The WWPT broadcasters.

They talk you through the basketball, football and soccer games taking place at home in the afternoons and evenings, but have you ever wondered what it takes to get the radio shows up and running?

Well, for your typical WWPT basketball game coverage, which is simulcast with the Staples Television Network, STN, the preparations start a good 2 hours beforehand.

For especially important games, however, such as the Homecoming football game, set up can take 3 hours. Sometimes, it even has to begin the night beforehand.

The preparation begins with bringing everything needed into the gymnasium, including cameras, microphones, and a switcher.

Despite the complicated set up for WWPT and STN, finding chairs for the broadcasters to sit in is, oddly enough, the most difficult part of preparing for the show, according to supervisor Mike Zito.

Another necessary part of the WWPT game coverage is the all-important “piano bench”.

This large, navy blue podium houses all of the equipment, and according to Jake Chernok ’13, shields the broadcasters from the action on the court.

“It provides protection so we don’t get hit in the face,” Chernok said.

About ten minutes prior to the game, the commentators put on their headsets to start the pre-game show.

These commentators are given the opportunity to claim games or time slots during WWPT meetings. These meetings take place in the media lab, where the eighty or so members of WWPT wait to be called and be able to negotiate time on the air. Priority is determined based upon the amount of work a given individual puts into running the radio station.

The commentators discuss everything from previous competition to specific players as game time nears. When play begins, they keep up a continuous stream of talk, announcing the game blow by blow, their voices sounding on WWPT as well as behind STN’s live footage of the gameplay.

At halftime, as well as at the end of the game, the broadcasters break down the event and analyze players. Also, guests including the coach and key players join them.

Fifteen minutes after the end of the game, they sign off, giving credit to all of the crew present who make WWPT happen. They take an hour to disassemble their equipment, and their work is done.

While broadcasting an hour-long game takes about 4 hours, the broadcasters don’t let it get in the way of school.

“You find a way to get work done,” Chernok said.

Zito praises the responsibility of his broadcasters, who, according to him, get the job done better than he could hope for.

“Its evolved to the point where I don’t need to do much,” Zito said. “The kids do a great job.”

Cyndianne Gates began her career in business and sales. After pondering how to continue her career, it seemed that teaching would be the next step. “Substituting was a good adjustment into teaching and seemed to be a good middle ground,” Gates said.  Making it from middle school subbing,and finally to high school Gates has made her way through the system and has found her niche at Staples. Although becoming a permanent has been a thought, Gates has enjoyed her time, “becoming part of the community.”

James Vozzo has taken to substitute teaching with the intent to become a classroom math teacher.  “It’s practice in classroom management and experience in an educational setting,” Vozzo said. His substitute experience so far at Staples has been enjoyable. “Everyday is a different experience because of the class I’m covering and the different personalities and talents of the students. It’s rewarding and fun at the same time,” Vozzo said.

Although both Vozzo and Gates have had overall positive experiences to date at Staples, there are many challenges as a sub. “When students come in happy to have a sub it makes me worry,” Gates said. From Gates’ experience the freshman classes tend to take advantage of having a sub, but the seniors know her and respect her level of strictness.

Vozzo’s slight concerns arise when he is taken out of his comfort zone and away from math. Not knowing the subject can be uncomfortable when coming into a class full of unknown students. But teachers have been very understanding. To settle this concern, “most of the time teachers leave pretty thorough plans that allow me to feel confident with the subject matter,” Vozzo said.

Gates’ key to surviving as a substitute is to be flexible. “You need to have a sense of humor to get through the day. Students need to do their work without making it a painful process and everything turns out okay.”

Since the day that gift was given to a then-12-year-old Nicholas Morgan, he knew that his true passion lies in the field of astronomy. In fact, Dr. Morgan, now a science teacher at Staples, has an accomplishment not many on this planet can lay claim to: there is another planet named after him.

Its name? 26267 Nickmorgan.

