Talk:Salpointe Catholic High School

Welcome!

It was a pleasant surprise to see a well-written draft appear here. I've taken the liberty of creating a few links that could be filled in with subsequent articles.

Do you have a faculty adviser involved in the Citizendium project? Is there any problem academically if others here give a bit of guidance?

Howard C. Berkowitz 18:22, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for your help with our project. We do have a faculty advisor: Tim Evans (TEvans@salpointe.org) but he wants to act simply as an overseer. There are no problems at all in others giving us suggestions; in fact, we welcome your guidance!

Danielle M. Gies 17:22, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Suggestions

In our discussions on a new Charter, we are struggling with the right term, but we have a general position of objectivity and neutrality. That means that a statement such as "has enjoyed a distinguished reputation" needs to be either omitted or supported. If, for example, you can cite that it's the top-rated school in the region in terms of National Merit Scholars or some other objective metric, you have grounds to say that in the lead -- it's more objective than simple adjectives.

The article will be much more valuable if you contribute to, or create, related articles; see the Related Articles subpage for a start. I guessed at Order of Carmelites; a basic article on the sponoring order would be very welcome. Indeed, there is immense potential for articles on Catholic orders, as well on Catholic education. I wrote, for example, very basic articles on Georgetown University and Catholic University of America.

Try not to copy from the webpage, but paraphrase and add information. For example, is there anything unusual about the language instruction? Do you, perhaps, have sister schools in countries where those are the native languages? If so, mention them.

Lists of staff probably should not be in the main article. Now, if some of the personnel have significant records, they may very well rate articles, perhaps short ones. Definitely think about articles about distinguished alumni -- there are articles about many of the Arizona congressmen; any of them?

Were I to be sneaky, I might ask if there is a traditional rivalry with a local parochial school -- when I was in college, I was a laboratory instructor at Gonzaga High in DC, which regarded St. Johns much as the Pope regarded Satan. (Jesuits vs., if I remember, Christian Brothers). Challenge them to an article, but be sure both sides are objective.

These are some starting thoughts. The power of an online encyclopedia is linkage among articles, so, whenever you write something, think whether it should link to or add to another article. Howard C. Berkowitz 23:39, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Brochure?

I read this as a recruiting brochure, with one exception: where is this school? An advertising pamphlet would not forget to mention how beautifully the school is situated close to the ... (snowy mountains, blue lakes, white beaches, deep forests, vast deserts?). --Paul Wormer 17:17, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

It's in Hayford's city, and the surroundings, at least, are beautiful deserts and mountains. I have worked at the Army base at Fort Huachucha, about 65 miles away. Unkind people say that the base is the middle of nowhere, and slightly less unkind people deny that, but agree that you can see the middle of nowhere from the roof of the officers' club. Nevertheless, it is in an isolated spot because the isolation means there is low level of incidental electromagnetic radiation -- and it is some of the most beautiful desert I've ever seen. Howard C. Berkowitz 17:51, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

More about context

You'll see I've added a bit of information about Helena Corcoran and the Raskob Foundation, as well as its relationship to the Carmelites. Remember, CZ isn't the place to duplicate the school website, but one of our goals is to put information in a broader context. This article, for example, may be a very logical stepping stone to an article on the Carmelites, and indeed to "top-level" articles on parochial schools, on monastic orders, etc.

Thinking about the English Department, at least the hard cover version of The Exorcist gives credit to his high school English teacher, who taught him to write, and to the Society of Jesus, which taught him to think. It would add immensely, for example, if you could find published writers that have that sort of perspective on the quality of teaching. (an aside: I lived in the same part of Washington DC, when the film version of The Exorcist was being made. The wind machine was quite annoying.)

This is true for every department: the valuable context talks not about the basic mission, but achievements. Special teachning and independent study techniques are important. Talk to alumni if you can; you'll find, I suspect, surprising connections. For example, the high school courses that probably helped me most in engineering were in dramatics and journalism; they let me present my work much better than my peers.Howard C. Berkowitz 19:29, 1 December 2009 (UTC)