On April 20, South High students participated in the annual Day of Silence. The Day of Silence is a one-day event that students in middle school and high school participate in each year. The objective of this occasion is to stay silent for an entire school day, protesting the suicides that have plagued the gay community because of bullying and harassment. Students usually dress in all black with one item of rainbow as an accessory. They are then given small fliers and stickers to hand out to others, explaining their lack of speech. However, if a teacher calls on a student to answer a question or perform a presentation, the student must participate appropriately.

According to dayofscilence.org, the Day of Silence was founded in 1996 at the University of Virginia and backed by a group of more than 150 students. The event was a great success and has sense been supported nationally by other schools. South has participated in the Day of Silence for several years and will continue to advocate it for years to come. This year, posters were put up to inform the students when the event would take place, encouraging anyone who was interested to partake. While many felt positively about this event, others viewed it in a more controversial light. Senior Alex Johnson said, “I think a more effective way to stand up for what you believe in is to be loud and outgoing to try and get people’s attention, not stay silent.” Others felt that the Day of Silence was a huge success, Participant, G.S.A. member, and senior Vanessa Frary said, “Even though everyone in the school already seemed to know what we were doing, everyone seemed encouraging of the Day of Silence.”

Earlier this year, The Gargoyle ran a story about the availability of birth control through Denver Health clinics by setting up confidential appointments at South’s very own clinic. Recently, staff learned that the South clinic will be offering birth control options to students very soon.

Senior Lara AlKarim, Head Girl of the student body, had many hoops to jump through to bring this to South. While she was interning with the Student Board of Education, she says, “We were able to show parents the increasing number of pregnancies… and get their support for having contraceptives next year.” This means that, due to the support of the parents and the Board, students will be able to sign up through the school clinic to get condoms and birth control as they would be able to at Denver Health.

In August 2011, AlKarim and Student Senate collected around 500 parent signatures in support of bringing these services here. This was done during each class’s registration to ensure parents would understand what would happen if contraceptives were, in fact, available at South. After convincing Principal Dr. Kristin Waters, Waters sought approval from Denver Public Schools to try to bring birth control options into the school clinic. After approval, the matter was taken to Denver Health, which did not reveal its official decision to implement contraceptives until May 1. Some other challenges in the process were setting up student voice forums and teacher focus groups, but ultimately students and faculty wanted to address the problem of increased pregnancies.

This fall at registration, instead needing to collect parent signatures, parents and students will be made aware of this change by the staff. Let’s hope that this helps reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies at South High School.

Many South freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will be very excited to learn that, in January 2013, there will be a trip to Washington, D.C. for students to experience the inauguration of the President of the United States. Social Studies teacher Mr. Erich Smeaton is the host of the trip, which is offered through the WorldStrides program. The trip will also include visiting sights such as the Vietnam War Memorial, Washington Monument, and the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument.

Unfortunately, seniors will be unable to go because they will be graduating this month. However, students’ parents along with other teachers are welcome as volunteer chaperones. Smeaton said, “It’ll be a historic event, and I’m looking forward to this wonderful opportunity for South High School.” There was a parent meeting on May 2 in the library that went very well with many parents in attendance and two confirmed students going on the trip. The $99 registration fee is due no later than May 16. That being said, the sooner students pay, the better.

Students are encouraged to plan creative fundraising ideas to help pay for the trip. The overall student price is $1710, and the parent price is $1967. The price includes round-trip airfare, quality hotel accommodations (quad occupancy for students and double occupancy for parents), meals, admissions fees, evening activities, accident and health insurance, and 24-hour emergency support.

Anyone who goes on the trip will witness the Presidential Inauguration, the Oath of Office, the Inaugural Parade and much, much more. This will surely be a trip to remember forever, so be sure to go see Mr. Smeaton in room 310 with any questions about the trip!

Students dance at the International Day assembly. Photo courtesy of Lance McClure.

On April 14, South hosted its annual International Day. This day is very significant at South since the student body is composed of students from all over the world, making South one of the most diverse high schools in the state. Right now, there are students from 70 countries, and 50 languages are represented at South. This event was a big opportunity to share the many cultures among students and teachers.

