The GreshamHS Xchange

Well,students are back at school today in Gresham after a freak snow storm. The snow melted off after a few hours and now the city is being drenched with rain. The irony is that the district already had a budget reduction day on Tuesday and a day off for Martin Luther King day on Monday. So a four-day weekend turned into a five-day weekend and the three-day week turned into a two-day week with the Friday assembly canceled. The week after this one is semester final week,so all of the days are half days any way. So what does this mean for the month of January? Students in Gresham-Barlow were in school for ten days (excluding semester final week). What does that mean for the students’education? Talk to the teachers,they’ll tell you the truth about January.

It’s the holiday season and people are bustling around trying to get all of their shopping done for the commercialism of the season. What about the “true”meaning of the season though? Is it really only about buying the gifts and giving them to people? Or is it truly about family and friends coming together to support one another in the darker months of the year? A poll that was done back in 2006 says that most people (79%) wished that the holidays were less materialistic. However the report went on to say that 59% of people acquired debt during the holiday season of 2005. Granted,these statistics are old,but they still hold merit. Black Friday is quickly turning into Black Thursday with many stores starting there deals at midnight and some even on Thanksgiving day. If people want less materialism,why are they continuing to give retailers reasons to open shop early? Point being,there is still a war:materialism or family? What a question.