High School – Baron Media Network

Why Phones Should Be Allowed in School

By: Benson Elmore

Phones are often not allowed in schools because many people think they distract students. While phones can sometimes be distracting, I believe they should be allowed in school because they can actually help students in many ways. As a 17-year-old student, I know phones are a big part of our lives and can be useful if we use them the right way.

One important reason phones should be allowed is because they help with learning. When students don’t understand something in class, they can use their phones to look it up quickly. There are many websites and videos that explain things better than textbooks sometimes. For example, if someone doesn’t get a math problem, they can watch a short video to help them understand. Phones also have tools like dictionaries, translators, and calculators that help students learn faster and easier.

Phones also help students stay organized. School means keeping track of a lot of homework, tests, and projects. Using the calendar or reminder apps on a phone makes it easier to remember when things are due. Instead of writing everything on paper planners that can get lost, phones keep all the important dates in one place and remind students. This helps students not forget their work or be unprepared for tests.

Another big reason phones should be allowed is safety. Having a phone means students can call their parents or get help if something bad happens. Whether they need a ride home or there is an emergency, phones help students stay connected and safe. This is very important because being able to talk to someone quickly can make a big difference.

I know phones can be distracting if students use them to text or play games during class. But instead of banning phones, schools should teach students how to use them responsibly. Knowing when and how to use phones the right way is an important skill that will help us in college and later in life.

In conclusion, phones should be allowed in school because they help with learning, staying organized, and safety. With clear rules and help from teachers, phones can be useful tools instead of distractions. Schools need to accept that phones are part of our world and learn how to use them in a way that helps students.

A Week in Digital Media with Joey R

By: Joey Robertson

The Actual First Blog (guess I wasn’t supposed to do the one last week)

Anyways…

Tuesday:

Started off by filming some footage of the cafeteria as B-roll footage, getting shots from all angles, inside and outside, and with and without students eating inside. Filming was quick and smooth. It probably only took about 15 minutes, maybe 20 at most. Afterwards, I returned to the classroom and began uploading all of the footage to my Google drive, which had some technical issues of its own. While that was finalizing, I worked on organizing the google drive into a series of folders so everything wasn’t everywhere, and I would be able to find what I needed later.

Wednesday:

I was at camp Bob Cooper with all the other seniors, so I wasn’t able to get any other work done unfortunately. But I did check to make sure the editing software on my computer still worked.

Thursday:

Once I got into class, I immediately got to filming the A-roll footage, although maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick and unobservant. I decided to film all the footage outside on one of the tables with the phone recording propped up against the laptop I would be reading off of. That’s when the trouble started unfortunately. I ended up going through 3 different microphones, wasting about 10-15 minutes, before deciding i had had enough, and just used the built in microphone to finish. There were still more accidents and errors unfortunately, like having to stop a take midway on account of people walking by, or me accidentally deleting a video here and there. After everything was finished, I quickly uploaded it all. Later when I got home, I got straight to work editing the video on my own computer, using all kinds of fancy music and tricks and the like. After about 30 minutes of that, it was all finished

Baseball

By: Cooper Scott

Baseball has been one of my favorite sports ever since I was a little kid. I started playing baseball when I was 4 years old t-ball of course. Whenever I got to coach pitch something I will never forget is we were in the playoffs and I hit a walkoff homerun against Bynum Insurance, and they were like the best team. My first year of kids pitch, my dad was the head coach, and our team was called Colonial Urgent Care. I was left handed so there is only an unlimited number of positions I can play. Ever since 9 and 10 youth baseball I have pitched and played first base, but my strongest ability in baseball has always been hitting. I always played baseball during the fall growing up as well. The next year I broke my leg and was unable to play b-team in the 6th grade, and I was very bummed out about that. 7th grade year was my first year of baseball at Wilson hall. We were very talented that year but our season came up short because of covid. My first year as J.V Coach Neil Moerson was our head coach, and I got best offensive player at the banquet at the end of the year. The next year I think I can safely say is the most fun I have ever had playing baseball. Luke Pederson, Jones Deschamps, Tyler Jordan, Slade Custer, and Peyton Price and I were all on the same team. We would have to run at practice every other day for the stupidest stuff, and we were also very good, probably the best J.V team I was on. My 10th grade year I went out for varsity, and unfortunately I got cut, but it was okay. I went back down to J.V. for the third year in a row, but I wouldn’t trade those three years for anything. I had a very successful season my 10th grade year, and decided to play for the Junior p-15s. I played for 2 summers in a row and the second summer we won the state championship, and I met a lot of new friends from different schools. My junior year I played varsity, and I did not get to play very much. Now we are on to this year, and I am looking forward to playing for the senior p-15s one last time this summer.

