A U.S. Department of Education report in 2004 suggested that as many as 10 percent of the country’s public school students experience some type of improper sexual attention from school employees. Some of those incidents may involve a simple misunderstanding, while others result from a blurring of the line between what is appropriate and what is not. The last and most feared category involves adults who willfully decide to violate societal norms.

Unfortunately in this country, it’s not unusual to see a headline or hear a TV report about a teacher or coach who is under investigation for inappropriate – or sometimes even criminal – behavior involving students. It makes some wonder if these things are happening more often, or if they’re just reported more often.

Fairmont High School Principal Dan Von Handorf isn’t sure which is the case, but he is sure of one thing. “Society is definitely more sensitive to these cases,” he said. “You hear a lot more stories from the media.”

Students need to know adults care

Student-staff relationships can be a difficult issue because many teachers, counselors and coaches are encouraged to interact with their students. East Unit Guidance Counselor Dave Elliott sees a lot of positive in good relationships with students. “Students are more likely to produce high quality work if the teacher is someone who cares about them,” he said. “Students know almost immediately if a teacher cares about them.”

As a guidance counselor, he also believes that students have to know they can speak confidentially to him or another staff member. “Students sometimes need to vent,” he said. “No one is a perfect parent. When I didn’t communicate well as a parent, I was happy if they had someone at school.”

Sometimes faculty members can play life-changing roles in a student’s life. Elliott has dealt with many tough situations. “Sometimes we are given the opportunity to play critical roles. We dare not take advantage of that trust,” he said. “It is important to step away from our own life and focus on the needs of the student.”

Elliott definitely agrees there is a negative side if teachers breach the trust they are given. “There are far more positives than negatives, but the negatives get the publicity,” he said.

Does technology play a role?

Casual observers as well as those studying the problem of inappropriate teacher-student relationships often cite technology as a contributing factor. Emails, texts and Facebook didn’t pose problems for generations because those things just didn’t exist.

“There are great uses of technology, but there is always a negative side,” Von Handorf said, adding that he feels advances in technology have widened an already-gray area between students and teachers.

Fairmont math teacher Laura Jacobs sees both the positive and negative sides of technology. She said she feels comfortable answering students’ questions through emails, but she feels texting is – in some circumstances – a little over the limit. “For me, giving out your cell phone number to students should be the exception, not the rule,” she said.

However, Jacobs turns to that exception when dealing with after-school activities. As assistant coach of the tennis teams, she says she lets her concern for safety guide her. “I always make sure all my tennis players have my cell phone number,” she said.

Some students also see a benefit in being able to text their teachers. “When I was in peer mediation, we would text our adviser when we visited other schools,” said senior David Byrley. “We wouldn’t get in trouble because she’d always know where we were. It helps with organization.”

Von Handorf said he clearly sees a positive side to technology. “Teachers can use web pages to spread information, and club advisers can communicate through texting to let people know information quickly,” he said.

Byrley agrees texting can be useful, but he thinks limits on face-to-face contact outside of school are important. “There shouldn’t be any one-on-one time away from the classroom,” he said.

On the other hand, senior Joseph Yahna doesn’t see any need for students to be texting teachers or vice versa. “I just don’t see why it would be necessary. If you have questions, they can probably be handled inside of school,” he said.

Math teacher Scott Mitter says students sometimes text him questions about math. “Texting is less intimidating than calling when you are asking a question,” he said.

Von Handorf mentioned some teachers have brought up the idea of district-purchased cell phones that could be used by club advisers to talk to their students. This way, teachers wouldn’t have to give their personal numbers to students, but they could still stay in contact with them about school-related activities.

What would be the difference? “Some teachers were concerned about receiving a text that was inappropriate and getting in trouble for it,” Von Handorf said.

Will you be my ‘friend’?

Texting isn’t the only technology being questioned by those concerned with student-teacher relationships. With the steady rise of Facebook and other social networking websites, some question whether such “friendships” between students and teachers are appropriate.

(A note to non-Facebook users:  In this popular social network, a person can make his or her profile page “private” to anyone who is not listed as a “friend.”  Two people must agree to be “friends” in order to see each other’s page contents or to communicate with each other through the site.)

Several Fairmont teachers have Facebook pages, and some of them are “friends” with their students.  Byrley said he is friends with at least one teacher through Facebook, but he said he doesn’t communicate to her through it. “I’m OK with teachers being on Facebook, but it’s bad when teachers mention things on Facebook during school.”

Yahna sees no need for teachers to be on Facebook at all. He said he would be reluctant to add any teacher to his list of Facebook friends.           

Mitter, however, is friends with many of his students, past and present. “I have nothing to hide. I don’t put anything on my Facebook that I wouldn’t want the public to see,” he said.

Professionalism is the key

How can inappropriate communications between students and staff be stopped? Some critics say that a stricter hiring process for teachers would eliminate some of the problems. Like police officers, teachers could be subjected to psychological or polygraph testing before being hired. But that would be a very time-consuming and expensive task to hang on school districts that are already scrambling for operating money.

Von Handorf emphasizes the importance of teachers being professional when it comes to their relationships with students. He feels that Fairmont teachers do a good job of this, although even Fairmont has felt the sting of poor judgment in this area. English teacher Jeff Mauch was removed from the classroom last fall for sending inappropriate emails to some female students, according to the Dayton Daily News. The newspaper quoted Superintendent James Schoenlein, who said the district’s investigation revealed Mauch didn’t break any criminal laws and did not have sexual contact with a student.

Von Handorf feels any communication that makes a student or teacher uncomfortable is inappropriate. “Communication should deal directly with curriculum,” he said. He also said if a student would feel uncomfortable telling their parents something a teacher said, then it is most likely inappropriate.

If boundaries are crossed, VonHandorf says the teacher or student should address it. “If a student feels a boundary is crossed, he or she needs to talk to their unit principal. We take these incidents very seriously and a full investigation would follow,” he said.

But Elliott hopes teachers and students can still maintain close – but appropriate – relationships. “Every student needs someone once in a while,” he said. “Working with young people has kept me enthusiastic. The relationships with students make my job worth doing.”

Brock and Burke run Love ‘n the Love, a budding charity unique to Fairmont. They sell a product with a simple design: a white T-shirt bearing the words “Grace always triumphs over judgment.”

For $12, anyone can purchase one of Love ‘n the Love’s T-shirts, but people often pay more than the regular price because of the cause the shirts support. The profit goes toward blankets, food, clothing and other supplies that Burke, Brock and a band of other “urban missionaries” personally deliver to Dayton’s homeless camps. 

