Finals Fiasco At Manhattan Beach Middle School many classes have finals.
Multiple subjects at MBMS have finals during the third trimester. These subjects include foreign language classes and Math who have finals created by the high school. Other classes may have large tests near the end at the teachers’ choice.
Math and Foreign Language classes have finals to make sure the students are up to the requirements for them to go to the next level. For math courses there are finals starting in Algebra I/II. In Foreign Language there is a final for seventh grade and eighth grade level classes. For math the final is in June along with the Foreign Language final.
Other teachers may give finals to test the knowledge the students have gained over the year. An example of tests like these is Mr. Rucker’s 3rd trimester R.O.K. which stands for “Review of Knowledge” and the science final.
Swim P.E. I think that swim P.E. is unnecessary and should be removed from P.E. Swim P.E. is not a good thing.
The Swim P.E. pool is Begg pool. Begg pool is an outdoor 25 yard pool that is about three feet deep. The pool is over chlorinated and hurts students’ eyes after swimming in the pool without goggles. Brady Douglas said “my eyes stung and were blurry for the rest of the day”. The pool is heated so it is lukewarm at 84-86 degrees Fahrenheit so it is uncomfortable to swim in. I think it is obvious that I don’t like swim P.E.
Swimming is very healthy though. Swimming builds muscles, is good for your heart, and helps strengthen your core. Swimming is also an effective way to lose weight and one of the state standards is to be in better shape by the end of the year. Since we live near the beach many people think that swimming is an important skill.
There are some pros to swim P.E. but, I think that it is not worth it. After swimming, it leaves students uncomfortable. The students have to carry a wet pair of board shorts and a wet towel for the remainder of the day along with blurry eyes that sting. Swimming is healthy but there are many other ways to achieve being in better health without leaving students uncomfortable and unhappy. I think that swimming should be removed from the P.E. schedule for the year.
Budget Cuts On March 1, 2013 the $85 billion in automatic cuts made in the federal budget went into place and in total there will be $1.2 trillion in cuts for the next nine years.
The Republican and Democratic parties were not able to come up with a compromise for the federal government’s budget. The Republican plan was to retain the $85 billion in cuts and let the Democrats decide how to allocate them. The Democratic idea was to replace this year’s reductions with a smaller cut to defense programs, a halt to direct payments to farmers, and a tax increase that would impose a 30% increase on top earners. Neither bill got enough votes to pass so across the board cuts were made.
Across the board cuts will lead to forced days off for federal workers and may affect commercial airline flights and functions such as border security and all government funded things like schools. The cuts are also supposed to cause a 0.6% point reduction in economic growth. The cuts will also affect the cleanup for Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey, the clean air and clean water foundations, military readiness, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.