Mr. Bailey Dawson, Principal

               Now in His 2nd Year at Southside

We all know Mr. Dawson as principal, but we know very little of him as a person. Thanks to Terrence Davis, Demetric Moore, and Clifford Davis, we get to know a little more about him.

These young men met recently with our principal, to interview him.  They asked questions to enhance their knowledge about him, and to gain insight about our great school.  Mr. Dawson was questioned about his past, his career, and his vision for the school.

One fact that you may not know is, Mr. Dawson spent time in the military.  He served eight years in the Army National Guard and specialized in generator repair.  He also was a truck driver for eight years .He said that experience benefited him as a principal, by the discipline the military provided, along with providing a foundation for a strong work ethic.

Mr. Dawson has been married to his wife Shirley Dawson for twenty- two years.  He has also been a devoted father to his two children, Nichole, and Bailey Dawson, Jr.

Mr. Dawson is trying his best to set a good example for the students and staff of Southside High School, through his support and encouragement.

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Interview by:  Clifford Davis and Terrance Davis.

Story composed by:  Jarvis Smith, Terrance Davis, Clifford Davis, Lakendrick Towns, La’Darius Murry and Demetric Moore.

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Mrs. Andres Busy at Tutoring Southside Students

to Pass the Graduation Exams

Southside High School students are trying to improve their school’s academic accomplishment level by participating in the tutorial program offered during and after school. This program has several staff members and students aiding students in subjects in which they need help. The tutorial program during school is offered to seniors who haven’t successfully passed all parts of the exit exam.

The after school tutorial program is offered to juniors and seniors who haven’t successfully passed the exit exam. The students of Southside High are all aware of how vital it is for our school to receive a higher academic rating. Some of the teachers of Southside High School are so devoted to their work; they don’t mind staying after school to tutor their students, because they really want their students to pass the exit exam and their classes.

Tutoring is offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays after school from 3:15 P.M. – 5:15 P.M. Tutoring is also offered Monday-Thursday during school, and is offered in all subjects. Southside’s tutorial program is very beneficial to those that take advantage of it.

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Written by: D. Melton, J. Coleman, D. Crum, A. Moore, J. Peoples, and K. Sherrer.

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Three Southside Alumni (kneeling in front) visit with this year's HPERD Club members

Southside High School’s Health Physical Education Recreation Dance (HPERD) Club’s purpose is provide an integral part of the instruction program, while also providing additional opportunities for secondary students in physical education to develop an appreciation for ones fitness status. This promotes a lifetime involvement in an exercise program, and strengthens the confidence and appearance of the individual person. It builds self esteem and self worth in young ladies. This is the type of club that teaches girls how to become respectable and responsible young ladies. There is zero tolerance for behavior problems and students must maintain a grade point average of 2.8 to join and stay an active member of the HPERD Club.

The benefits of being a member are numerous.  Some examples of what young ladies will learn:

Southside High School’s HPERD Club is not just about being seated in a room and discussing their problems. They do fun things, like going on trips and visiting amusement parks. One of their trips last year was to Fun Zone. As a community service project, they visited the nursing homes for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, they went to visit the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and attended a collegiate volleyball game. They participate in public speaking, dance (modern, African, line, folk, and square dance routine), and drama (skit/plays) events at school and in the community. If you are interested in joining, see Mrs. Wanda Tyler, Sponsor of the Southside High School H.P.E.R.D. Club.

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Written by: J. Relph, D. Pratt, K. Lee, G. McDaniel, B. Young, T. Boyd and S. Campbell

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The Lies and the Truth About the AHSGE

You are a high school senior in the classroom getting ready to take the exit exam for about the fourth time. You are nervous and a little shaky because you know that this test determines whether or not you will graduate. The majority of students at Southside High are faced with this harsh reality constantly. It was said that the AHSGE results were being withheld but as you will read, the administration has proved this not to be true.

We interviewed Mr. Dawson and Mrs. Parker to make sure we had our facts correct. When asked about the exact date of the test results getting back Mr. Dawson said January 8,2007, and Ms. Parker said that the letters were given out on January 11,2007. The process of getting the results back in to the students is as follows:

Both Mr. Dawson and Ms. Parker agreed that there were improvements this time around (12 more seniors cleared). Mr. Dawson said that as soon as they can finish the letters, the sooner they get to the students. Mr. Dawson’s advice to the seniors that haven’t passed is to take advantage of your classes and everything that is offered; tutoring, power schedule, etc.

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Written by: Emanuette Heard, Ashley Washington, Tynisha Cunningham, Raymond Davis, Tiffany Anderson & Brittany Sigler-blue

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BAD, BAD CAFETERIA FOOD, OR NOT?????

Most students complain about the cafeteria food at Southside High School. It’s too cold, there’s not enough, it doesn’t taste good, etc. Did you ever think that the cafeteria workers are doing the best they can with what they have? We got a chance to interview Frances Cartigena, Dallas County Nutrition Program, and asked her the following questions:

(T D) "Can we fry once a week?" (F C) "No."

(T D) "Can we bring in outside lunch?" (F C) "Yes, if your mother prepares it."

(T D) "Why is all the food baked?" (F C) " A nutrition law was passed to improve the obesity rate." So basically, they are abiding by laws given to them by the state and county. Eleshia Walker had an opportunity to interview Mrs. Annie Tyus, who has been for Dallas County for seven years. She first stated that she loved her job. Eleshia asked her about the menu for lunch, she responded by saying that "The menu came from the Central Office. It is not just made up.". Portion control, was another topic that was determined by the Central Office. She stated that we each receive 4 ounces of meat &1/2 cup of vegetables. Students want better lunches, but should take into consideration that the cafeteria workers are only working with what they are given. So if lunch isn’t what you expect, take it anyway and cut the ladies some slack. All of them work hard to provide a nutritious lunch for you.