Rating My Classes pt.2

By: Alexis Dawkins

This is the continued version of rating my classes. Last week I rated first through fourth period.

After digital media is my study hall which is fifth period so it runs into lunch. I love this because I have over an hour break in the middle of my day and it is what I need to have energy to finish my day. I usually spend this time eating lunch and relaxing at home finishing homework or studying if needed. Sometimes I have lunch with friends or family to catch up. I rate this a 100/10 and highly recommend it for upcoming seniors.

My sixth period is definitely my most stressful class with it being AP Psychology. Taught by Mrs. Sanders again. I like her a lot so I am glad to have her twice a day. I am her only student she has twice and it is a little difficult because there have been a couple times they overlapped and it was a bit confusing but it is still beneficial. This class is on the harder side due to it being the first year offered at Wilson Hall and College Board has changed the curriculum so it is trying to be figured out by everyone involved but it is a beneficial class to take for those interested in anything psychological or medical in the future. This class is a 7.9/10 for me.

My last and final class is environmental science. This is my favorite class and it is taught by Mrs. Duke. This class is by far my best class and not necessarily because I love science because I do not but I do like Mrs. Duke a lot and she makes the class so much better. There are around fourteen boys in this class and only four girls so it is a rough class for her to handle seeing as the boys in there are the problematic ones but most of us girls help her with the boys and giver her relief when they are acting up. This class is definitely a 9.9/10.

Ranking my Classes Pt.2

By: Logan Mims

This weeks blog is part 2 of ranking my favorite classes from my favorite to my least favorite. So far I have Digital media as number 1, Engineering as number 2, and Senior Seminar at number 3. The three classes I have left are AP Bio, Brain Body and Balance (BBB), and AP Pre-Calc.

Ranked number 4 out of 6 is my 5th period class Brain, Body, and Balance (BBB). In this class we weight life on Monday Tuesday and Thursday. We don’t lift on Wednesday because it is a short scedual but we usually stretch on Wednesday and Friday is just out day off to catch up on all of the work from that week in our other classes. I actually do like this class it just isn’t in the top 3 because some days I really do not feel like lifting but I still have to. It is a pretty layed back class overall and we are aloud to talk with our friends so overall it’s a good class and I’m glad it’s on my scedual.

Ranked number 5 out of 6 is my 7th period class AP Pre Calc. This class isn’t ranked low because it’s one of those extremely boring classes. I actually like the class and enjoy my classmates and teacher in there. The work it just very hard. This is the first year that this class is a thing at Wilson Hall, but also a very new class overall. The ways the questions are asked are just different then most classes and it is much harder than any class I have ever taken. Usually math is my best subject but it has just been a little harder this year. Lastly, ranked number 6 out of 6 is my 1st period class AP Bio. For some reason I just really do not like this class. It’s hard and really boring. Some people do enjoy the class but I guess I’m just not as interested in biology as some of the other people in my class are. I do like my teacher in that class so that is a plus and I sit beside my friends, but other than that there is nothing else good about this class.

Baseball

By: Cooper Scott

How to Paint With Acrylic

By: Lottie Bynum

To paint with acrylic you need materials.

Paint (The primary colors and white)
Water
Brushes
Canvas or Paper
Paper towel
And news paper or a trash bag
A pallet or plate to put the paints on.

While assembling the materials you will need to set up a suitable space to paint with the trash bags or newspaper. Lay them out on the floor or on a wall if you want to set your painting against it while you paint. Then get your area ready by setting out your water and pallet/ plate with paints. Make sure the water and paint are close so you can clean and switch colors quickly. Cover the canvas or paper with an “underpainting” by painting the canvas in one color; underpainting helps the colors blend batter and makes sure the painter doesn’t miss any areas while painting. Sketch your design or drawing in on the canvass or paper then start laying in base colors in the areas you want to paint. I usually start with a lighter color and then layer darker colors on top and build layers and depth. You may lose some details this way but it is a method to paint. The other way to start a painting is to start with three base colors: one for the regular, one for light, and one for dark to separate the painting. Painting this way the painter will keep more details in their painting. After getting the base colors in, start to build in darker or lighter colors to shape and add values to the painting. It’s helpful to start to work in sections instead of the whole painting at once, especially with acrylics as they dry quickly and blending becomes more difficult. Working on the sides of the canvas for people who paint on canvas, they can do two different things: either black edges or continue their painting on the edges. Both methods look pretty, however to save time the black edges will help if the painting is going into a frame.