The mission

Their journey begins behind the Biltmore Towers, a low-income housing complex that once entertained presidents and diplomats. “We pray first, and we don’t take any sort of protection. We have faith, and that’s our protection. Usually, we go to the big [homeless] camp on foot with blankets and food,” said Burke, a junior.

The group travels with Dayton Street Ministries, a congregation of an entirely different breed.

“Dayton Street Ministries isn’t like any church-run group,” said Burke, who considers Nate Johnstone, Dayton Street Ministries’ founder and leader, a good friend. They have been working together since last September.

Johnstone, 23, has built a relationship of trust with Dayton’s homeless community, but it took constant effort.  On several occasions, he was attacked with knives and forced to defend himself. “He had to go to the homeless communities and establish himself to build trust. Talk to most homeless people, they’ll know big Nate [Johnstone],” said Brock.

Even though Brock said people tend to feel comfortable around Johnstone, the young men acknowledge their work holds an element of danger. To Brock, it’s part of the mission.

“At times, it’s frightening and sometimes dangerous. Parents are a little sketchy about letting their kids go down,” said Brock, but the results are worth it.  “A lot of homeless people have trouble trusting people. But when you build that trust, it’s humbling that those people, some who have lived on the streets for over 20 years, still want to show you that love and be a family.”

Between working at the Biltmore Low-Income Housing Building and visiting the all-too numerous homeless camps, Burke and Brock have become familiar faces. “It’s one thing when you give someone some food and say ‘see you later.’ We go down and build relationships and actually eat with them. [At the Biltmore] they say, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you next week,’” said Brock.

Some wonder why they do it, but for Burke, the answer is simple. “Aside from helping people, part of the reason is to humble yourself because we take for granted what we have all the time,” he said. “We say how poor we are, but we go to school every day, most of us eat three square meals, we have houses with running water and toilets, we have health care. Then you see these people without homes or anything, and most of them still have a pretty good outlook on life. It’s real humbling to see these people who are still surviving, yet they have so little.”

Getting started

This budding charity began humbly and, as Burke says, somewhat unexpectedly. Last year, Burke joined Trinity Alone, a Fairmont alternative band, where he got to know Brock. “As we grew closer and started talking, we grew closer to God as well. God tells us to serve people all the time, so we wanted to think of something we could do that wasn’t for ourselves and would benefit someone,” said Burke. The pieces started falling into place.

“We just hung out a lot and one day they came up with the idea,” said Zach Jeckering, a senior who has been helping out with “pretty much everything” since Love ’n the Love’s beginning in October 2009.

The quote “Grace always triumphs over judgment” comes from Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne, a book Burke and Brock were reading at the time. Next, the friends grappled with the brain-scratcher of every group: the name.

Burke, Brock and Jeckering were sitting at the computer brainstorming while Burke was petting Brock’s Great Dane, Palmer. “I was petting him and I said, ‘Look at Palmer down here, lovin’ the love.’”  At that, Brock looked up and said, “That’s it!”

Once they had the T-shirt design out of the way, the next step was coming up with the money.  Their first contribution came in the form of bags of coins that had been sitting in Brock’s garage. After wrapping $830 in quarters, Brock and Burke realized that they weren’t dealing in pocket change any more. “We were like: ‘holy cannoli!’ None of us could believe it at first,” said Brock.

With a strong financial basis, they went to Mary Tyler, the teacher of the Digital Design program that Burke takes at Fairmont. “I was drawn to this idea because I believe everyone should volunteer in some way to improve our community. I think Love ‘n the Love is an impressive project,” she said.

She gave them a deal on the raw material, and with 175 plain white T’s, they got down to business. Burke worked from the minute he got out of school until 9:30 printing the shirts. “It was a lot of work,” he said.

In only six months, Love ’n the Love has leaped onto the stage, spreading its message of acceptance and establishing itself in the community. But before there was Love ’n the Love, Brock experienced a dark time in his life that he openly talks about today.

“I was one of the kids that would drink and do drugs all the time,” said Brock. “Eventually my friends said to me ‘We don’t know who you are anymore.’ My best friends turned their backs on me, and my whole world was gone.” When he finally hit rock-bottom, Brock says he underwent a spiritual transformation that shaped the way he now looks at life.

Brock, now a senior, was raised in a Catholic household, but it took a mission trip to Ecuador to awaken his desire to make a difference. “God made me realize I have to spread that love. I realized it’s not about me anymore,” said Brock. Burke, as well, said he had run-ins with the law before. 

Reaching out

Love ‘n Love delivered its first twine-wrapped T-shirts to people at Fairhaven Church and its high school ministry, where Burke and Brock belong. They try to make it personal, telling customers what they’re doing and where the money is going.

This January, Trinity Alone sold $200 worth of shirts at a show at Fairhaven, covering the $200 cost to produce the shirts. “Everything else goes to the homeless,” said Burke, who estimates the profits are now at $500, which Brock keeps in a bank account specifically for the charity. Burke acknowledges that right now they “aren’t making a ton of money,” but they have built a solid following.  

Central Unit Secretary Jennifer Chapman has bought two Love ‘n the Love shirts, and she says it feels fantastic to support their cause. “They always have this positive air about them,” said Chapman of Burke and Brock, who assist her in the Central Unit office.

The sky’s the limit

Like most Fairmont students, Burke and Brock have to balance school, work and other obligations, not to mention running an upstart company. “With school we’ve been busy, but this summer we’re going to hit it real hard. We have big plans for the future,” said Burke. A Love ‘n the Love Tour of the Midwest may be in the works.

The teenage executive directors of Love ‘n the Love plan on making their company bigger and more visible. They are currently investigating the legal aspects of making Love ‘n the Love into a legitimate 501c(3) charity, which would give people tax write-offs as an incentive to donate. Brock says it’s a very long and intense process. The group has also received free business advice from Essex Human Resource Solutions.

There are hopes of starting a Myspace page that will feature their personal stories, message, goals and a web store where people will be able to order products online. Customers may soon see Love ‘n the Love handmade hats as well. When the first batch of shirts sells out (from which Burke predicts a profit of $1,700), a new batch of shirts will be available featuring the group’s new symbol: a red heart stamped with “Love ‘n the Love.”  

So far, most of Love ‘n the Love’s advertising has been by word of mouth, but word spreads quickly. “Somebody from Atlanta, Ga., was asking if the shirts will be available soon,” said Burke.

To spread their message, the group produced a short video, but what exactly is Love ’n the Love’s message?

“We want people to get over the whole ‘this person looks different, that person acts differently’ and judging them or being mean for no reason at all,” said Burke. “You need to get over it because it doesn’t do any good for anyone. We want to spread love and show people if you love people for being themselves, it changes your views and how you act as a person.”

Rayburn, along with four other students, officially founded Young Life on Oct. 16, 1941, and the rest is history.

