Core should stay – Mary Murphy

C.O.R.E groups are a fun way to spread leadership, and all grades bond through the school. C.O.R.E  is brand new this year but the staff have been planning this for a while now. C.O.R.E definitely has some kinks to work out but there are multiple reasons why C.O.R.E. needs to stay.

In C.O.R.E we have the privilege to meet new people from every class in the school.  I mean who doesn’t love shortened classes to hangout with some new friends for about an hour and a half. In most meetings we get food, watch videos, talk a lot, and in all cases, we miss class. Yeah, at times it can be a bit slow but I think the pros definitely outweigh the cons. We spend time hanging out with people different from our original circle and discuss things that affect everyone in the school.

C.O.R.E is also student led by a Mayor of the towns which gives us a huge break from teacher lectures. Having student-led opportunities lets us grow respect for each other and each other’s ideas.  These meetings allow times for us to get more opportunities to voice our opinions. The plan is to stay with the same group all four years, growing bonds and meeting the new incoming freshmen each year. Eventually, you may become a leader of your C.O.R.E.  C.O.R.E should stay for the long run.

Bring back Counties – Lola Mullin

As a senior, we were the last class at Cathedral High School to experience counties. I was in Kerry with Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Pivonka. I have been at Cathedral all four years and freshman year I was able to see what counties were really like. Some say counties were “taken” away due to Covid-19, others make up small rumors about why they disappeared.

C.O.R.E is new to the school this year. Our teachers tell us C.O.R.E is supposed to build our leadership skills, but I can’t remember a time I thought to myself “Oh, this will really help with leading in the future”. Counties never had expectations, like C.O.R.E does. I believe it was to grow all grades closer together, and give us that family feeling like Cathedral promises us when we first walk through the doors. I think the administration team was trying to make it as similar to counties as possible, but it is far off.

Counties were fun, energetic and teacher ran. C.O.R.E is quiet, boring and run by students. In counties, it was strongly encouraged to bring food, a good attitude, and be ready to make friends from all grades. Yes, in C.O.R.E we have all four grade levels but nobody REALLY interacts with each other. In C.O.R.E we have to go through a slideshow, do a small meaningless activity, and “talk” to each other answering questions given to us. In counties, the teachers basically forced us to interact, and it worked. I was close with so many people in my county.

In counties, there was no agenda and it gave students a break from school, but in C.O.R.E it just feels like another lecture. Counties were held on day three during flex period (sadly we also don’t have that anymore either), so it was much more regular than C.O.R.E. Moral of the story, counties will always be better than C.O.R.E, at least in my eyes.