Finding & Creating Peace of Mind
Finding & Creating Peace of Mind
By: Lucia Simonetti
The Mind, Body, & Wellness class is one of the gym classes at Comsewogue High School. The class began only three years ago and was created by Ms. Kidd, one of the high school gym teachers. This type of gym is based on fitness, nutrition, mental health, yoga, and so much more. Students get a chance to opt out of conventional gym classes and try something new.
The idea behind creating a new optional gym class was to give students the option to explore other aspects of fitness. Participation is a huge part of a student's gym grade. However, it’s difficult to get all students to participate when they feel uncomfortable with the lesson. Conventional sports are not for everyone, and Ms. Kidd is giving students a chance to fully participate. “I wanted to give students an opportunity to choose this instead of team sport-recreational activities because I feel like students enjoy this more, and I think it's important to give them the option,” said Ms. Kidd. This class not only gives students a choice, but a safe environment as well.
Over the past couple of years, there has been a decline in mental health among high school students. Factors such as nutrition, social media, and stress have been some contributions to this issue. The mental health of students greatly impacts their performance in school and other activities.
“Mental health problems can affect a student’s energy level, concentration, dependability, mental ability, and optimism, hindering performance. Research suggests that depression is associated with lower grade point averages and that co-occurring depression and anxiety can increase this association,” says an article from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. Not only have studies shown the effects of poor mental health in students, but Ms.Kidd has noticed a decline in students as well, “I don’t think mental health has gotten better, but I think we’re more aware of it now.” Ms. Kidd expressed her opinion on the mental health issue. She also believes that one of the contributing factors to this issue is the effects of social media.
The fear that is arising from this mental health epidemic is not only affecting students' futures but that these issues are starting in adolescence before even entering high school. An article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Poor Mental Health is a Problem for Adolescents," expresses the importance of students having a support system and healthy bonds with other people. “Adolescence is a time for young people to have a healthy start in life. The number of adolescents reporting poor mental health is increasing. Building strong bonds and connecting with youth can protect their mental health. Schools and parents can create these protective relationships with students and help them grow into healthy adulthood.” Schools should be doing more to help students for as long as mental health issues are growing.
There are many ways to help students during this mental health crisis. This class in particular contributes to helping students by focusing on aspects of health that most students don’t practice on their own. “I love that students come back to do yoga and it’s not just about mental health. It’s about keeping our body moving ”. Ms. Kidd said. Lessons in meditation and yoga help the body relax and reduce stress. Stress is one of the contributing factors in students' poor mental health, so if students take yoga it may help improve their mental state. “Yoga can help reduce stress because it promotes relaxation, which is the natural opposite of stress. Yoga can benefit three aspects of ourselves that are often affected by stress: our body, mind, and breathing,” Says KidsHealth.org.
Students who have been in Ms. Kidd's class for the last few years have their own favorite topics that they have taken with them even out of school. One of those topics
Video by Lucia Simonetti
is journalism. Ms. Kidd will typically give prompts to students and have them write and sometimes share their feelings on the prompt. “Journaling your thoughts here and there just helps empty your head and get your thoughts on page”. Said senior Jacquelyn Cervini. Journaling allows students to express their feelings even if it's just for themselves. Another senior, Jenna Levine has said that her favorite lesson is in nutrition, “The nutrition topic makes me want to eat healthier and she (Ms.Kidd) taught it in an easy way to understand and change your habits.” What a lot of people don’t realize is that nutrition can affect and does affect people’s mental health.
Ms.Kidd makes it known to her students to not think of eating healthy as going on a diet, but to think of it as a change in lifestyle and having a balance between foods that are better for you and foods that are enjoyable but don’t necessarily have any health benefits.
Students in Ms. Kidd’s class have assignments that relate to nutrition. One of the assignments is making a healthy breakfast or a healthy lunch. Assignments like this are beneficial for the students' lives outside of school as well as inside. “A healthy, well-balanced diet can help us think clearly and feel more alert. It can also improve concentration and attention span. Conversely, an inadequate diet can lead to fatigue, impaired decision-making, and can slow down reaction time,” an article from SutterHealth claims.
A student's learning is greatly affected by their environment, habits, and mental health. Creating spaces in school and even at home are just some steps toward helping relieve the mental health crisis. Ms.Kidd has worked hard to create amazing lessons for her students that they will take with them for, hopefully, the rest of their lives.
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¹ “Consequences of Student Mental Health Issues – Suicide Prevention Resource Center.” Suicide Prevention Resource Center, Accessed 19 May 2023.