Young Life is a nondenominational program dedicated to giving every adolescent the opportunity to meet Jesus Christ and follow Him. After finding Christ, Young Life is designed to help teens grow in their faith. It is a nationwide program with local groups led by local leaders who typically go through five months of training in their freshman year of college.

Collette Cerveny is one of those leaders. “Being a Young Life leader means taking a ton of time to plan many things, teach and spend time with kids at the high school I lead at. My role is always changing as I continually try to be a positive role model and show high school kids Christ.”

Cerveny says she enjoys being a Young Life leader very much. “It’s all volunteers who lead Young Life. My Young Life leader made a huge impact in my life. I never understood what Jesus had to do with my life as a high schooler, and she helped me learn so much. I have the privilege of doing that every day now.”

There are many important parts to being a Young Life leader. “Living above reproach is the most important part of being a Young Life leader for me,” Cerveny said. “It challenges me and I am continually growing in my faith.”

Each Young Life group is composed of students from a single high school, although there is no official connection between the school and Young Life. Three students who go to the Fairmont Young Life group are sophomores Audrey Coleman and Jon Watkins and senior David Steele.

“Young Life is something very fun to do on Monday nights,” Coleman said. “My favorite part of Young Life is getting to see all the people who come every week.”

However, there are many different parts of Young Life, according to Cerveny. “All aspects of Young Life are important: campaigners, club, fall weekend, camp; the list goes on and on.”

However, some people feel that Young Life is not for them.

Fairmont junior Kassidy Madlinger is one of those people. “I don’t have a problem with it if people just go to it, but I do if they try to push the religious themes they talk about at Young Life onto me. We all go to a public school. Students here shouldn’t be pushing their religion on me.”

Madlinger started forming opinions about Young Life after she went one Monday night. “I went to Young Life once, and I just wasn’t that into it. In some ways, I personally think it could be considered a cult, even,” Madlinger said. “My big problem with Young Life is the kids who go and don’t practice what they preach. They want the image of being a strong and faithful Christians, but they don’t act that way. I’m not saying all the kids who go to Young Life are like that, but some are.”

Watkins understands Madlinger’s point. “Not all the people who go to Young Life are proclaimed Christians, though,” Watkins said. “So if some of those people don’t lead a Christian lifestyle, it’s probably because they’re not Christian. Before Young Life starts though, there’s another group called Campaigners, and that’s like a Bible study. All the kids who go there are proclaimed Christians.”

Cerveny doesn’t know why anyone feels that Young Life is a cult. “I’m not sure why anyone would feel that way. But I do know many kids call it a cult before they come, and when they do come, they love it and have a lot of fun,” she said. “I would encourage those people to come and make a judgment for themselves.”

Coleman agrees. “Some people think it is a cult because the people involved have a lot of fun and tend to talk about Young Life a lot. Also, at the end there are small messages from the leaders about God, which may give some people the feeling of a cult, I guess.”

Steele has been a member of Young Life for three years. “I believe Young Life truly has helped me grow in my faith,” Steele said. “The leaders handle religion, a very touchy subject, very carefully, and don’t come on too strong.”

Steele feels that Young Life is a central part of his life. “It’s made my life easier by helping me grow closer to God. My faith has improved so much over these past three years, and I have met wonderful friends I would not have met otherwise.”

So what do you have to do if you want to join?

“Young Life cannot be joined,” explained Cerveny. “There are no dues, no sign-ins, no participation requirements and no elected members, such as president or vice president. Anyone can come whenever they want. Young Life is a ton of fun. High school students can learn about how the Bible relates to their everyday life.”

The Fairmont Young Life group meets at Parkview Community Center at 4100 Glenheath Dr. at 8 p.m. on Monday nights.

Coleman encourages everyone to come. “Young Life is a ton of fun, and to prove it to yourself, you should come sometime, because it’s worth it.”

Maybe nuclear bombs will do us all in tomorrow; maybe global warming will keep melting the icecaps and drown us all in the resulting floods; maybe the sun will die out in a million years and we’ll freeze to death.

But for now, all of these theories seem to be taking a backseat to a theory far more hazy and, surprisingly, less gruesome: the Mayan’s ancient, supposedly apocalyptic predictions for Dec. 21, 2012.

Many different versions of these predictions have begun to percolate within our society. “I heard the whole planet’s gonna explode,” said senior Brandi Timm.

Senior Trey Miller has a somewhat similar take on the matter. “I heard we’re all going to die,” he said. Miller then mentioned a theory relating to the position of the Earth’s axis and made a flipping motion with his arm, demonstrating what is apparently supposed to happen to Earth’s axis on Dec. 21, 2012. Timm listened and nodded.

“Yeah, so I guess we’re all just going to get flipped off into space,” said Timm.

The Mayans didn’t quite predict that anyone would be flipped off into space. The buzz about 2012 lies in one of their methods of keeping time and their ancient creation legends.

What’s with the Mayans?

The Mayans, a Mesoamerican civilization who hit their prime in the Classic period (250-900 A.D.), kept track of time in a slightly different manner than we do today. One of their time-keeping methods, the Long Count calendar, used a measure called a b’ak’tun, which translates to about 394 years, give or take a few months.

According to Mayan creation legend, we currently inhabit the fourth world. The gods failed in creating the first three worlds, but the fourth time was the charm. The third world ended as its thirteenth b’ak’tun came to a close, and then our current world began, and the count started over. This was in September of 3114 B.C. Ever since then, the Long Count has been climbing. And Dec. 21, 2012, marks the end of the thirteenth b’ak’tun – again.

However, nothing in any accounts of Mayan history says specifically that there can’t be a fourteenth b’ak’tun, or that we’re all doomed. The Mayan calendar doesn’t end in 2012 any more than our calendar ended in 1999, at the turn of a new millennium.

“It’s been said many times before that the world was going to end,” said senior Heather Gordon. “It’s just going to be the same as any other day.”

NASA tackles doomsday theories

NASA seems to agree with Gordon. David Morrison, a senior space scientist at NASA, has created a page on the organization’s web site called “Ask an Astrobiologist.” As of June 2009, Morrison had received close to a thousand questions from concerned and curious citizens about the various catastrophic theories of 2012. He continues to answer these questions today, and he posts his answers on the “Ask an Astrobiologist” site.

“There is no threat to Earth in 2012,” says Morrison in a video introduction to his web page. “All of the talk about a doomsday is a big hoax, perpetuated on the Internet and with people trying to make money, so please, don’t worry about it.”

