The Eagle Times

St. John High School, though very set on developing students spiritually, does not have any interesting classes. Many of its students would love to learn about more than just the basics, they want more. “I think we could use a class on Home Economics,” says Anonymous. Many other people also think we should have a class for Home Economics, and there are many other suggestions too. Some students believe we should have classes based on electronics, there assembling, their parts, and how to repair them. “I would mind having a class on Electronics” says anonymous. We could also try and have more classes that are far out there such as cooking classes, martial arts classes, auto maintenance, and much more. We could have classes on digital art, hunting, or survival skills.

Another suggestion is that we could have more clubs, sometimes it may be too complicated to have an entire class based on a certain subject. This is why we should be open to more clubs, this way students could learn what they want without messing up their school credits. These clubs would probably help to fulfill the wants of many students. This would also be a great way to have more people become involved in their school, being that most clubs are involved in after school activities. These clubs could also train students for their future jobs. And it would give many of our unnoticed students a chance to become known, just because they joined a club.

Sometimes there may not be enough teachers to sponsor every class or club, which is why we could begin to allow outside people, such as our community help to sponsor these clubs. This would be a great form of community service for anyone willing to do so, almost like substituting for a class during a teacher’s absence. “I wish we could have a class on welding” says anonymous. This would be far to much to do during school, it would require too much attention, and should be done after school as a club, this way there would be more attention focused on the activity. Attention also wouldn’t be focused on minor problems such as unfinished homework, projects, or talking due to boredom. Another suggestion for these classes would be to have them taught by one of the elementary or middle school teachers, like Art for example.

All of these clubs, classes, and other groups would help to make the school a very interesting place, or at least somewhat less dull. “School would probably be better with a couple of new classes’ next year.” says anonymous. Ideas for new classes include Home Economics, Photography, Welding, Woodshop, Auto Maintenance, Hunting, Boating, Survival Skills, Cooking, Electronics, French, German, Japanese, Game Design, and there are many more suggestions. This would probably be very hard to pull off seeing as how most of the public schools, that have these extra opinions, receive funding from the state. St. John is a private school, and is not entirely paid for by the state so these additional classes would be unlikely added to the list any time soon. Our school also has a set number of credits required to graduate, which would make the issues even more complicated. Other problems would involve lesson plans, selecting the best teacher for the class, a homeroom; there are too many other problems that would occur. Too many people would want to take these classes to make their senior year easier, and it would go straight down hill. It is very possible though, the school would just need to sponsor a event or do something to raise money to improve on the total number of classes and teachers it has. Maybe in the near future these classes will become available.

By Robbie Gomez and Ethan Lacombe

This week, Mr. Fagnant’s senior religion morality classes are watching “Super Size Me,” a documentary made by Morgan Spurlock. An independent film maker, Spurlock decided to create a documentary in which he would eat only McDonald’s food for 30 days—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—and he had to sample every food item on the menu at least once. When asked by a McDonald’s employee if he wanted to Super Size his order, he would answer yes. Throughout the month, Spurlock was followed by a camera as he stuck to his McDonald’s diet, or “McDiet.” In addition, he scheduled regular appointments with three different specialist doctors, including a nutritionist, to keep track of his health.

Spurlock started out healthy for his age, 185.5 pounds at 6-foot-2. However, by the end of the month, he had gained24.5 pounds from his McDiet. Not only was his health affected by the high amounts of calories, fat, sugar, and caffeine he consumed, but there were also changes in his moods.

Spurlock’s decision to create “Super Size Me” was influenced by the fast-growing obesity epidemic in America and by a lawsuit filed against. Though the lawsuit—filed on behalf of two teenage girls who claimed that McDonald’s had significantly contributed to their size—failed, the documentary has succeeded in enlightening many on the connection between fast food and weight gain. So many of us eat fast food on a regular basis without stopping to think twice, because it’s convenient and it tastes good. However, as “Super Size Me” clearly suggests, if we don’t slow down on the fast food, America will remain the most obese country in the world.

By Susie LeJeune