See You at School, Mom!

“Bye Mom, see you when I get home from school….just kidding, I’ll be seeing you all day.” Though the majority of you do not find yourselves saying this, there are many students who have parents who teach at the same school they attend and are caught in this situation.

For some of you, this may be nearly impossible to comprehend. You might be saying to yourself, “What? You mean, those students have to go to school AND see their mom or dad? Rough life.”

But going to school at the same place where your mom or dad works can have its perks, too.

Have you ever forgotten something at home and wished there was a way to call and ask your parents if they can run it up to you (without breaking the rules and texting them of course)? For students with a parent at their school, all they have to do is take the short walk to their parent’s classroom and simply ask them for the favor.

Hannah Ford, a senior at Presentation, says, “It is so nice to be able to just ask my mom to get something I have forgotten.” Hannah even tells of times her mom has brought her lunch from Zanotto’s, which I think every Pres girl can agree is a major plus.

Also, let us not forgot the times when we forget that one book or binder we so desperately need to complete our homework, but we discover in the evening that it is still in our locker, in the locked school.

Though majority of us have to scramble on Facebook, searching the list of people online that may have that forgotten item, students with parents who teach at their school do not even have to break a sweat because…THEY HAVE A MASTER KEY. Mrs. Perryman said she had to make quite a few late night runs to Pres to let her daughters pick up the books they forgot.

Certainly there are some drawbacks to having a parent work at your school. Inevitably, every one has heard the line, “How was school today?”

In instances where you have gotten a detention or there was drama in your friend group, you may not always be the first one to voluntarily admit you were called to Ms. Schrader’s office. Imagine your mom already knowing this information you were thoroughly planning to keep a secret.

Sophomore Cassidy Garrett says, “The worst part of having my mom work at Presentation is that she knows everything about me, without me even needing to tell her.”

But Mrs. Collins doesn’t have to worry—Cassidy said overall, she likes that her mom work at the same school she attends. She mainly values her office for the purpose of using it as a “walk-in locker” for her stuff and as a nice place to put Panther down for one of his many naps, since she knows she loves him so much.

Since coworkers often form friendships with each other, these parents often become “besties” with other teachers. This is one thing that both Cassidy and Hannah express as awkward sometimes.

Do not try to deny it, when you see a teacher in public, you try you best to conceal your face in the hopes of avoiding the awkward “Hello” and possible “How are you?” But, as is the case for Cassidy and Hannah, it is a little different when the teacher is over at your house for dinner.

From the teacher’s perspective, having a daughter attend the same school you work at can have its perks too. Mrs. Perryman, who had three daughters attend Pres, said that working in the same environment that her children learn in gave her a new perspective on how many different types of students there are.

Mrs. Ponikvar only expressed positive feelings about having her daughter at Pres. “I enjoyed having her in my class the second semester of her sophomore year because we would have fun acting out scenes from the books in class and having great discussions.”

Having a daughter in class though can present some challenges. Mrs. Perryman said “I felt like I was a lot meaner to my daughters than other students because I was worried about appearing too nice to them.”

To the benefit of her students in class, Mrs. Perryman also said she became a much more understanding teacher. She learned that students do not always lie when they say their computer broke down when they were doing their homework. Since she actually witnessed her daughters experiencing these dreaded misfortunes, she knows they are not just a made-up excuse for not doing a homework assignment.

I think everyone would agree with Cassidy and Hannah, who also said all in all, they like having their mom work at Presentation. Though they both said Presentation becomes a second home as a result of having so many connections to the school, they believe they have it pretty sweet.

 

Parents on Facebook

One new friend request. Your breath catches—maybe it’s from the cute boy you met at the mixer or maybe it’s from… your mother?!The older generation has certainly begun making a noticeable creep onto Facebook and other social networking sites. The result: cross-generational awkwardness sprouting through what used to be considered trendy multimedia outlets.

Although Facebook has now been around for more than six years, people of all ages, particularly the older demographic, are still finding their way onto this social networking powerhouse, joining the ranks of the over 500 million active users.

National surveys show that nearly 32 percent of Facebook users are 45 years old and older. In fact, Facebook is rapidly becoming the site with the oldest users; the average age of users as of February 2010 was 38 years old, clearly a deviation from the user ages targeted, 18-24, when the site was initally launched in 2004 as a place for college students to meet and learn about their peers.

But with similar social networking sites such as LinkedIn for professionals, and Bebo for the much younger generation, why is this sudden lurch in the numbers of older aged members occurring in the first place?

