life: 5-12 rant. part one: traffic @ mather.

hey hey!

so, now that i am done w. AP testing, i'm sorta still in celebration mode though we still have 5 weeks left.

after the APUSH test, i wasn't feeling it yet, but i think it's catching up....

so.

last saturday, i saw on my phone calander that i had traffic @ mather @ 12. but i didn't know if that was really true. it has been more then a few weeks since my last traffic. so i called. and called. and called. NO ONE EVER friggin picks up the phone! not only that, but the answering machine never answers!!! nice. so it just keeps ringing, and ringing. i can't even leave a friggin message. so nice. and i knew i had the right number!

the thing is that i also had a dentist appointment afterwards b/c of my PE accident. my ortho rec. me 2 get a second opinion. so we were gonna go down 2 china town to see him. i'll rant about that next.

but my ma DID keep the white card i thought she threw away. if we had it earlier, i would have never had to call.

last saturday, i went to mather 4 traffic.

i stood outside for 20min. thinking we couldn't go in. but we eventually went in.

and they couldn't find my card when we checked in for attendence.

so they guy asked me for my permit. i didn't have it since last time the guy didn't even check for it.

so the guy was like, "really?! who was it? we'll have to write him up."

he never said anything more about that, so... i dunno what's gonna happen 2 him, but i am gonna go back this saturday 4 traffic. nice.

what's even better is that 2day, pagani, a PE teacher that's also sorta slash driver ed coordinator for our school emailed us saying that starting this friday all CPS drivers ed centers will be closed until further notice. nice. perfect.

the place is a mess. it's a rusting trailer from the 80s or something. but i want 2 get it over with! i don't want to have this push into the summer. but that's what seems like will happen.

Open House

So. Today we had open house, and I was one of the tourguides. A lot of my friends were there. What we did was just take a group of interested parents/future-NCPers and show them what we have to offer.

a lot of the parents wandered off during the tour, which disapointed me. a lot of them didn't ask questions, which is exactly what I would have done, except i now realize how much you can get from asking questions. so, it was a bit awkward the entire time... it was just a lot of fact-rattling, but thing is, i really do feel proud of being a northsider.

i would love to do this next year!!

i remember this one azn mother bringing in her 7 year old sons to see the school--talk about wow! it's like getting into standford or ivy league!

but getting into hs in chicago IS like getting into college--applications, grades, reccomendations, tests, entrance exams, registration, rejected credits...

but now that CPS does not enforce the desegregation law as of the next school year (2010-2011), the school will FOR SURE be ruled by asians--30% of it ALREADY IS azn--the same as whites.

i know that this is racist, but i KNOW that a lot of the minority students did not meet academic standards, but they were admitted because of the de-segregation law.

walking around in NS hallways, you know for sure that this is a predominately white/asian hs. you see few and rare african american students.

even on the faculty, you only see a few african american teachers. (but there are also few latino teachers, and a few handfull of asn teachers, so it's not directed towards racism i guess)

the regimine is VERY rigorous here @ NS, but nothing we can't handle.

all classes are honors or AP (except P.E., health, sex ed, & driver's ed)

all-honors sounds SO intimidating, but it isn't. honors is VERY easy.

by junior year, ALL students are expected to take on @ least ONE AP class (**this is only what i feel, not what was expressed by the faculty**)--i say this b/c sophomore year, you can choose wether to take AP or Honors US History, but junior year, you can choose an AP science, AP social science, AP english course--EVERYONE has a chance to get an AP class of their strength.

and by senior year, you HAVE to take all AP classes (**once again, it is what I feel, not as expressed by faculty) since you have SO many oppertunities in every subject to go AP.

NCP: Library.

