After the long winter break, everyone is getting back to their normal school routine. Remembering your locker combination (again),trying to figure out if today is a white or blue day, and just trying to get through one last semester of this year.

Yet we continue to add on to the routine by adding a new system for our seminar. That new blue slip that everyone is sporting around during those short 40 minutes in the hallway since the beginning of this semester, is the new required seminar pass. Even though it may be new to a majority of students, it is a strategy that has been used to bring structure to seminar traveling.

Many have been asking what is the purpose of this change? To regulate and monitor hallway traffic? But then why is this being put into place as of second semester? One problem teacher’s noticed in seminar was how the same occurance of people were always in the hallway, which according to many teachers were mainly the Sophomores and students who would do a “drive by” – according to Mr. Sallee – and stop in on teachers unannounced. And those students who claim to go to the library to be with their friends and “do homework” just end up in the hallway with no homework in hand.

The actual motion of change came from one of the weekly staff meetings that the Main Campus and FSA have where teachers were asked if they wanted more structure for seminar specifically to help with unannounced students and reduce the amount of unmonitored students in the hallways who only talk with friends and avoid out of their seminars.

The actual vote for the change was electronically through an email sent out to staff and custodians at both campuses, to provide an unbiased poll. Which meant if teacher’s happened to not be in attendance at school then their vote may not have been contributed. With a vote of 92 for the majority.

But just because the decision has been set in place students are not the only ones disagreeable with the blue paper. There are some teachers that do not agree with this new system, and are completely against the change. Some teachers see the vote as punishment for all students and wish that the handling of the issue with seminar had been dealt solely to those students causing trouble.

Student’s are not the only side feeling the change to be a burden teachers have to see this pass as another item on their countless duties to grade. Which makes the seminar pass the proof of a students traveling and another chore for the teacher.

Even Mrs. Sharp is in disagreement with the decision. “Personally no I don’t agree with the decision, but I am not the one managing seminar” says Mrs. Sharp, “ But the change is a good use to communicate to parents during parent teacher conferences on a students attendance in seminar. And as of now we are just seeing if this change works for our school and if not then there will be changes.”

Although Ms. Sharp is not in charge of managing seminar, Mr. Sallee is. With the rising concern of students not just roaming the hallways but without the appropriate passes and not being able to identify the students. In answering the concern issue by some students of burdening their own schedules Mr. Sallee responded with, “These new passes are not going to disrupt students who need to see teachers. Students just need to have a greater prioritization”.

This change may not be new to JCHS but does affect the students and it’s staff. Some teachers see the blue passes as something that will be apart of seminar for a while, but rather you see the change as beneficial or an annoyance it is in place as of now.