Graduation

By: Lucy Buxton

As the end of senior year is quickly approaching, there are lots of things to plan and prepare for. Such as lots of grad parties, vacations, and the last of “lasts”.

If I’m being honest, I dont think I’m quite ready for all of this to end. Basketball finished for us about two weeks ago and I’m not even the biggest fan of playing basketball but when I realized it was the end, I was very upset. I was more upset about my brother’s season ending though. I always tell people that I don’t like him until basketball season comes around because I really am so proud of him. I might have even cried for him more than him. It is just something about watching him working his butt off for years in our driveway and all of that hard work coming to an end on a random Monday night. I wasn’t prepared for that and neither was my family I think.

As track is starting up, I’m trying to keep a mindset of trying constantly because this really is the last sport I will ever do and I think that is a hard mindset to grasp because for lots of my classmates, sports have been a huge part of our lives since we have been eligible to play them. I also love track so I think that will make it even more sad than basketball so I am dreading the end but I hope I can still remain positive and motivated throughout the year.

Moving on from sports, there are lots of things to look forward to like my spring break I will be spending in Jamaica with some of my best friends. I couldn’t be more excited for that and the day after graduation I will be going to the Bahamas so there are a lot of “ups” about the end approaching but I am trying to soak it all in before it is too late.

Enough with the posities, one bone I have to pick with is, our graduation not being at Patriot Hall, but instead the practice gym… I won’t comment much on this because I would probably get in trouble for the word choice I would like to use but let’s just say I am not happy and do not want to make the most of it but I guess I will try.

Ranking My Classes

This week’s blog is part 1 of me ranking my classes from my favorite class to my least favorite class. Since I have a study hall I only have 6 classes. My classes are 1st period is AP Biology, 2nd period is engineering, 3rd period is senior seminar (English), 4th period is digital media, 5th period is weight lifting, 6th period I have study hall so that doesn’t count in my ranking, and 7th period I have AP Pre-calc.

Before I rank my classes I will just say how I feel about them overall. Overall I don’t feel like I have a hard schedule and I actually really enjoy almost all my classes this year.

Coming it at #1 is my 4th period class, digital media. For this class we have to make a video and post it every week and every other week we have to write a 350 word blog about anything we choose to write about. Digital media is my favorite class because it is very laid back. You kind of get to work on your own schedule which is really nice. On days where I don’t have anything to do it is a good time to get some of my homework or studying done.

Coming in at #2 is my 2nd period engineering class. I really enjoy this class because we get to work at our own pace. My teacher gives us our assignments on google classroom at the beginning of the week and then as long as they are done by the end of the week he has no problem, so the class is very chill, which I really enjoy. I also have some of my friends in the class so it is very nice to be able to talk to them.

Coming in at #3 is my 3rd period Senior Seminar class. I have never been someone who really likes English but I really don’t mind this class at all. I have a lot of my friends in this class which is great. The things we do in this English class compared to most are not as boring as the others.

Rating Classes

By: Alexis Dawkins

As a senior in highschool, I take many different classes to improve my GPA. Today I am going to be rating them.

To start, first period which is precalculus with Ms. Muldrow. I have always excelled in math and learning the ways of every concept easily but this class has challenged me recently. It may be the senioritis getting to me but the second semester of senior year has been my most challenging one yet, not just in math but in every class. I have this class with mostly juniors and only a few seniors so we are outnumbered. This class has to be a solid 7.5/10 because I like Ms. Muldrow but it is not my favorite class.

Second period is Human Health and Development. This is with Mrs. Sanders who is also the school nurse. I took this because I needed a lab science to graduate but this class has taught me a lot so far about the human body and different systems throughout. I am in this class with all girls except for one boy and five of the twelve in the class are seniors. We spend a lot of time goofing off but we do learn a lot. I rate this class a 9.5/10.

Third period is Senior Seminar or English 12 and this is with Mrs. Mattews. I had her for English 10 my sophomore year and I enjoy having her as a teacher but I will admit that I do not enjoy reading, writing, or anything else that comes along with an English class. I do enjoy the people in this class and the discussions we have but I will admit that the content of the class is not my favorite. This class is a 6.7/10 for me.

These are my first three classes and my next period is my digital media which is taught by Coach Ripley. This class gives us freedom to be as creative as we want to be. This class is one of my favorite classes because it is such a relief in the middle of the day after three stressful periods before. This class is going to be rated at a 9/10.