THE MONITOR

By Donald J.

Shall we take a look inside a teacher’s mind?

Hello Monitor Blog! In this article, I will be interviewing my Homeroom Teacher, Mrs. Candice Brodowski. I got this idea by thinking of article ideas. I was just sitting with my notepad in hand, and I looked over at my Guitar World magazine and thought, “They always interview people, why can’t I?” So I got my computer, logged in, and looked at my list of teachers to interview. It took a while to find the teacher I wanted to use, but I finally landed on Mrs. Brodowski because she’s one of my most interesting teachers. So without further ado, here’s an Interview with Mrs. Brodowski:

Q: What inspired you to become a teacher?

A: I’ve had wonderful teachers in the past who really encouraged me and helped me to gain confidence, and that I had abilities that I could do, and also I struggled when I was in school, and I wanted to become a teacher to be able to help other kids not have to struggle the way I did, and let them know that people understand them.

Q: If you could rate being a teacher from one to ten, what would you rate it and why?

A: I would definitely say ten! I love being able to work with students and inspire minds of the future. I love that I could be creative and use different ways to teach, and I also love that I get a vacation when my nieces and nephews get vacation.

Q: What was your favorite subject as a child and why?

A: I have two, I love Language Arts, and I love Social Studies. I like Social Studies because I like to learn about the world, and how people influenced the world, and I like Language Arts because it allows you to be creative and express yourself, there’s usually no right or wrong answer, you can kind of write and freely express yourself

Q: Were you in any clubs in school as a child? If so, what were they?

A: I was in several clubs, I was in the Nature Club, in which we got to walk around and hike and learn about different plants and animal, I really enjoyed nature. I was also part of the Journalism Club, where I got to do that writing and be creative the way that I wanted to. I was also part of the Music Club, so that was where people who were singing and involved in band could get together and collaborate and make music, I like music again because it allows you to be creative, I was also involved in an Arts and Crafts club, and I was also involved in an after-school tutoring club where I got to help other students as a student, so like a peer mentor.

Q: Finally, did you have any favorite teachers in school?

A: I did have a couple of favorite teachers, my second grade teacher, Mrs. Niner, who was a teacher who really encouraged me to write, and to be creative. She sent in my work to be published, I was a published author in the second grade. Although it was just a little poem, it encouraged me and made me feel important, and that I could do something. And then I had in high school, a teacher name Mr. Young, who was my Social Studies teacher, who showed me how SS applied so much to the world, and also when I was older, he I got to be a teacher aid where I got to grade and do things, he showed me the teacher world.

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By: Katira S.

We all know that Patrick Mahomes is one of the NFL’s most talented QB’s this century has ever seen. He continues to shock us all week after week, and with a loss last week and a close game this week Pat has a whole lot on his plate with wild card weekend coming up.

But Patrick has not been the only Mahomes trending this week, the other happens to be his brother Jackson. You may know Jackson Mahomes from his crazy Tik Tok dances, but we all know him as Pat’s little brother. Jackson’s wayward fame seemed to gain attraction on September 19, 2021, when the Kansas Chiefs faced the Baltimore Ravens and ultimately lost due to a fumble and recovery. After the Chiefs lost, Jackson thought it was appropriate to pour water on a so-called “Loud and Belligerent” Ravens Fan. But this wasn’t the last of Jackson. Shortly after this on October 17, 2021, Kansas City faced the Washington Football Team and before the kickoff, Jackson Mahomes was seen dancing on the late Sean Taylors memorial for a Tik Tok video (Sean Taylor was Murdered in 2007). But Jackson later “apologized”. But this apology went through the ears of many and out the other because shortly after this on December 15, 2021, Jackson was back at it again on a Tik Tok video complaining about the services he received at a small bar in Kansas City. This is the Bar that later ripped Jackson to shreds, I’ll give you a little piece of what was said,” …That is an expectation we would have from a mature and rational person, not someone who pours water on fans and dances on memorials of tragically lost people for Tik Tok clout…”. (Courtesy of Complex.com and Sotkc’s Dec 15 Instagram post).