There are 2 floors to the library.

the 1st floor of the library is on the second floor of the school. THE ONLY ENTRANCE AND EXIT IS THROUGH THE 2ND FLOOR!!!! the third floor doors have alarms on them!!! (which many find out the hard way...it goes off, the librarian (usu. Mr. Pena) takes his time coming up to turn it off...)

the first floor has fewer computers then the second.

usu. during passing periods, early during lunch, right after/before school, the computers are taken.

the 2nd floor of the library closes @ 4:30pm.

the library closes @ 5:00pm.

maybe cause we're nerds, but hanging out @ the library is actually cool @ ncp. @ my old school, i betcha less then half the student body has ever been inside the library.

PRINTING....

in every room of the school there are black/white printers.

in the library there is one color printer. located on the 1st floor (of the library) by the librarians' desk to the left by the doors.

black/white prints are 10 cents per page.

color prints are 20 cents per page.

@ the beginning of each semester students are given $30 in print audit. money carries over semester to semester, not year over year.

WHICH PRINTER your stuff prints out of.....is a mystery. you need to get the hang of it. usu. only one printer prints (so the other is off), so if you see a printer printing, that's the one in commission right now. look for your stuff. everyone on the floor uses it, so your stuff may have to print a bit later, or was printed already.

IF IT HAS NO PAPER.... load it up. there's paper in a tray right by it. pull out the tray, load it up. in here, students have to do it: the librarians don't bother. they trust us.

IF IT HAS NO INK... then you can tell the librarians, and they can refund you your money, and change the ink.

CAMCORDERS. the library has an extensive collection of touch screen camcorders.... i herd gossip that next year they'll get thinner new ones... they are only lent for one day. YOU HAVE TO THEM BEFORE ADVISORY (or it's a $5 fine!)....many of them are missing components... the instructional booklet, DVD, fire wire, USB... the librarian will tell you what's missing. but if you plan to make a movie, you HAVE TO HAVE THE FIRE WIRE!!! let the librarian know. he/she'll get you another one if needed.

library material is only lent to NCP students... so if you have a Lane Tech friend over, they can't borrow stuff.

MARKERS...CRAYONS....SCISSORS....COLORING...PENCILS...TAPE...YES! the library does have them! and they can lend you it. if you leave your ID in exchange. (or something valueable) go to the desk and ask for them.

HOLE PUNCHERS...STAPLERS... YES! the library has quite a few on the librarian's desk by the doors. just use them.

SCANNERS....COPIERS....YES! the library has those too--the library only has 2 i believe. one on each floor. the 1st floor one is the first computer you see dead on when you come in. to its left is a scanner. 2nd floor one is the computer farthest left by the banister/windows. first one closest to the encyclopedias. COPIERS...they are for teacher AND STUDENT use!!! (10 cents for students....in cash....i believe. i'm not sure how they work...)

NEWSPAPERS....MAGAZINES.... the library has a lot of magazine subscriptions...found by the doors. newspaper is found on the rack by the doors also.

NCP: Colloqium.

so. next thing on your schedule. the thing that is labeled 'colloquium'. so what it is:

• non-credit class, but they do take attendance
• SHORTER DAY (9:30AM-12:45PM)
• pass/fail grade
• classes are chosen by students themselves on Sound Programming. the topics are not typical school topics (sewing, art, red cross, motorcycles, ect.) some are semester-long (typical), some are year long...so choose wisely.

YOU GET TO SCHOOL @ 9:30 PEOPLE!!!! they do not have searches on colloquium, like on normal days.

****COLLOQUIUM IS ONLY ON 5 DAY WEEKS. (ie, if you have monday off, you will not get colloquium this week because attending your normal classes are more important then colloquium)

they often do not let people get into the library. you are not allowed to go anywhere beyond the 1st floor (so that means the lunchroom or the 1st floor atrium). the doors are locked.

if you get there early, and the library hasn't filled up yet, you can get up and chat/use computers.

9:20AM: they let people up the stairs.

9:45AM-12:45PM: colloquium. there is a break the teachers give students, but it is their choice what time. normally 15 min. break. homework is dependent on the teacher. colloquium is normally considered a blow off class.

lunch is served after colloquium.