14 September 2011

The Price Of Getting Involved is an article about the rising fees schools are charging to allow their students to participate in certain school activities like sports and performing arts. The once moderate prices have risen significantly to make up for lack of state money usually given to the schools. Some schools are charging as much as $900 a year for students to plat sports. Others are even telling the students that they must buy their own AP books at $85. Although some parents can afford this, both the school and other parents find it unfair to the lower income families. In most areas where this is occurring they are having bake sales and raffles to raise money for the other students whose parents can’t afford the $100 for them to play a sport.

                I think students should pay for their extracurricular activities to a limit. Since they are participating and costing the school board money for coaches and equipments they should pay a fee to help cover some of the cost. However I don’t think that the fee should be so high that some students feel left out because they can’t afford it. Here at Pine Ridge High School we have a $75 pay-to-play fee plus $25 for every extra sport. That’s $100 for just 2 sports, plus uniform fees and equipment fees. Even band makes you pay to hold your interment! On the other hand we do have some cheap activities like club, where you only pay once a year.

                Schools aren’t asking for their funding to be dropped, but it happens anyway. Without all of that money certain things will have to change, you will have to pay more and help more. It really isn’t fair that the lower income students won’t be able to participate as much but, the school has to fund these activities somehow and that is why they have these fees. No I don’t they should be that high, schools should try to fund raise for all activities so the fees are lowered but I do understand where they are coming from on the charges.

6 September 2011

Okay here is the truth about school; it doesn’t matter whether or not you like school you still need to go. Going to school is not about having fun or hanging with your friends it’s about getting an education because not even McDonalds wants to hire a 27 year old man without a diploma. You don’t have to like school, infact most teenagers don’t, but if you want to do anything with your life you better suck it up and go to school. The fact that you don’t want to be here is not a reason to ruin your future.

                High school is a bummer! Long nights staying up doing ridiculous homework assignments, test at 7:30 in the morning when you first get to class, and a lunch break that is full of drama. That tends to be the average high schooler’s day. So yes, I can completely understand why you don’t want to be here. It is a lot of work and sometimes you just don’t have the energy or the will to do it anymore. However dropping out won’t solve anything. Think of it this way, work hard now and work less later. If you drop out you are going to be working your but off to make barely minimum wage, while the person who stayed in school is pushing papers all day, and telling people what to do it making 17 bucks an hour.

                Dropping out of high school is simply this, DUMB! What could possibly be your brain process to think that dropping out will work out in your favor? Yes, you could get a job and make some cash instead of going to school, but like I said earlier, you will never move up in the ranks! Be smart, stay in school. I know it stinks, I don’t want to be here either, but I make the best of a dumpy situation.

29 August 2011

Marketing is “planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, good, and serviced to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.” Basically it’s making known new products that are coming out, sales that are occurring, and services that will satisfy you need in whatever way it may be. Everyday use of marketing is advertisements in the paper. Wal-Mart might advertise that they have notebooks on sale buy one get one, that satisfies your need to have a notebook and save money. Another would be a commercial to show a new shoe that came out. It is promoting the new shoe and the company that makes it.

Sports’ marketing is using sports to market products, such as cars, apparel, and food products. One sports’ marketing strategy is target market, which is finding a specific group of people you would like to appeal too to sell your product. For example if you were selling Colts apparel, you would try to get a fan of New England to buy it. Food products are popular for sports marketing too. Oscar Myer advertises tail gating and grilling up some dogs, so during half time you see the commercial for it because tail gating is popular during that time, you wouldn’t show that during the winter.

The purpose of entertainment marketing is to influence how people choose to use their free time and money. An example would be using celebrities to promote products like a drink, or clothing line. Advertisers spent 42.5 billion dollars on television advertising in 1996, so I think its safe to say that TV has a big influence on advertising. The stations use the advertisements to pay for the broadcasting fees for their shows. I want you to think about this, when was the last time you heard of something new on the radio before the TV?

23 August 2011

This upcoming year I expect many different things to happen. For one I expect to finish high school, get good grades, and get accepted into Stetson University. All three of these goals are very important to me because they will affect my future. My future is the most important thing to me so I always work to have a great one.

The first thing i want to do this year is finish high school. It is my senior year, I only have 4 classes, and if i do graduate i will be the first one of my family to do so on time. Graduating high school will allow me to get into the college i want so i am working very hard to do so. The last 3 years I have worked my butt of to get here, so I'm not willing to give up now. This will be my last year!

I have always had decent grades, but for once I want good grades, not even just good grades I want amazing grades. I tend to skim by with a few A's, B's on average and C's to fill in the spaces. For once I want to make it through the year with no C's, no B's and all A's! With only 4 classes, all computer classes except 1, which is Government and Economics, this should be easy. All A's here I come.

The last thing I really expect from this year is to get into college. Not just any college but Stetson University. Since my freshman year I wanted to get into Stetson for their business program. Getting into Stetson would make all the work I have done during high school completely worth it. I would be highly disappointed if I did not get accepted.

I expect many things to come from this year, to finish school, get straight A's, and to get accepted into Stetson University. I have been working the last 3 years to get here and I won’t fail now. Not getting into Stetson would crush me, and I will get straight A's!