Red Cloud Takes Over Dairy Queen in Martin!

Featuring Shawnta' Jones '14. Filmed by Colton Sierra '14.

The Difference between Korean and American High School

Photo by Michael Sunderland. Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

The Difference between Korean and American High School

By Jin Yup Jung '14

The first class in a Korean high school starts at 7 am and the last class of the day ends up at about 6 pm. Students rush into cafeteria to satisfy their hunger after they finish their last class. However, after they finish their supper, most of students go back to school and stay in class for self-study (study hall) after the official school day has finished. You can see the pendulum inside the clocks swinging left and right in silence while students pay attention to their work. At 9 o’clock, students start leaving, but you can still see some lights in several classes for those students who are willing to stay and study for about one or two more hours. HOWEVER, THE DAY IS NOT OVER QUITE YET. After they get out from school, you can observe some students taking vans to go to private educational institutes to supplement their missing work from school. This situation may seem strange to you and you might tell yourself “This is not true,” or “How can they stay in school until that late at night? For what?”   

In America, the first class starts at 8 am and is done before 3 pm at Red Cloud. Students play diverse sports and join programs (ASP) after school if they want to or they can just get on their bus to go back home. You can hear shouts every day from the field, gym, and wrestling room by football players, basketball players, wrestlers, etc. You may say “This is life in high school” or “freedom and joy.”

This is the difference between education in Korean and American high schools. Students in Korea are supposed to study hard to get into college since it’s extremely competitive among students to enter selective colleges. Students in Korea sleep five hours and 27 minutes per night on the average last year. That’s why a great amount of high school students said that they thought about suicide from all the stress of going through high school.

Believe it or not, while there are lots of holidays in America, there are only few holidays in Korea. There are no holidays such as Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, or something like snow days that America usually take days off. The average Korean school days are 225 days per year, while it is 180 days for American high school.

Korean high schools are way different from American schools in rules, although rules have changed a lot. In old times, Korean schools used to be really strict on dress code. Teachers were used to allow to smack students upside the head or do punishments such as holding your hands up for a while, hand copying books, or cleaning classrooms or halls in school when you do not finish your assignment on time or when you defy teachers.

When I came to US for the first time, I was actually in culture shock by the differences between American and Korean high school. Especially, I really did not understand when I heard students' complaints because classes are hard or school is so long.  I guess they should visit Korean high school for about a month so then they would realize how much they are blessed to be born in America. They only take seven classes a day, whereas in Korean schools, they take 13 classes.  Americans can join any sport activities after school as long as the school has sports activities. 

Also, I realized how it is easy for American students to earn scholarships. In Korean high school, there is only one way students can earn scholarships: students must be really smart. For example, you get almost a perfect score on ACT or SAT. Every day, I see so many students missing their chances for scholarships and only some of them really take care of their GPA. Look, my grades were about average or below average in my Korean high school. But my GPA in Red Cloud is  around 3.7 although I haven’t studied as hard as I did in my Korean school.

I just want to say to you- do not complain about your situation, but focus on your academics so you will get lots of chances to choose the college that you want to attend.  

Red Cloud Quiz: How Well Do You Know Our School?

Photos by Jin Yup Jung '14. Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

Red Cloud Quiz: How Well Do You Know Our School?

By The Mahpiya Luta Times Staff

Do you know Red Cloud High School like we do? Prove your knowledge and take our quiz on all things Red Cloud. We will write an article on the first person who submits all the answers correctly. To submit your answers, either write a comment at the end of this post or email michaelsunderland@redcloudschool.org.

1. When was Red Cloud Indian School founded?

2. Name the last three Dean of Students at Red Cloud High School.

3. Name the Jesuits currently working at Red Cloud High School.

4. Name the year that the Red Cloud boys basketball team won the state championship.

5. Name the last Red Cloud wrestler to compete in the state tournament.

6. Name the last three foreign exchange students from Japan.

7. Which Red Cloud graduate currently attends Duke University?

8. How many consecutive years has the Lakota Language Bowl Team currently won at LNI?

9. Name the Red Cloud graduates who are currently attending Stanford University.

10. Which current volunteer holds a PhD?

The End of an Era

Girls basketball before their final game. Photo by Shawnta' Jones '14.Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

The End of an Era

By Shawnta’ Jones ‘14

The final buzzer sounded for the last time.

The Red Cloud girls' basketball season came to an end last Thursday on February 27th against the Todd County Falcons in the Region Semi-Finals. The Lady Crusaders ended the season with a 51 to 68 loss to the Falcons.

“That wasn’t how I wanted the season to end,” said head coach Amanda Carlow.

The Crusaders started the game slowly and ended the first quarter with eight points while the Falcons had 13 points. By the end of the first half, the Crusaders were down 10 to 22. From this point on, it was a game of “Catch-Up.”

“Last night's game wasn’t how I expected it to go,” said junior Myriam Rama. “We started out dry and you can’t go out like that with a team like Todd County.”

However, the Crusaders came out during third quarter on fire and ready for a fight. The Crusaders scored 16 points in this quarter but by the end of it, the Falcons still had the lead of 48-34.

“I feel like we overcame a lot,” reflected Rama. “I feel that it took us a bit of humbling and we became a team for the first time. It was memorable and I’m thankful to have been a part of this team with these people.”

This very successful and long season came to an end with the tough loss. It was a great four years of Crusader basketball for the graduating seniors: Christi Sioux Bob, Savannah Jensen, CeCe TwoLance, and Terra Garnier.

“We were actually a team this year and I loved how close we became as a team,” said senior Terra Garnier. 

