Open Campus Privileges Earned

By Marshall De Lonay

Open campus for seniors has always been a high privilege and the seniors at Newman Catholic High School have finally received that right.  It has been a long four years of anticipation for the new seniors and they are very relieved to have this new found freedom.  Mr. Larry Theiss recently discussed the limitations and the requirements to obtain open campus.

The students have to show good moral conduct before and during homecoming in order to receive the open campus privilege.  When asked why the faculty does not allow the seniors to go off campus from the first day of school, Mr. Theiss responded, “We have never given the seniors off campus from the first day of school.  The faculty needed to consult the seniors’ behavior after homecoming and discuss whether or not we should allow them to obtain this right in the event of a prank or other incidents that could have occurred.”

“There have never been any major incidents with open campus that have caused us to retract the privilege; there have been a few tardies but nothing to that extent of revoking the ability to go off campus,” stated Mr. Theiss when asked about the implications for taking the privilege of open campus away from the seniors. 

Last Thursday was the first day the seniors could go off campus for lunch and they did very well.  The seniors are showing great leadership for the younger students by showing they can have the freedom they want and also be able to come to class on time.  The seniors are great role models and so far the faculty and staff are very happy with what they have seen from the seniors.