Portnet Redesign

Recently, the Port Washington School District’s homepage, Portnet, underwent an update of its design. However, some students believe that the website before the update was adequate and served the purpose of displaying information to the community.  Others believe that the website was due for a new style.

“I used the website recently and it was very difficult to find what I was looking for.  What used to take me seconds, now takes minutes,” said junior Una Stopford.

But aside from the rearrangement of specific links and a sleeker, more modern design, the actual content found on the webpage remain the same.

“I hate it,” said junior Isabelle Verdino.  “I don’t understand why they changed it as there weren’t any major problems.”

With the redesign, the webpage is now social media friendly.  In the top right corner, there is an updated calendar, lunch menus, and “Superintendent’s Messages.” Towards the bottom, there is now links tothe Port Washington School District’s Twitter, @PWUFSD, the athletics’ Twitter @PortWashAD, and the creative arts Twitter, @PortWashArts.  These sections can be used to follow their tweets where they share announcements, pictures, and upcoming events.

“Although it took me awhile to adapt to the new design, I think it shows new promises for our district,” said sophomore Kailey Gallagher.

The website also has a section for the school’s headlines.  It features the upcoming play along with fundraisers, athletics, and extracurriculars.

“The website looks a lot nicer and aesthetically more pleasing, however, the navigation on the older website was much easier,” said Social Studies teacher Ms. Sara Byrne.

~ Chelsea Mishan

Girls Who Code

Recently,  Schreiber began its own branch of the Girls Who Code club, a club that was founded by Reshma Saujani in 2012 with the objective to bridge the gender gap in the technology world.  Saujani, the former Deputy Public Officer in New York City, observed that even though careers in computer science are rapidly growing, girls’ interest in the field drops off between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, the age bracket the normal girl spends in high school.  With this in mind, she created Girls Who Code.

Although the club started out small, with a mere 20 girls in New York, it has now extended to almost 10,000 girls in 42 states.  With the organization’s growing national popularity, senior Katie Oppenheim thought that it was about time that the club comes to Schreiber, too. After she came up with the idea, Oppenheim recruited two other senior girls, Carly Perlmutter and Eva Tampkin, and they began working to make their dream a reality.

“Mr. Feldman, a technology teacher, runs the club after school on Thursdays.  It is a great program for girls who want to start to learn how to code.  No prior experience is needed,” said Perlmutter.

This addition to Schreiber is just one of the many changes over the years that the school has made in order to be more socially progressive, and students are noticing.

“I think it is a great idea, especially since it is in an area that society does not think females can excel in,” said junior Kathryn Reardon. “Some people may think it is discrimination if it’s only for girls, but I see it as embracing the female gender in a period of time that needs it.  This can be an example for the future generations at Schreiber that we are a school that keeps expanding in acceptance.”

~ Aiden Seiden