Filmed by Shawnta' Jones '14. Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

Desks are Pillows

Slumbering students. Photo by Colton Sierra '14. Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

Desks are Pillows

By Colton Sierra ‘14

Heads laid on desks. Notebooks nonexistent. Dreams. That is all that is expected when only 12% of the students here at Red Cloud get the eight or more hours of sleep needed to function properly.

You may ask yourself, “Why do I need that much sleep? I feel like I have a lot of energy when sometimes I only get four hours of sleep. So what’s the big deal?” Well, what could have happened is that you woke up in your lightest cycle of sleep. You can see learn about sleep cycles here.

I consulted this website about how much sleep a person younger than 18 must get, and what they say is about 8 ½ to 10 hours of sleep are needed. One way to know if you’re not getting enough sleep is how you act throughout the day.

I asked Michael Sunderland what his thought were about the importance of sleep, and this was his reply: “You should train yourself to get eight hours of sleep. It is vital for academics and overall well being.”

A lot of students that I talked to about sleeping schedules either barely got enough sleep (66.7% of students got 5-7 hours) or barely got any sleep at all (21.3% of students got 4 hours or less.) The dangers of sleep deprivation include lack of motivation, moodiness, frequent colds, and concentration problems.

“This week I haven’t gotten a good amount of sleep, and now I feel unorganized,” said Myranda Pourier ‘15. Although I haven’t seen her head down in the Psychology class that we share together,  in the “Twittersphere” in this past week she seemed to be in a distant relationship with her buddy, the Sandman.

I haven’t had a good couple of weeks of sleep either, so I understand the effects of sleep deprivation. These past two weeks my productivity has caused my grades to sink lower than the Titanic.

I know all of my friends love to get sleep, and they love to sleep in on weekends. You know the good, refreshed feeling of getting an excessive amount of sleep. Everyone loves sleep. So why not love sleep everyday? Why not treat your body and mind with a full 8 or 9 or 10 hours? I understand that in this day and age with advances in technology and the effects of a heavy workload and schedule that sleep is sometimes the last thing we think about. Sometimes it is hard to catch up with sleep, and you feel like your life is falling apart by each hour of sleep you miss. But if you allow yourself just one or two more hours each night, you can increase your chances toward a more healthy life.

The Book of the Year

ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK! Photo by Jin Yup Jung '14. Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

The Book of the Year

By Jin Yup Jung '14

                           

If you have been waiting for a chance to get the 2013-2014 Red Cloud Yearbook, you are finally in luck.

As the semester is approaching its end with only about three months left, Yearbook class has been working extremely hard to record great memories for the students. The Yearbook class basically takes photos, edits photos, and makes pages.

“We are ¾ done with the yearbook,” senior Talea Black Tail Deer Merrival said. “We have two weeks to work and get done with each page. I like to interview and take pictures because it allows me see other sides of people. I also like to create pages and try to make each page unique.”

Each year, yearbook is considered to be a great gift and a truly great book of memories in which students share all of their thoughts and secrets. Students have bonded and will bond with their friends and will keep in touch throughout college and the rest of our lives.

“Yearbook is a big project. We usually work in pairs in the class, but each person has responsibilities to complete their work, whether it's taking photos, designing pages, or interviewing students,” teacher Aminah Hassoun said.

When we have a reunion in the future, one thing that will remind us of our life in high school is our high school yearbook. Yearbook will offer you a chance to remember how fun and crazy our lives were when you look back at it. If you haven’t bought a yearbook before, now is the right time for you to get it.

“It’s your memory,” Aminah said. “We’ve done this to cover different events that happened this year. The yearbook is more than just a book on your shelf. The reason yearbook class works hard is for everyone in school to enjoy reading the yearbook.”

A yearbook costs $25 (a reasonable price). You can contact Aminah (room 231) in order to buy one. The deadline to order yearbook is April 30th; it’s about two months away from now. A lot of times, students totally forget the deadline, and when the deadline comes close, it make students decide not to buy because they do not have enough money to buy the yearbook. I suggest you to start getting money together now. Two months is long enough to save $25.

Hopefully, you plan to save enough money and not miss out on your yearbook. You will have a great time reading it and remembering all your great activities from this year.

The Greenhouse of Red Cloud

Greenhouse, outside and in. Photos by Shawnta' Jones '14. Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

The Greenhouse of Red Cloud

By Shawnta' Jones '14

Have you ever walked across Red Cloud's campus and noticed a very large dome near the football field and asked yourself, "What is this very large dome?" Well, I'm here to answer that very question. That massive dome is Red Cloud's very own greenhouse. It keeps a steady temperature throughout all four seasons without the use of any fuel or electricity. This greenhouse is an opportunity for students to grow plants and observe the work. It was funded through the Toyota Foundation grant as the major project for year three of the grant. The construction costs were about $30,000. “The purpose of the greenhouse is to provide a living laboratory for the students of Red Cloud Indian School,” said science teacher Wendell Gehman. “Red Cloud purchased it to provide a new option and venue for teaching science.” With the new addition of the greenhouse, Red Cloud science classes will be able to perform long- term experiments in a controlled environment.  Red Cloud School is still in the process of designing the interior raised beds, so they are still in the planning stages. Many students, teachers, and visitors are very curious about the large dome and what is growing in there. “At the moment, nothing is growing in the greenhouse, but we will have plans to use it for several projects ranging from growing and propagating heirloom species, plants that have traditional uses, and perhaps even starter vegetables,” said Gehman.  You can also read about the greenhouse here.

An in-depth, exclusive view INSIDE the dome. Featuring Shawnta' Jones '14.