But as you all know by now that wasn’t the last of Jackson Mahomes. On Saturday, January 8th, 2022 at the Denver Bronco vs Kansas City Chiefs game Jackson was once again seen on the Kansas City sideline doing Tik Tok dances, but the dance wasn’t the part that had him trending for the last two days, it was the fact that he had on a jacket that said: “Mahoms” when it’s supposed to be spelled “Mahomes” This was just another stupid act for Tik Tok clout.

You may wonder “what does this have to do with Patrick?” well to answer your question, Jackson is basically riding on the coattails of Patrick. The fame that Jackson has, he is using it the wrong way. After the water incident, reporters asked Patrick what he thought of his brother’s behavior and he had this to say,” There was things said to him and Brittney that you don’t see caught on the clip, but I mean he’s been good at not trying to respond to that stuff, he takes a lot and uh he’s usually pretty good at it and he’ll learn from it and just try to stay away from those people as best he can”. (Courtesy of TMZ sports). Patrick Mahomes has to wake up and smell what’s cooking in the kitchen before it burns and starts a fire because if he doesn’t, the Golden name “Mahomes” is going to be corroded by a chemical branded “Jackson Mahomes”.

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By Sage M.
As online students, we can all relate to spending numerous hours on our electronic devices. Most of these devices emit blue light, which can cause painful headaches. And recently, all over social media, there has been this claim that one product can fix it all: Blue Light Glasses. These glasses claim to filter HEV/Blue Light that cause symptoms like tired eyes, sleeplessness, and vision blur. These have had mixed opinions of doctors, professionals, and users all throughout the media. I decided to get a definitive, truthful answer to these stirring questions. I tried the Quay Blue Light Glasses so that you don’t have to.
This particular brand of glasses range from $40-$65 dollars, so I was skeptical at the effectiveness these would have compared to other, more expensive brands. Nonetheless, keeping in mind what it was supposed to help, I started my experiment. I wore them whenever I was on my phone and on my laptop, which meant I was wearing them for most of the day.
I enjoyed wearing them for the first couple of days. They didn’t interfere much with my day-to-day life, though they took some getting used to because I normally don’t need to wear glasses. To many wearers, they are very stylish, and they come in many different colors to suit anyone’s taste. In addition, those first few days, I found myself getting less headaches. My eyes were still tired, but I blamed that originally on lack of sleep from the day beforehand.
However, in the following days, wearing of the glasses felt redundant. The more I wore the glasses, the less I felt they were working. My eyes were just as tired and I started to get headaches again. My sleep schedule didn’t vary much throughout this period of time as well. I fell asleep at the same time and woke up around the same every morning with the same ease as without the glasses. Also, as time went on, I felt the glasses getting increasingly uncomfortable. To be able to consistently remember to put on the glasses whenever an electronic device was in my view was a burden, as I felt if I went too long in front of my computer without them all then I wouldn’t be able to record completely accurate results because they wouldn’t work.
After the two weeks with the glasses, I paid extra attention to how I was feeling the following weeks after the glasses. Most of the time with and the entire time without felt almost exactly the same.
Would I recommend them? In all honesty, probably not. The glasses did not work as I expected them to consistently throughout the two weeks. It is important to keep in mind that it could have just been the brand. Just because they didn’t work well for me, doesn’t mean they won’t work well for you. I recommend other maneuvers to try to keep blue light exposure to a minimum. Most phones have settings where you can decrease the amount of blue light emitted by the phone, especially at night so you can get better sleep. This can be found in the settings. You can also keep your screen brightness on your phone and laptop low so the light is less harsh on your eyes (this is one of my go-to methods for preventing headaches). The Quay Blue Light Glasses were not worth the money or the discomfort for me, but one of the other methods or other brands might work for you!

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By Rebecca H.

As the world watched the inauguration ceremony of Joseph R. Biden, Jr and Kamala D. Harris, it was filled with many historic firsts, but our nation’s new leaders are not the only ones making history. On January 20th, Amanda Gorman became the youngest inaugural poet in the history of the United States, joining a prestigious group of poets who have spoken at presidential inaugurations, including Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, and Elizabeth Alexander.