Many adults claim that their reason to join Facebook is primarily to stay connected with family members. However, the results from Pres students who participated in a recent survey show that around 28 percent are not Facebook friends with their family. The reason? Being friends with their family members on Facebook would only encourage their relatives to take a more active role in their social lives. With this additional tool, Pres girls feel that their parents and other older relatives would have an unnecessary glance into the events that they prefer remain private.

For the most part, the top reasons for not confirming those ever pesky family friend requests include privacy, embarrassment and stalking. From questionable photos to questionable language, Pres students worried about their parents and other older family members coming across certain types of content online.

Of course, family bonding is not a bad thing—sharing about your day with your family is often relaxing, and essentially a necessity to retain close familial ties. However, many Pres girls also found the need to separate their personal lives from their families.

“It’s not that I’m worried they’ll find anything; I have nothing to hide. I’m just uncomfortable with my family having 100% access to my online activity. It’s like a privacy breach,” said sophomore Anne Gatsey.

Several Pres students were also quoted as stating that they worried the behavior, language and activities of their friends, and not themselves, would reflect negatively back onto themselves. Many worried that “Grandma” would interpret this type of behavior in a negative manner.

Having family members as friends on Facebook can also lead to some undue uncomfortable situations. “There was an incident where my grandma knew I had a boyfriend before my mom, whom I live with, did, as she’s constantly on Facebook and I never got a chance to tell my mom,” said junior Mandy Heiser.

Despite the number of girls who avoid adding their families on Facebook, a large volume of Pres girls are completely comfortable with pressing Confirm on their family friend requests. In fact, out of those polled, more than double the amount of girls were friends with their relatives than not.

Many stated that the reason for their confidence in their Facebook friendships with older relatives stemmed from their behavior in the first place—by remembering to act with aplomb at all times, some Pres students ensured that they avoided the conflict from the start.

Freshman Katie Brown said that she was comfortable with being friends with her family on Facebook. “My mom trusts me. I don’t put anything that would be inappropriate up. My mom uploads all my pictures for me,” said Brown.

One new friend request from your mother. Whether you accept or deny your family on Facebook, the decision is up to you. And as junior Katarina Klask said, “I’m friends with them in real life!”

Less Stress, No Mess

By now, we know that too much stress is bad for our health and that we need to reduce stress in our daily lives. But how? Students, teachers, and parents all contribute to significant amount of stress in students’ lives. Here are some ways our community as a whole, not just students, can reduce stress in schools.

Teachers

Teachers may want to consider having meetings every month or so to coordinate better on major assignments so they’re not all due the same day. Maybe switching off each unit between the departments would help space out and even the assignments all due in the week so that students aren’t trying to cram it all in.

Another thing teachers can reconsider is the fact that sometimes we don’t need to have a test, paper and a project all in one unit. Maybe reconsidering and switching off between unit exams and large research papers each unit would reduce the amount of stress each student goes through. Remember: most students also have six other classes that they need to worry about too!

An easy adjustment, but a huge difference, could be reducing the number of problems in math and reducing the number of book pages needed to be read in English classes. Reading more than four chapters in a book each night is unrealistic, and this only results in the students feeling like they are forced to use websites like Spark Notes. For math teachers, sometimes there may be only a few problems for homework, but some problems can more than ten minutes, and each problem takes up half a page! Especially if a student is struggling in a certain area, homework will take twice as long because of the constant referral to notes and the time it take to get through homework. If teachers remembered the time spent on each problem on each assignment, or the amount of time it actually takes to get through huge novels, it might be a good idea to ease up. Pres girls have six, sometimes seven classes to keep up with and the stress levels we all have cannot be contained.

Students

Listen to Music—Play your favorite song and sing along. This is a great way to relieve your stress. Just start blasting Lady GaGa and dance along like nobody is watching. Dancing pumps up the amount of endorphins in your brain, causing you to feel good. Who would feel angry after listening to Bad Romance?

Go for a Walk—This allows you to have some relaxing alone-time away from the stress of daily life. It gives you exercise and time to clear your mind and think about what is bothering you; the fresh air will make you feel more relaxed. So the next time you are free during collaboration, take a walk by yourself or with a group of friends. Either way, you’d be away from school and stress for at least an hour.

Time management— Use your planner to keep track of all of your homework assignments. As you finish each assignment, you feel accomplished when you check them off. And you know what work needs to be done.

Do your work earlier rather than later. Many kids stay up until odd hours trying to do their homework. Try to get it done earlier, or maybe use your free period or collaboration time. The later you do you work, the shorter your attention span becomes. Doing homework in the morning is actually more efficient because you are alert and awake rather than sleepy.

