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New Year, New Prospects
by Reiley Vrtatko
With the school year of 2025 reaching an end, many hold high hopes for the potential prospects of a new year and a new school. However, some express concerns with upcoming policies and potential conflicts with the new school. One policy proposition that has brought much unrest, and that is a full phone ban in the high school. In the Dolores Middle School, the phone ban is enforced in hopes that the students will focus more on work rather than social media. However, it’s a different story when it comes to the high school, because the students argue that they are more responsible and deserve the use of their phones. Hunter Buchanan has expressed this concern, saying, “We are more responsible than the middle schoolers. We know whether it is appropriate to use them (the phones) or not.”
Another issue to this problem is the reduction in access to external resources such as translators. Every year, Dolores High School welcomes different foreign exchange students.. Although some of these students may know some English, it may not be enough to easily navigate the school. Eflin Ozdil, a student relocating from Turkey, has expressed concern in the new policy as well, saying, “This would be bad for students like me.”, hinting towards the threat posed by (essentially) the removal of her translator.
And on the topic of the new school, many students are excited, but hope that the new facility will not fall into disrepair like the current school. Levi Hampton has complained about the current facility and wishes the new school will be much more future proof. He said, “The school is literally built in a flood plain,” and has suggested that the new school implement flood mitigation into the new building. On another note, students appear to be complaining about the lack of graduation funding. Micah Vrtatko, a graduating senior, has complained about this by simply saying, “The school should help with graduation funding.” It looks like the future school may have some shiny new prospects, but it still needs a bit more refining before students can feel comfortable and happy here.
Mr. Monk's Experience in Teaching
I interviewed Mr. Monk, our school's music teacher, because he is one of my favorite teachers, and I wanted to know more about why he chose to become a teacher. Monk chose to become a music teacher through the process. He started as a performer at Walt Disney World. Monk was a main stage performer in front of Cinderella's castle, singing and dancing to Christmas music. While he was teaching a children's workshop about acting, singing, and dancing, he realized that he liked working with kids more than he liked working with adults. Monk's first degree was a Bachelor's in performance with a specialty in Music Theater from Oklahoma City University. His second degree is in Music Education K-12, from the University of Georgia. Monk said his favorite class is the Modern Band class because he has watched his students grow as people and musicians for the last 3 years. Before Monk knew he wanted to be a teacher, he wanted to be a rock and roll superstar.
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