VHS Riptide Online

Means’ 1990’s Toyota pickup had the passenger, driver side, and back windows completely broken out. Means’ mother got a call from former VHS student Zelda Porter, who was at the high school on Sunday, alerting her of the damage.
Kerns found a Mike’s Hard Lemonade bottle on the pavement to the left of the car.
The driver side window was completely shattered, and rear window had a quarter-size hole. The car was also egged.
“I don’t know who else would egg someone’s car if they weren’t in high school, and I don’t know who else hangs out in the high school parking lot,” said Kerns.
Kerns’ parents are paying for the comprehensive insurance coverage.
Around 2 a.m. on Sunday, October 11, Kerns went to pick up the car in the parking lot.
“School parking lots, you should be able to feel safe leaving your car. I don’t care if you want to go off and rage, but it’s not funny at all to break into someone’s car and rummage through their stuff,” said Kerns.
The glove compartment was open, but the vandals didn’t take anything. In Means’ truck, the glove box had been rummaged through. Nothing appeared to be taken.
“I can’t even deal with it right now, ” said Means.
Means’ car is at home. Means can’t drive with her knee injury , but her family plans on fixing the car as soon as possible.

Activists with the Rainforest Action Network, Nick Simmons, Logan Price, and Aleythea Dolstad traveled to New York to speak out against the oil sand industry now booming in the northern region of Alberta, Canada. On September 15, these three Islanders, along with the support of dozens of other people, hung 200 feet above the ground below the U.S. Niagara Falls observation deck displaying an enormous banner, protesting the Canadian extraction of bitumen, a thick viscous type of petroleum, commonly called tar sand oil.
The open-pit mining of the bitumen has increased in the past several years and has become especially controversial due to the huge amount of destruction it causes on the natural environment and the levels of pollution created during the extraction process. The timing of their demonstration coincided with the start of the U.S.-Canadian summit at the White House where President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper discussed top issues regarding both sides of the border.
This form of demonstrating through direct-action is a more effective way of protesting than going through the bureaucratic system of legislation, said Simmons.
“It’s a super rewarding experience, one you can stand behind,” he said.
Putting this project together required the support of many individuals. There were people that supported the demonstration by publicizing the event through YouTube and Twitter, providing support on ways to take direct action against these sorts of issues, constructing the banner to be hung below the deck and through handing fliers out to people at the falls.
After five hours of hanging with the enormous 70 foot long banner that read Clean Energy Future with an arrow towards the U.S. and Tar Sands Oil pointing towards Canada, Simmons, Price and Dolstad returned to the observation deck. There the park officials promptly placed them, and several other members who were there supporting the demonstration, under arrest. They were released after pleading not guilty and posting a $500 bail at a hearing several days after their arrest. Simmons commented that this did not dampen the success of their protest and hopes to continue with direct-action demonstrations on future controversial issues.

Vashon High School will use the website Skyward to allow access to grades and attendance for parents. In order to access student grades parents will need a user name and password. This is a new concept for the district so the site is not yet up and running. The faculty met on Thursday, September 17 to discuss information around Skyward.
“Letters are being sent out to parents next week,” said registrar Deb Franson. It is hoped that grades will be posted at the beginning of the week of September 21.
Senior Sophie Nespor said that sending grades home every six weeks is ample. Having the grades online “could possibly add more stress on students from their parents.” She said that people need to keep in mind that over the course of a trimester grades can change a lot depending on tests and projects not yet entered into the computer.
Donna Nespor, parent of Sophie and her brother Olin, a freshman, said that she, “is more likely to check up on her freshman son’s grades than Sophie’s” because Sophie has more experience in the grade category. Donna Nespor said that the online grade and attendance database could be a positive way to monitor the first trimester of a freshman’s high school experience.
Freshman English teacher, Colleen Carlson, agreed with Sophie Nespor that parents need to understand that grades fluctuate.  There may be outstanding projects and points that cannot be entered into the computer till the trimesters end.  Carlson overall agrees with the online grades. She said that as a parent she would have liked the ability to check her children’s grades.
The posting of grades and attendance online will give parents more access to their student’s high school experience. It will also enable them to be more active in their child’s education.

Casa Hogar, is one of many children’s shelters in the Guadalajara area and is home to 157 children aging from newborn to 17 years. According to shelter owner Veronica Tejeda Alcantar, only about one-third of the children are orphans; the rest cannot be supported by their families. Walker said Alcantar started the shelter when she was 17-years-old by taking a family of three siblings into her parent’s home. She then bicycled through neighborhoods asking for donations to start a casa hogar. The shelter grew into a two story building complete with a preschool, an under-construction elementary school, two music rooms, a cafeteria, a concrete playing field, and enough sleeping space for the kids.
VHS students donated money and supplies gathered over the summer, played with the kids, and experienced a different culture and way of life.
“I found that I could communicate with people through ways other than just language,” said Jones.
Many who went on the trip were able to get past the initial language barrier and grow very close to the kids after two weeks.
“Working with the kids was pretty eye-opening; to see how you can accept people when you don’t even know them. Just bring them in,” said Walker.
For prospective travelers, contact Sally Adam.