TRITON HIGH SCHOOL Triton’s Student-Produced Newspaper NOVEMBER 3, 2014
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Patriotism? Give me
two scoops of that! Proposed Changes to the APUSH
Curriculum lead to protests
Faster, Smarter, Better Photos A review of the coolest, latest ‘Thing:’ The iPhone 6
By Brainna Ramirez
Staff Writer In with the new, and out with the old.
That’s what most of the iPhone users are
living by. Apple introduced the new iPhone 6
on June 29, and with it’s
dramatic changes, it’s left
some customers in awe
while others are fighting
back the aggravation of its
new model.
Many say that the new
iPhone 6 seems to replicate
the Android Galaxy
smartphone.
“I don’t know what a
Droid looks like, so I
wouldn’t know but that’s
what I’ve been hearing,”
Senior Kea Romani said.
Along with the new
iPhone, Apple has brought
along a new software up-
date that allows you to do
many things such as lock
your photos and messages
as well as let you reply to a
message by using the noti-
fication bar.
Some advantages to
having the new phone are
the high-quality camera,
faster processing speed and a bigger screen.
Some have argued that the new iPhone also
has some intricate disadvantages, such as the
reports of the phone (made of aluminum)
bending, the mimicry of the Droid, and some
complaints of programs such as Snapchat
freezing.
“I don’t like it, I think it’s unnecessary and
kind of annoying,” Romani said.
“Although people say this is Steve Job’s
iPhone and that he designed the next 10 genera-
tions of it, I don’t believe that,” said senior
Charlie Spinale.
“I think this
phone was not
designed by Ste-
ve Jobs. Its de-
sign closely
mimics an An-
droid, like the
unlock button on
the side rather
than the top.
Also, it’s sizes
are very simi-
lar.”
While some
are skeptical, a
few students
went along and
joined the iPh-
one 6 club and
expressed their
opinions on it.
Spinale said,
“Having the new
iPhone 6 is nice
because it’s the
newest phone
with all these nice features, but in a way I feel
like I’m conforming to society by getting one.”
Becoming more aware of the new iPhone,
Fred Romani, father of Triton’s Kea Romani ,
expressed the process of ordering the phone. He
chose to order the phone online rather than go
See IPHONE on page 2
Senior Kea Romani spends hers study period with
her head in her phone (Ramirez photo)
‘In America, they do everything really quickly’ Observations and conversations with our French exchange friends
By Hannah McIsaac
Staff Writer The Triton Voice got to
know a pair of French exchange
students during their stay earlier
this month with their American
host families.
The Voice caught up with
Mari Odoy’s French exchange
partner, Clémence Martineau,
and Amanda Sheehan’s ex-
change partner, Manon Menuet,
to discuss Fast food, shopping,
and what surprised them most
about America.
Triton Voice: What was your first impres-
sion of America? Was it like you thought it
would be?
Menuet: My first impression when I
came to America was
all people were so
nice and something
which was really
striking on my first
road in America was
the slogan on a fast
food (sign), “Get
Fat.”
It’s really what I
imagined about
America and sort of
how I can see Ameri-
can life in TV series.
TV: What did you think America would
be like before you came here?
Martineau: I thought America was like
in the movies. I don’t really know if it’s like I
thought it was, but I thought it was huge and
everything it’s huge.
TV: What’s been your favorite part of your
American experience?
Menuet: I think to see
how our traditions and
day-to-day life are so
different. Also, to taste
all of the American food,
which can be really tasty
or really strange. I have
also learned a lot of in-
formation about the
American Revolution. I
liked to discover the
amazing landscapes and
really big roads.
TV: What surprised you the most?
Martineau: I don’t know, maybe all the
See EXCHANGE on page 2
Junior Mari Odoy smiles for the camera with two of the French
Exchange students who visited Triton (courtesy photo)
By Jessica Macey
Staff Writer In mid-September, hundreds of students in Jeffer-
son County, Colorado, walked out of their classes to
protest changes to the Advanced Placement United
States History (APUSH) curriculum proposed by the
Jefferson County school board.
The proposal, created by board member Julie Wil-
liams, calls for the curriculum to be changed to pro-
mote ideals such as patriotism and American excep-
tionalism. This concept has sparked much controversy
and concern among students and teachers alike, both in
Colorado and across the country. Even 2,000 miles
away, in Byfield,
Massachusetts, a
range of opinions
can be found on the
topic. Each year, a
number of students
take Triton’s
APUSH course and
would be impacted
by any changes
made the curricu-
lum.
In her proposal,
Mrs. Williams
wrote that topics
covered in the
APUSH curriculum
should promote
patriot-
ism. Feelings to-
wards this idea
have been mixed.
“If the group
can get enough
support from
See AP HISTORY on page 2
Student Hannah MacIsaac studies
her history textbook (Macey photo)
News in Brief:
Bleachers Collapse,
Yik Yak Concerns,
Teachers to get
Chromebooks By Jessica Macey
Staff Writer During last Friday night’s football game, a section
of the Triton bleachers collapsed. No one was hurt in
the incident. The bleachers have since been closed.
Football fans are still encouraged to attend games and
bring chairs of their own.
School reacts to Yik Yak
School administration recently sent an email to
teachers and parents concerning the app Yik
Yak. This app allows users to post anonymous mes-
sages that can be seen by other users within a certain
radius. It has been used to post cruel messages about
specific students. Triton has blocked the app from its
wifi. The app itself also prevents it from being used
near high schools, but this feature does not always
work. Parents and advisors have been encouraged to
talk to their children and students about cyberbully-
ing and the Yik Yak.