²“Eating Well for Mental Health | Sutter Health.” Sutter Health | Doctors and Hospitals | Northern California, Accessed 19 May 2023.
0522.mp4You know you can say no?
You know you can say no?
By Terence Lian
Video by Terence Lian
Peer pressure is something everybody has fallen into once. Peer pressure is a feeling where one must do the same things as those around them in order to be accepted or liked by others. But, peer pressure can help people with social skills.
There are many types of peer pressure, but the most common one is spoken peer pressure. Spoken peer pressure is when a teenager asks, suggests, persuades, or otherwise directs another to engage in a specific behavior. If this is done in a one-on-one environment, the recipient of the influence has a stronger chance of adhering to his or her core values and beliefs.
Peer pressure can happen in schools, workspaces, and outdoor areas. When I interviewed Mr. Mosca said, “Yes, peer pressure does happen in this school. The reason for people to accept peer pressure is so they can fit in or to be "cool".
Some peer pressures are wholesome, like asking someone out or doing something for a laugh, but some are harmful, like forcing someone to drink or smoke to make them feel socially accepted. I also interviewed two students and both said, “The best way to avoid peer pressure is to avoid those types of situations or just not do what the people tell you to do.” Mr. Mosca also said, “There is a lot of opportunity for peer pressure since there are a lot of students and social media gives a lot of opportunity for peer pressure too”
Did you know 85% of high schoolers have felt peer pressure? Doing so makes them feel cool and they think they fit in with the people around them. About 33% to 75% of adolescents get peer pressure into doing bad things like making them try alcohol or smoking. But around 28% of those people who gave in under peer pressure also improved their social skills and social status.
Positive things about peer pressure are: being able to improve social abilities and make new friends. An example of this is when an article said “When used appropriately, social media has its benefits. It's a space for young people to quickly run ideas past each other and gain support from one another. It can be particularly critical for teens who are isolated in their own communities, but can find peers with similar interests or struggles online.”1
Positive peer pressure is a sense of belonging and support because it increases self-confidence and introduction to positive hobbies and interests. But peer pressure also has negative effects that can lead to decreased self-confidence and lead to poor academic performance, distancing from family members and friends, or an increase in depression and anxiety. Left untreated, this could eventually lead teens to engage in self-harm or have suicidal thoughts. This article said “Negative peer pressure occurs when friends negatively influence each other. Examples of negative peer pressure include trying to talk someone into taking drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, and sex. Negative peer pressure can happen directly and indirectly.”2 This quote shows how peer pressure can be dangerous and happen mostly to teens.
Peer pressure plays a crucial role in the development of young people's values, habits, principles, and behaviors. Even though peer pressure is largely viewed as a negative phenomenon, it is impossible to overestimate its positive qualities.
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Pontz, E. (2019, October 17). Peer Pressure. Center for Parent and teen communication https://parentandteen.com/positive-peer-pressure/
Hardy, M., MSEd, Applebury, G., & BBC. (2019, January 24). Peer pressure. Love to Know. https://www.lovetoknow.com/parenting/teens/type-peer-pressure
Pontz, E. (2019, October 17). Peer Pressure. Center for Parent and teen communication. https://parentandteen.com/positive-peer-pressure/
Behind The SCenes
Behind The SCenes
by Harrison Martino
This school year is the first school year that Broadcast Media & Journalism has been a class here at Comsewogue High School. Over the course of this year, Ms. O’Hara & her class have been actively covering school events as the school year went on. Along with the help of Mrs. Verdisco & her video production class, the school’s media team has had a successful first year and the class will be back next school year. Since the first year of this class is coming to an end, this bonus feature is about how this media class works and everything behind the scenes with these features. But before that let's find out how this class came to be.
The Teacher of the class, Ms. O’hara said “ Mr. Mosca had a vision he really wanted to see our newspaper expand into something more modern. Most newspapers nowadays have an online feature and they have a lot of videos and I kind of said to him, I think we can do this.”
The process of putting out a feature takes a few weeks to about 2 months depending on the topic at hand and the people taking on the feature. The kids have a board of topics that they can pick to cover or they can suggest adding their own topics that should be covered. After the topic is selected it’s time for the students to do research about the topic whether it’s recording interviews with students and staff, showing up to said event, or going online to do research. After we get footage, they hand off the footage to somebody in the video production class while the broadcast kids use that information to write an article about their topic.