Morrison goes on to dissect several of the most talked-about theories. One of these theories says that a mysterious planet called Nibiru (or Planet X) is currently barreling forward on a crash-course with Earth, and that a collision is set to occur on Dec. 21, 2012. However, Morrison says this theory lacks substance, as no such planet has been detected. “To an astronomer, persistent claims about a planet that is ‘nearby’ but ‘invisible’ are just plain silly,” he said.

Morrison even tackles the polar shift theory casually mentioned by Miller. “A reversal in the rotation of Earth is impossible,” said Morrison. He says that many online conspiracy theorists “pull a bait-and-shift” by associating a reversal of Earth’s rotation with a reversal of Earth’s magnetic polarity.

Earth’s magnetic polarity does, in fact, irregularly reverse every 400,000 years or so. However, Morrison states that there is no correlation between a magnetic reversal and damage to life on Earth. “A magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next few millennia anyway,” Morrison said.

Media boosts the public’s fear

Fairmont Sociology teacher Tina Kurtz says most of the blame for creating this panic should be placed on the media for reinforcing and glamorizing these apocalyptic theories. Indeed, the media – especially television and film – has taken quite a liking to the strong emotions that these theories can evoke in viewers.

The History Channel deemed the first full week of January 2010 “Armageddon Week.” Its primetime schedule for the week included shows such as “Nostradamus Effect: 2012 Extinction,” “The Bible Code II: Apocalypse and Beyond” and “Life After People: Bodies Left.”

And, of course, there is also last year’s blockbuster movie 2012. Throwing all previous theories out the window, 2012 features world destruction via radiation caused by solar storms, and a healthy dose of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions caused by the cracking of the Earth’s crust.

The movie’s first trailer caused a stir by encouraging its viewers to “find out the truth” by searching “2012” on Internet search engines. Later in the marketing campaign, a web site was launched for the Institute for Human Continuity, a fictional organization created to promote the movie. The site offered visitors an opportunity to register for a lottery, the winners of which would be saved from the 2012 catastrophe. “The Mayans prophesized it. Science has confirmed it. And yet, the government won’t tell you a word about it,” read the IHC’s web site upon its launch. “The odds of global destruction in 2012 have been confirmed at 94 per cent. Specific preparations are being made to ensure the survival of a small population. To ensure your chance of survival, register for the lottery.”

Morrison received quite a few questions about the IHC through his “Ask an Astrobiologist” feature. “I’ve even had cases of teenagers writing to me saying they are contemplating suicide because they don’t want to see the world end,” said Morrison. “I think when you lie on the Internet and scare children in order to make a buck, that is ethically wrong.”

But for Kurtz, her biggest fear isn’t whether the world will end on Dec. 21, 2012 – rather, it’s how the people of the world will react as the date approaches. “What is the world going to be doing from Dec. 1st to the 21st?” asked Kurtz. “That’s what scares me the most.”

As for the prospect of doomsday in 2012, Kurtz is trying to be realistic. She recalls her studies of world history. “There have been so many cultures over so many years that have come to these types of conclusions,” she said. She’s trying to ignore the idea of impending doom, and for one simple reason:  “If it’s going to come, then it’s going to come.”

The program would be something like MTV, or how it used to be when it actually played music all the time. Hutchens thought she would just drop off her sister and drive around since she had just gotten her license. Instead, she decided to sit and listen to the meeting.

Before the meeting, Hutchens was interested in a career in biology, but after the meeting her world had changed. Now, 25 years later, Hutchens teaches the Interactive Media classes at Fairmont High School. But she didn’t decide to begin teaching until after 15 years of working in the “real world” of media production.

Getting started meant getting coffee

While earning her bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Wright State University, Hutchens started to volunteer for the new television program “Southside Video.” It played music and it received positive feedback.

Hutchens was just starting out, so she didn’t have many job options. Eventually, Hutchens was hired as part-time staff person at Miami Valley Communication Council. She did anything she could to stay behind the camera. “I started out as a production assistant, which means getting coffee, cleaning things and getting stuff,” said Hutchens. Once she got into the building, she could then meet everyone and show them what she was capable of doing.

That strategy worked for her, and she recommends it to her students. “Take an opportunity you don’t always want because the experience will only help you,” she said.

While working at MVCC, Hutchens got many interesting opportunities. One of the coolest things she did was shoot footage from a hot air balloon. “I literally raced this kid down the hallway to tell my boss I wanted the assignment,” Hutchens said. “Create the opportunities you want. People won’t always come up to you.”

The media is such a huge part of Hutchens’ life, it even played a role in her 1990 wedding. Hutchens and her husband, Todd, had been brought together through their work in media, so she convinced him to get married in a studio, and the whole thing was produced like a sports broadcast.

“Todd and Laura, Live at the Altar” aired on the MVCC channel.

When viewing the video later, Hutchens was surprised to discover it included her husband singing the song “Laura” from the movie “Laura.” “Looking back on it, it was a little embarrassing, but it was so much fun bringing back all our friends from the studio. It was a great ending to our time at MVCC,” said Hutchens.

Working at Cartoon Network

One of Hutchens’ most famous jobs was helping launch the Cartoon Network in Atlanta, Ga. In 1992, Hutchens found out the vice president of the Cartoon Network was a big fan of rock sensation Billy Bragg. She wanted a job with the network so badly that she gave away the Billy Bragg autograph she had just to get in the building. She got hired, but at that point, she was mostly getting everyone’s coffee and cleaning the floors.

Soon, however, she started to watch the cartoons and create promos.

She also got to work with the show “Tune Heads.” Cartoon Network had a vault of unique and rare old cartoons. “Tune Heads” allowed Hutchens to watch the videos in the vault and air them for everyone else to see. “‘Tune Heads’ was made from rare cartoons pulled from the vault,” she said.

Hutchens said it was easy to get the job because she showed that she was very efficient and had a background in technology. “I could get any editor I wanted because they would rather get in and out in half the time,” she said.

“When people hear that I got paid to watch cartoons, they don’t realize how much work was really put in,” said Hutchens. For a long time, she was working many hours a day on very little sleep, sometimes only four hours a night.

Still, she says it was a great experience. “Working with Cartoon Network was a blast. I was lucky to learn from good people,” said Hutchens.

While working with the Cartoon Network, Hutchens also did work for TCM, which was located in the same building. She got to meet a lot of famous people because TCM was collecting interviews with aging movie stars at the Brown State Hotel in New York. Hutchens was production assistant for the project, meaning she met the celebrities at their cars and escorted them to get food or to get their makeup done.

Some famous people Hutchens met were actors Van Johnson, Arlene Doll and Kim Hunter. Hutchens also got to meet actor Cliff Robertson, and they talked about flying for hours. “He was very nice but he insisted on doing his own makeup. He didn’t look so good,” she said. 

