1. What direction do you see the U.S. going? Why is it going this direction?
   I don't know because I'm not taught about the U.S.
2. Why do SAT scores in the U.S. continue to go downward?
   I don't know because I'm not taught about the SAT scores.
3. What are solutions to low SAT scores?
   Again, I don't know because I'm not taught about the SAT scores.
4. Make a bullet list of a few problems with education in California.
   -School feels like prison.
   -They blame us for problems they should be blaming the previous generation for.
   -They force us to learn subjects we would rather not learn.
   -They take no action on serious problems.
5. What are solutions to the California Education problems?
   -Take our opinions into considerations.
   -Don't make us feel like we're going to be failures in life if we don't "do good" in school.
6. "To educate a man in mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society" (Theodore Roosevelt)
   To reflect, Ted meant that without the proper morals being taught to us, we can be the most educated but yet lack the actual education we need to get through life. 

Student Success Statement 

"It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference." 

Paul Bear Bryant  

This statement means that you have to be prepared for whatever is going to be thrown at you so you can dodge it and take the prize. You have to be sure you know what it is that you need to do in order to win so you can do it.

Paul 'Bear' Bryant
Paul 'Bear' Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. As head coach he won six national championship and thirteen conference championships. He also held the record for most wins as a head coach with 323 wins. Before Alabama, Bryant was head coach and other school, including the University of Maryland, the University of Kentucky, and Texas A&M University. Bryant was the 11th of 12 children born in Fordyce, Arkansas. He gained the nickname he holds because he agreed to wrestle a captive bear during a promotion for a theater when he was 13 years old. Bryant began playing football since the 8th grade.

Improvement 

HPIAM Data 

• FACT: 34% of HPIAM students have below a 2.0 GPA
• Why is this a worrying statistic?
  -- Students will not graduate.
  -- Students won't get to go to college.
  -- This shows students don't put in enough effort into their studies.

Writing Prompt

• What are some specific reasons you think is happening? How can we solve this problem (concrete ideas)?
  -- Students are distracted by things other than learning.
  -- Classes are too big for teachers to control.
  -- Students don't put in effort.
  -- The new schedule.

Prompt 4

Thanks to the internet, people have more access to more information than at any other time in history. People can instantly find information on almost any topic in the time it takes to type a couple of words and click a mouse. But we often know so little about the source of this information, including its reliability and the qualifications of the person who wrote it. If we don't know its source, information is not much good to us.

1. Do people need to know the source of any information before they use it?
Yes, because they won't know if the information is the truth or not.
2. Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from you reading, studies, experience, or observations.

The internet is full of information, whether it is true or not is the main concern. Information written down on the internet must have a source so we can view it as true or false. Without the source, information wouln't be so trust worthy. For all we know, everything we see on the internet can be a lie. The importance of a source is big, and every bit of information should be proven as true before they let you post it on the internet.

Though we can agree with information being right, without it's source, it can be counted as false or just as an opinion.

Many colleges now offer courses in which students study television programs, comic books, magazines, advertising, and other aspects of popular culture. Critics complain that schools should not replace serious literature and history courses with such fluff. They claim that courses in popular culture present material that is trival and inconsequential. But the study of popular culture can be just as important, demanding, and instructive as the study of traditional subjects.

Assignment:

Can the study of popular culture be as valuable as the study of traditional literary and historical subjects?
YES.

The study of either popular culture or traditional literary and historical subjects are all valuable depending on the way you look at it. Though, some may seem unvaluable at the moment, we should look at the positive side of judgment. Personally, I believe, although it is important to know what our ancestors went though and how we came to be, it is more important to focus on what will help us evolve in the future. So, that being, popular culture should be as valuable as the study of traditional literary and historical subjects.

Popular culture, is popular for a reason, right? Whether it's fun, or easy, if people like it, then we shouldn't be the ones to keep it from them. If we gave it a chance and stopped being so closed minded all the time, maybe we would see some improvement. Just because it doesn't seem as serious and other subjects does not mean it is not as important.

As the world keeps spinning, life keeps on going and with that brings new people with new ideas to make subjects that will benefit us for the future instead of filling out heads with out-dated knowledge or about the past that doesn't really matter in the current evolution of the continuing human population. The popular culture is just like the old culture, just modern. We should give it a chance and if we see change, then we should keep it that way. Popular culture is important to listen to as we belive it is important to listen to historical culture.

In conclusion, it's all based on whether it'll work or not. I say, for the benefit of change, we should give it a try. If it doesn't work, we can continue valuing what we value today and keep the same routine going.

1. What does GPA stand for?
   GPA stands for Grade Point Average.
2. What does a GPA show?
   A GPA shows how well you're doing in school.
3. Why is a GPA important?

• It tells you where you're standing.
• It lets you know if you're doing well.
• It'll help you graduate high school.
• It'll help you get into a good college.
• It shows your academic effort.
• It reflects who you are as a person.
• It adds academic motivation.

     4. Link to a website that shows the importance of a high GPA.

         Importance of a high GPA.