It’s time to start reading the Times

Despite the school paying for a subscription to news sites like the New York Times, many students are unaware and fail to take advantage.

Bobby Verhey, Social Media ManagerSeptember 20, 2019Leave a Comment

Bobby Verhey

Junior Rashmi Raveendran scrolls through the main headlines for the New York Times. She said, “I know about it but I don’t use it too much. I feel like people might not even recognize that we have access to it since it happens automatically on your computer. I think if more people realized that the school pays for accounts for all of us, then everyone would use it much more often.”

When students are asked about the main perks of being a student at SPA, the answers usually include the well-equipped teachers, lunches, or its modern facilities. However, there are many perks that go under the radar, and one of these perks is the access to many sites and databases that for the public are behind pay walls.

While history essays in ninth-grade and sophomore year do a good job of showing the capabilities of the databases, the databases are not something commonly used in daily life. Because of this, these sites are seldom used and probably for good reason, as it is not often that details about historical events come up in normal conversation.

However, databases are not the only sites that students are given access to through their account, but also news sites. One of these sites is the New York Times, which the school pays one dollar per student so that everyone has access. And yet, most of the SPA community is not aware of this and have never even signed in to their account. If students were more aware of this, they could fully take advantage of the benefits of reading daily news: strengthening vocabulary and knowledge of world events. Not to mention that as SPA continues to move towards more world news discussions in classes, it is even more important to keep up with current events, and there aren’t many better news sources than the New York Times. 

With more students reading up on current events and issues, especially from sources that are provided to them, they can then participate in more advanced and educated discussions and conversations regarding current events and be more in touch with the world outside of SPA and Minnesota.