It began in 2010, when Jason Gandelman ’10, one of Morgan’s students, became a finalist in the renowned Intel Science Talent Search. Because Morgan had advised Gandelman through the project that earned him a finalist spot, the competition named a minor planet discovered in 1998 after Morgan. Thus, 26267 Nickmorgan was officially born.

The planet, which takes about 3.4 years to orbit the Sun once in between Mars and Jupiter, has a diameter of around five kilometers, or about half the length of the meteor that likely caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Fortunately, however, its orbit is stable, and it is not expected to ever make impact with Earth.

Morgan feels that being named after a planet is cool.

“It doesn’t affect anything, but it’s cute, I guess, right?” Morgan said.

Before Morgan came to teach physics and scientific research (ASR) at Staples in 2007, he immersed himself in backyard astronomy and went on to major in astrophysics at Villanova University.

From there, he spent five years in graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he and other researchers developed a thesis involving gravitationally-lensed quasars for cosmological studies.

Morgan’s devotion to these quasars—which he defines as “rare optical mirages in space that occur when gravity from a foreground galaxy bends and distorts the light from a distant quasar or a bright type of galaxy toward the edge of the universe-” has had a significant impact in the field of astronomy.

“The phenomena are extremely rare; only about a hundred are known in the entire universe,” Morgan said. “My research colleagues and I found seven over five years.”

After that, Morgan and his colleagues conducted studies involving the age of the universe, the presence of dark matter, and how fast the universe is expanding as a result of the presence of dark energy.

It appears that Morgan’s dedication to the science field has paid off. Students and teachers alike report an admiration and respect for the man both as a teacher and a human being.

For Gaïane Offredo ’13, an ASR student, Morgan’s enthusiasm for science is palpable, and a source of encouragement for her.

“You can definitely tell he is passionate about science if you’re in his class,” Offredo said. “He really loves it and wants to share it with his students.”

Jimmy Kopack ’12, who is currently enrolled in Morgan’s AP Physics B class, said that Morgan’s ability to connect with the students is what makes him a successful teacher.

“Before most tests, everybody complains about how hard it is going to be and how everybody in the class is going to fail,” Kopack said. “But he always says, ‘There’s a curve,’ and somehow, he changes the mood of the class.”

Kopack added that Morgan’s humor and charisma contributes to his success as a teacher: “He’s very funny; we talk more about ball bearings and honey than we do physics,” Kopack said. “He even figured out how destructive bleu cheese is at the speed of light, a question a few of my classmates and I had been bugging him about forever.”

These are just several of the complaints on Facebook when Jacob Meisel ’13, informally known as Westport’s own meteorologist, incorrectly – sort of — predicts the weather report.

“Weather can be unpredictable,” Meisel said. “But that’s why I have so many websites up at all time — I try and get it right as best as I can.”

Although Meisel is both exceptionally bright and strikingly good-looking, even he can’t guess the weather for sure more than a day or two in advance, meaning townspeople feel misled. He acknowledges that the business of weather is a tough one.

“What I am interested in is very complicated,” Meisel said. “A lot of things can go wrong.”

But how does Meisel handle a forecast that began a week out but which, when weather conditions change, turns out to be incorrect?

“I just try and adjust, and give people as many constant updates as I can so that my latest update is always the right one,” Meisel explained.

Meisel, like many students, enjoys inclement weather and fantasizing about snow days. Some students, like Sofia Weinberg ’15, aren’t pleased when Meisel’s weather reports end up being wrong.

“When that happens, the town pretty much gets ready for something they don’t have to put up with, and it’s annoying,” Weinberg said. “I’m not a fan of incorrect weather reports!”

Some students, however, think Meisel, as he’s known by his friends, goes above and beyond the call of duty for a teenager.

“I think he does a pretty good job,” said Jack Dobrich ’13.

The real question facing Meisel this year is whether or not this winter will be as dramatically cold as last year and, if so, how to prepare for it.

Last year, a record 68 inches of snow fell within two months. Superintendant of Westport schools Dr. Elliott Landon announced five snow days and was uncomfortably close to taking away a Holiday Break.