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Written by:  TIFFANY DAVIS, ELESHIA WALKER, CLIFFORD DAVIS & CAMERON GORDON

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Year after year, more students are continually flunking out of college and failing to find their rightful places in the real world. "Why?" you might ask. We believe this is the result of ill preparation in high school. Students are not pre

pared for college and the real world because the teachers as well as the students themselves are met with obstacles and interruptions daily that inhibits further progress.

We believe that some of the obstacles and interruptions that stand in the way of learning are the sizes of the classes, the constant paperwork teachers are required to complete, and the time consuming weapon searches. Some ways students limit their own learning opportunities are by having high absentee rates, coming to school without needed materials, and bringing their problems to school. Students are not always in the right mind set to learn, and teachers, after teaching the same thing for years, are often stuck in a rut. Teachers also spend much of the class time preparing students for the AHSGE, which results in little time being left for anything else.

Recently, several teachers have attended A.P. training in the hopes of having these types of classes on Southside High School’s campus. This could be one way of better preparing students for the real world. Stay tuned…

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Written by: Erica Perkins, Chametaya McMillian, Mario Dosey, Angela Wilson, and Ashley Carter

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Picture this….

It’s a cool yet windy day early in the morning; you woke up early to your favorite morning stop to get some breakfast to start the day off right. After that you look at the clock in you vehicle and see that your 45 minutes to an hour ahead for work or school for most juniors and seniors in high school. You feel like your day is going to be typically good day, when all of a sudden a crossing rail goes down. You expect that it will only take 10 minutes for the train to cross. Two hours later, you find yourself getting a late warning at your job for being very late or an unexcused absent from your school’s office council.

Who’s to blame, you might be thinking: Could it be the train stations fault for no making an earlier, quicker route? Or is it yours (people who’re been held by the train) fault for not getting up sooner?

Numerous schools in the Dallas County system have been affected by the train’s constants interruptions. Students and hardworking adults in general are tired of being late.

Students are missing important lessons daily that in the future will be beneficial.

Hard-working adult are lose time and money that helps some families survive. Donavon McGuire, a senior at Southside High, tried to contact CSX, a railroad company, to inquiry about the schedule at train’s route and timing so both sides can come to a compromising decision but, they refused to give that information out to the public. Despite that we will still be on the case trying to make the world a better place for everyone.

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Written by: Donovan McGuire, Denunta Dial, Patricia Oliver, Justin Burris & Chystal Davis

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By Ashley Carter & Tynisha Cunningham

Teachers must teach students during their class period.  But that is where the requirement stops.  There are however, a few teachers who "go above and beyond the call of duty." These teachers spend extra time teaching students what they need to know.

Here at Southside, Ms. Lofton and Mrs. Davis-Levert, as well as others sacrifice their free time. They stay after hours tutoring students and making sure they are prepared. These are the kinds of teachers that make being a student a little easier. They surely are the definition of the perfect teacher.

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Many seniors at Southside High School work after school. This could be for various reasons. They may work because they want a sense of independency, they need the money, or to occupy their time. Interviews were given to the following students: Tiffany Boyd-Burger King, Zachariah Elam- Pizza Hut, Donovan McGuire-Video Warehouse, and Jonathan Pritchett-Taylor’s Restaurant. All of the students that were interviewed said that the reason they held an occupation after school was for the extra money.

In our opinion, it is very courageous and respectable for any and all seniors that have jobs, and we applaud them in all their efforts.

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Talent Search!

By:  Eleshia Walker , Ovetta Aaron, Quenisha Pettway, Donald Hall, Walter Aaron, Clarence Wheat, Jeffery Oliver and Mario Foster

Talent Search is a program that identifies and assists students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have what it takes to succeed in higher education. It provides financial, academic, and career counseling to students and encourages them to graduate from high school. The goal or the program is to increase the number of disadvantaged youth who complete high school and enroll in college.

The talent search program is lead by Mrs. Cindy Duck. She has been working with this program since 1991. Mrs. Duck currently counsels twenty seniors from our very own Southside High. The group or seniors are completing mock college entrance exams, college applications, and financial aid paperwork if they need help paying for college. The group constantly discusses the long term goals and what they will do to accomplish those goals. The talent search program is great to take advantage of, especially if it is your senior year. This program assists students in achieving their goals of being successful now and in the future.

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Chametaya McMillian with English Teacher Mrs. Brenda Holder

"Out of the Grave" Contest third place winner

By: Denunta Dial

Some people have ways of talking about the history of our nation. Some people can explain the significant concept on the struggle and achievement our great nation faced. But everybody doesn’t have the skills to speak about events such as these, and instead, they use their creativity and information gathering skills to show these stories. And that is what three English classes at Southside have done.

All of Mrs. Holder’s students were assigned a project to report on a great African-American who was deceased. But instead of putting it in essay form, they were told to create a poster design concept to be shown in the gym for the Black History Month program. The name of the project was named "Out of the Grave- Great African-Americans".

The posters were judged and twenty of the best were sent to the Jubilee Bridge Crossing Poster and Essay Contest. Although Southside High did not have any Jubilee winners, we had several students to win our school contest. The First place winner was Sharkedia Johnson, who completed her project on Harriet Tubman. Tynisha Price took the second place winner. Third place was a tie between Chametaya McMillian and Emanuett Heard.

All of the posters were creative and nicely done. Much was learned about America’s history because of the efforts of the senior English classes.

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