By Hunter White
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Last year’s ban on cell phones has made a huge impact on education at East. I was curious to know how many people sneak their phones in every day which nobody would really know and how many people get caught with their phone every month. SSO Ramos said, “1 to 10 people get caught with their phones daily, whether it is through the scanners in the morning or during school hours. Not many people have gotten caught with their phones lately and it's pretty odd. When students walk through the scanners in the morning they do go off but a phone is never found on them or in their book bag. It is really hard to catch students with their phones in the morning because there is a limit to how much time we can search them and plus everybody is trying to get to breakfast so we don't want to hold up anybody.”
There has been controversy on SSOs letting students walk through with their phones on purpose out of favoritism. I also asked Ramos about this and he said, “Personally I never let anyone walk through with their phones but maybe some SSOs have.” Phone sneaking is a hard thing to catch but it seems students are at least keeping them hidden in class so their classwork isn’t affected.

By Ja-Vona Thomas-Sanks
Many students may think they know Big E but here's what else you don’t know.  Eric Robinson otherwise known as Big E is the director of athletes at East High School. Mr. Robinson is also the health director, custodian, and head of security. He makes sure that the snow is plowed in the parking lot and that the building isn't below freezing every morning. He comes into work about 7am every day and he doesn't leave work until about 7 or 8pm because of all the athletic and extracurricular activities.
Big E is married and has three daughters. One daughter is twenty four, the other is twenty two, and the last one is nineteen. He graduated from East High School. During his high school days he played football, baseball, and basketball. He has worked at the school for about 18 years now. Robinson only left East for four years when he went to be the principal at Urban Choice Charter School.  In addition to this, Big E designs most of the athletes’ uniforms? He also owns his own T-shirt company called “Robinson Custom Apparel.”
When UR took over, Big E decided to come back because he had seen all the good things that they were doing for the school. He says, “I think we have the best athletic program in the area.” According to Robinson, East has more sports than anybody in the school district. Each year East gets more and more athletes. For instance this year’s basketball tryouts are huge; modified basketball has 23 girls trying out this year and we didn’t even have a modified team because no one showed up. On the other hand JV and varsity basketball has about 45 student athletes trying out to make the team this year. 

By Anna Burton
Mrs. Delehanty has been teaching at East for 23 years. She also was a student teacher here at East. Mrs. Delehanty says, “I was fortunate to intern with the TLI program when it was first beginning, and I fell in love and never really stopped.”
As you probably already guessed she teaches TLI. The TLI program is a magnet program to help the RCSD grow our own future teachers and leaders, and also to help diversify the teaching corps. The seminars Mrs. Delehanty teach focus on the skills of teaching and leadership and explore the many issues that affect schools and education.  Mrs. Delehanty says, “The best part of teaching at East is learning from my amazing students. They often teach me more than I teach them.”  Mrs. Delehanty core values is an acronym LOVE. 
Lead by example
Others come first, especially my family
Value everyone and treat them with respect, including myself
Empower others through education so that we might fight together for equity and social justice
Mrs. Delehanty is married to Mr. Delehanty who she met at the U of R. The both were learning to teach Social Studies and both teach here at East. Together they have 3 children, Aidan (16), Maeve (13), Finn (7). They all attend Word of Inquiry in the RCSD. 

By Nazier McDonald
 
Out of school suspension is more punishing than people know. It can even affect your ability to get into the college of your choice. Students will make mistakes, but they can be taught to learn from them rather than just punishing and repeating a cycle of bad behavior. Students should not receive out of school suspension.
 
Out of school suspension does very little to change a student’s behavior.  There are many students that are suspended and they come back and do the exact same thing again to get suspended again.  The students receive more of a vacation than help rehabilitating their behavior. In school teachers and counselors can help students overcome their emotional and behavioral issues.  Suspended students also get behind in instructional time, which can cause them to become frustrated and act out again.  They can also lose hope that they can succeed.  In-school suspension makes more sense because it gives students an opportunity to ask teachers for work from their classes so they can complete work and not fall behind in their classes. 
 
Did you know a suspension on your student record can even effect the college you get into?  Suspensions are stains on a student’s record and they are permanent. The Common App, used by many students to apply for college, specifically asks for your disciplinary history including any suspensions you may have had.  You will be given an opportunity to explain them, but you will have to prove yourself and work harder to show that you are a mature and responsible student worthy of their college. 
 
Out of school suspensions only hurt students and while they do punish students, they may go a bit far in the punishment. Other forms of discipline should be used instead, which is why East has adopted a restorative approach to help students change their behaviors for the better.