“Once, I fell asleep in (English) class. I woke up and the teacher was staring at me. It scared me but then I went back to sleep,” said Chris Maldonado, 10^th grade.

“I’ve never gotten caught sleeping in class,” said Freeman Hinson, 11^th grade.

“My students don’t sleep in my class because they know better,” stated AP Human Geography and World History honors teacher, Mr. McDonald.

Sleep is vital to students’ well-being. Teenagers need about 9 ¼ hours of sleep each day. According to sleepfoundation.org  only 15% of students reported sleeping 8 ½ hours on school nights. With jobs, sports, an overload of homework, and chores, it’s hard for students to get the sleep they need.

“Students fall asleep in class because they either don’t get enough sleep or the teachers aren’t doing anything worth their time,” Chris Maldonado explained.

“I fall asleep because sometimes class is boring,” said Jarrod Swartz, 10^th grade.

The Warrior Record did a survey on how many hours of sleep students get on a school night. On average most students get between 5-6 ½ hours of sleep. Thirty seven people were polled.

However, there are consequences to not getting enough sleep. According to sleepfoundation.org, lack of sleep limits students’ ability to learn, listen, concentrate, and solve problems. It also makes them more prone to pimples, leads to aggressive and inappropriate behavior, can cause teens to eat too much unhealthy food, and possibly increase the use of caffeine and can contribute to problems such as drowsy driving.

However, there are solutions for lack of sleep. The website listed helpful tips to reduce lack of sleep which include:  making sleep a priority, making bedrooms a sleep haven, (including keeping it cool, dark, and quiet), having a consistent sleep schedule, and doing the same things every night before going to bed (this teaches your body the signals that it’s time for bed.)

“Try to go to bed earlier. It’s hard when you have homework or play a sport,” Freeman said.

Teachers often tell students not to sleep in class. Usually students are not even allowed to put their heads down.

“I sleep in class sometimes, but I’ve never gotten caught,” stated Nate Tichenor, 10^th grade.

“I don’t allow my students to sleep in my classroom and they know that,” Mr. McDonald added.

“I had an idea in my head and I just had to build it.” When Katie Horan, a freshman at Osceola High School, received the assignment in her English 1 class to construct a life-sized model from one of the inventions in Fahrenheit 451, she knew what she wanted to do.

“I wanted to do something that required more creativity and would stand out. That’s why I choose to do the [Snake] Box. My project took me a few days to complete, however, to get it just right.”

In Fahrenheit 451, a futuristic thriller that proposes how life can be with various high-tech inventions and no books, the snake is a machine that drains out old water and supposed toxins in the body along with blood.  Using a cardboard hat box as her base, Katie then embellished from there.

“I used red yarn to represent the blood and white yarn for the pills,” Katie said while hoisting up her project to the class. “I also included ribbon and jewels to decorate the machine and clear tubes.”

The project, in Katie’s opinion, was a “Total Success.” Katie’s favorite part is the “tubes with the red and white yarn. They took the longest.” Her sentiments are shared by Mrs. Iovino, Katie’s English teacher, who assigned the project.

“It’s a standout project that is truly unique,” said Mrs. Iovino. “I’m glad Katie got so creative with it.”

Two weeks ago, Kayla Paradis, 10^th grade, asked her chemistry teacher Mrs. Brown if she could go to the restroom at the beginning of class. Mrs. Brown replied, “You have to wait 10 minutes after class has started.” Kayla replied, “Fine, if I really have to.”

Students are not allowed to leave the classroom 10 minutes after class has started and before class is over.   Some students do not understand why the rule has been issued. Monica Brimm, 12^th grade, said, “I think if you got to go then you got to go. In my opinion, 10 minutes is too long. I would prefer five minutes instead.” She also added, “I think they have this policy because they don’t want students leaving class early.” But Mrs. Campbell, Assistant Principal, explained why the school has that rule. She said, “We have this rule to keep the hallways clear and be able to know which students are supposed to and not supposed to be in the hallways.” She added, “We also have the rule to keep students safe. We do see kids occasionally in the hallway and we do understand that sometimes there are emergencies and that some kids don’t feel well, but we do try hard to keep the hallways clear.”

