Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Prom

School plans 1st non-segregated prom
After decades of separate functions, students hope to unite behind dance
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:11 a.m. MT April 10, 2007
ASHBURN, Ga. - Breaking from tradition, high school students in this small town are getting together for this year’s prom.
Prom night at Turner County High has long been an evening of de facto segregation: white students organized their own unofficial prom, while black students did the same.
This year’s group of seniors didn’t want that legacy. When the four senior class officers — two whites and two blacks — met with Principal Chad Stone at the start of the school year, they had more on their minds than changes to the school’s dress code.
They wanted an all-school prom. They wanted everyone invited.
On April 21, they’ll have their wish. The town’s auditorium will be transformed into a tropical scene, and for the first time, every junior and senior, regardless of race, will be invited.
The prom’s theme: Breakaway.
“Everybody says that’s just how it’s always been. It’s just the way of this very small town,” said James Hall, a 17-year-old black student who is the senior class president.
“But it’s time for a change.”
There are excited announcements of the upcoming dance plastered all over the school, where about 55 percent of students are black and most of the rest are white.
A makeshift countdown to the prom is displayed as a cardboard cutout on a main hallway. Student council members canvass the hallways, asking students to buy a $25 ticket and be a part of history. In the cafeteria, images of palm trees and waterfalls brighten up the sterile walls. “The First Ever!” a poster exclaims. “Got your haircut?”
Difficult taskStudents say the self-segregation that splits social circles in school mirrors the attitude of this town of 4,000 people. So getting every student to break from the past could be a difficult task.
With prom night about two weeks away, only half of the 160 upper-class students have bought tickets. And there’s talk around the school that some white students might throw a competing party at a nearby lake.
“Everyone is saying they’re not going to the school prom,” said Steven Tuller, a 17-year-old white junior who doesn’t plan to attend either event because he wants to wait until he’s a senior. “They’re saying it’s tradition.”
Yet Turner County High already has defied tradition this year. The school abandoned its practice of naming separate white and black homecoming queens. Instead, a mixed-race student was named the county’s first solo homecoming queen.
'Life's got to move on'Some alumni welcome change at Turner County High.
“People still think of how life was 20, 30 years ago,” said Keith Massey, a 1990 graduate who now runs the popular Keith-A-Que restaurant in town, about 75 miles south of Macon. “And life’s got to move on.”
Massey recalls an attempt to integrate one of the prom parties when he was in school, but few whites showed up. Attempts to organize a school-wide prom in recent years failed because of a lack of student support.
Stone, serving his first year as the school’s principal, has been enthusiastic about an integrated prom. He’s funneling $5,000 of his meager discretionary fund to hire a DJ and buy decorations, and he’s persuaded a photographer to set up shop at the civic center to snap photos of the couples before the dance.
“This senior class is a close-knit group from top to bottom, and they want to do what’s right,” said Stone, who is white. “They wanted a full school prom. And I told them if they would do it, I’d do them right.”
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

How do you feel about this article?

What would you do if you were the students in years past?

What would you do if you were the current students?

How is this different from your high school experience?

How is this similar to your high school experience?

Do you feel that there is segregation at your school? If so, how?

What are your feelings on segregation in general?

Is there ever a time when segregation is beneficial?

Monday, April 9, 2007

Cold Call

Period 3 read the following scenerio and answers the questions at the bottom in complete sentences on your blog.

Caller: Hey, How you doing? I am calling about the job in the paper. I am just the
guy you are looking for!

Respondent: Which job are you calling about sir?

Caller: You know, the one in the paper. I don't know what it's called, but I can do
the job.

Respondent: I see. What type of work experience do you have related to this job?

Caller: Lots.

Respondent: Can you be a little more specific?

Caller: Well not at this point. I worked a couple of weeks at Bubba's Bar B-Q, but I
didn't like old man Jordan. He wanted me to work weekends!

Respondent: I see Mr._____ I didn't get your last name. We will contact you if we
would like to invite you for an interview. Don't call us we'll call you.


Questions:

Would you invite the caller for an interview? Why or why not?

What are some things that the caller did well?

What could the caller have done to improve their cold call?

Should the respondent have helped the caller more than they did?

If you were the respondent how would you have handled the situation? Why?

Would you behave like either the caller or the respondent on a cold call? Why?