December 2019
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Volume 46 Issue 2 Student Newspaper Of Shaler Area High School December 2019 “Radium Girls” proves challenging for cast, audience by James Engel were in tears, others were in disbelief, and others still were angry that a situation like For this year’s fall play, Shaler Area High the one performed could even arise. The School drifted away from the fictional tales show provided an accurate and emotional audiences have grown accustomed to. Stu- portrayal of the struggle of these women. dents performed “Radium Girls”, the true sto- It seems justice was done on stage. ry of young women in a New Jersey radium “We made people angry, we made watch painting plant. people sad, some were happy that the The women became afflicted with girls got justice, but everyone who came radium poisoning and other ailments resulting to see it seemed to appreciate it for what from the radioactive substance. For the sake it was,” senior Bella James, who played of justice and to receive compensation for Kathryn Schaub, one of the most defiant their suffering, the women face down the US of the afflicted women, said. Radium Corporation in a lawsuit. Not only did the play provide an emo- This play left behind last year’s mystical tional experience for the audience, but it “Alice in Wonderland” and instead chose to also shed a light on a part of American show the audience a true story of struggle and history that is not often examined. perseverance. This turn towards reality led the “I know a whole lot of people went play’s actors into new, more lifelike, scenes. home after the show and researched more “I had the opportunity to play a character on their own, and that’s what we wanted that is very different from any other character them to do,” senior Kelsey Marshall, who Junior Sonny DeMasi, senior Bella James and senior Kelsey Marshall. I’ve ever portrayed,” senior Alex Almonte, who played Grace Fryer, the play’s protagonist played Arthur Roeder, the president of the US closer to the show. I was worried that I wouldn’t be said. Radium Corporation said. able to portray this true story the way it should be, “Radium Girls” gave audiences something new. This transition out of the fictional universe did and that we wouldn’t be giving the Radium Girls the It was emotional, raw, and most importantly, real. not come without some difficulty. Having to convey justice they deserve,” junior Sonny DeMasi, who This year’s play can be marked down as another suc- the actions and emotions of a real person places a played Tom Kreider, the husband of one of the af- cess in the line of excellent Shaler Area productions. great deal more pressure on the actors. flicted women said. “I think it is the best show we have ever done,” “There was a point of uneasiness when it came After the curtain fell, many audience members co-director Mrs. Anne Loudon said. SchoolConerns include district district readiness, makes student access decision to online assignments, to limit student FID participation use by Ashley Llaneza was received at the beginning of Au- on the success of the program. Addi- 400 staff members,” Aiken said. gust and the application was due at the tionally, other nearby districts build Although Aiken knows portions of Flexible Instructional Days are a beginning of September. In the appli- in make-up days for cancellations, so students would have no problem get- new approach that is being taken by the cation, it was necessary to include les- they did not see a need for FID. ting assigned work completed on time, state of Pennsylvania towards school son plans and curriculum information Because the FID program is new, it is a concern from the district that the cancellation days. Flexible Instruc- in order to be approved. the district is not sure exactly how this loss of instructional time in class would tional Days, also known as FID, have The Shaler Area School District plan will work. Shaler Area also values not be beneficial to everyone. become popular throughout multiple pursued the in-class instruc- “We’re a school district. We value school districts in western Pennsylva- application in “I just don’t think that tion, and losing time in seats and time in front of your nia. order to have a chunk of days teacher,” Aiken said. FID have been introduced as an al- the opportunity right now our plan for due to inclem- Aiken is concerned that throughout ternate way to instruct students when to use FID. The the flexible instructional ent weather is not the district that all students do not have school is cancelled due to inclement application something that the capability of getting their work weather, technical difficulties, or other was approved days is a good plan for the district sees as done on their own outside of school. unexpected circumstances. This idea is by both the all 4,200 students in the beneficial. There- Another aspect of Flexible Instruc- being implemented in order to prevent school board district.” fore, the district tional Days that worries the district is breaks from being shortened when and the state. will not use flex- that not all students are able to access there are multiple make-up days. “We were -- Mr. Sean Aiken, ible instructional assignments online from their homes. The FID program allows districts one of the first Superintendent days for weather Although FID are one of the pos- to assign lessons to students on days school districts and will use them sible solutions to having to make up that in-class instruction is cancelled. in Western for circumstances cancellations, the district may, in the Flexible Instructional Days involve Pennsylvania to actually get approved such as water main breaks or power future, consider ways to build more teachers creating assignments that this year,” Superintendent Mr. Sean Ai- outages for the 2019-2020 school year. days into the schedule so that spring can either be sent home to students ken said. There is still a possibility that FID will break is not shortened. throughout the school year to be used Despite the fact that the district got be used for snow cancellation days in Aiken is aware that students dread for an emergency or posted on online approved for FID so quickly, they felt future school years. having to make up snow days. Even sites, such as Google Classroom, on as though the application process was “The possible closure of a school though flexible instructional days are the day of the cancellation. The num- rushed and could have been done in a due to an emergency is typically a deci- being put on hold for snow days, Aiken ber of Flexible Instructional Days used more orderly fashion. sion that pertains solely to that school. is not against the idea of implementing may not exceed five days per school After getting approved for the For example, a water main break, pow- them in the future for all emergency year. Flexible Instructional Days, the district er outage, etc. is usually contained to circumstances. He thinks the program Over the summer, Shaler Area then began to explore how they could an area and would affect only schools needs to be explored more before it is School District received an email from be used in the 2019-2020 school year. in that area. A decision to cancel school put in place across the district. the Pennsylvania Department of Edu- The district began to reach out to for that school only affects that school “I just don’t think that right now cation stating that a window was be- nearby schools to see how they might and not the other six schools in the dis- our plan for the flexible instructional ing opened to apply to use Flexible use the program, but because FID are trict. A closing due to inclement weath- days is a good plan for all 4,200 stu- Instructional Days. However, the email new, it was difficult to get information er affects all 4200 students and over dents in the district,” he said. Page 2 The Oracle December 2019 OPINIONS Concert policy showed benefit of putting phone away by Michaela Brining This policy does more than protect Not being on my phone for that concert the artists rights, it gives the audience As a teenage girl living in modern the full experience that they paid for. day America, it is almost impossible for was one of the best experiences of my More artists should adopt this policy. me to set down my phone. It’s become life...Everyone was just vibing. No one was I have to say that the best part of a physical part of my right arm, extend- the Tool concert was the very end. The ing past my fingertips, like a prosthetic. distracted by blue lights or notifications. lead singer, Maynard James Keenan, al- Let’s be honest, we are all like this. We Everyone was enjoying the music...that’s the lowed the audience to have their phones are all addicted to our phones. out for the last song. And the crazy thing There becomes a point when we way it should be. Turn off your phone, cut off was very few people pulled theirs out. need to turn them off and tune into the distractions and just simply enjoy good People took a quick picture and what is happening around us. A couple music. then immediately put it away. There weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go was no reason to be on your phone.