You may have noticed some slight changes in dress code policy. For example, shirts which previously were required to have a collar or crew neckline are now allowed as long as they don’t show any portion of the breast. Another change is that sleeveless shirts are now allowed as long as they extend to the point of the shoulder and have an opening no larger than the approximate size of the arm.

            Shirts aren’t the only requirements changing. Shorts/ skirts length has been raised from to the knee to 2 ½ inches above the knee. As well as shorts there were alterations in jean requirements too. You can now wear jeans as long as they have no holes that reveal skin above the knee.

            When asked about her view on the new dress code policy and why the school board changed it Ms. Kilgore said they changed the guidelines to be a little more reasonable. She recognized that there are few skirts/ shorts that meet the previous knee requirement of at or below the knee. Also, it’s challenging to find shirts that reach the collar bone. Another reason is that it took time away from class to reprimand students and therefore unless the clothing, piercing or hair color is deemed disruptive it is more of a disruption to dress code the student.

            As you may have heard they’ve also altered cell phone usage consequences. Didn’t you hate having your cell phone taken for 5-10 days? Well now with these new changes high schoolers are permitted to pay a small fee of $20 and will get their phone back that day.

            Why all the sudden changes? “Any changes we make are for the overall happiness of the students and to create a warm learning environment”, Ms. Kilgore stated when asked about this. I guess we’ll just have to see what these changes bring about.

   As of right now, the librarians, Cynthia Ryman and Rebecca Thomasson are hoping to have the library redone by next school year, 2010-2011. But at this rate, it could be a while. The cost of redecorating our library is about $10,000. This includes all the new furniture (sofas, benches, and tables) and a new plasma flat screen television that will be used for presentations. Considering the library budget does not include money for furniture, the librarians are trying to come up with ways to raise money.
   So far, they have raised a little over $600 with the help of the school book fair held at the beginning of September. Our school’s PTA (Parent Teacher Association) helped put this together, so a special thank you goes out to them. Obviously, the school book fair helped, but funds are still running scarce. Ryman and Thomasson are trying to come up with other ways to raise money. “We are thinking about creating plaques from donors so that we can place them on the new benches in our library. We are also looking for any grant opportunities,” says Ryman, “Also, we would be more then happy to listen to any of our students for ideas on raising money for this opportunity.”
   Although the library renovation is looking costly, “We are not giving up!” states Thomasson. If you would like to go view the new plan, ask either Ryman or Thomasson. They will show you a model created by Shelby Flannery, a graduate from East Tennessee State University. She even chose the fabrics for our furniture which are our school colors: maroon and grey. Thomasson believes in the quote from the movie Field of Dreams “If you build it, they will come.” She hopes to see an increase in students visiting the library. Right now, about 100 students come into the library before and after school, and she aspires to see more visits once the library is ready.
   Ryman says, “The size of our library is wonderful, but we want to create more inviting scenery so that our students feel welcomed. We really need this transformation.” Although the library was remodeled four years ago, according to Tommy Farmer (D-B’s computer technician) these are still the original furnishings.

   All in all, this will take quite some time, but if we as a school help the library with ways of raising money, we can make this happen. You can even increase your community hours by contributing your time to a fundraiser. This will be a wonderful change to our school and will make the library an exciting place to study and to type your research paper.