“We had an extremely cold and icy winter last year, but it started late and died early,” Meisel noted. “There was a specific period where it was really bad, from December 26 to January 26. It was one of the most wintry time periods in Westport on record.”

But what can we expect this year?

“I think there’s going to be another cold winter, with similar trending as last year: January into February will be brutal,” Meisel said with a grin.

“I saw Hurricane Irene coming a week in advance, so I think my predictions for this winter should be all right: I have too many reliable sources.”

This is why of all the people in Westport, Connecticut, a town with over 25,000 residents, everyone turns to him. If he doesn’t fail at his job, he will keep us updated on the Westport weather until the glorious moment everyone has been waiting for: a 2011–2012 snow day.

“I am predicting 3–5 snow days this year but we’ll see what happens,” Meisel said.

He grinned again.

With the holidays recently over and New Year’s hype buzzing throughout the world, Staples students were faced with the closest thing they had to homework this break: coming up with New Year’s resolutions. But for some people, these resolutions were broken before Mayor Bloomberg and Lady Gaga’s shocking midnight kiss was even over.

Ending the caffeine resolution

While some people resolve to cut back on spending money and some try to cut back on binge eating, Haley Garrison ’13 is cutting a different consumption: coffee. Since her freshman year, Garrison has been drinking two cups of Dunkin Donuts iced coffee or French vanilla Green Mountain coffee a day.

“I’m always exhausted in the morning so I drink coffee to wake me up and give me some energy for the rest of the day. The amount I drink of it isn’t a lot but it’s a really good pick-me-up,” Garrison said.

In order to be successful, Garrison realized that she would need an alternate plan to make sure she isn’t tired throughout the school days. Part of her resolution is to go to bed earlier, a natural fix to school-morning exhaustion.

“I didn’t drink any coffee for a few days but once I got back to school, I had to have coffee in the mornings. Waking up at 6 a.m. after 10 days of sleeping late made it impossible to start my resolution,” Garrison said.

Despite not starting to implement her resolution immediately, Garrison believes she will be able to do it. She said that her more realistic resolution is to cut back on her coffee, rather than cutting it out of her diet completely.

Hitting the gym for a buffer body

Working out daily is a resolution common to many people, including Alec Maki ’13. He stated his sole reason for making his resolution to go to The Edge every day as “getting my six-pack on for summer and being more of a chick magnet.”

Maki’s parents were really supportive from the moment he conceived this resolution, which they demonstrated by giving him a membership to The Edge for Christmas. Despite his parents believing in him, Maki didn’t think he would succeed even when he first chose this as his resolution.

“Honestly, two to three times a week is much more realistic for me. I have never been able to keep my resolutions. One year it was to be nice to my sister but that worked for less than a day,” Maki said.

So far, Maki did not keep his either his “extreme” resolution or his “more realistic” one. In the week following winter break, Maki did not go to The Edge once. Given his past failed resolutions, Maki is not too surprised.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to follow through completely, but I’m definitely going to start going more once midterms are over and school isn’t as crazy. I’m a little disappointed in myself because I thought this would be the first year I actually stuck to my resolutions,” Maki said.

With a new subscription to the gym and a determined attitude to attain a more muscular build, Maki is hopeful about fulfilling his resolution before the summer- so he can show off his “beach body.”

Self-improving in the new year

Many students go for the generic resolutions. There’s eating healthier, watching less TV, getting better grades, volunteering more often- and that’s just to start. However, this year, Jon Wormser ’12 resolution digs a little deeper: to stop having “anger blackouts.”

“My main issue in 2011 was that a typical high school fight with a friend would quickly turn sour because I would suffer from something I like to call an ‘anger blackout,’” Wormser said. “I’ve defined it as when an individual gets extremely angry says things that are extremely rude to hurt another individual’s feelings and a few days later forgets what they said.”

Wormser is hoping that in 2012 he will not be as mean when in the middle of a fight. He plans on doing so by holding in some of his thoughts and concentrating on the problem rather than using low blows and insecurities to hurt people.