Back home in Ohio

Hutchens traveled all over to work in interactive media, and in the end, she wound up in Dayton, Ohio. Hutchens moved back to settle down with her family. She’s been to many places, but Ohio is where she calls home.

In 2000, Hutchens came to Fairmont, where she’s worked closely with teacher Karl Bremer on the Interactive Media program. “Fairmont has a good reputation for interactive media,” she said. “The students are getting more interested, so it’s always busy in the studio.” Hutchens also teaches classes in radio and television, graphic design and web development.

Hutchens says she treats her Interactive Media students the same way she treated her co-workers at Cartoon Network. She lets her students take charge, but she’s there to help them with their projects or the promos they work on for morning announcements.

Hutchens has a huge resume, but she says she’s happy with what she’s doing now. “I just can’t believe I get to do something I love and get paid every day,” she said.

Kettering Fairmont High School boasts students who have lived in the Middle East and can give a little insight into this world that is so often a mystery to Westerners.

Students from Jordan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq and other countries in the Middle East or Asia Minor walk the halls of Fairmont. Their experiences vary widely depending on where they came from, be it Westernized and prosperous Turkey or war-torn Iraq. Their stories offer a glimpse into an ancient and conflicted region. “These students have much to share,” says Dolly Wehbeh, a Fairmont English Speakers of Other Languages translator and tutor.

Push factors

Why these students immigrated to America depends on the conditions in their home countries. Some have come with dreams of economic opportunity, while others are fleeing conflict or persecution.

Violence since the start of the wars in their countries has prompted millions of Iraqis and Afghanis to flee to places like Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Dilshod Tulyaganov, a Fairmont senior, describes a similar situation in his homeland. Two years ago, Tulyaganov left Uzbekistan, a country ravaged by inflation and a depression.

“The economy is very tough right now. People don’t even have money to feed their family,” he said. A full education is only a fleeting dream for some Uzbekistani kids, who have to work in fields instead of going to school. “People really want to come to the U.S., but it’s too expensive. We would go without food to save money to come. The government isn’t letting people leave, and they will kill them if they try.”

The Uzbek government is notorious for violating human rights. Tulyaganov recalls the 2005 Andijan massacre, where troops gunned down more than a thousand protesters. To this day, the Uzbek government has not released full information about the event, but witnesses have relayed the tale to the world.

“What really happened was the people tried to speak to the president. They were waiting for him outside his house, women, too. The tanks came, and he ordered them to shoot. People ran anywhere they could. When more troops came, they refused to shoot because the protesters were their brothers. So the president ordered the troops shot, too,” said Tulyaganov. “You keep your mouth shut if you want to live.”

Islom Karkimov has remained the Uzbekistani president since 1990. “It’s a dictatorship man. He does what he wants,” said Tulyaganov.

Terrorism in the eyes of teenagers

The U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is far from unanimously supported by people in the Middle East. “People look at America sending their army and think, ‘How can we believe they won’t hit us next?’” said Mahmut Kilic, a senior from Turkey.

The Taliban, one of America’s primary targets, had huge marches in Turkey. “They are still hard to find because they move around so much,” Kilic said. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, is one of the most influential terrorist organizations in Turkey, but the government has fought them by weakening their base of support. 

Turkey is right next door to the Iraq war and allows the U.S. to use its air force bases to run missions and transport troops and supplies into Iraq. The nation serves as a safe haven for Iraqi refugees and provides water to Iraqi citizens. “At the same time,” said Kilic, “the Turkish people are heartbroken because they are helping the U.S. fight other Muslims.”

Militant Islamic extremist groups like the Taliban are still active in Middle Eastern nations like Uzbekistan and, as Tulyaganov says, there is no one tougher. “They grow up in the mountains. At 5 years old, these kids can load and assemble a weapon. At 10, they can shoot an AK-47,” he said. “They become so resistant to pain from opium. Some do not have any choice but to join.”

Most of the extremists’ power is in isolated and impoverished regions in the Middle East where there are few education or work opportunities. Restless young men, desperate for purpose, become easy targets for Taliban recruiters.

Tulyaganov saw the devastation wrought by terrorism first hand. He vividly recollects a day when he rushed out of school after hearing an explosion to see smoke rising over the horizon. A children’s store in a nearby bazaar had been bombed, taking the life of his neighbor’s daughter.

“It was a sad day,” said Tulyaganov. He was 14 at the time.

Wehbeh, who works with Fairmont students from the Middle East every day, says these students are very brave. “Despite their past, they have the will to keep struggling on.”

A look at another side of the region

If there is one thing the Middle East is, it’s diverse. The war-torn nations like Iraq and Afghanistan and developing nations like Uzbekistan depict one side of the region, while prosperous countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, The United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey portray another. Turkey has the 17^th highest gross domestic product in the world and is one of the most progressive nations in the Middle East in terms of human rights.

Thousands of years of history come to life through the art, architecture and literature of the Middle East. Humble villages become metropolises like Cairo and Istanbul, with skyscrapers reaching for heaven. The flat desert gives way to snow capped-mountains. It may seem like a whole different world, but in some ways it is simply a crossroads of many. Today, the region still holds much of its mystery, despite Western influences. 

Religion in the Middle East

The Middle East, though predominantly Muslim, has a considerable Christian population, and holds the only Jewish state, Israel. Muslims, Christians and Jews meet at Jerusalem, the capital of Israel and one of the oldest cities on the planet. These major religions all trace their origins to this region. It may be this long tradition of devotion to faith that makes religion such an important part of Middle Eastern life.

“Usually people pray five times a day,” said Kilic, who is Muslim. “When Christians go to church on Sunday, Muslims go on Friday. On Fridays, everybody goes to the mosque.”

Islam is centered around the holy text known as the Qu’ran – or Koran – which is regarded as the final word of Allah, or God, in Arabic. Tulyaganov says the Koran and the Bible are very similar.

“They came from the same place, but they went in different directions. I would say more than 15 percent of what’s in one is in the other.”

Aiding the poor and those who cannot help themselves is one of the main “pillars” of Islam. Many Muslims give Zakat, which is the sharing of wealth for the greater good and those less fortunate. During the month of Ramadan, people fast and refrain from any indulgency from sunrise to sunset.

“It is a time to purify your soul and refocus your attention on God,” said Sumayyah Shermadou, a Fairmont sophomore who was born in America but whose parents came from Libya. She says Ramadan is also a chance to see what it is like to be poor and hungry. In some parts of the Middle East, people will give up food and shelter for a traveler, even if he or she is a stranger. This comes from a story that the prophet Muhammad came disguised as a destitute traveler; therefore, any stranger could be a messenger of God.

One of the Western misconceptions of people from the Middle East and Muslims is that their faith or culture ties directly to violence and terrorism. The groups that carry out violent acts represent only a small faction of extremists.

