October 27, 2006
Senior Class Gift
The senior class announces its 2007 class gift—a service trip for the Arapaho tribe on the Wyoming Wind River Reservation, and we need your help. The costs of this trip are colossal, and though we have some money saved and will do fundraising, we want to give as much as possible to the project itself. Therefore, we are asking for donations to defer the transportation and rooming costs. If interested, please contact Mrs. Debbie Turner at (303) 347-6034 or Mrs. Kendra Ackerman at (303) 347-6050.
Taking College Courses While in High School
Attention juniors and seniors: Are you interested in taking college classes while you’re still enrolled in high school? If so, you must attend an informational meeting in the Forum on Friday, November 3rd during your lunch hour. Required paperwork and information will be distributed, so your attendance is mandatory. Please see your counselor if you have any questions.
AHS Technology Recommendations
We often get requests from students and parents regarding what computers, software, and other technology items they should purchase at home. We are not in the position of being able to recommend specific brands, models, software titles or exact specifications, but we can give some general guidelines about what to look for. Please be aware that Arapahoe High School and Littleton Public Schools are not telling you what you have to buy – we are simply giving some general recommendations - and we are not liable for any decisions you ultimately make.
What Computer Should I Buy?
We can’t make specific recommendations, but we have had good luck over the years with computers from Dell and Apple. From Arapahoe’s standpoint, the specifications – and the warranty – are more important than the particular brand.
What Operating System Should I Get?
In general, when you purchase a new computer you will get the latest and greatest operating system that runs on that platform. We use Windows XP Professional on the Windows side, and recommend the latest version of Mac OS X on the Macintosh side. There are a variety of versions of Linux available for those who are more technically oriented and want to go that route, but we do not have any experience with Linux. From Arapahoe’s standpoint, the operating system is not as important as the specifications and the software that you purchase.
What Specifications Should I Get?
This depends a lot on what you want to do with the computer. Unless you want to do something like video editing or high-end gaming, you don’t always need the fastest, most expensive equipment. The standard-sized hard drive (currently around 40 GB) is adequate for most people’s needs (if you want to do video editing you will want a much larger hard drive). You’ll usually save some money by getting a processor that is a couple of notches below the fastest processor available – the differences in speed are usually negligible. As far as RAM, we would recommend a minimum of 1 GB on either platform, and more if you can afford it. We would urge you to consider buying extended warranties for all manufacturers. If you have broadband Internet (see below), make sure you include the necessary networking equipment (often referred to as network adapters or network interface cards).
What Software Should I Get?
Again, this depends on what you want to do with the computer. Littleton Public Schools currently uses Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel - and Access on the PC) – a copy is on every computer – so it would be very helpful if you had Microsoft Office – or a program that is Office compatible – at home. Students can buy a student edition of Office for much less than the retail version – around $140 (or less). If you want to use some other software, it would behoove you to know how to save your documents in Office format if you want to edit or print them at school. Most programs will have a choice of file formats under the Save As option that is compatible with Office. This includes Microsoft Works, which ships standard on many Windows machines but whose native file format is not the same as Microsoft Office. There are also several pieces of free, open-source Office-compatible software available for local installation or on the web. (ThinkFree, OpenOffice, and GoogleDocs to name a few).
What Other Hardware Might I Want?
Students often need to work on documents both at school and at home, so they need a way to transport those documents back and forth. One possibility is via email – either through your ISP or via a web-based account. If it’s through your “regular” ISP email account, you will need to make sure that the web access is activated and that your student knows how to access the account via a web browser. Most web-based emails have recently increased their size limit for attachments (they were typically 2 MB, but now are often 10 MB), and files (particularly PowerPoint) are often larger than that.
In addition to email, we would recommend you consider some type of portable media that the student actually carries back and forth. There are currently two affordable solutions we would recommend – CD burners and USB Flash Drives. Most computers come these days with a CD-burner (usually known as a CD-RW drive), allowing you to burn approximately 650 MB of information on a CD. If you use a CD-R disc, you can only burn the information once. If you use a CD-RW disc, you can burn multiple times (most suggest less than 100 times). In either event, this works well since all of our computers have CD drives.
A better option would be a USB Flash drive that plugs into a USB port on the computer and then acts like a hard drive, allowing you to simply drag and drop files onto the flash drive or onto the computer. These come in a variety of sizes (and prices) and will work with most of our computers at school. The sweet spot currently appears to be the 1 GB flash drives, which usually can be found on sale for less than $25. Please note that you will want to make sure the flash drive does not require any specific software to be installed on the computer – since we can’t accommodate that on all of our computers – but simply works with the operating system out of the box (most of them do work this way).
