NOCTILUCA June 2016

OPINIONS Appleton, Wisconsin June 2016 Volume XXI Issue III

Page 4

Prom at Lambeau was a welcome change By Elise Painton In the mayhem and stress

Noctiluca Mission Statement

The Noctiluca and northnoct.com are the student-run news sources of Appleton North High School. Noctiluca and northnoct.com are designated public forums for stu- dent expression. Student editors make all content decisions. Noctiluca’s mission is to publish information relevant to its read- ers and its community. Its goal is to maintain high ethical standards and provide a designated public forum for free and responsible ex- pression of views. The newspaper and website wel- come diversity of scope, depth and breadth of coverage in order to heighten mutual understanding and awareness through our entire community. Appleton North High School Mr. Ramponi, staff advisor, at: ramponiaaron@aasd.k12. wi.us. Editorial Staff Senior Editor-In-Chief Megha Uberoi Co-Junior Editor-In-Chief Nora Ptacek Erik Bakken Managing Editor Elise Painton Opinions Editor Kate Bennett Features Editor Rachel Flom Co-Centerspread Editor Fatima Ali Leah Dreyer 5000 N. Ballard Road Appleton, WI 54913 Phone: (920) 832-4300

that consumes the vast ma- jority of second semester senior year, Prom provides a venue for students to have what Hollywood and west- ern culture have portrayed as, “The Best Night Of Your Teenage Years.” So naturally, when things switched up a little bit this year, people scrambled to find something to fret over. Prom was taking place at Lambeau Field this year, and everyone was worked up about this not being the ideal location for “The Best Night Of Your Teenage Years”. At first, I was on this bandwagon. I wondered why we would have to take buses to an event so glamorous as Prom, and I was pretty dis- “At the end of the night, it is all about those you are sur- rounded with.” turbed by the whole idea of a twenty minute drive. That is, until I realized I should probably lower my standards. Prom would be at a $911 million dollar venue, the last thing I should really be worried about is what I Having school start later in the morning would be beneficial for all AASD stu- dents due to the increase in academic performance and overall happiness cited by many studies when they are allowed to sleep more. Re- cently, the topic of starting school later in the day has be- come a hotly discussed topic with most evidence stating that starting school later is really a wonderful idea for everyone. The fact students need more sleep is not even a new topic, but the Centers for Disease Control released a statement last year recommending that schools consider starting school at 8:30 a.m. in order for students to get the nec- essary 8-10 hours of sleep a night they need. Studies from the CDC show that lack of sleep can lead to higher rates of obesity and depression, and higher auto- mobile accident rates. In fact a study at the University of Minnesota proved that stu- By Megha Uberoi

Buses lined up outside North to take students from all three schools to Lambeau Field. Photo by Alexandria Floodstrand

where. As long as the destina- tion was pretty cool, we were satisfied. Sometimes we just need to lower our expectations a little bit. My prom night wasn’t all that conventional-- my date was my best friend, and we got fried chicken dinner at a soul food restaurant down- town. Others took groups of forty out to fancy bistros. At the end of the night, it is all about those you are surround- ed with, and if they make you happy. Lambeau ended up look- ing wonderful, as did all of my classmates. I do not be- lieve I was the only girl there who spent her time split be-

pull up to the scene in.

tween the dance floor and tell- ing her peers, “You look SO beautiful,” because it was the truth, they did look beautiful. The DJ was great, in my opinion, because they played Tipsy by J-Kwon, and that is all you need for my approval. After bash was lovely. My only complaint is that the egg rolls did not have sauce with them. Job well done, AASD. I found myself wishing the night could repeat itself Sun- day morning. Was it the best night of my teenage years? Hopefully not. Was it fun? Yes, and that is all that mat- ters.

My point is, even though a lot of us thought the bus was the end of the world, most of us had fun. I even heard a lot of kids mentioning how they preferred the buses to paying for a limo or other mode of transportation when it was all said and done. Something about riding a school bus back to North after Prom was nostalgic. Those same vinyl seats had carried us to and from nature preserves and plays when we were wide-eyed elementary schoolers. The last thing we cared about was how we got any- dents who started school later had better attendance, test scores, and grades in the core subjects. These same students saw a decrease in tardiness, and symptoms of depression. The main argument for start- ing school later in the day is so that students get more sleep. Of course there are people who say that if teenagers want more sleep they should go to bed earlier. This is easier said than done. First of all most high school- ers are involved in many ac- tivities such as sports, theatre, and other things that all take place after school. For many students it can be awhile be- fore they get home each eve- ning. After getting home, sleep is probably the first thing they want to do, but there is also lots of homework waiting for them. Asking high school students to sleep earlier is im- practical if they want to finish everything in their busy lives. Science also backs up the fact that for many teenagers it

More sleep is key to a student’s success

Culture Editor Maddy Schilling

Sports Editor AJ Floodstrand Photography Editor Sofia Voet

Copy Editor Abby Davies Advertising/Social Media Rachel Brosman Graphics Editor Morgan Stuedemann Online Editor Abby Plankey Advisor Mr. Ramponi Contributors Salma Abdel-Azim Fatima Ali Brennan Arnold

Kate Bennett Maddie Clark Adison Cole Sarah Fleming Rachel Flom AJ Floodstrand

Olivia Molter Elise Painton Nora Ptacek Maddy Schilling Rachel Sina Morgan Stuedemann Megha Uberoi Sofia Voet Jacob Zajkowski

Students falling asleep at their computers is a com- mon sight at North. Photo by Kate Bennett

is hard to sleep early. According to the National Sleep Foundation Changes to circadian rhythms during adolescence causes them to be more awake later at night, so sleeping before 11 p.m. is usually not possible.

The only solution is to have school start later so students can sleep in a bit. It is clear that the benefits of starting school later in the day out- weigh the technical problems associated with having to start school later.