“People will say, ‘Oh, you are a Muslim, so you are a terrorist.’ This isn’t true at all,” said Kilic.

Just as all Muslims are not terrorists, all terrorists aren’t associated with the Middle East. “The terrorists are everywhere,” said Zaid Hanandeh, a freshman from Jordan.

Coming to America

Since 9/11, it has become harder for people from the Middle East to immigrate to America.

“They check your background to see what kind of life you lived in your other country,” said Kilic. “Even if you plan on going to college, they only let so many people in.”

The process for becoming an American is not an easy one, as most immigrants can attest to. Tulyaganov said that if an immigrant has one document that isn’t filled out right, the U.S. will send the person right back. His mother had never been outside of Uzbekistan. Needless to say, it was not an easy transition.

“Most of them have a relative or friend in the U.S. that helps them get here,” said Valerie Hough, an English Speakers of Other Languages teacher. “From day one, they are submersed in American culture. Sometimes there is more sinking than swimming.”

The students in this story did not mention any specific cases in which they felt discrimination against them because of ethnicity or religion. Many, in fact, say they feel comfortable at Fairmont. “I love Fairmont. There are a lot of students; I have a lot of friends here,” he said.

But a few still had some instances of hatred that they could relay.

 “At a Muslim school in Indiana, the principal got a paper accusing the students of being terrorists and saying that they need to leave the country,” said Tulyaganov. This was after the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Kilic and Fadi Afram, a junior from Iraq, feel that Americans and people from the Middle East could understand each other if they would just research a little. “It seems like so few actually research what is going on,” said Afram.

The reactions of Americans who practice Islam or who come from the Middle East to events like 9/11 and the Ft. Hood shooting are generally like those of other Americans: one of horror and grief. There is a clear distinction between extremists who believe in exercising their faith through violence and those who simply wish to live their lives.

“I understand Muslims aren’t perfect,” said Tulyaganov. “But the ones who act with violence will have to pay for what they did in the afterlife.”

Related story:  Student describes living in, escaping from Iraq

Afram, a junior, came to the United States after escaping from Iraq, where the United States has been engaged in a war for nearly seven years. Last year, he made the 12-hour journey across the Atlantic Ocean to, of all places, Kettering, Ohio.

Afram has lived in a world that many Americans can barely understand, despite a constant flow of news from the battlefront. He has seen the Taliban first hand, lost friends to terrorism and lived to tell the tale. Chilling though his stories may be, his experiences give an up-close look at life in Iraq that no movie laden with special effects can portray.

Waking up in a war zone

Like several other Middle Eastern students at Fairmont, Afram migrated to the United States because of the situation in his home country. 

“It’s not safe; there are no jobs. We came for a better life,” said Afram, who lived in Baghdad during some of the worst years of Saddam Hussein’s reign and the U.S. occupation. After Saddam’s fall in 2003, Afram’s home became a war zone. Bustling city streets turned into a 21^st century Wild West, especially after sundown.  “After 5 o’clock, it wasn’t safe anymore.”

Gangs of men, often drunk, would drive through the streets, terrorizing whomever was unlucky enough to cross their path. “I couldn’t sleep. They would shoot into the house,” Afram said. One night, he went to the door to investigate gunshots from the street. Two masked men ordered him to stay inside as they returned to a gunfight.

Under Saddam’s rule, the situation was far from better. “You couldn’t say crap about Saddam. To this day, I can’t say his name. I’m too scared to,” said Afram. Saddam was executed in 2006 after being convicted of crimes against humanity, specifically the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail after an assassination attempt against him in 1982. But now, according to Afram, the people in the new government are the same.

The United States’ invasion of Iraq hit Afram directly. “At first, we felt bad. People were getting killed; many were leaving. I couldn’t go to school,” he said. The U.S. troops, Afram said, were very nice in the beginning. “We would have soccer games with them,” he said. “But as the violence got worse and they started losing their friends, the mood turned to fear and they stopped trusting us, which is understandable.”

The highest price of violence

For Afram, the price of violence was unimaginable. His father served in the Iraqi military, which men were required to join. He disappeared forever after one of their missions when Afram was only a year old. “If you don’t join the army, they could kill you. You can’t say no,” he said.  

Seven of Afram’s friends were senselessly murdered in terror bombings. His face grew expressionless as he explained how several of them died: “It was after a soccer game. My friends walked to a gazebo to get a drink. There was a car in the parking lot, sitting there. When they got close to it, it exploded. They were there one minute and gone the next.” Three more of Afram’s friends were killed in the bombing of a Baghdad arcade.

His mother died before he was old enough to know her … of what, he doesn’t know. Since then, he has been raised by his grandmother, Nimo Safar, who he lives with today. She comes from the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, where Saddam’s brutality was unleashed when the Iraqi army used chemical weapons to kill thousands of people. Though she speaks mostly Kurdish and Arabic and almost no English, Afram says, “she has taken care of me for 18 years.”

Afram’s exodus

There came a point when Afram’s family could no longer handle the violence. Their tale of escape to Syria in 2004 is hair-raising. He and his grandmother, aunt, uncle and sister crossed the border in a van, taking what meager resources they had. They were stopped at a Taliban checkpoint. Afram hurriedly stuffed their scarce cash supply in his socks and waited. “We weren’t sure if they were going to kill us or let us go,” said Afram. “I nearly died of fright.”

With weapons drawn, a group of 20 or so guards approached the car. The tense moment was broken when out of nowhere came the sound of blazing guns and shouts. Afram was caught in the middle of a battle between U.S. forces and the Taliban. The refugees sped away and, despite a near-fatal crash, crossed the border into Syria.

Afram and his family stayed in Syria for a year. In Syria, it seemed just as hard to earn a living. “The people in Syria were not very welcoming to Iraqis,” he said. “Many of the bombers who attacked my country were trained there.”

When Afram and the others returned to Iraq after a year in Syria, they found it in abysmal condition. “I wished I would have stayed in Syria,” he said. After a year, they left for the last time, returning to Syria. From there, a Catholic Services branch of the United Nations funded their flight to America and helped them get visas. Afram’s aunt, whose husband works at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, helped them settle in Kettering.

Coming to a new world

“I miss some things about Iraq. I had a big group of friends. We all worked together at the same job, and we would play soccer together. I would have parties and play card games, domino games. I was having fun,” he said. But his description of his first sight of America brings a smile to his face.

“When I first came … oh, man, it was awesome. The school was amazing to me. I like pretty much everything about it.”

The Iraqi refugee has found support through the English Speaker of Other Languages program (ESOL), which helps introduce students from other cultures into the English language and the American school system. Dolly Wehbeh, who works with Afram on a daily basis, says the students who come here are very brave despite their past and they have the will to struggle on.