Chromebook computers to go to staff
Triton broke out its new set of Chromebooks at
the beginning of the year, but the changes don’t stop
there. All professional faculty and staff at Triton will
be receiving a Chromebook starting next week.
“...Something which was really
striking on my first road in Ameri-
ca was the slogan on a fast food
(billboard), “Get Fat.” It’s really
what I imagined about America and
sort of how I can see American life
in TV series. — French Exchange
student Manon
Triton High School page 2 November 3, 2014
EXCHANGE from page 1 differences between our countries. You have so
many stores we don’t have in France, like Star-
bucks, Hollister, Abercrombie … You also
have an impressing amount of food shops in a
same place! Moreo-
ver, you seem to be
very proud of your
country: we see flag
of United States of
America every-
where!
TV: How are
American classes
and classes in
France different?
Menuet: In
America, they do
everything really
quickly, for exam-
ple, they haven’t
(a) break between
lessons. In France, we have a break in
(between) all of the two lessons, and we have
one hour for lunch. However, we finished
school at about 5 o’clock. So I think these two
systems of education are so different.
Foreign Exchange stu-
dent Manon Menuet
(courtesy photo).
AP HISTORY from page 1 other schools, then I think it would
be a good idea since it would be the
majority’s opinion,” said junior and
current APUSH student Kristin Ro-
manski. This idea coincides with the
democratic prin-
ciples of the
United
States. For some
though, their
opposition to the
idea comes from
the political in-
fluence on edu-
cation.
“I would be
concerned if any
history curricu-
lum was de-
signed to pro-
mote a certain
political idea,”
said AP US His-
tory teacher Mr.
Christopher
Gette.
Another idea
which Mrs. Wil-
liams intends to
promote is
“American ex-
ceptionalism,”
which she named
in a public statement as one of the
three things which all students grad-
uating high school should
know. The concept of teaching stu-
dents that the United States is inher-
Heard in the Halls By Brett Greenberg
Funny, off-color comments overheard in Triton halls
“Wow, its as foggy from smoke in the hall (as) it is outside"
- Drama Hall
"What type of mystery meat are nuggets here at Triton?"
-Lunch Room
"I was so weighted down with disappointment during the
football game, the bleachers broke" -English Hall
"What is homework besides kindle for my fire pit"
- Library
IPHONE from
page 1 to the AT&T store be-
cause of the distance.
Also free shipping was
included.
“The ordering pro-
cess was kind of a pain
and somewhat confus-
ing,” said Romani. “It
kept on asking me about
my rate plan. The iPh-
one 6 is just okay. It
does lots of things I
would never use.”
While there are
many feelings about the
new iPhone 6, it seems
that Apple will never
stop creating and inno-
vating. And as for us,
we will always be in
search for the ‘new and
improved.’
ently different from and superior to
the rest of the world is not universal-
ly appealing.
“I don’t think that schools should
lie to the students,” said senior Alli-
son MacIsaac, a former APUSH stu-
dent. “There are many aspects of
America that are
great, but there are
many aspects that
aren’t. You have
to teach both
sides.”
The proposed
changes to the
APUSH curricu-
lum do not end at
patriotism. Mrs.
Williams stated in
her proposal that
“Instructional ma-
terials should pre-
sent positive as-
pects of the United
States and its herit-
age.” This would
remove what she
described as
“American-
bashing” from
history clas-
ses. This portion
of her proposal has
been criticized as
being censorship
and not teaching the curriculum fair-
ly.
“Not all of American history has
been rosy and perfect, but we have to
learn the mistakes the country has
made and learn from them instead of
pretending like they never hap-
pened,” said MacIsaac. She later
added “I have not been taught to hate
America … even if there are things
that aren’t that great, we don’t asso-
ciate them with America today; we
associate them with the mistakes we
have made in the past.”
Some say that not
only does a history
curriculum that in-
cludes negative aspects
of history not promote
a hatred of America, it
also “can humanize us
and also challenge us
to consider and devel-
op our own beliefs,”
according to Mr. Gette.
Mrs. Williams and
her supporters may
want curriculums to
promote some beliefs,
but they are very op-
posed to the promotion
of others. They believe
that history curricu-
lums, in particular the
APUSH curriculum,
are biased towards
liberal political
views. Even in Triton
Regional High School, this has been
observed.
“The way we’re being taught
nowadays is becoming too much of a
liberal view,” said junior Brody
Johnson. “I believe we need to stop
worrying about offending people
and teach history how it happened.”
Others do not see a bias in the
curriculum, like Mrs. Williams sug-
gested, but see how a bias could
come about in a class.
“I don’t think the curriculum is
biased at all. The way the curricu-
lum is set up is that the teachers
teach the facts
and not their
opinions. If a
student feels that
what they're
being taught is
biased, that’s
more from the
teacher and not
the curriculum,”
said MacIsaac.
Something
such as chang-
ing a curriculum
may not seem
protest-worthy,
but Colorado
students and
teachers have
suggested other-
wise.
“People have
reacted so
strongly because
what students are taught in school
will shape the citizens they become
and will shape the future of the
country,” said MacIsaac.
Hannah MacIsaac studies for an
upcoming test (Macey photo).
“The way we’re
being taught nowa-
days is becoming too
much of a liberal
view,” said junior
Brody Johnson. “I
believe we need to
stop worrying about
offending people and
teach history how it
happened.”
— Junior Brody
Johnson
Halloween Parade 2014 Photos by Triton Voice Staff
Triton’s seniors paraded the halls on Halloween Day last Friday. Led by class advi-
sors, Ms. Jennifer Scott and Mr. Ben Colby (who dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2) as
well as Mrs. Sharon Riordan, who dressed as the Cat in the Hat, the seniors enter-
tained the underclassmen with their creative costumes.