The Number One Car at LHS
By Elise Johnson, Staff Writer
In years past only three years of math were required to graduate from Logan High School, but that number increased last year to four years. In order to satisfy the new requirement, options were needed for students not interested in AP or concurrent enrollment math classes. Introduction to Statistics was created as a result.
“It’s not about equations,” statistics teacher Joyce Smart revealed.
Smart added that students learn critical thinking skills they will use throughout their lives. These lessons aren’t just memorized for a test and then forgotten about, but have daily, practical applications. The course is less pressure, because it isn’t as fast paced, which makes it more enjoyable.
Part of a recent assignment was to determine the make and model of the most common car driven by Logan High students. As part of this assignment the class members were supposed to find the average make and model. They found that most LHS students own Honda Civics.
“I wasn’t really surprised, because it is a pretty common car,” Jesse Martinez commented.
This class is designed to help students learn how to understand and form their own opinions of statistics they have heard. Smart explained that some statistics are not accurate because they are made by a biased source looking for something to gain by those numbers.
“[You should] come out [of the class] with critical thinking skills and not just believe everything you hear on the radio or read in the newspaper,” said Smart.
The Evolution of LHS News
By Nicholas Porath, Staff Writer
Students of Logan High should be familiar with the news broadcasts shown four days a week at the beginning of fourth hour. The anchors give announcements, alerts, and describe the lunch menu for the day.
The LHS news began back in the early 1990’s headed by technology teacher Scott Harris, who still guides the broadcasting class today. At the time, LHS was introduced to Channel One, an educational news program, played through the school. After each broadcast, Mr. Harris would set up a live news feed through each classroom television, bringing announcements to the students.
The school news remained unchanged until the school received computers a few years later. The new technology allowed the announcements to be filmed and edited prior to showing them throughout the school.
When LHS changed the class schedule last year, the news had to be moved to a different time. During the first semester of last year, they played at the end of fourth hour. However, due to the time conflicts with teachers’ lesson plans, the time was changed to the beginning of fourth hour.
Frequent news anchor Robert Joseph Metcalf III, said, “There are benefits to anchoring during both schedules. Before, we had more time to film it and get it prepared, but now we work faster, because of our time limit.” Metcalf has anchored on the LHS news for 3 years now, both before and after the schedule change.
Another addition to the school news is a program to allow graphics and captions on screen while news is playing. This system allows more variety in editing and visual aid. This system was added last year and makes adding in videos, captions, and credits a lot easier to manage. Students may notice the added captions and graphics next time they watch the news.
The LHS news would not be where it is today without change and improvement. The school news has been running for almost 20 years and is still running strong today.
Logan High School Students Run in Top of Utah Marathon
By Kelton Mock, Staff Writer
In the early morning of September 19, much of the Logan High School population was probably fast asleep, making up for hours of late night homework and early morning classes. However, three particularly motivated students were just beginning a 26.21 mile long run, all the way from Hardware Ranch to the heart of Logan proper.
As their classmates were most likely just opening their eyes from under their blankets, Nicky Bennett, Mara Braddy, and Kandyce Ausen ended up finishing in a race that many adults would shy away from: The Top of Utah Marathon.
For each of the girls the race required quite a bit of training and preparation. Ausen did long runs to build endurance, beginning with 14 miles and later working up to 22 miles. Her finishing time was 3 hours 51 minutes, a time she was quite satisfied with. She earned 4th in her age group (15-17).
Bennett ran the marathon in 4 hours and 20 minutes and was also content with the race. “I didn’t really have any expectations, but yeah, I was happy with how I did. I wasn’t really going for the time, just for the experience.” To prepare for the race, she also did longer runs once a week.
Running a marathon is no small feat. Though Ausen still felt like she was doing well by the end of the race, for her “the last two miles were definitely hard…especially the last mile. It seemed like it dragged on forever.”
As the runners came out of Blacksmith Fork Canyon, they ran through Millville, Providence and River Heights. They then wound through downtown Logan and The Island. By this time, many of the runners were using their last ounces of energy to push themselves across the finish line.
For Ausen, crossing that line was an interesting experience. “It was kind of a surprise. It was like, ‘I’m done? Wow!’ My legs just kind of wanted to keep going...” She added that this is a common feeling among runners after running for a long period of time.
Both of the girls interviewed said that they would consider running a marathon again next year. As Bennett said, “After I was finished running, I didn’t think I’d ever ever EVER run again, but I’m sure I will.” She also recommends doing the marathon to anyone who is willing to train for it.
For Ausen, a Triathlon may be her next goal. Of the marathon, she said that more students should definitely get involved. “I think a lot of people over-judge how hard it is, and I think a lot of people could run it.”