Ms. Gorman is a 2020 graduate of Harvard University, where she majored in sociology and minored in Spanish. She began writing when she was five years old, and when she was sixteen years old, she was named the first Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles and made a youth delegate to the United Nations. Three years later at just nineteen years old, she was named the first ever National Youth Poet Laureate. She was contacted by President Biden’s inaugural committee after First Lady Dr. Jill Biden suggested that she speak at the inauguration. Dr. Biden heard her open for the Library of Congress’ literary season back in 2017. In an interview with the Associated Press, Gorman explained how she was struggling to finish her poem two weeks before the inauguration, but the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th gave her “a second wave of energy to finish the poem”.

Gorman’s poem, titled The Hill We Climb, is a five-minute spoken-word poem that The Boston Globe said, “outshined even the performances of megawatt stars like Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga”, who were featured performers at President Biden and Vice President Harris’ inauguration. In the poem, Gorman includes two references to the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, created by Lin Manuel Miranda, whom Gorman credits as one of her main influences. Miranda responded on Twitter, “You were perfect. Perfectly written, perfectly delivered. Every bit of it. Brava!”. In addition to her brilliant work in poetry, Gorman is also a published author. Her first book, titled The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough, was released in 2015, and she has two new books releasing in 2021.

Amanda Gorman has a very bright future ahead of her, and one of her goals is to take the oath of office herself. She told the Boston Globe in 2017, “I always say the really, really long-term goal, meaning 2036 is to become president”. Given the power and strength her words have, I would not be surprised to see her being sworn-in as our nation’s president, in fact, the last word goes to Amanda Gorman –
We are striving to forge a union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man and so we lift our gazes not to what stand between us, but what stands before us / We close the divide because we know to put our future first / We must first put our differences aside / We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.

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By Tom D.
On Friday, April 9th, Kentucky’s Democratic Governor Andy Beshear signed several bills that would help in the economic growth of Louisville, including legislation that created a financing plan that would stimulate economic growth in the western part of Louisville. Lawmakers came together to make sure that the legislation helped economically distressed neighborhoods. Beshear also signed another bill that would help ease the transition of former prisoners back into the swing of life, stating that Kentuckians “deserve a fair shot at re-entry into society, and it’s our job to make sure they have the tools they need to succeed” (Schreiner 2021). Another bill was signed that created a tax increment financing district that would help reinvest tax dollars from Kentuckians to create more opportunities for those in largely minority neighborhoods.
According the Beshear and the article cited, “80 cents of every $1 of revenue now generated in western Louisville flows elsewhere. The new law will create $30 million of seed money for West End investments” (Schreiner 2021). Beshear states that this is a big step and a good step forward after what he believes are decades of neglect and carelessness towards those in western Louisville. State Representative Pamela Stevenson, also a Louisville Democrat, agreed with Beshear’s bills and maintains the sentiment that the legislature regarding the new opportunities for minorities was a great way for members of the community to “take the ball and run” as she put it (Schreiner 2021). She believes that you cannot have a thriving state if the people within that state cannot thrive themselves.
As for the ex-prisoner bill Beshear signed, the goal is to help ex-convicts begin their lives without the issue of obstacles. If proven beneficial, such a legislative move could inspire other states to take such action if they have not already. The bill is meant to create programs that will help inmates to receive assistance in gathering documents, such as resumes, birth certificates, and other needed credentials needed to find stable employment, classes for those who want to earn an education, and finding housing.

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By Zuha Z.

There are several issues the typical online student has to suffer through and cope with within their educational career. Generally, most of us students' goal in secondary school (brick-and-mortar or otherwise) is not to learn but to get good grades. Most of us students are struggling to perform in each of our unique ways.

I've been a student at Connections since I was in the first grade. I'm a senior now, and it's taken many years of trial-and-error to get good at online school. Some of it is probably my fault… well, some of it definitely is, not all of it. I'd heard of straight-A students coming to Connections, realizing that they couldn't be straight-A students anymore, and going back to their brick-and-mortar schools. These new conditions (thanks to the pandemic) have caused a greater influx of students to switch to our online school. So, for all of you newbies and oldies who continue to struggle, read on for some tips.

First and foremost, you need to figure out your learning style. Some people study by entering a "flow" state. This is when you enter a state of focus where nothing else outside of your activity really matters to you. It's when you're so gripped by what you're doing that you can't really peel your eyes away. (If you have autism or ADHD, you might know this as hyper fixation or hyper-focus.) It's great if you manage to tap into flow often, but it can be harder to do when it comes to a subject we're not interested in. In comes the Pomodoro method.

