Student Reps Provide Voice on School Board

Madison Bonhert and Derrick Allen

by Mary Tootill, sophomore

Most students do not put much thought into the difficulties of the operation of a school, considering that this task is primarily left up to elected school board members who make important policy decisions for our school community. Among the members of the school board this year, however, are John I. Burton High School's own Derrick Allen, (senior) and Madison Bonhert, (junior) as student representatives on the school board.

The two attend the school board meetings and assist in making decisions for Norton City Schools. Although they are not permitted to vote as representatives, they are allowed to express their perspective on issues. "Our board has been very supportive of the representatives and have welcomed their input on policy, school morale, and suggestions for improvements within the schools," said Norton City Schools Superintendent, Dr. Gina Wohlford.

The student representative position is fairly new to the Norton City School Board. "We initiated the representatives in January of last year," said Dr. Gina Wohlford, school superintendent.  "I wanted representatives to have a voice for our students and a perspective from their viewpoint. It is important to value their thoughts and input. Their insight comes from within the school walls and they are living the decisions made in many cases."

One junior and one senior from John I. Burton are chosen by the school administration based on their academic success and responsibility. The students who are chosen as a junior can hold this position through their senior year if they wish. Allen is now in his second year as a school representative, and Bonhert, who was newly elected this year, plans to continue through her senior year.

They do not receive pay for holding this position, but they do have an opportunity to apply for a scholarship offered by the Virginia School Board Association. "The scholarship is the best part," said Bonhert.

Student representatives have an important role at school board meetings. They provide the school board members a student perspective on the issues being discussed, "I'm always on duty receiving information and opinions from students," said Allen.

Board meetings are held once a month on Monday evenings, and normally last three hours, "The meetings are very time-consuming," said Allen. Allen and Bonhert alternate who attends the meetings; If both of the representatives have school activities and are unable to come, they must decide which one will have to sacrifice an activity in order to attend.

Both representatives have already had involvement in making important school policy decisions. Bonhert recently helped the school board come to a decision on how suspension affects student grades. The school board originally planned to give suspended students zeroes, but Bonhert gave them her standpoint as a student. She pointed out to them that sometimes even very good students may get caught up in a situation, even if they did not start the problem that caused the suspension.
Ultimately, the board decided that students will have a chance to earn a fifty as a grade for assignments missed while they are suspended.

In another situation, Allen assisted in making a decision about make-up work concerning how many days a student is given to complete missed work and how many points can be taken off. "They were seeing it from an adult standpoint - the point of view of what they would want to do with their kids - but I was able to think about what I would want as a student."

Along with contributing to decision making, Allen and Bonhert have acquired new knowledge about the school system from attending the meetings. "I've learned that there is a lot more to running a school than what a typical student would think," Allen said.

"I found out that Norton City Schools has around eight hundred students, and has been continuing to go up in the past few years. I believe this is amazing, since this helps with our income," added Bonhert.

Neither of the student representatives plan on having a future in local government, but both agree that being a student representative has been a great experience for them. "I plan on going into the medical field, but I think it's a good experience to have," stated Bonhert.

"I'll at least know I have the background. This community is really good to work with," said Allen.

Both representatives value their opportunity to influence the school board and the decisions made for Norton City Schools. "I just want to improve the school and everybody's well-being here and help advocate for students," Allen said.

New Raider Gear Online Store!

We now have an online store to purchase John I. Burton Raider merchandise! Merchandise is for students, staff, fans, parents, and alumni. Orders can be customized and are shipped directly to the customer. A percentage of the profit earned goes to J.I.B.

Online store:
https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/virginia/norton/j-i-burton-high-school

Officer Church Protects and Serves as S.R.O.

By Hannah S., junior, and Hunter C., sophomore
 

Students may have noticed that J.I. Burton has a new school resource officer this year. Zack Church, a hard working police officer, has been on the police force for about three years but was just recently appointed as an S.R.O.

Officer Church wakes up every day at  7 a.m. to be at the school by 8 a.m.. He works long hours and although his job may not look hard sometimes, he never knows when he might have to deal with a very difficult situation.

Although the job can be difficult, he says it is worth the sacrifices that officers have to make for others. Certain situations can be difficult to handle,but they make him a better officer at the end of the day. An officer may handle many different situations in a single day. Some are more difficult than others, but almost none are easy.

At our school, he tries his best to make a connection with the students. He believes that he is not just here as a police officer; he is here to get to know all of us. He talks to students as much as he can to get to know them personally. He isn't only our resource officer here at the school; he is a friend to anyone that may need one. In this way, his presence at our school could even prevent situations from escalating into violence.

Some examples of how he is trying to get to know students are talking to students in the hallways, playing games in the gym with students, and participating in classroom activities. He likes to be  involved in school as much as he can.

When students in an English 11 class were writing argumentative essays about the issue of police brutality that has been in the national media, he visited class as a guest speaker to provide a law enforcement perspective on the issue.

Officer Church says that "one of the biggest challenges is dealing with tragedies and trauma." One such example is a stabbing that just recently happened in Norton when he was called from the school to respond.

He said the craziest thing that he has gone through as an officer, which happened before he became an S.R.O.,  is getting shot at. He couldn't tell the details of what exactly happened, but he claims that it was "very scary".

As far as his life outside of work, Officer Church's hobbies include "anything outdoors". He loves and owns a Jeep, loves classic cars, and also likes to go off-roading with his kids. He has two boys, a five-year-old and a two-year-old, and a girlfriend whom he loves very much.



