Winter Formal

Come celebrate “Treasure The Night” with us at Benson’s Winter Formal January 22nd at the Treasury Ballroom.This is located at 326 SW Broadway (97205) a couple blocks away from the Abercrombie & Fitch downtown from 8pm to 11pm. Tickets are on sell starting January 14th to January 19th at Benson in main hallway by the vice principals office its $20 per single $35 per couple if you are planning to bring a date the guess passes are also in the vice principals office they are due back in there January 20th it is more than likely there will be a spot to turn them in at. If u don't attend Benson give it to your date or guess and they should know what to do with it. If you are planning to come have fun with us don't wait until the last minute the tickets are limited they are only selling 300 tickets so get them when you can if you don't have the money you can try to work something out ahead of time with student council. Hope to see you there.

-Stanley  Caples

Benson's New Counselor

Student’s have grown very fond of our new counselor, but do not know much about her. Schares attended high school in Winthrop, Iowa, and apparently was quite an athlete. She claims that although she played many sports, her best was track, at which she anchored 4x400m relay team to a state championship and placed in The Open 400m Dash.

        After graduating, Schares went to Iowa state university to pursue her career in teaching. While also competed for the varsity track team in the 400m and 800m. When she graduated from College she accepted a job teaching at a middle school but after two years, decided to move to Folosom, California to work at a book store.

At this book store she found interest in school counseling and by fall 2008 she moved to portland  to get her masters degree in education. She was working at Madison part time for the past 2 years in a variety of programs offered for students. Now that she is at Benson, she claims that she never really understood how Benson’s Career and technical program worked until this year.

“I am impressed and amazed by the work our students and staff do here” Schares states.

Mrs. Schares seems to be clearly proud of where she works and says she loves her job at the school. Talking about the school also introduced her feelings about the students.

“I have found them to be entertaining, inspiring and enjoyable. It makes me look forward to walking up those steps everyday.”

Although Mrs. Schares loves benson and all of its madness, she also states her leasr favorite.

“When I’m walking across the overpass in the morning and cars splash me by driving too fast through the puddles in the outer lane.  You end up totally sprayed, and that’s just no way to start your day.” Which apparently is something we all dislike.

Same Sign, New Message

For the past 63 years the sign on the West end of Burnside Bridge has been seen, and is known by almost everyone in Portland.  When first built by Ramsay Signs, the sign read “White Satin”, then later changed to “White Stag”, and then again to “Made in Oregon”.  In 1977 the sign became a historic landmark in Portland, especially during Christmas when the nose of the deer shines red.  White Stag completely moved out of Portland, and was bought by a company who had trouble keeping it lit.  The owner then died and the sign was in trouble of either being moved or permanently shut-off.

In 2008 the University of Oregon moved in and started to pay part of the bill to keep the sign lit.  Since they were part of the pay, the Ducks were possibly going to be incorporated into the sign.  It had a chance of reading “University of Oregon”, or display a huge “O”.  People were mad with these ideas, since the University wasn’t even in Portland.  Therefore the University stopped paying for part of the sign.

    The sign was acquired by the City of Portland in 2010 and the Portland City Council agreed to give ownership to the City of Portland and have the sign read “Portland Oregon”. An agreement was made where the sign would be donated to Portland.  In return the City of Portland would pay $2,000 a month for electricity costs and maintenance.  Art DeMuro, who is the building owner on which the sign is attached to, donated $200,000 to the city to have the lettering changed to “Portland Oregon”.  The sign was rebuilt and ready to go by November 26th, 2010 lighting the temporarily dark corner.

-Connor Buckley

Talented Teacher Joins English “Gang”

About three weeks into the second quarter, Mr. Peyton explained to his senior classes that one of them were going to have to move into a new class.  Each of the English teachers had an extra class that they were forced to give up.  In the beginning it was unknown which class was going to have to move. The teachers didn’t get to pick the classes that were to be switched.  It was announced on Wednesday, December 8th that Mr. Peyton’s fourth period class was going to get the new teacher.  That’s when the new teacher, Ms. Margolis found which classes she would be teaching.  “I knew we were going to be the class that was going to change” said Jason Ma “I hoped it wouldn’t be us though.”

Other classes from the remaining English teachers also moved in with Mrs.Margolis.  The English teachers each had an extra class which had to be given up. Even though the students were happy with the teachers they had, they were to accept the change even if it was going to be hard.  The English teachers are good teachers and this teacher is going to add that much more talent to the group.  Ms. Karen Morgolis has an MFA (Master’s in Fine Arts), has a MA (Masters in Education), has worked with Writer’s in The Schools (WITS), and has thought about, but has never got her writing published.  Writing is only one of her specialties; reading can be considered another.  When asked what three books every high school student should read in her opinion, she replied “Not every book is right for every person.  More than anything, I think it’s important that students find an author or a genre that they truly enjoy.  As long as the reading causes you to think and grow and inspires you to read more, it’s probably worthwhile.”

