TRITON HIGH SCHOOL Triton’s Student-Produced Newspaper NOVEMBER 3, 2014

Find us on Facebook See us on Instagram Follow us on Twitter Watch us on YouTube Google us on Google+

@Triton Voice @tritonvoice @TritonVoice @ Triton Voice @ Triton Voice

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.