“The problem is not that big of a deal so I don’t think I’ll refer to purchase any self-help books or watch any Dr. Phil,” Wormser said.

During the week following break, Wormser got into a mild fight with a friend and did have a little bit of an “anger blackout,” though he said it was definitely not as bad as most of the ones he has had in the past.

“My resolutions have generally failed but I have no regrets in life. It’s rare that people actually follow through with theirs,” Wormser said.

Joining the ranks of Rachael Ray and Wolfgang Puck

Rebecca Finell ’13 has many hobbies. She dances ballet, has travelled to Paris, is devoted to fashion, and sings in Staples’ own choir. One hobby she has never had is cooking. However, this year her resolution is to acquire that as her next big hobby.

“I have always loved watching ‘The Martha Stewart Show’ and ‘Julie and Julia’ is one of my favorite movies, so I thought it was about time I started cooking,” Finell said.

Finell’s goal is not as vague as just cooking. In fact, it’s as specific as cooking a different meal each day, each varying in the ethnic background of the food. She said she wanted to make Pad Thai, a Thai noodle dish, and Crème Brulee, a French custard dessert, for her first meal.

Despite her determination, Finell ended up breaking her resolution within the week. “I just didn’t realize how hard it would be to fit that into my schedule since I have so much dance and homework to do. When I came up with it, I was so excited that I didn’t realize how unrealistic it was,” Finell said.

Even though Finell’s large number of hobbies makes it impossible for her to carry out her resolution, she hopes to use her excitement and enthusiasm to turn cooking into her next hobby— even if it’s only making an ethnic dinner once a month.

A fizz-less success

Molly O’Shea ’14 decided that this would be the year she would finally fulfill a resolution she has wanted to for several years already: not drinking any soda— except for ginger ale.

“I can easily give up all soda except for ginger ale. I just love ginger ale too much, and I could never even imagine giving that up,” O’Shea said.

O’Shea has two reasons for giving up her soda-drinking habit. She says that its health effects and tooth damage are two very big drawbacks from drinking soda and that discovering them made her want to give up soda for good.

“Everyone knows that soda rots teeth, and I like my teeth too much to do that to them. Also, I just want to be healthy,” she said.

Unlike most of her fellow schoolmates, O’Shea has not broken her resolution. Since New Year’s Eve, she has not had one sip of any kind of soda— of course, except for ginger ale. O’Shea plans on keeping this resolution for at least the next five years.

Children can transpose their lives to a different key. They breathe in a world of fantasy and live among enchantment.

Through his passionate interest in Disney, James Bell ’12 has kept his beliefs and imagination active to this day. He lives quite the magical life.

“There is only one hope for Disneyland; it’s up to one boy and all his friends to stop those evildoers, rescue the lives of all Disney Heroes and Heroines, and restore and save the world of Disney; and that boy is me.”

This excerpt is just a snippet of “Disney’s Heroes at Last”, a 352-page story that James Bell ’12 has been writing for the last four years.

He recently finished this story and is now onto the editing process.

“I thought it up and dreamt it up as I went along,” Bell said when describing his story, which features a variety of iconic Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Bell said he also hopes to get this story published by the Walt Disney Company and eventually transform the story into a movie, which will star Bell and all of his friends.

Although the story progression has consumed much of Bell’s last four years, his love for Disney has been lifelong. This love was birthed in Paris, where he lived for the first seven years of his life and where he and his family would frequently visit Disneyland. Out of all the attractions, Bell particularly enjoyed Jungle Cruise, Golden Horseshoe Revue, the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Enchanted Tiki Room and Carousel of Progress. However the ultimate attraction for Bell was when all his favorite Disney characters came alive on the streets of Disneyland.

“My favorite part was seeing the parades,” said Bell. Bell recalls that as a child, he believed the characters participating in the parade were real, making the experience all the more magical.

When he learned that these characters were fictional, his interest in Disney became even more intense. Over time, he became increasingly more educated on the history of Walt Disney, the company itself, and voices that played each Disney character. His all-time favorite characters soon proved to be Mickey Mouse and Yen Sid.