Valerie Hough, the ESOL coordinator, also interacts with Afram every day. “He is outstanding,” she said. “Since he came, he has worked unbelievably hard. It’s amazing the progress he makes, and I get to see it every day.”

Afram’s home in the Middle East is a stark contrast to Kettering, where he appears to be building a new life for himself. The same kid who played soccer with U.S. soldiers on the streets of Baghdad now plays varsity soccer at Fairmont. The young man who looked the Taliban in the eye now sets his eyes on higher hopes and, as he says, there is no looking back.

“I keep going,” he said. “I’m not stopping. I have to keep trying.”

Related story:  Middle Eastern students’ experiences offer glimpse into another world

Indoor ice skating

The winter brings certain sports into season, such as ice hockey and ice skating. A person doesn’t have to be a professional just to do the activity.

The Kettering Ice Arena, located at the Kettering Recreation Complex, is an indoor ice rink that is a host to anyone interested in figure skating, ice hockey, ice skating lessons or leisure skating. The Arena offers regular Open Skate times on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, Holiday Open Skates are scheduled each day Dec. 21-24, Dec. 26-31, and Jan. 2-3. Click here for specific times.

The admission to Open Skates is $3 for a Kettering youth (age 3-17) and $6 for a non-resident youth. For a Kettering adult, the admission is $3.50 and $7 for a non-resident. The spectator fee is $1 and skate rental is $2.

Winter swimming

The Kettering Recreation Complex also offers an indoor pool for use in the winter. Pool activities include lap swimming, swim lessons, SCUBA and water exercise classes. The center also offers a variety of open swim and drop-in water workout times. The cost for a Kettering youth (age 3-17) is $3, or $3.50 for a resident adult. Call 296-2587 for more information.

Unique shopping

Although street markets aren’t usually held in the winter due to the cold, the National City 2^nd Street Market in Dayton stays open year-round. This is possible because the market actually takes place inside a historic old train station.

The market features more than 40 vendors who sell unique items and a variety of food, plus hot coffee and tea to keep customers warm. During the holiday season, the market also offers visits from Santa and horse-drawn carriage rides.

The market, located at 600 E. Second St. in downtown Dayton, is open Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Click here for more details.

Light up the night

For those who enjoy soaking up the holiday spirit, Clifton Mill is the place that will light up any winter evening. It’s located in Clifton, Ohio, where there are more than 3.5 million lights illuminating the mill, the gorge, the bridges, trees and riverbanks. A 100-foot waterfall has a few lights as well.

Clifton Mill is open every day from 5 to 9 p.m. through Jan. 1. On Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, it closes at 8 p.m. “My family and I go every year; it’s a tradition,” said sophomore Rebecca Courtney. “I love the room that has thousands of Santas.”

The cost for adults and children 7 and older is $10; children 6 and younger get in for free. For more information, click here.

Winter at The Beach

One wouldn’t expect to find winter activities at a water park, but The Beach Waterpark offers its annual Holiday Fest with many things to do in the cold. People can enjoy the ice skating rink, a toboggan slide, a miniature train display and a Petting Corral, where one can pet and feed the critters.

General admission costs $9 at the gate as well as online, but admission at the gate comes with two tickets for rides and online it comes with four. Individual ride tickets can be purchased for $1 at the park, or for an even better deal, Adventure Passes can be purchased for $20 at the gate or $18 online. Adventure Passes include admission, skate rental and unlimited rides.

Weekdays, the park is typically open from 5 to 9 p.m., Friday from 5 to 10 p.m., Saturday from 3 to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 3 to 8 p.m. Hours may vary due to the holidays. Click here for additional information.

Winter’s extreme sports

Mountains may be scarce in the Midwest, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on snow skiing and snowboarding. Perfect North Slopes, located west of Cincinnati in Lawrenceburg, Ind., offers free lessons with every ski lift ticket purchased. It is open Monday through Thursday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, Perfect North is open from 9:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. General admission is $45. Click here for additional prices and information.

You can also enjoy skiing at Mad River Mountain, located in Bellefontaine, Ohio. It’s open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. A general admission, weekday ticket is $30 and a weekend ticket is $42. Click here for more details.

For thousands of years, however, some men have been afraid to embrace their inner man. Since most men give in to shaving (that word makes me cringe) or just aren’t able to grow a decent beard, men have typically been shunned for having facial hair.

For instance, Peter I of Russia forced his noblemen to shave. Those willing to keep beards had to pay a tax and even wear a medal stating that “beards are a ridiculous ornament.” Alexander the Great made his soldiers shave in fear that his enemies would grab their beards in hand-to-hand combat.

Despite the brutal history of shaving, there are still a few good men out there, such as the Beard Team USA that recently triumphed at the World Beard and Moustache Championships. Senior Jimmy Strang told me he was at this competition. “It was a great fight and we just barely edged out England for the win,” he said. However, I later found out this information was false; he was never even there.

But there are some other, true stories that give me hope. In Brainerd, Minn., men are still required by law to grow a beard. All of these soldiers are fighting the good fight, sporting beards, moustaches and sometimes even both.

I am one of these brave soldiers, risking my life every day.

The lord of the beards

The ability to grow facial hair and pull it off is a skill very few have. Fortunately, I possess that skill. Since the age of 14, I’ve been growing a beard. I’ve never quite known why I wanted to grow one or why I was able to; I just grew it. When I got to high school, I looked up to some of the good soldiers that were a part of Fairmont’s staff.

As a freshman, I was aware of all of the principals with facial hair, but East Unit Principal Hank Jackoby was not one of them. As I started writing this column, however, he started to get some scruff on his face, so I decided he would be the man to talk to. “My facial hair is determined by my wife,” he said. “I usually let it grow for a couple days, then shave it off.”

Though wife-abiding, Jackoby said he and co-workers participated in a beard competition every December at his previous job in Colorado. Unfortunately, he never won that competition, but he does get scruffy every year around this time to remember those contests.

After I’d been in high school for a while and my facial hair was full and – in my opinion – devilishly good-looking, I realized that people and especially girls thought I was much older. At the age of 17, people tell me that I pass for 21 or 22. I am one of the few people I know who has that problem.

Also, in my years of “beardliness,” I have realized that females are extremely attracted to a man who can grow facial hair well. However, “well” is the key word. If a guy has patchy hair or a dirty-looking moustache, females might be repulsed by him. But well-trimmed and well-placed facial hair gives a man a more sophisticated look that the opposite sex usually finds very attractive.

