and try new things.

Although these two shows are leaving, there are plenty of others still left, such as Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, Black Mirror, etc. Last year, Netflix made a similar move when taking off many 80’s classics from its service like The Breakfast Club, Ghostbusters, Bruce Almighty, The Little Rascals, etc. That itself caused quite a quarrel in its own way. But, thankfully, the majority of those upset about that have moved on with their lives. And a lot of people believe the same will happen with this situation as well.

Does that change the fact the shows will be missed by many? No. Netflix, for most, is the main service for watching their favorite shows. Due to its stripping of any and all ads, people find it more efficient for watching shows and movies. People have found that watching the same show on Netflix only takes around 20-30 minutes, opposed to regular TV which takes around an hour due to what some say is a “ridiculous” amount of ads.

What can we do before these two shows leave? Whatever we desire. If that’s bingeing them 20 more times, or leaving them be and watching as they leave.

 

Written by Lydia Church

by jhshyphen

Coaching with Confidence

Isaac Parker Headshot

Isaac Parker takes over as the new JHS Football Head Coach

The Jeffersonville High School football team recently introduced Isaac Parker as the new head coach. Parker was the assistant coach for the team for four years before becoming the head coach.

Parker attended Jeffersonville High School and played for the football team for all four years. He went on to play for the University of Louisville for one year before becoming a police officer for the Jeffersonville Police Department.

For Parker it was an emotional experience becoming the coach. “It was emotional at first, I contacted my wife and then my parents, let them know,” Parker told WAVE 3 News, “I went from just that pure excitement, to a little bit of anxiety and I’ve pretty much lived with that over the last month,” he continued.

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Nolan Schultz, a sophomore on the team, says that the team is extremely happy about their new head coach and that they believe this year’s season will be much better than last year. “He’s a great coach,’’ said Schultz.

After losses against Fern Creek and Seymour to start the year, the team secured their first win of the season in a 32-13 victory over New Albany in the Sept. 6 Homecoming game.

Written by Kaitlyn Monroe

Parker Photo: Submitted, Practice Photo: Kyle Rider

by Kaitlyn Monroe

Student Views on E-Learning: The Pros and Cons

Over the summer, Greater Clark County Schools announced that instead of adding make-up days for school closures, the district will begin to use online learning. Other schools in our area have already adopted E-Learning.

Jeffersonville High School students’ views on E-Learning are mostly supportive, but some students have their doubts about it. On an Instagram poll made by a Hyphen staff member, 67% of people supported E-Learning and 33% did not support it.

Jade Worrall, a Jeffersonville High School sophomore, said, “We don’t have to make up any days, so our breaks are longer, and you don’t have to work that hard.”

Chaela Austin, a Charlestown sophomore, says that her hometown, Scottsburg, has been doing it for years and that it works and it will probably be very beneficial to Greater Clark County Schools. This could also inspire other schools to start E-Learning by hearing the positive feedback from schools like Jeff.

On the other hand, a Jeff High student who did not want to disclose their name for this story thinks it won’t work: “Kids aren’t going to do it and take the F,” Others expressed concern that students could struggle with connectivity issues at home or other home-related issues that may interfere with getting the work done.

This feedback mirrors what other school districts have reported after implementing E-Learning. According to studyinternational.com, there are both pros and cons.

The pros are: not having to make up snow days and also having easier work for the students on those days. It can also be useful if a student misses a day of school because they are ill. The E-learning site is also accessible offline.

The cons are: you still need the internet if you need to contact a teacher. If a student’s Chromebook is broken and they don’t have another device at home, they can’t do their work. Younger students who don’t have Chromebooks may not be able to do these activities, though, which will put them behind.

 

By Marni Scholl

by mscholl252