“As I grew up, I became an inspired follower,” Bell said.

Bell seems to be inspiring others as well. At this point, Bell is such an expert on Disney that he often leaves his teachers and friends impressed.

“I consider his expertise on Walt Disney and the Disney enterprise a very unique thing to have. It’s almost superhuman how much Disney-related knowledge he possesses, and I’m sure that it will be handy in his future,” said Jeremy Heitz ’12, who is a friend of Bell’s.

Bell’s love for Disney is expressed through his apparel as well. Bell can often be found proudly wearing his Disney watch and ring, along with a shirt or hat.  He has to tone it down at school, but at home, Bell’s activities are decorated in Disney.

For instance, Bell has spent countless hours at home working on miniature drawings of Disney characters and animations to go along with his story.

He draws this inspiration from over 100 Disney films that he owns and watches. A few of his favorites are Steamboat Willie, Silly Symphonies, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Fantasia. Bell said he will either pause the films in order to draw each character, or he will just draw from memory.

On top of that, Bell participates in his church’s choir, Staples’ Orphenians, and Western Regionals, which is a Connecticut choir group. Of course, Bell also loves to sing some Disney tunes on his own time.

And just like most teenage boys, Bell is always up for some video games. Yet even his video games have a Disney theme to them, as his favorites include Kingdom Hearts I, Kingdom Hearts II and Chain of Memories.

Between his story, his artistic talents, and his musical career, Bell has managed to keep a little bit of Walt Disney alive.

One day we may even see Bell’s name in bright lights.

During any given passing time, one can witness the perils of such multitasking efforts unfold before one’s very eyes.

Fleet-fingered teenagers attempt to safely navigate the halls of Staples High School while keeping both eyes on the social lives that lie within their phones.

While publicity regarding the dangers of distracted driving has reached a fever pitch throughout the country, even distracted pedestrians in the Staples hallways have proven themselves to be a threat to the safety of those around them, as well as their own safety.

Just ask Bridget Johnson ’13. A friend of hers who was innocently walking while texting,managed to walk straight into an iron pole.

“She ended up suffering a mild concussion,” said Johnson.

Not to mention the humiliation and ridicule of any onlookers.

Staples graduate Kevin Moss ’11 is simply baffled by the whole concept.

“I just don’t get what’s always so important,” he mused.  According to Moss, who is a freshman at Keene State College, it doesn’t end after high school.

“I’ll see these girls walking to their 8 a.m. classes and staring down at their phones, and I just want to be like, ‘What is wrong with you?’”

For many, however, texting in the hallways has proved to be a foolproof way to avoid any unwanted exchanges.

An anonymous junior boy shared his story as to how texting and walking has been his savior, time and time again, particularly with members of the opposite sex.

“There’s this girl in my grade who stalks me and has a lot of my passing times,” he explained. “If I see her coming from a distance, I pull out my phone and start pressing buttons.”

“It’s definitely useful for awkward moments with teachers, too,” he said.

One teacher who can attest to how awkward student-teacher hallway interactions can be is Catherine Hernandez.

“I’ve had it happen when I think a student is waving at me, so I wave at them, when the wave was really intended for someone else,” she said.  “It’s moments like those where I wish I had a phone to text on.”

Hernandez was quick to clarify, though, that most of the waves she encounters are indeed intended for her.

But even she can appreciate the art of the fake cell phone conversation.

“I have a neighbor who is quite inquisitive, and I hate to admit it, but sometimes I’ve pretended to be on the phone to avoid talking to her,” she explained.

Regardless of motive, the ubiquity of texting and walking has become undeniable.

Legislation banning the practice of “distracted walking” has been proposed by state senators from both New York and Arkansas, as well as the Illinois Secretary of State, in response to an increase in distracted walking related emergency room visits.  Nothing significant has come out of it so far.

In the meantime, it is best that Staples students, both in school hallways and on sidewalks, keep an eye for the oncoming pedestrian who is heavily involved in their dinner plans.