When asked about how the video class got involved Ms. O'Hara said, “We decided the best way to do it was to have Mrs. Veridisco and I have our classes during the same period so the video class and journalism class could work together and we kind of formed our ideas over the summer about how that would work together”
When asked about what equipment the students use, Mrs. Veridisco replied, “We edit with Final Cut Pro and I do have Premiere as well, one student prefers Premiere. We use video cameras, microphones, tripods, we have a Mac lab that we edit in”.
In researching why Mrs. Verdisco’s class might use Final Cut Pro over others; it was determined that this program allows students to work smarter and faster. Final Cut Pro is PC Magazine’s editors' choice winner for video editing software. This program offers an abundance of video editing power and is fairly simple to use.
Overall, the broadcast media and journalism class has had an amazing first-year hope for a lot more years to come. Ms. O’Hara said, “I think that what we have been able to accomplish this year has really been fantastic. We are hoping to make our features better, to put through more reels, and to make the video we create more high quality. Overall, I am extremely impressed with this class, the things we’ve been able to accomplish in one year’s time, we learned together”.
Photo an video by Harrison Martino
Video by Cristalie Genao
There are several ways to describe a good student. “Some common ones are hard-working, turning in work on time, actively participating in class, and getting good grades.” Being sociable, able to work in groups, and responsible with teamwork are the qualities that make a good student.”
A good student is not only the one who goes to class and sits down to have their name called out so they know they are there, but the student who wants to learn more every day and learn from their mistakes. One example is Cristalie, a student in 12th grade, Senior Year says, “ I want to set my ideas about what I want to be when I grow up.” This means a student who wants to fix her idea about what she wants to be when she grows up and needs to choose a career, so she wants to be a good student to have a better life and depend only on herself.
A good student tries to improve his or her skills or learn something new and that is why there are excellent students who already know what they are going to be in their life and have chosen their career to have their desired job. That is why there are so many professionals in the world because they are good students as well as doctors, policemen, firefighters, civilians, and many other jobs that need students who do want to have a career and be good at what they like and fulfill their goals.
One of the most important points of a good student is that he must always be punctual with his homework, polite, honest, have goals in life and always ask his teachers to teach him when he has any doubts. I am not saying that a good student has to be perfect, because we can become perfect with a lot of dedication if we could achieve it and learn from our mistakes throughout our career and we could learn from the mistakes that we make during the course of our studies.
Nelson 9th grade, also talks about what makes him a good student. He mentions, “I guess doing all your work and having to pay attention in class makes you a good student.” He does every homework for every class, and he thinks that he is a good student. The next example is the Heydi interview she says“ might be a little harder for me to get good grades if I don't put in the effort”.This means that it is difficult for them to do the homework but she tries her best.
What Makes
What Makes
a good Student?
a good Student?
By Julia Arriaga
The final example is in Mrs. Gonias' interview she states, “Students give their best and strive to know more every day. That is why we teachers always test our students so that they are able to reach their goals and their ability”. The disadvantages of the students we have and she explains the effort of every student. My last two examples of what makes a good student are the examples of my two teachers who have given their humble opinion on what makes a good student and it is touching to know about their views. My last examples are two teacher’s opinions”
Mr. Joudeh says that a good student "is someone who cares to go to their classes and do their work, they are dedicated and ask questions to know more and have better results in their homework or knowledge." Each student must have a goal when he or she arrives in class. My last example is Mrs. Gonias, who says “I don't think it has to be done, but what creates a good student has to be seen in their surroundings, environment and also from the teachers that surround them and with that they can give the best of themselves and do their homework and everything that comes with being a good student.’’This means that if a student is in an environment that is pleasant for them, they may or may not do everything that has been assigned to them.
Alexandra Jareck, ''How do you define the qualities of a good student?''. April 28, 2023. There are various ways to describe a good student. Some common expressions are hardworking, submitting work on time, actively participating in class, and achieving high grades. This article explains how their educational system requires you to be a good student and do everything you set your mind to, but always respecting their orders. Jennifer Barns, '' 12 Qualities of a good student leader'' February 19, 22. A good student leader should be a best friend to others. Sharing learning experiences and life hacks is an integral part of leadership. Considering the pressure most students encounter, their need to buy cheap papers from a reputable company that makes them better learners is justified. This last article is about how a good student can even be a leader to all his peers and what skills he needs to have to be a leader.