Sleep—Our speaker said that teenagers need nine hours of sleep. This is really hard, considering how much homework we get at Pres (half-an-hour homework policy? Really?). But this goes along with managing your time better. Do not let your homework pile up. Sort out your priorities—what is more important: checking your Facebook or studying? This way, you won’t waste your time with activities that are less important, and you’ll have more time to sleep.

Take breaks—Schedule short breaks throughout your day to reduce stress. Stretch, read a book, call a friend, or go for a walk. This refreshes your mind and will give you a break from constant studying. This can be the time you check your Facebook; but make sure to get back to doing your homework soon!

Think positively—You need to be optimistic. Focusing on the negative will only bring you down. Do not think about that Econ paper you have to write or how you failed that Pre-Calc test. Instead, try to focus on what you have finished so far. Tackle each assignment one at a time and think about how efficient you are with managing your time.

Parents

Students stress themselves out enough on their own with the constant worry of college. Now, even freshmen in high school are beginning to feel the pressure of having perfect grades all four years. Parents, do not typically help the problem either. The constant talk about college at home makes students feel even more pressure than they already do, which is detrimental to student health because the home should be a stress-free environment. “I know parents who have straight A students that constantly check Parent Connect every day,” said junior Jennifer O’Brien. “The students feel that they need to try harder when they have enough stress already.” Also, parents need to understand that where their daughter attends college is unrelated to their success as a parent. “College should be a decision based on personal interest and success, not parent interest and success,” said O’Brien. Overall, limiting the amount of conversation time spent discussing college is a great way parents can help their children be less stressed and enjoy high school.

Discussing college on a regular basis isn’t the only thing parents discuss too much; the same goes for grades. There are many parents who regularly, even daily, check Parent Connect. “My mother checks Parent Connect almost every day. Having one bad grade or missing assignment can determine if I am allowed to go out that weekend,” said senior Cece Franchi. Living in this world of constant stress and punishment will result in students losing confidence and being unhappy with their academic and social lives. It is important that parents recognize that this academic monitoring of their daughter is not helpful in the end.

Another factor of parent-related stress is competition. Students typically aim to be their best and when a student has the lowest grades among their friends, it can create lots of stress in the form of unspoken competition between friends. Parents add to this type of stress by comparing their child to other students. “I haven’t personally experienced this at home, but attending Presentation has allowed me to see the stress this kind of comparison can put on friendships and none of it is healthy,” said senior Lauren Lane. “It is sad to see because it makes students feel so insecure about themselves.” This competition and insecurity is something extremely harmful to the well-being of students that can easily be avoided. Not comparing their daughter to other students is a step in the right direction that parents can take in order to reduce their child’s stress.

One extremely significant way that parents can limit the stress their daughter feels during high school is to let their child have the freedom to make her own choices with college and careers. Otherwise, parents can cause immense amounts of stress on students. “Stress is definitely caused by the topic of careers. Not necessarily meaning what a student wants to do with their life, but what they are forced into doing because it makes money,” said O’Brien. “Parents focus too much on what pays well and therefore force their child into that field.”

Teachers, parents, and students: please take these suggestions to heart. Stress is a result of many different factors—peer pressure, parent pressure, teachers’ expectations, college. To effectively address the problem of stress in schools, a global solution is necessary. Parents and teachers both need to realize that we are all part of the problem, and we all need to be part of the solution.

Less Stress, No Mess

By now, we know that too much stress is bad for our health and that we need to reduce stress in our daily lives. But how? Students, teachers, and parents all contribute to significant amount of stress in students’ lives. Here are some ways our community as a whole, not just students, can reduce stress in schools.

Teachers

Teachers may want to consider having meetings every month or so to coordinate better on major assignments so they’re not all due the same day. Maybe switching off each unit between the departments would help space out and even the assignments all due in the week so that students aren’t trying to cram it all in.

Another thing teachers can reconsider is the fact that sometimes we don’t need to have a test, paper and a project all in one unit. Maybe reconsidering and switching off between unit exams and large research papers each unit would reduce the amount of stress each student goes through. Remember: most students also have six other classes that they need to worry about too!

An easy adjustment, but a huge difference, could be reducing the number of problems in math and reducing the number of book pages needed to be read in English classes. Reading more than four chapters in a book each night is unrealistic, and this only results in the students feeling like they are forced to use websites like Spark Notes. For math teachers, sometimes there may be only a few problems for homework, but some problems can more than ten minutes, and each problem takes up half a page! Especially if a student is struggling in a certain area, homework will take twice as long because of the constant referral to notes and the time it take to get through homework. If teachers remembered the time spent on each problem on each assignment, or the amount of time it actually takes to get through huge novels, it might be a good idea to ease up. Pres girls have six, sometimes seven classes to keep up with and the stress levels we all have cannot be contained.