The Pomodoro method is when you study in four chunks, with short breaks in the middle, and then have a break at the end. This is usually done by having four 25 minute intensive study sessions, with 5 or 10 minutes long breaks, followed by a 15 or 25 minutes break, but you can make the length of any of these times as short or long as you find beneficial. The Pomodoro method can help those of us who have trouble maintaining attention, are bored by the subject, suffer from eye strain, or back pain.

Next, you need to know how to organize yourself. Some people know and remember what they have to do in a week, pace themselves, and do it all without much forethought. Well, they're monsters— you and I are normal, and we need a way to organize ourselves. There are loads of different ways to do this, from time chunking to making to-do lists to bullet journaling. It's best to experiment with them and find what benefits you the most. I personally like to use Habitica; it's an RPG (role-playing game) style habit tracker.

Also, you should try and make sure you're utilizing the resources available to you. If your teacher has study guides, use them! If they don't, look them up. There are loads of different organizations that offer free study guides, from Simple Studies Inc. to SparkNotes to many other organizations online. Just search up your subject and the unit, and it's bound to show up. It can help to play around with the search words; you can include your grade (like "9th grade," not your letter grade) or the specific lesson you're doing.

There are more study tips I could mention, but this is a pretty good start! There is no harm in learning more study techniques, and it can actually be a pretty interesting experiment! Best of luck, and happy studying!

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By Rebecca H.

In early January, President Joe Biden selected Merrick Garland to serve as his attorney general. With the confirmation hearings now finished, the Senate will soon vote on the nomination of Mr. Garland to the position of attorney general. Nominated by former President Bill Clinton in 1997, Mr. Garland served on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for over two decades. Prior to this, he served as a top official at the Justice Department as well as a prosecutor on high-profile murder cases.
In 2016, former President Barack Obama nominated Mr. Garland to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant after the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia in February of that year. Only hours after the announcement of Scalia’s passing, then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proclaimed that, any appointment by President Obama, the sitting president, is null and void. He expressed that since it is an election year, the next Justice shall be selected by the newly elected president. Additionally, a letter signed by the eleven Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated that they had no intent to consent to any nominee appointed by Obama. Furthermore, no hearings or proceedings were held regarding the appointment of Mr. Garland.
The controversy over this precedent was reignited in 2020 after the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, when former President Donald Trump, just six weeks before the election, nominated now current Justice Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacant seat. In what was described as an “extraordinary scramble” by The New York Times, Senate Republicans ultimately confirmed Justice Barrett to the Supreme Court in late October, in a 52 – 48 decision.
Now that the confirmation hearings are in the books, and with Democratic control of the Senate, the stage is set for Merrick Garland to become the next Attorney General of the United States.

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By Caitlin Y.

Why must we overthink? Sometimes, being stuck in your own head stops you from getting things done. Developing a good work ethic will help you progress in school, work, and daily life. However, there are quite a few obstacles that can stand in the way of productivity. Perfectionism, procrastination, and fear can hold you back from accomplishing your goals. Luckily, there are ways to overcome these obstacles.

Sometimes, we can spend more time than usual on a project or task because we think it all has to be perfect. This idea of perfectionism can actually harm you, since anything lower than perfect feels like a disappointment. Instead of wasting time perfecting the little details, develop the mindset that mistakes will happen, and that is completely normal. There isn’t a way to achieve complete perfection, so expecting yourself to be perfect will make you feel less self-confident. By accepting your mistakes and moving on, you will be more productive and happier with who you are and what you are capable of.

Procrastination is something we are all familiar with. Just the thought of completing a dreaded task can make us want to give up and stop trying. However, if you ignore your negative thoughts and just try your best, you will find that completing that task wasn’t so impossible after all. Avoiding something will just make you more anxious and lead to last-minute stress (ever had to pull an all-nighter?). Procrastinating keeps you from doing what you really want because you are stuck stressing about small tasks. Instead, checking off those small tasks will be rewarding and allow you to focus on what you really care about.