After proudly rocking my beard for years and having hundreds of people call my beard a “chinstrap,” I realized that name was inaccurate. Actually, my beard is classified as a Donegal, also known as the Lincoln beard and chin-curtain. That’s probably why The Flyer depicted me as an Abraham Lincoln look-alike in an issue last year.

Firebird findings on furry features 

But after pondering my own beard for this column, I began to wonder what other people at Fairmont thought about beards.

Senior Danielle Dobeleit said that if a guy can’t grow full facial hair, it’s probably better just not to have any. “If you’re trying to grow a moustache and it comes out as a crustache or you can’t make it complete, just shave it all off,” she said. “It’s totally not worth it.”

Girls also seem to prefer some types of facial hair over others. “I don’t like moustaches,” junior Michele Post said. “I like chinstraps.”

After Post told me this, I immediately responded with the fact that my beard is actually called a Donegal, not a chinstrap, and was curious if she was aware of the difference. “I know. What you have is just too much hair,” she said.

My self-esteem being shot, I began to look for other students who were trying to pull off facial hair to cheer myself up. I found senior Alex Marcano, who was sporting a goatee.

Marcano loves having hair on his face for many reasons. “Ever since I started growing it, it’s just been good to have. I think I look good with it, and it never really gets in the way or anything,” he said.

And why else did Marcano choose this curious lifestyle with too much hair? “It’s all about the ladies. That’s the most important reason I have it. I look older and that seems to be what women want,” he said. I blew a sigh of relief … my love life had been officially un-ruined in a matter of 15 seconds, thanks to some words from Marcano.

Hollywood stars sport facial hair

Just to get a little bit more of a confidence boost, I asked some fellow students to identify the most attractive people with facial hair. The answer seems to be some of Hollywood’s brightest stars.

For instance, Dobeleit thinks Orlando Bloom is “sexiest” when he has facial hair. “When he’s scruffy, like in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ he can totally pull off a beard,” she said.

One of the bearded celebrities that senior Adam Thompson looks up to is movie star Gerard Butler. “Especially in ‘300’ – he looks so thuggin’ in that movie. I would do anything to be able to grow a beard like that,” he said.

Then I noticed that Thompson didn’t really have any facial hair at all. So I began to wonder if I was part of a large crowd that could pull off facial hair or one of the select few that had had a visit from the beard fairy.

That digression made me ask Thompson about why he wasn’t able to grow facial hair. He started to freak out angrily and looked as if he wanted to fight me. “It’s not my fault I can’t grow facial hair! It’s all blonde and you can’t really see it … . Yeah, I’m sorry I don’t have facial hair like you,” he said.

Despite the obvious compliment Thompson had just bestowed upon me, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him not having a beard. But then again, maybe it was a good thing that Thompson couldn’t and wouldn’t try to grow facial hair. “Guys that don’t have dark hair … it’s just not a good look,” Dobeleit said.

But light blond hair might not be the only danger concerning beards. “You need to look in the mirror a lot if you have facial hair because anytime food gets stuck in your beard, it’s extremely disgusting,” Jackoby said.

Jackoby’s overall outlook on beards is one of optimism and hope for the future. “They can definitely be cool. You just have to make sure it’s looking good and trimmed up. It’ll be sharp and styling,” he said.

However, Post seems to put it best when talking about how a man should keep his facial hair. “Santa’s the only one who can pull off an untrimmed beard.”

“If you’re not sleeping well, it can severely affect your attention and focus in a classroom setting,” said Fairmont Business teacher Len Byer. What some teens don’t realize is that those lost hours of sleep could even mean the difference between an A or a C — or a C and an F.

“I think sleeping gives me more energy,” said senior Allyssa Oney. “I feel I look better after more sleep, and it makes me more alert and ready to do work.” After allowing the body to rest properly overnight, one can wake up refreshed even after feeling beat the night before.

After a night of restlessness, however, the ability to perform a variety of tasks can be impaired significantly. One of the biggest problems occurs when driving tired. According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, driving while being awake for more than 18 hours is as dangerous as being legally drunk. Tired drivers account for almost 100,000 crashes a year.

Blame friends, school and biology

Teenagers are one of the most common age groups to miss those crucial hours of sleep. Dr. Carin Lamm, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Sinai School of Medicine, told Boston’s WHDH-TV that the average teen needs nine to nine and a half hours of sleep a day. But because of late night activities and early school hours, Lamm said, “nearly a quarter of teens get less than six and a half hours of sleep every night.”

The reasons teenagers are having so much trouble getting to bed include both social situations and natural biology. According to the National Sleep Foundation, before adolescence, a person’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm, usually makes one sleepy around 8 or 9 p.m. After puberty, the body is programmed to become tired around 11 p.m. or later and usually requires more sleep during the morning. Everyone’s normal routine and required hours of sleep are different, but these changes seem to affect most teenagers.

A delayed body clock coupled with part-time jobs, early school hours and social situations are putting more and more teenagers out of touch with a proper sleep schedule. “Teenagers tend to sleep less since we’re busier during the night,” said senior Sarah Avery. “Instead of going to bed at 9:30, we stay up playing games or talking to our friends.”

Is a later school start the answer?

When teens are forced to wake up earlier due to morning classes, their performance can be significantly altered. Some schools are countering the sleeping in class and spotty morning attendance by starting school later. Schools in Minneapolis, Denver and Des Moines have taken this step, and they are experiencing better attendance, reporting less depression in students, and are saving money from needing fewer buses in the morning.

Because teens are tired in the morning, more and more are turning to drinking coffee, energy drinks or other caffeinated substances that can actually make them even more tired. “It’s true that you can wake yourself up with a cup of coffee in the morning, but as soon as it wears off, you will crash even worse than usual,” said Avery.

Not sleeping enough has always been an issue for teenagers, but some think that the problem is getting worse. “The sleep problem has always been there for teenagers and adults as well, but in recent years it seems to getting worse,” said Byer. “There are just too many things distracting students, such as spending time on the Internet and working while in school. These distractions are also taking away from study time and further preventing progress.”

This amount of sleep deprivation can be crippling for students. Lamm said that even 25 minutes of extra sleep can be the difference between an A and a C in a class, which makes not sleeping enough a real and obvious problem for many teenagers.

“You simply won’t want to work if you’re tired,” said Oney. “All you can think about is crawling back into bed.”

Here are some tips from the National Sleep Foundation that may help you get a better and longer sleep.

- Get regular daily exercise.
- Avoid caffeine, alcohol and smoking, especially 4 hours before bed.
- Ensure that you have a properly sized and comfortable bed.
- Keep your room at a comfortable temperature, light and noise level.
- Keep a regular sleeping pattern.
- Eat properly, especially before bed.
- Create a relaxing routine before jumping into bed.
- Ensure that you are relaxed and tired.