What happens if you get caught in the hallway during this prohibited time period? Mrs. Campbell said, “When we do see a student in the hallway during the time frame not permitted, we sometimes escort them to class and ask the teacher why the student was let out. But it has improved since the beginning of the year, when teachers were mad because there were too many kids in the hallway.” Another student did not agree with the rule. Holly Sheeler, 10^th grade, said, “I know that they have this rule to clear the hallways but I think it is dumb because in the beginning and ending of class is the least important.” She also added, “I don’t want to go in the middle of class because it’s the most important time in the class because that is when we usually learn the most, and if I do go to the restroom then I miss everything and I get left behind.”

Assistant Principal Mr. Finkbiner finishes up his last year at Osceola High school at the end of this month. He has taught here for 20 years and said one of his favorite memories is “when the girls’ soccer team in 2000 was in the final game but lost. They had me put thier runner-up medals around their necks; it was a true honor.” Although Mr. Finkbiner will be at Largo High School as Principal next year, he said he plans to keep in touch with Mr. Bohnet. “We’ve already talked about it. His number is on my speed dial; I also plan on keeping in touch with a lot of other staff members. Most of them have my number.”

Sami Craske was using her phone at lunch one day, and when an administrator walked by, she hid it under her arm. No one saw anything and no one said anything. “I have never been in trouble for using my phone at lunch. I think the administration is a little lax on this rule,” said Sami.

School board policy states that a student may possess a cellular telephone, other ECDs (electronic communication device), and other electronic devices in school, on school property, at school-related functions, provided these items are powered off and concealed from view while school is in session. Students may not use cellular telephones, other ECDs, or other electronic devices on school property or at a school-sponsored activity to access and/or view Internet web sites that are otherwise blocked to students at school.  The school staff is not responsible for preventing theft, loss, damage, or vandalism to these electronic devices brought onto school property, including devices confiscated due to inappropriate use.

Some students don’t like this rule or think it’s pointless, like Cydney Davis, 12^th grade, who said “I think the rule is dumb. I don’t think there is any reasonable excuse for this rule.”

Others are indifferent to this rule. “I don’t really care about this rule because I don’t usually use my phone at school. I keep my phone in my backpack all day,” said Josette Surprenant, 11^th grade.

What some students may not know is that even though no learning is going on during lunch, lunch time is still during school hours. “I think we should be able to use them. It’s not like we are in class,” said one student.

“I don’t understand why they have the rule on Wednesdays. Most people are leaving anyway,” said Taylor Teagarden, 12^th grade. On Wednesdays, school doesn’t technically end until 12:45 P.M. “We offer it as a privilege to be able to go home when school ends on Wednesdays. We still have to be here monitoring kids,” said Ms. Campbell, Assistant Principal.

“I heard there is a study that using phones increases learning ability and test scores,” said Taylor. In any case, the rules remain the same.

One of Ms. Powers’ Anatomy and Physiology students, Kaitlyn Sferrazza, 12^th grade, brought in a creative “cat cake” to demonstrate both science and culinary skills. The cake was modeled after one of the cats the class dissected over the past two weeks.  “They were yummy,” Ms. Powers said.

                Four Osceola High School students won awards for the Largo Library’s Stanley Shalit Short Story Competition.  Contestants wrote short stories based on “the power of love.”  Seventeen schools submitted 400 entries and out of 9 finalists, 4 were from Osceola.

Jaclyn Hampson won an award for honorable mention and $50 for her story “On the Line.” Her story is about revealing a love that might ruin a friendship.

Cory Phelps also won an honorable mention award and $50 dollars for his story “Trailer Made.” This is a humorous story about how a rural couple survived winning the lottery.

Grace Renninger won a second place award and $100 for her story “Remnants of the Storm.” This story is about the love of a dedicated doctor.

Lastly, Stephanie Sanderbeck won a first place plaque and $150 for her story “The Requiem.” This is about a young woman’s music composition giving voice to her love for her dying grandmother.

Mr. Bohnet and Elks Club Representative, Ken Yagoda, stand with April students of the month, Alexi Cortez, 12th grade, and Amanda Green, 12th grade.

Elks Club Representative, Ken Yagoda, stands with Mr. Bohnet and Kye Armstrong, one of the students of the month for March. Jakob Yeager, the other student of the month, is not pictured.

On Thursday, April 26^th, at 2:00 p.m. in the Culinary Dining Room, Haley Brown, 12th grade, signed a softball scholarship to Seminole State College. Haley looks forward to being a Seminole State Raider!