With all this already said, it probably that the students know what to be a good student it may not be the best advice that they can understand or learn, but it is mostly from any effort that they would be in the place of a common student, not does his homework does not go to school skips classes and does not participate in class. It would be a waste of time that they would be in school. Would be better if they did their part and worked hard at school because, with a high school degree, you could have a better job or go to university and improve yourself and be a better and good student.
Video By Justice Lovell
Cars: Gas or ELECTRIC?
Cars: Gas or ELECTRIC?
By Justice Lovell
Electric and hybrid cars are a big thing today. It sounds all nice and fun but it is not as good as it seems. They have been on fire and can malfunction. I always asked three questions for my interviews. I would ask what car they own now, their opinion of electric and hybrid cars, and if they would ever buy one.
I interviewed three people in my school, the assistant principal Mr.Cherouvis, and my principal Mr.Mosca. They would not get an electric or hybrid car. Mr.Mosca says “I would want to do more research first”.
They grew up with gas cars and rather stick to their gas cars. Gas cars have been around for over a century and are still the most common type of car on the road. They are reliable and have a long range, but they emit harmful pollutants that contribute to climate change and air pollution.
On the other hand, electric cars are becoming more popular because they are environmentally friendly and have lower fuel costs. They emit no pollutants and require less maintenance, but they have a shorter range and require charging infrastructure that is not yet widely available.
Overall, it's important to consider your driving needs and environmental impact when deciding between gas and electric cars. In the interview, Mr.Cheruvis says “ I never really thought about electric cars growing up in my dad's shop”.
The average sticker price of a new electric car in 2021 was about $10,000 higher than the industry average, which includes both gas-powered and electric vehicles. But the EV market is growing rapidly, and this price margin is expected to shrink considerably in the coming years as manufacturers produce more affordable models and battery technology. Which is the most expensive part of electric cars.
In the article, they state that charging your car at home is a cool thing but it makes your electricity bill raise and that's not really saving money.
1.Electric Vs Gas Cars: is it cheaper to drive an EV. By Courtney Lindwall
Accessed May 25 2022.https://www.nrdc.org/stories/electric-vs-gas-cars-it-cheaper-drive-ev
what makes a good teacher
what makes a good teacher
by Alex Cross
A teacher plays a vital role in the future of students. They inspire learners to reach their highest potential. A good teacher is someone who is passionate about their subject matter, and who is able to inspire and engage their students in the learning process.
A good teacher is patient and compassionate and is able to connect with students on a personal level. Emilia says “A good teacher should be available for their students” They are able to create a positive and supportive learning environment, and are able to adapt their teaching methods to meet the needs of different students.
A good teacher is also a lifelong learner and is committed to continually improving their knowledge and skills. They are able to provide feedback to their students and are able to help them develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. “Continued learning and professional development deliver invaluable insight, keeping professionals “sharp” and reminding teachers of the real-world challenges that their students may be facing.”1
A good teacher is someone who is dedicated to the success of their students and is willing to go above and beyond to help them achieve their goals.
A good teacher possesses a load of qualities that extend beyond imparting knowledge. These qualities enable them to inspire, motivate, and guide their students toward academic success and personal growth. In an interview with Johnny, he says “If their energy is high it benefits the students” This article explores the essential attributes that contribute to the effectiveness of a good teacher.
First and foremost, a good teacher must possess a deep understanding of the subject matter they teach. Mastery of the content allows them to provide accurate and comprehensive explanations, answer questions proficiently, and demonstrate enthusiasm for the subject. A teacher's knowledge goes beyond the curriculum, they actively listen and have a supportive learning environment. This shows the students a love for their subject and enthusiasm for their teaching. Their energy and excitement inspire students, igniting curiosity and thirst for knowledge within them.
A passionate teacher creates a positive classroom atmosphere that encourages students to actively participate, explore new ideas, and embrace challenges. By being role models, they motivate students to pursue their own passions and strive for excellence.
Teachers must have a friendly attitude, be kind, and show that they are there not only as a teacher to teach but to connect with the students. “A sense of trust will further enhance communication within the learning environment and increase productivity. Students need to feel comfortable in their learning space to perform to the best of their abilities.” 2
The impact of a good teacher extends far beyond the classroom, shaping the lives and aspirations of their students.
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1.https://www.nu.edu/blog/qualities-of-a-good-teacher/
2 https://oetjobs.com/what-makes-a-good-teacher-10-qualities-of-a-good-teacher/
Photo by Comsewogue school district
Photo by Comsewogue school district
Video by Alex Cross
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