Students

Listen to Music—Play your favorite song and sing along. This is a great way to relieve your stress. Just start blasting Lady GaGa and dance along like nobody is watching. Dancing pumps up the amount of endorphins in your brain, causing you to feel good. Who would feel angry after listening to Bad Romance?

Go for a Walk—This allows you to have some relaxing alone-time away from the stress of daily life. It gives you exercise and time to clear your mind and think about what is bothering you; the fresh air will make you feel more relaxed. So the next time you are free during collaboration, take a walk by yourself or with a group of friends. Either way, you’d be away from school and stress for at least an hour.

Time management— Use your planner to keep track of all of your homework assignments. As you finish each assignment, you feel accomplished when you check them off. And you know what work needs to be done.

Do your work earlier rather than later. Many kids stay up until odd hours trying to do their homework. Try to get it done earlier, or maybe use your free period or collaboration time. The later you do you work, the shorter your attention span becomes. Doing homework in the morning is actually more efficient because you are alert and awake rather than sleepy.

Sleep—Our speaker said that teenagers need nine hours of sleep. This is really hard, considering how much homework we get at Pres (half-an-hour homework policy? Really?). But this goes along with managing your time better. Do not let your homework pile up. Sort out your priorities—what is more important: checking your Facebook or studying? This way, you won’t waste your time with activities that are less important, and you’ll have more time to sleep.

Take breaks—Schedule short breaks throughout your day to reduce stress. Stretch, read a book, call a friend, or go for a walk. This refreshes your mind and will give you a break from constant studying. This can be the time you check your Facebook; but make sure to get back to doing your homework soon!

Think positively—You need to be optimistic. Focusing on the negative will only bring you down. Do not think about that Econ paper you have to write or how you failed that Pre-Calc test. Instead, try to focus on what you have finished so far. Tackle each assignment one at a time and think about how efficient you are with managing your time.

Parents

Students stress themselves out enough on their own with the constant worry of college. Now, even freshmen in high school are beginning to feel the pressure of having perfect grades all four years. Parents, do not typically help the problem either. The constant talk about college at home makes students feel even more pressure than they already do, which is detrimental to student health because the home should be a stress-free environment. “I know parents who have straight A students that constantly check Parent Connect every day,” said junior Jennifer O’Brien. “The students feel that they need to try harder when they have enough stress already.” Also, parents need to understand that where their daughter attends college is unrelated to their success as a parent. “College should be a decision based on personal interest and success, not parent interest and success,” said O’Brien. Overall, limiting the amount of conversation time spent discussing college is a great way parents can help their children be less stressed and enjoy high school.

Discussing college on a regular basis isn’t the only thing parents discuss too much; the same goes for grades. There are many parents who regularly, even daily, check Parent Connect. “My mother checks Parent Connect almost every day. Having one bad grade or missing assignment can determine if I am allowed to go out that weekend,” said senior Cece Franchi. Living in this world of constant stress and punishment will result in students losing confidence and being unhappy with their academic and social lives. It is important that parents recognize that this academic monitoring of their daughter is not helpful in the end.

Another factor of parent-related stress is competition. Students typically aim to be their best and when a student has the lowest grades among their friends, it can create lots of stress in the form of unspoken competition between friends. Parents add to this type of stress by comparing their child to other students. “I haven’t personally experienced this at home, but attending Presentation has allowed me to see the stress this kind of comparison can put on friendships and none of it is healthy,” said senior Lauren Lane. “It is sad to see because it makes students feel so insecure about themselves.” This competition and insecurity is something extremely harmful to the well-being of students that can easily be avoided. Not comparing their daughter to other students is a step in the right direction that parents can take in order to reduce their child’s stress.

One extremely significant way that parents can limit the stress their daughter feels during high school is to let their child have the freedom to make her own choices with college and careers. Otherwise, parents can cause immense amounts of stress on students. “Stress is definitely caused by the topic of careers. Not necessarily meaning what a student wants to do with their life, but what they are forced into doing because it makes money,” said O’Brien. “Parents focus too much on what pays well and therefore force their child into that field.”

Teachers, parents, and students: please take these suggestions to heart. Stress is a result of many different factors—peer pressure, parent pressure, teachers’ expectations, college. To effectively address the problem of stress in schools, a global solution is necessary. Parents and teachers both need to realize that we are all part of the problem, and we all need to be part of the solution.

