The lack of attention given to Academy Awards and continuation of discussion on the purpose of homeroom drew a crowd of about 60 students, teachers, and administrators to Wednesday’s lunch forum.

Announcements

Among events announced were next week’s Green Week activities, JNHS Movie Night next Friday, and the end of the Mosaic’s six-week Road to Brazil campaign, along with upcoming meetings to plan next year’s Community Day and the upcoming Exhibition Day.

Academy Awards            

Social science teacher Kerry Koda raised concern about waning participation and enthusiasm around the annual Academy Awards ceremony, in which teachers honor certain students for their hard work.  In recent years, many teachers have stopped nominating students, and some departments, like science and art, have created their own awards ceremonies. In addition, students who receive nominations often don’t show up to the ceremony, in contrast to years past, where large audiences of students and parents showed support for those nominated.

Koda suggested replacing the evening ceremony with an assembly during Exhibition Day; however, students at the Forum were not very receptive to the idea. “I think having [Academy Awards] during Exhibition Day would make kids a lot less likely to go,” said senior Peri Anderson.

Students noted that vague invitations for nominees, lack of publicity, and the exclusivity of the event may be contributing to lack of participation from both teachers and students. “I’m sure a big portion of the school doesn’t even know Academy Awards is an event that happens,” said junior Romy Beigel.

Homeroom

The remainder of the lunch period was spent continuing discussion from the last Forum meeting on the purpose of homeroom and how to use the homeroom period effectively. Forum attendees agreed that announcements made during homeroom, either by ASB representatives or over the intercom, are often ineffective in communicating necessary information to students.

Many students reported that teachers often don’t make an effort to inform their students or direct attention to ASB representatives making announcements. Some suggestions for more effective ways to keep students informed during homeroom were dedicating the beginning of the period to announcements or designating certain students from each homeroom to communicate with ASB.

Assistant Principal Jeanne Jones seemed hopeful that change could be made for the better: “Since the day we opened SDA this has been a real problem that we have dealt with…Change comes from you! Homeroom is yours!”