We do not recommend floppy disks.
If you or your student would like to do any video editing, you will want to make sure your computer has a Firewire (IEEE 1394) card, appropriate software, and a DVD burner. You would also probably want to get a larger hard drive.
What About The Internet?
The Internet is a key resource for students and we highly recommend having access. In addition, we would strongly urge you to consider broadband Internet to facilitate their research and other online work. Most people in this area have a choice of DSL through Qwest or Cable Internet through Comcast, but you have to check with them regarding availability and pricing.
Department Spotlight – Social Studies Department
Shanna Hurt’s International Relations class and Amnesty International are sponsoring a Community Forum on Hunger in the World and our community. The event will take place on Monday, November 20th, from 6:30pm - 9:00pm. The cost is $5.00 for all-you-can-eat soup and a presentation from our International Relations class regarding hunger in the world and the Denver metroplex. People are encouraged to bring canned food to help area food banks.
Once again the Social Studies Department will be hosting a number of veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and other conflicts on Veterans’ Day. Veterans will be speaking to the U.S. History classes throughout the day in the Forum. In addition to recognizing the contributions these people have made on our behalf, the students are able to hear personal accounts of the experiences.
For each semester over the last fifteen years, the Introduction to Law class has conducted a Mock Trial. Over the years, a number of local attorneys and judges have helped us to create a realistic setting and process. Brad Meyer’s Law students, with the help of Defense Attorneys Steve Katzman and Shay Whitacker and District Attorneys Natalie Decker, Brian Sukioka, and Effie Antonopolous, conducted a voir dire (jury selection) and trial before District 18 Judge Gerald Rafferty in his courtroom. The case, a modified version of a local felony murder case, resulted in a hung jury (although the prosecution will point out that they did have 29 guilty votes to the one not guilty vote for the defense). Additionally, the students were able to observe court proceedings including two high profile murder cases. We would like to publicly thank the attorneys, Judge Rafferty, the Arapahoe County District Attorneys office, and the District 18 Courthouse personnel for their help in making this such a positive experience.
Video of the Week
Channel 7 ran a short story on our single-gender classes (the link will play a short ad before the story).
The senior class announces its 2007 class gift—a service trip for the Arapaho tribe on the Wyoming Wind River Reservation, and we need your help. The costs of this trip are colossal, and though we have some money saved and will do fundraising, we want to give as much as possible to the project itself. Therefore, we are asking for donations to defer the transportation and rooming costs. If interested, please contact Mrs. Debbie Turner at (303) 347-6034 or Mrs. Kendra Ackerman at (303) 347-6050.
Taking College Courses While in High School
Attention juniors and seniors: Are you interested in taking college classes while you’re still enrolled in high school? If so, you must attend an informational meeting in the Forum on Friday, November 3rd during your lunch hour. Required paperwork and information will be distributed, so your attendance is mandatory. Please see your counselor if you have any questions.
AHS Technology Recommendations
We often get requests from students and parents regarding what computers, software, and other technology items they should purchase at home. We are not in the position of being able to recommend specific brands, models, software titles or exact specifications, but we can give some general guidelines about what to look for. Please be aware that Arapahoe High School and Littleton Public Schools are not telling you what you have to buy – we are simply giving some general recommendations - and we are not liable for any decisions you ultimately make.
What Computer Should I Buy?
We can’t make specific recommendations, but we have had good luck over the years with computers from Dell and Apple. From Arapahoe’s standpoint, the specifications – and the warranty – are more important than the particular brand.
What Operating System Should I Get?
In general, when you purchase a new computer you will get the latest and greatest operating system that runs on that platform. We use Windows XP Professional on the Windows side, and recommend the latest version of Mac OS X on the Macintosh side. There are a variety of versions of Linux available for those who are more technically oriented and want to go that route, but we do not have any experience with Linux. From Arapahoe’s standpoint, the operating system is not as important as the specifications and the software that you purchase.
What Specifications Should I Get?
This depends a lot on what you want to do with the computer. Unless you want to do something like video editing or high-end gaming, you don’t always need the fastest, most expensive equipment. The standard-sized hard drive (currently around 40 GB) is adequate for most people’s needs (if you want to do video editing you will want a much larger hard drive). You’ll usually save some money by getting a processor that is a couple of notches below the fastest processor available – the differences in speed are usually negligible. As far as RAM, we would recommend a minimum of 1 GB on either platform, and more if you can afford it. We would urge you to consider buying extended warranties for all manufacturers. If you have broadband Internet (see below), make sure you include the necessary networking equipment (often referred to as network adapters or network interface cards).