Finally, fear is a force that can hold you back. It can be the fear of what others will think, or the fear of failure, or just the fear of trying. But fear is something that will never go away. As Nelson Mandela stated, “I learned that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” Being afraid of something and deciding to do it anyway is true bravery. Having confidence in yourself can help if you are afraid of being judged, or believing in yourself can help if you are afraid of failing. In the end, it is better to try and fail than spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you had just taken that risk. Being brave enough to conquer your fears will help improve your work ethic, because you won’t be afraid to accomplish your goals.

Don’t overthink; just do whatever you have been avoiding! You will feel so relieved and proud of yourself for overcoming your obstacles. Learn that new hobby, try playing an instrument, or just be happy with knowing that you can improve your work ethic and conquer your fears.

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By Adrienne A.

We see trigger warnings all of the time in our day to day lives, from the trigger warnings for fake blood on TikTok to the warnings for mentions of murder in books. But do these warnings work? To start, trigger warnings are meant to inform someone with the trauma of potentially distressing text. They are mostly intended for people who have experienced trauma. They originate from work on PTSD, a condition where certain reminders of trauma cause someone to experience severe emotional reactions.

However,
the concept of trigger warnings was approved without any extended research to
verify that it works. Researchers decided to test the efficiency of trigger
warnings by testing 600 people who had experienced a traumatic event or
situation. The researchers split the people up into 2 groups, and both groups
read a range of passages marked from neutral to mildly distressing to markedly
distressing. One group obtained trigger warnings before reading, and the other
group did not. After assessing the results, researchers concluded that both
groups reacted alike and that the trigger warnings did not reprieve either
group from the impact of the passages.

Avoiding
talking about trauma can also become a problem. “Avoidance is bad.”  Said Guy
Boysen, a professor of psychology at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.“The
reason people don't get over their phobias and traumas and fears is because
they don't allow themselves to be exposed to reminders of them or the things
themselves, and that just increases their symptomology." The other issue
is that there is no way to make trigger warnings specific enough in a common
environment because it is 100% unique to that person.

In conclusion, it seems as
though there is no concrete evidence that fully proves the benefit of trigger
warnings for those with a history of trauma. Research and testing by many
scientists suggest that the use of trigger warnings made no overall difference
for the readers reading possibly distressing text.

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As the saying goes, “history repeats itself”, and us
writers, and politics junkies, feel a bit of déjà vu heading into the next few
weeks of business in Washington D.C., as the Senate prepares for the historic
second impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump, with a trial
start date set for February 9^th. This time last year, the Senate conducted
an impeachment trial in early 2020 against then President Trump, which ended
with the Senate acquitting Trump on both charges. The charges stemmed from a
whistleblower complaint alleging that Trump asked the President of Ukraine,
Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate current President Joe Biden and his son
Hunter Biden. Although this second impeachment trial may feel like a repeat of
the last trial, there are a plethora of differences surrounding this upcoming
trial.

Firstly, the current charge of incitement of
insurrection against former President Trump is vastly different from the two
previous charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress he was charged
with during the first impeachment. Another difference between this trial and
the last trial, is that the Senators who will be acting as jurors, are also
witnesses to the events that prompted the incitement of insurrection charge
against the former president. A third difference is that when the first
impeachment trial was held, the Senate was under a Republican majority, with
Sen. Mitch McConnell as majority leader. Presently, the Democrats control the
Senate, and Sen. Chuck Schumer is majority leader.

One argument that has been made against the upcoming
trial is that there is no precedent in impeaching a former president. Some,
including Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, are arguing that it is unconstitutional to
conduct an impeachment trial against former President Trump now that he is a
private citizen, however there is some historical precedent for impeaching
elected officials who were no longer in office at the time of their
impeachment. An example of which is William Belknap, Secretary of War under
President Ulysses S. Grant, who resigned in 1876 with the hopes to thwart his impeachment,
however, although he was no longer in office, the House still impeached him and
a trial was held in the Senate, at which he was ultimately acquitted. Harvard
Law School’s Laurence Tribe released an op-ed in The Washington Post
expressing that it is constitutionally possible for the Senate to hold an
impeachment trial even now that Trump is out of office, stating “The clear
weight of history, original understanding and congressional practice bolsters
the case for concluding that the end of Donald Trump’s presidency would not end
his Senate trial.”.

As the eyes of the world watch the proceedings in the
trial, and no matter the verdict, it will be nothing short of a historic moment
for the United States of America.

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