1. Toothbrush

2. Deodorant

3. Pajamas

4. Clothes for Sunday

5. Homework

Put everything in the bag, kiss  hermom goodbye, and Amanda Beusse ’12 is off to her dad’s house for the weekend.

For Beusse, transferring from house to house is a process that she has had to endure ever since her parents divorced when she was four years old. This is Beusse’s life, “It’s just part of the routine,” she says.  Beusse is not alone.

With the divorce rate currently sitting at around 50 percent, many students at Staples leave school only to pack their belongings and head over to Dad’s house. Living in two homes often requires a busy schedule, which attracts numerous factors that can sometimes cause each house to become very chaotic and stressful.

One factor includes remembering to pack every belonging necessary when traveling to each of the houses. One student, who has been granted anonymity, noticed the impact of her parent’s divorce trickling into her everyday school life due to forgetting certain items at each house.

“It gets super annoying to bring everything back and forth because I always end up forgetting something really crucial and having to go back and get it,” she said. “This has also really impacted my success as a student because there are many times that I forget an assignment at one house when I’m at the other.”

Like many students with divorced parents, Beusse also has to deal with the issue of forgetting important items at each house.

“I went shopping with my dad at one point to try to get clothes that I could keep at his house so that I wouldn’t have to pack as much when I went there, but I outgrew them quickly and they never felt like my clothes,” Beusse said.

Yet she soon discovered that even with the necessary items, she still never established her father’s house as her “home.”

For her entire life, Beusse has passed the wall of family pictures that greet her every day after school, she knows where every pot and pan hides in her kitchen, and she can curl up with her old stuffed animals and her favorite bed comforter at night. These aspects to her mom’s house are what make it feel like home, and they simply cannot be transferred to her dad’s house.

She even bought other items to try to adapt to her father’s house, such as deodorant, a toothbrush, face wash, the same shampoo and conditioner that she had at her mom’s, and a hairbrush.

“It didn’t work though, it still didn’t feel like my house,” Beusse said. “It feels like I’m living at somebody else’s house for the weekend.”

Casey Haffner ’12, whose parents divorced when she was just three years old, also has experienced firsthand the difficulty of adapting to a schedule. As a child, she remembers her schedule being very confusing. She often did not know what house she was supposed to be in. After 15 years, she has finally gotten used to the schedule, still acknowledging that the divorce impacts her life.

“Living in two different homes is difficult. There are different rules in each home, and I have to constantly travel between houses to get my things. It’s more annoying than difficult,” Haffner said.

While bringing items back and forth from each house can be chaotic, another level of stress also comes from leftover family tension and the lack of stability in a household. In terms of school-life, the divorce of a student’s parents can impact a student in several ways, specifically in terms of their personality and academics.

As PJ Washenko, a guidance counselor at Staples said when talking about different circumstances that come with divorce. “No matter what, it’s going to be difficult.”

In Washenko’s experience as a counselor, he has found that there were instances in which a teacher would talk to him about a student, and Washenko would then discover, through talking to the parents or the student themselves, that they have been struggling with a divorce. He has also found that situations such as a student wanting to see their father but not feeling comfortable with their stepsiblings or another aspect of their father’s home make it difficult to move from house to house.

“For many students who do deal with that, they’re almost torn between two different worlds,” Washenko said.

Midterms are undoubtedly stressful, but every student is in the same boat. Try to put the exams in perspective, and power through the interminable preparation.

Tessa Schroll ’13 and Griffin Noyer ’13 have compiled some nuggets of advice for the trek into midterm week:

T: Make a schedule. I make myself a schedule on Excel with all the days I have left until midterms and I tell myself how much I need to study each day for each subject.

G: Don’t procrastinate. Well, if you want to, go ahead, but I warn you, it wont look good when it comes to your report card.

T: Get a new binder and some new pens and flashcards. I always go to Staples before I start studying because I get more motivated if I have fresh nice pencils and flashcards waiting for me.

G: Studying with friends is either really useful or a total waste of time. Probably the latter.