That is what WITS is known for; getting students interested in reading.  WITS is an organization which helps awaken the inner writer and reader in students.  They use creative ways of getting students engaged in their writing or reading.  Not every student shows their talents and this is a way for them to discover their potential.  WITS is a national program working all around the United States.  She worked with WITS for six years and taught poetry workshops at Grant, Benson, Cleveland, and Franklin.  While working for WITS, she also worked as a Creative Writing teacher with Saturday Academy.  “I sat in on her class to ease the transition; everything seemed to be just fine.  I believe that if the students give her a fair shot, they're in for great content. That's what WITS teachers are known for” Mr. Peyton explains.

This is a highly-qualified teacher who wants to spread her knowledge around Benson getting the most out of her students.  Her new students have start attending her class since Winter Break.  They are privileged to be able to experience half a year with her as their teacher.

-Connor Buckley

The New Face of Benson Baseball

“True story, I’ll pick you guys over everyone any day.”  Those were the words that came into the team’s mind when remembering ex-Benson head baseball coach Jackson Gillett.  “That’s what he told us almost every day” explains player Nick Preciso “and then he leaves us to go to Liberty High School”.  Towards the end of Benson’s summer baseball season, the news came that the team would be getting a new head coach next regular season.  Gillett got the position as head baseball and football coach at Liberty High School, and lured player favorite assistant varsity coach Desmond Boots to go with him.  It was undetermined who the new head coach would be.

Head JV coach Adam Cohen stayed and was the front runner for the new position, but was not guaranteed it.  The team was restlessly waiting to find out who would be coaching them next year and the news finally came.  On Friday, November 5th, players got texts from the coaches that the new head coach was chosen.  Brian O’Leary was named the new leader and face of Benson Baseball.  Brian O’Leary grew up in Portland and attended Jesuit High School.  He lettered in baseball for three years. As a utility player and then graduated in 1995.  He was an assistant at Lincoln last year serving under two Benson graduates.  The Lincoln team took first place in 6A PIL for the first time in 54 years.  This will be his third year of coaching and is excited to experience it with Benson Baseball.

This year Benson is moving down to PIL 5A along with Wilson and Franklin which hopefully means the teams won’t get thrashed like they sometimes did by the bigger 6A schools.  Franklin is in the same situation as Benson; for they’re getting a new head coach also replacing Robbie Trebelhorn.  It is unknown why Wilson is moving down since they easily made the playoffs last year and dominated the PIL 6A in other sports.

Since baseball is becoming known as a slow, boring sport, O’Leary wants the team to play fast and aggressive.  The team is expected to hustle on and off the field not wasting any time.  The game may look slow, but really there is a lot going on.  It just looks like they’re just standing out there doing nothing because that is time to pay attention and concentrate.  Every player is always thinking on what he is going to do if the ball is hit to him because you can never know where it will be hit next.

“A Benson baseball player is here first, to be a student, second, to be a person of character, and third, to be the best ballplayer he can be. I expect to have the best students, the most character, and the hardest-working ballplayers in the city and the state. We will go a long way as a program when we stick to these priorities” O’Leary explains on what he wants Benson Baseball to be all about.

Benson Baseball isn’t only about winning.  There are many different aspects of the program.  The first priority is to become a good student.  You can’t make it on the field if you can’t make it in the classrooms.  This is the most important thing when it comes to any high school sport.  Second is to be a person with good character.  It’s all about representing Benson the best we can and it won’t happen if we don’t respect other people or they don’t respect us.  Finally, there is being a good player.  Ironically this is the least important of the three.  Everyone wants to win, but that’s not the top priority.  Even if the team has a losing season, the experience gained is far more important than winning.

-Connor  Buckley

Benson's Field of Dreams

There are many people wondering why the field is being torn up and being worked on.  Since mid-September it has been nothing but a huge pile of dirt.  Work is constantly being done when it’s not raining.  It is obviously staying a field; it will just become a field of better quality.  Instead of grass, which gets muddy when it rains, it will now be made of turf.

Turf is artificial grass which drains faster and can be used in any type of weather.  It is softer than regular grass making it better for the players.  There is a lot less upkeep needed to be done on it compared to real grass.  It doesn’t have to be mowed or watered; just swept clean of debris.

This is a $1.8 million dollar project that is going to benefit St. Mary’s, PCU (Portland City United Soccer Club), and Benson High School.  It will consist of two soccer fields, one which will have football lines on it.  The football field will also have lines for the baseball and softball fields that will be incorporated in as well.