                                               

Photo Gallery: Homecoming Door Decorating

Mrs. Godsey's class; 1st place

To celebrate homecoming, classes participated in a door decorating competition. Classes were challenged to interpret the homecoming theme: "The Raider Way. Here to Stay," which focuses on the 65 years of school tradition. 

Ms. Kinser's class, 2nd place

Norton City Schools superintendent Dr. Gina Wohlford and central office staff judged the competition.  The winners were Mrs. Godsey's class, 1st place; Ms. Kinser's class, 2nd place; and Ms. Compton's and Mrs. Potter's classes, tied for 3rd place.  Almost all classes participated in the competition, which created a festive hallway and lots of school spirit.

Ms. Potter's class, 3rd (tie)

Ms. Compton, 3rd (tie)

Ms. Compton, 3rd (tie)

Linger: Book Review

by Caitlyn Collins, sophomore

Linger, by Maggie Stiefvater, is the second book to The Wolves of Mercy Falls series. So far, I have read only the first two books, but this series is very interesting. However, there were some characteristics I did not favor.

The story begins with Sam and Grace, the main characters in Shiver (the first book), reuniting after months of being away from one another. They feel like everything will be perfect since they have each other until Sam meets the new wolves.

Beck, Sam's father-figure, chose to turn Cole, a singer, into a werewolf, which results in many new problems. While Cole is causing trouble, he becomes close to Isabel, one of Grace's best friends, and she attempts to take care of him. Sam and Cole have a strong hatred for each other, but when Grace starts to get ill, they are forced to work together. Grace's parents don't approve of Sam, so Cole is the only one who can turn her into a werewolf for her survival. This helps relieve the tension between the two boys. Cole takes Grace away from the hospital and Sam doesn't follow him, hoping for the best.

I am really enjoying the series so far, but I favored the first book over the second one. I thought this book was a lot slower than the first one, although I still found it to be outstanding. Linger was touching, adventurous, and saddening all in one. I would recommend the book to anyone who loves fantasy, romance, and werewolves.

Park is a Place to Come Together

by Keaton I., senior

The best place in Norton to hang out at or meet new people is at the city park, located less than a half mile from the high school a block off  Virginia Avenue.

I have tennis practice after school and I've meet many new people of all ages with similar interests. The park is in the center of the city, making it easily accessible.

Yesterday I was at tennis practice and a guy and a girl came and played on the court next to us. I talked to them a bit and asked how long they have been playing tennis, and they responded, "A couple months." Our conversation made me think about how many people they have met. Personally, I've met many people playing tennis for the two years I've played, and I have met even more people playing basketball and football at the park.

It's not only kids who live in Norton that you'll meet at the park, either. Many people from Wise come to our park because they have friends in Norton. It sometime is for after-school activities, also, as other cross country sports teams like to practice by running the streets of Norton.

You'll always find people at the park no matter what time of year. People love seeing High Knob from it and looking at the mountains to see the trees in fall and winter, making it a great place to have a picnic with a loved one or a boyfriend or girlfriend. People love the park during winter to sled with family or play in the snow. The summertime is when most people are at the park and it's a great environment for families.

Norton City Park is a great park for many ages to interact with each other. It's a safe and beautiful place to have fun with friends or family.

Students and Parents Challenged to Avoid "Chronic Absenteeism"

by Mary T., sophomore

A letter to parents sent out by our principal, Dr. Goforth, discusses "chronic absenteeism" and the importance of attending school.

To be considered "chronically absent," a student would have to miss 10 percent of any point of the school year. In other words, if a student misses nine or more days in a ninety day period, they will be considered "chronically absent."

The Virginia Department of Education has now began asking school districts to track students who are considered to be "chronically absent." This issue has recently became very important, considering that schools that do not maintain a low rate of "chronically absent" students will lose their fully accredited status.

For this new requirement, excused and unexcused absences both count towards a student being "chronically absent." However, "chronic absenteeism" is not based off of tardies and check-outs.

Therefore, students are highly encouraged to attend school for the time they can even if they have to be tardy or check-out. Despite tardies and check-outs not being a factor in a "chronically absent" student, they do still count towards the state attendance laws.

In addition to affecting school accreditation, chronic absenteeism puts individual students at a high risk of failure since they lose time that should be spent learning, and many students fail to make up missed work.

Mrs. Justice Joins Science Department

Brandi Justice

by Mary Tootill, sophomore

Mrs. Brandi Justice is a new face at John I. Burton High School! She teaches chemistry and physical science. Justice attended college at UVA-Wise and graduated with a chemistry degree. This is her first year being a teacher, but she was previously a freshman mentor at UVA-Wise, along with being a teacher assistant.

"The adjustment has been going smooth so far. Just taking everything day by day with God's good grace," Justice said.

One of the biggest challenges so far has been trying to adapt to the pace of teaching, along with learning people's names, "The hardest thing for me is learning everyone's names! I am awful at names," she said.

Despite the few challenges Justice has faced, she has enjoyed her time at John I. Burton so far, "The experience has been amazing, I couldn't ask for a better working staff as a first year teacher."

Mrs. Justice has a husband, a 3-year-old daughter, and a baby on the way! "After receiving my job at Burton, I found out that we are expecting baby number two; we are very excited," she said. Justice's husband is currently attending Southwest Community College to obtain his nursing degree.

Outside of school, Mrs. Justice spends her time working outside, playing tennis, camping, attending church, and playing with her daughter, "We color a lot," she said.