Students Seek to Improve AHS
Students commuting between North and South campuses travel under the football stadium and around the school to the front doors.
Arrowhead’s students are looking to help their school improve. There are new problems rising this year that the student body would like confronted, as well as older issues that need to be readdressed.
Sophomore Christina Liddicoat says that something really needs to be done about commuting between North and South campus.
Students are currently required to walk around South campus to the front door when walking from North. Kids involved in letting peers in through other doors are punished with a Saturday detention, says Liddicoat.
“It takes even more time out of your next class. I only have a fifteen minute study hall every day because of it,” says Liddicoat. “Something needs to happen, whether that means better security or monitoring IDs better or something else.”
Liddicoat says that this is her only study hall, and it leaves her with nearly no time to get any of her homework done.
Junior Kacey Korpela says that Arrowhead needs to invest more in the theatre and arts departments.
“They cut the [theatre] budget in half this year to put in new football turf that wasn’t really needed,” says Korpela.
The budget for musical activities is down by 3.01%, according to Arrowhead’s 2017-18 Budget Summary. In the 2016-17 school year, they had $82,841 to spend, compared to only $80,349 this year.
The funding for athletic activities is down by 2.40%, though they are still left with $977,056 to spend compared to their $1,001,123 the previous school year.
This is largely due to the community’s voting. Arrowhead held a referendum in April of 2016, allowing the community to vote on what changes they wanted to see at the school.
Arrowhead’s website reads, “The most significant reductions [from the November to the April referendum] were the elimination of a new fine arts auditorium and a replacement swimming pool. It is recognized that these projects are still strongly desired by many students, citizens, and staff members.”
According to Korpela, kids who participate in theatre, whether that be stage crew, Broadway Company, or otherwise, also tend to have higher GPAs than students in sports, so it makes more sense to put more money into the arts.
“Our grades are watched by the directors, so when we get a C- we’re cut off, but for sports you can have two Fs,” Korpela says.
To find out more about Arrowhead’s budgeting and spending, you can find the referendum and budget summary on Arrowhead’s website.
Korpela says that drug and alcohol abuse is a major issue at Arrowhead.
“Most people I know have gone to parties where drugs and alcohol are common, and I know of people who use drugs or drink,” says Korpela.
With how big of an issue it is, Korpela recommends that the staff finds another way of combatting it.
“Random drug testing isn’t doing anything about it because it doesn’t scare the people who do use drugs. Most of the time their parents already know about it. I think we need to find another way to enforce laws around school, because people are really good at hiding [drug and alcohol use],” says Korpela.