All Stars On and Off the Field

We often find it difficult to listen to the wisdom of elders, teachers and parents. We would rather drown them out with iPods and remixes of the latest and most popular music than listen to the trite spiels discussing educational values. But sports give off a different effect. Sports often teach students lessons and skills without the 60-minute lecture attached. Student athletes learn to budget their time, collaborate with others and take responsibility for their actions.
“My academic life revolves around my planner,” said junior Emily Wolf who plays field hockey for Presentation. Involvement in sports forces students to take their work seriously, allotting time in their evening routine for papers, projects, reading assignments and last minute cramming. The lack of excess time after school often minimizes the amount of time students waste lurking on Facebook or vegging out on the sofa. In fact, according to a study at Marietta College, student athletes performed better during season than out of season. Optimal GPAs were achieved following regularly scheduled practices, games and work out sessions.
Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “It’s not just that the people who are going to do well in life play sports, but that sports help people do better in life,” she said, adding, “While I only show this for girls, it’s reasonable to believe it’s true for boys as well,” following an extensive study on sports participation and educational achievement.
Sports teach athletes long-term skills and assets needed for success in the real world. It promotes and indirectly emphasizes team building, leadership, endurance, positivity, problem solving, creativity and the ability to read others. Athletes are expected to envision the field or area of play through strategic analysis and accurate body positioning. Athletes must learn to work well with others in order to achieve a greater goal, mediating disputes and reconciling differences. This is the key to team cohesion and ultimately success.
The emergence of team solidarity develops through the ties of friendship and sisterhood. Friendship, more so than any score or trophy, is a lasting testimony to the success of any team. Friends are tangible memories, serving as the legacy of the team and its accomplishments. “Friends become family,” said sophomore Kayla Bose who plays varsity basketball. While knees, joints, and other body parts may give out over time, bearing the scars of a dedicated athlete, friends will last forever.

Spending time out on the field is also said to relieve stress and the burden of excessive amounts of homework. According to an article by Joseph Plazo of StressLive.Com, “It’s imperative to partake in physical exercise because inspiring the body refreshes the mind. Our brain requires activity by the rest of our body in order to regenerate the senses and enhance performance.” Exercise is an essential component of mental and physical help, much like sleeping and eating. Junior and golfer Jessie Walsh said, “Sports is an outlet for stress. It gets your mind off school.”
For many Presentation students, dedication to both sports and academics is a testament to their willingness to balance their lives in order to learn lifelong skills, forge bonds of friendship, and relieve stress on the court, field, diamond, green, track, or wherever their sport takes them. Despite the struggles of the daily balancing act, many students find involvement in sports rewarding. For some, it boosts self-esteem and confidence along with lasting implications for their future.

Sports are teachers without white boards, tests without grades, and homework assignments without point values. Athletes are evaluated by their ability to work with others, make progress, and think logically. It’s not about whether you make the grade; it’s about learning from mistakes and taking away the greater message.

Power to the Parents

The Mother Daughter Breakfast, Freshmen Barbecue and Crab Feed, though seemingly different, all have something in common—these events, among many others throughout the year, are put on by the Presentation Parent Board.

Many students have heard the phrase “Parent Board” without a clear knowledge about what the board is or who comprises this dedicated group of parents.  The board includes about 40 members who meet once a month to plan fundraising events and to discuss the present and future needs of the school.  Jane Jeziorski describes the Parent Board as the “main link from the parent community to the administration.”  The board works to provide funds for the school.  Says Ms. Jeziorski, “All the money we make goes right back to the students.”

To raise this money, the Parent Board organizes many fundraising events throughout the year.  Included in this list are the Senior Dinner, the eScrip program and the student directory.  The Parent Board also helps to support Ms. Miller’s annual State of the School Address.

Each year, the Parent Board has an application process for The Parent Board Work Scholarship.  In addition, the Parent Board raises funds to help fulfill Presentation’s yearly wish list.  This list includes needs of the school, as well as requests from different teachers and programs at Presentation.  Last year, the Parent Board funded the new Step Up program, which finds its home at the new Student Study Center.

Parent Board President Patti Rottjakob says that other parent boards are different.  “They aren’t really what I would call hands on working parents in the school community,” she says.  At meetings, the Parent Board hears from speakers, which may include anyone from the counseling department to the admissions department.  Mrs. Rottjakob says, “We get to hear from the cutting edge of what’s happening at Presentation.”

So what is happening at Presentation?  This Saturday, Feb. 6, is the date for the annual Crab Feed.  “That’s Amoré!” is this year’s theme, and the event is once again sure to be a success.  The decorations and the delicious crab and pasta are sure to reflect the Tuscany, wine country feel.

Although they work behind the scenes, the Parent Board does so much to support Presentation and its students. This group of dedicated parents is truly living out our school motto, “Not Words But Deeds.”