T: Try and study in a quiet area. I use this app called Self Control that anyone can download onto a Mac and it lets you put in websites that you want it to block for a certain amount of time, so I always put in Facebook, Twitter and other sites for like an hour and it helps me concentrate.

G: Eat well, sleep right, frosted flakes.

T: Listen to classical music. I know this sounds super cheesy, but studies do show that if you listen to classical music you are more apt for learning material.

G: Make sure to be very clear on what the exams include, and what/how to study. Some teachers can be vague.

T: Relax! I know I was stressing out so much my freshman year, but if you prepare enough and walk into class confident, you will ace your test.

According to Suzanne Kammerman, Staples social studies teacher, “If students have been keeping up with work and staying organized, they shouldn’t feel so overwhelmed.”

Midterms do not determine anyone’s fate. Don’t make them into more than they are.

“Midterms aren’t there to catch students,” Kammerman said.

Staples students do try to stay awake in class and pay attention, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out. There are a good number of students who struggle every day to keep awake, alert, and on task during class.

According to Guidance Counselor Ed Huydic, there are three main causes for students falling asleep in class. The first cause is a student being overbooked. Due to the weight of their classes and extra curricular or outside of school activities, by the time they go to sleep, they will soon be waking up again.

“They get into a biorhythm where they get to be nocturnal and their rhythms are really off. They are learning the hard way that you can’t do it all,” Huydic said.

The second cause can be mental or emotional issues. Whether it’s personal or familial, these problems prevent students from getting a good sleep each night. Huydic recommends therapeutic interventions or medication for this type of student. Yoga has become increasingly popular for stress reduction.

A third significant reason for falling asleep in class is that some students can’t stay awake in class is because of an attention disorder, such as A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. If these students didn’t burn off all of their energy during the day or aren’t properly medicated they, too, will not get enough hours of sleep.

Contrary to popular belief, most students are not simply slacking off – so teachers, don’t feel too offended if you catch a dozer in your class. “It’s not that anything’s boring me or it’s not interesting, I just can’t keep my eyes open,” said Perrin Judd ’12.

Judd says that staying up late to study has led to exhaustion to the point where she doesn’t even notice if she falls asleep. “Even if I want to stay up and pay attention, my eyes just get heavy and the next thing I know I wake up and realize that I just missed a chunk of class,” said Judd.

In addition, it is a common misconception that morning classes result in more sleepy students. Morse and Sulzyki felt that first period can put many to sleep, but Judd found herself dozing off in her afternoon classes.

According to Livestrong.com, eating lunch can lead to drowsiness. High glycemic carbohydrates, also known as simple carbohydrates, raise one’s blood sugar, which will make one more tired. These foods include white rice, white breads, pasta, candy, and baked goods. This proves that, in fact, students are more prone to falling asleep after school.

So what happens when a student is caught dozing? Most teachers try to subtly wake the student up. Tactics include giving the student a gentle nudge or asking them a question in a loud voice.

“Sometimes I let it ride, sometimes I don’t. But, I try not to embarrass them. I don’t just say ‘Hey, you’re sleeping,’” said Michelle Morse, a Science teacher at Staples. Similarly, Sulzycki says that she tends to stop mid-sentence and say their name, or “So and so, are you with us?”

It is not too often that a teacher has to go to extreme measures and send a student to the nurse for falling asleep in class.  “I think teachers try to deal with it in the classroom,” said Libby Russ, one of the registered nurses at the school. She added that she gets about one student a month in the nurse due to this problem.

“Sometimes the mere act of getting up and walking here will wake [the student] up,” said Russ. When a student is sent to the nurse, the nurses try to investigate why the student is so tired and if they have a free period or any point in the day to take a short nap. However, it is not their policy to let students skip class to sleep in the nurse’s office.

Students falling sleep in class not only puts teachers in an uncomfortable position, but it also alters the classroom dynamic. There is a continual buzz from the students who are witnessing their peer or peers sleep.

“There are constantly kids resting their heads on the table who I can tell did not get a lot of sleep the night before, and when they fall asleep it’s always really awkward,” said Hannah Lewis ’14.