What Software Should I Get?
Again, this depends on what you want to do with the computer. Littleton Public Schools currently uses Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel - and Access on the PC) – a copy is on every computer – so it would be very helpful if you had Microsoft Office – or a program that is Office compatible – at home. Students can buy a student edition of Office for much less than the retail version – around $140 (or less). If you want to use some other software, it would behoove you to know how to save your documents in Office format if you want to edit or print them at school. Most programs will have a choice of file formats under the Save As option that is compatible with Office. This includes Microsoft Works, which ships standard on many Windows machines but whose native file format is not the same as Microsoft Office. There are also several pieces of free, open-source Office-compatible software available for local installation or on the web. (ThinkFree, OpenOffice, and GoogleDocs to name a few).
What Other Hardware Might I Want?
Students often need to work on documents both at school and at home, so they need a way to transport those documents back and forth. One possibility is via email – either through your ISP or via a web-based account. If it’s through your “regular” ISP email account, you will need to make sure that the web access is activated and that your student knows how to access the account via a web browser. Most web-based emails have recently increased their size limit for attachments (they were typically 2 MB, but now are often 10 MB), and files (particularly PowerPoint) are often larger than that.
In addition to email, we would recommend you consider some type of portable media that the student actually carries back and forth. There are currently two affordable solutions we would recommend – CD burners and USB Flash Drives. Most computers come these days with a CD-burner (usually known as a CD-RW drive), allowing you to burn approximately 650 MB of information on a CD. If you use a CD-R disc, you can only burn the information once. If you use a CD-RW disc, you can burn multiple times (most suggest less than 100 times). In either event, this works well since all of our computers have CD drives.
A better option would be a USB Flash drive that plugs into a USB port on the computer and then acts like a hard drive, allowing you to simply drag and drop files onto the flash drive or onto the computer. These come in a variety of sizes (and prices) and will work with most of our computers at school. The sweet spot currently appears to be the 1 GB flash drives, which usually can be found on sale for less than $25. Please note that you will want to make sure the flash drive does not require any specific software to be installed on the computer – since we can’t accommodate that on all of our computers – but simply works with the operating system out of the box (most of them do work this way).
We do not recommend floppy disks.
If you or your student would like to do any video editing, you will want to make sure your computer has a Firewire (IEEE 1394) card, appropriate software, and a DVD burner. You would also probably want to get a larger hard drive.
What About The Internet?
The Internet is a key resource for students and we highly recommend having access. In addition, we would strongly urge you to consider broadband Internet to facilitate their research and other online work. Most people in this area have a choice of DSL through Qwest or Cable Internet through Comcast, but you have to check with them regarding availability and pricing.
Department Spotlight – Social Studies Department
Shanna Hurt’s International Relations class and Amnesty International are sponsoring a Community Forum on Hunger in the World and our community. The event will take place on Monday, November 20th, from 6:30pm - 9:00pm. The cost is $5.00 for all-you-can-eat soup and a presentation from our International Relations class regarding hunger in the world and the Denver metroplex. People are encouraged to bring canned food to help area food banks.
Once again the Social Studies Department will be hosting a number of veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and other conflicts on Veterans’ Day. Veterans will be speaking to the U.S. History classes throughout the day in the Forum. In addition to recognizing the contributions these people have made on our behalf, the students are able to hear personal accounts of the experiences.
For each semester over the last fifteen years, the Introduction to Law class has conducted a Mock Trial. Over the years, a number of local attorneys and judges have helped us to create a realistic setting and process. Brad Meyer’s Law students, with the help of Defense Attorneys Steve Katzman and Shay Whitacker and District Attorneys Natalie Decker, Brian Sukioka, and Effie Antonopolous, conducted a voir dire (jury selection) and trial before District 18 Judge Gerald Rafferty in his courtroom. The case, a modified version of a local felony murder case, resulted in a hung jury (although the prosecution will point out that they did have 29 guilty votes to the one not guilty vote for the defense). Additionally, the students were able to observe court proceedings including two high profile murder cases. We would like to publicly thank the attorneys, Judge Rafferty, the Arapahoe County District Attorneys office, and the District 18 Courthouse personnel for their help in making this such a positive experience.
Video of the Week
Channel 7 ran a short story on our single-gender classes (the link will play a short ad before the story).
posted by Karl Fisch at 8:56 AM
