Kat Van Sice brings her bunny out of her bag.

Van Sice got reprimanded for bringing Mathilda to class.

Look for donation boxes in main office and certain teachers' rooms.

The Wounded Warrior Project is a program that raises funds for the service members who have been injured while protecting our country, to give them a better life.
The Wounded Warrior Project’s vision is to “to foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history.” The Wounded Warrior Project is headed by Dawn Halfaker, who is the president of the board of directors for the Wounded Warrior Project. Halfaker is an Army captain who lost her right arm and suffered many other battle wounds while leading troops in Baquba, Iraq. Halfaker said, “Wounded Warrior Project brings a lot of support to the table.”

To help support the Wounded Warrior Project  the Broadneck high school NHS Humanitarian group and the Boys Giving Back are raising funds through various charity events. The current fundraiser is schoolwide at Broadneck and is happening now. There are various money drop boxes around the school and many students have change collectors as well. All of the profits that are donated will go directly to the Wounded Warrior Project and will help to give our heroes and heroines a better life.

Drop box Locations:
Ms. Hott’s Room D216
Mr. Rowe’s Room D100
Ms. Thorne’s Room D224
Ms. Jackson’s Room D118
The Main Office

Annapolis High plans to introduce honors-only core curriculum for freshmen next year. Photo by Pablo Escobosa

In an effort to close the achievement gap between students at Annapolis High School, Principal Don Lilley will be implementing a new Board of Education-approved program: Honors for All. The idea for Honors for All is based on the idea that by placing all incoming freshmen into honors level courses, students who would normally be considered standard-level are offered the chance to excel into a higher level of learning. For students who feel they’re grades would suffer through this sudden jump in class difficulty, seminar courses will be set up to aide any student in need of remedial help.

This plan comes about in the wake of the recent class scores from Annapolis and Bates Middle Schools, suggesting that roughly 20 percent of their students received D’s or E’s in their social studies and science classes.  In the January 11 presentation revealing the new plan, the consensus of many parents was that this may lead to a “watering down” of the once-rigorous honors classes. “My worry is that these new heterogeneous classes will leave my child bored in class as the teacher tries to calm down the students needing discipline,” said one worried mother.

This new policy will be enacted at Annapolis in the fall of 2012, under the eye of the school research team at the University of Maryland.

1. Go to www.plungemd.com

2. Scroll over the “Sign Me Up” link on the menu bar.

3. Click on “Register for Frigid Friday.”

4. Choose “I agree” at the bottom of the page.

5. Select “Join a Team.”

6. Scroll down and select “Join an Existing Team.”

7. Using the drop-down menu select “Broadneck High School Polar Bruins” and click continue.

8. Begin collecting pledges.

Last year's junior and senior plungers give the thumbs up with the polar bear.

(1st MP  x 0.4) + (2nd MP  x 0.4) = something.

desired final grade – something = G

G / .2

= what you need on your final exam.

In other words, multiply first marking period grade by 0.4.

Multiply second marking period grade by 0.4.

Add those two together (something).

Decide what you want your course grade to be (like 90 percent for an A in the course).

Subtract the “something” from the course grade you want.

Divide that by 0.2 and that’s what you need to get on your final.

Austin, Texas teen Ben Breedlove died on Christmas Day, leaving behind a touching video on the health problem that took his life — a video that touched people everywhere.

For more than a year, he’d been cultivating a following on YouTube, offering kids his age advice on everything from dating to the SATs with the wit and wisdom of someone far beyond his 18 years.

But just before Christmas, Ben made a different kind of video, still funny — but also terribly sad. Ben shared with the world his personal struggle with a life-threatening heart condition and how that challenged him every day of his life.

Ben’s video has been viewed more than three million times on YouTube.

Deanne Breedlove, Ben’s mother, told CBS News, “He was about 13 months old. We were referred to a cardiologist and they did some tests and found out he has a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.”

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart muscle, makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood – and causes chest pain, high blood pressure, and eventually, heart failure. In his YouTube video, Ben detailed how he “cheated death” three times, beginning at age 4 and again earlier this month, when paramedics had to revive him at school.

Ally Breedlove, Ben’s sister, recalled, “I found him out on the dock, by our house, and he was sitting out there by himself and I just asked him if he was happy that he woke up and he just said, ‘I guess.’ And he said that he was so glad to be back with our family, but he just wanted to back in that peace.”

Shortly after, Ben returned to that peace. He passed away on Christmas morning while playing in the backyard with his younger brother. His family did not see the video until the following day. It was his last Christmas present to them.

“I’m very proud of him for choosing to be so vulnerable and share something of himself that was so personal,” Deanne Breedlove said.

And Ben left his followers and the world with a message of hope.

And it seems, at least on YouTube, the world was listening, and is offering Ben something back through several reaction videos.

Watch Part 2 Below:

“There was interest from the drum line students to keep playing as well as from Coach Williams and Mr. Culp,” said Broadneck band director Matt Heist. He said they wanted the drum line to play to “add some more pep” to the games.

 “I’m really looking forward to the school spirit that sparks before all the games when we play,” said junior drum line member Brian Pajarillo.

Junior Joe Taylor said that he’s looking forward to “the fans, and getting a reaction from the fans when we play something awesome.”

The group will perform at both boys and girls game throughout the year, particularly ones against rivals such as Severna Park, Annapolis and other games of significance.  Some games might include a halftime performance by the drum line as they play parts of last seasons marching show.

Cadences such as “Woody the Woodpecker,” “Chugga Dugga Dugga Duh,” and “The Go Go Beat,” will also be player at the game. Many of these are broadneck favorites and will be recognized by students from football games.

The drum line has not played at basketball for the past few years, but assistant athletic director Clayton Culp was eager to bring them back to play at the games.

“The more positive things that happen in the gym during games the better,” said Culp. “Plus the music is awesome”

Drum line captain Kyle Cacioppo was also involved in getting the drum line to perform at the basketball games.

“Mr. Culp asked me to talk to Mr. Heist and see what he he thought about the drum line playing at basketball games,” said Cacioppo. “I’m really excited to play–it should be really fun.”