The afternoon began with a performance in the auditorium which was kicked off with a solo singing performance by junior Ventika Lopez followed by a performance by Mr. Wilson Vadakel’s drum club. The highlight of the program was the Parade of Nations, in which two students from each country represented at South introduced their country by carrying their flag across the stage. This year, 65 countries were represented. Some students wore their traditional dress for the parade, and every student enjoyed the parade by cheering for their mother country or shouting out for their friend’s country. This parade made students realize that how diverse South students are. “International Day is a great way that students can take part in a school activity to show their pride and share knowledge of their country and culture, so I love it,“ Ms. Rachel Aldrich, who was responsible for organizing the Parade of Nations, said.

Also, there were performances by groups of students including traditional dances from the Congo, Mexico, the Karen culture, Ethiopia, and Tanzania as well as singing by the school choirs and some teachers. Many students showed their awesome talents that their classmates do not usually see.

After the performance, students then went to the main gym where booths from many countries were waiting. This year, 18 countries and cultures offered to have a booth to introduce their culture and country. Each booth had a poster with the general information for its country and displayed some artifacts such as traditional clothing or toys. There were some unique offerings at some booths, too. Some country’s booths offered to write visiting students’ names in the country’s own language, or some lent the country’s actual traditional clothing for students to try on and take pictures while wearing the clothing. The booth for the drawing class’s mural project was very successful, too. For this project, some students from drawing class made a big poster in black and white themed for International Day and cut it into 32 pieces. The students who visited this booth colored each piece freely. The project combined students’ individuality and the spirit of International Day to complete one big spectacular piece of art. Ms. Kathy Stone, who organized the booth with Ms. Laurie Chotena, is very happy about the success of International Day. “South succeeded in showing America’s diversity spectaculary on International Day, which is very wonderful. There were lots of people participating, and I could feel the energy from every student!” Stone said.

It was an event where every student learned how important it is to know others’ cultures and accept each individual’s traditional thoughts or values since many are often very different from one another. This school is always in process of creating a better environment as a school. Students from various backgrounds making an effort to understand is a special experience for everyone and a great way to better the school’s environment.

Education is key for students at South High School to succeed. The school staff takes responsibility for organizing and teaching students, but it is the student’s responsibility to show up and work. South has initiated an attendance policy in which all grade levels must have an average attendance rate above 86%. It is a plan to prevent ditching and help students focus more on their schoolwork. Should a class’s attendance percentage fall below 86%, South will conduct a lunchtime lockdown. A lockdown is when all students are kept inside the building and cannot leave for lunch. The punishment itself is meant to be intimidating to students in hopes of increasing attendance, but it seems it is still not effective.

On Wednesday, April 11, sophomore and senior attendance dipped below 86%, and a lockdown was initiated. Students of all grades were kept in building while school staff guarded every door to prevent escape. Many students still tried, and those who were caught during the lockdown were sent to the dean’s office. “I was hungry and couldn’t stand the lockdown, so I tried to leave in my car, but we were caught in the parking lot,” junior Ryan Carter said. By the time the lockdown ended, the dean’s office was packed with students. It certainly isn’t pleasant being unable to eat during lunch, but it shows how important it is to attend classes. “Some of my students played tricks on me so they could leave before the lockdown but I knew their ways,” teacher Ms. Jennifer Rinaldi said. There is a lot of negative reactions from students toward the new attendance policy. “I don’t have money for school lunch and I don’t qualify for free lunch. My only choice is to eat somewhere else and I can’t do that if there is a lockdown,” junior Nick Martellero said.

Though much of the criticism comes from students, the school staff thinks otherwise, and will take step higher to keep attendance up. ”If the lockdowns fail to bring attendance above 86%, there will be a closed campus for the entire year,” assistant principal Rob Dilworth said. That means for the whole school year, all students are not allowed to leave the campus during lunch. To prevent future lockdowns or a possible closed campus, arrive to school on time. Show up to all periods of the day and do not play hooky.