Of all the divisive issues that plague our community, such as musical casting, gun control, and the like, there is perhaps no more hotly debated topic than Fun Fact of the Day. While the weekly pop-culture announcements are entertaining and informative to some, many students and teachers find them to be overly time-consuming.
These concerns have become so widespread that, on March 3, Mock Trial, an IHS club devoted to learning about the legal system, decided to file a lawsuit against Fun Fact of the Day. The idea for the suit was originated by Jeremy Sauer ’20, Secretary of Mock Trial. “It’s simple,” said Sauer. “Fun Fact of the Day takes time, and time is money. Every moment of your life is meaningful, so why waste it all on Fun Fact of the Day?”
Sauer’s idea quickly found support from the rest of the club. “When Jeremy came up to me with the idea, I knew that it made perfect sense,” commented Matthew Soucy, a ninth-grade English teacher and the advisor for Mock Trial. “We do a lot of simulated trials, but they never actually pertain to a real case. This is a great opportunity for Mock Trial members to finally get some real-life courtroom experience.”
From there, support for the lawsuit began to spread around the IHS community. “I, for one, have a personal vendetta against Fun Fact of the Day,” said Tony Yang ’19. “One time, I had a math test second period and my teacher waited to give us the test until the announcements were over. I didn’t finish the test. I still got like a 95 on it, but to me, that’s practically failure. Fun Fact of the Day needs to go, and it needs to go now.”
Many teachers have also rallied behind Mock Trial’s cause. One of these teachers is Robert Tuori, who told The Tattler, “I don’t remember exactly what Fun Fact of the Day is, but I do remember complaining about it a lot, so I certainly wouldn’t mind having it gone.”
However, there are still some at IHS who believe that Fun Fact of the Day is beneficial to the school. One of these people, unsurprisingly, is Joshua “J.T.” Stone ’20 himself. “I’m very concerned and upset over this development,” Stone told The Tattler. “I created Fun Fact of the Day for a reason, and that reason was to educate the IHS community about national news. And when I say that, I mean the entire IHS community. With the announcements, I’m able to more effectively reach both the students and the teachers at our school without them signing up for the email newsletter, which some people don’t know even exists. Are you signed up for my newsletter? I’m checking Gmail right now and . . . no, you’re not signed up for my newsletter. What’s your email address?”
Other students besides Stone have also expressed a belief that Fun Fact of the Day should stay. Leland Xu ’20 noted, “Personally, I couldn’t care less about what J.T. does with his life. If this is what he wants to spend his time doing, then that’s okay with me.”
The support for these announcements does not end there; teachers such as Matthew Prokosch agree that Fun Fact of the Day is perhaps not such a bad thing. “I like listening to J.T.’s Fun Fact of the Day announcements, especially when he mentions Taylor Swift. Actually, that’s really the only time I like it, but I mean, he sure does mention her a lot,” said Prokosch.
While the timetable of the lawsuit is not yet clear, Mock Trial members are confident that their winning it would mean positive things for IHS. “People tell me that they don’t know if this lawsuit is even legitimate, but I’m sure that it will turn out to be good for not only Mock Trial but IHS as a whole,” commented Mock Trial President Meghana Gavirneni ’19. Stone will be represented by a lawyer to be announced at a later date.