PCU has paid for over half of the project with St. Mary’s fundraising $450,000 of it and the rest being paid by the City of Portland.  Since Benson is right next to Buckman Field, part of the agreement was to let the school use it during the day and for their sports teams.

PCU will mostly use the field in the winter and summer with St. Mary’s and Benson using it mostly during fall and spring.

"We've already worked out a schedule in terms of practice times and games, so I'm feeling like we're OK with it," Benson athletic director Bruce Alton said.

St. Mary’s is currently using Delta Park, Willamette Park and Portland State's Stott Field.  They use them for soccer and lacrosse.  Benson’s home football field is the turf field at Cleveland High School, so it won’t be a huge change when moved to Benson.  Right now they are practicing at Overlook Park, which is not made for football.  It is the same for soccer, who use Buckman Elementary and Tubman Elementary for practice and Delta Park for their home games.  Benson Baseball will be appreciative of the new lights going in so the team can practice outside longer and be able to finish their games that are continuing after the sun goes down.

As a result of this project, the freshmen are getting robbed of experiencing the full Benson P.E. Program.  They are not able to go outside to do various activities such as football, golf, or being able to run on the track.  Even with the weather being cold and rainy most of the time, it is still fun to be able to experience P.E. outside instead of being stuck inside the whole time.

Everyone is excited for the field to be finished.  Practices for various teams are coming soon or have already started.  It is proposed to be finished by mid-January and be ready to use.  With this field being made, in the PIL we will be the second, behind Cleveland HS to have a home turf field.  On the other hand, we will be the first to have a home turf baseball and softball field.

It was discovered last year that this project would happen; now that the time is near for it to be finally finished, excitement is running high.

-Connor Buckley

Off And On D’s

For the past year Portland Public Schools has currently been under control of unethical Administrators and teachers are being over ruled. It is early September and a bomb has just been dropped on the students of Portland Public District.This year a new online grading system has been rolled out called, “Grade Book.” This authorizes parents to check students’ grades. The catch is this system does not include D grades; this was decided by the district. This year 2010-11, it’s only voluntary and not all teachers are using it. I can see why we would like to keep this grade, not everyone can put in 100%, due to the fact that everyone lives their own life through struggles and obstacles. One teacher for example that isn’t using the system is Mr. Demaris, whom states.

“I have my own system and it’s worked for years” Also “I like to pass my students, if D’s are taken off there needs to be a compromise such as some percentage of a D grade thrown on as a C”

I could also understand why we could need to drop the D grades. It is relevant that today’s universities do not admit D grades on transcripts. Although this can be irrelevant because, some parents just hope for there kids to graduate high school.

US history teacher Mr. Ryan and I had a very pleasant conversation about this new system in which he helped me understand. He claims that although the system is voluntary at the moment, he believes that with time everyone will start to use it and then be forced to if not.  Mr. Ryan I quote expressed his opinion.

“I think its ridiculous, the district recognizes a letter “D” grade figured into a students GPA . . . the system contradicts that if D’s are taken off.” A couple of minutes later he added that “D’s and F’s are a big difference; a D is like a fair warning that a student needs to whip into shape, but it also shows that he or she is trying.”

By Mid September an email had been past through a cycle of teachers discussing the D grades on how some agree and disagreed. Furthermore in early October, D grades were put back on the system. This information was received from Social Studies teacher Mr. Weiner whom says he likes the new system, that it is easier to load up grades and it shows trends on how students are doing. On the other hand Social studies teacher Mr. Ryan whom still has not gotten around to getting familiar with it says he will begin by next semester. As he had predicted before, all teacher will “HAVE TO USE THE NEW SYSTEM BY NEXT FALL”. As we got further into our chit-chat it was clear that he was glad D’s were put back up, and finished up by saying

“I can't believe it took so much time to push it, when a tech guy probably only took 15 minutes to adjust the system.”

I feel that if you don't graduate high school, it is because you don't deserve circular. As I said before I understand everyone lives there own life and all is different. But if you’re trying to get over the struggles and the obstacles, why not overpass another 20% to aim at least for that “C” that gives an opportunity of going to a university? I have to say, I'm not the best student and its my last year of High School, and on my transcript Ds exist. I'd like to think, that maybe if this rule had applied to me sophomore year I would have pushed myself more, because for most students it's not about being able to do it because we are all capable but about how were in our time of adolescence, me being one of them. I have this mentality that school is not for everyone but, that doesn’t mean just because you don't like high school you won’t like college. This is why it could have been a good idea to drop the D grades just because the opportunity will always be there if later in your life, you decide to change your mind.

-Laura M Ramirez