The Academy Chronicle Staff
CONTENTS
Advisor: Mr. Hathaway Editor-in-Chief: Simona Vigodner Managing Editor: Casey Chan Assistant Managing Editor: Maeve McMadden Design Editors: Melissa Cui, Bella Hwang Assistant Design Editors: Grace Tan, Dan Hu Features Editors: Melissa Cui, Angela Lee School News Editors: Su Min Kim, Hannah Noh Arts Editor: Bella Hwang World News Editor: Sophia Wolmer Sports Editor: Alex Whang Publicity and Business Manager: Rachel Hur Fundraising Managers: Nahyun Lee, Cameron Guan Technology/Website Coordinator: Brian Cho
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How Much Free Time?
05
The Outlook on Outlook
08
An Interview with BCA’s Siemens Semifinalists
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Mrs. Buccino and her New Administrative Role
14
The New Morning Rules
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New Season New Dance
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Too Fresh? How the Frosh Volleyball Team is Acing Sports and School
19 2017 Autumn Tennis at BCA
The Outlook
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features
on Outlook
pg 3
pg 5
pg 8
pg 11
By Sophia Wolmer
B
eginning on the first day of school, a new scheduling policy was instituted. Administration stated in an email that “students should have a maximum of 5 hours free in addition to lunch.” This simple free time policy caused an uproar at BCA. Both students and administration alike began to discuss the pros and cons of this issue. But why was this policy created in the first place? And is this policy still in place today? It all began with a harmless email about elective registration sent out on September 7th with good intentions. In this email it was stated that students should consider the new policy when deciding to sign up for electives. The goal was to limit the amount of frees students have so that they could take advantage of BCA’s unique opportunities. The administration was concerned with the amount of free time that students had. They wanted to create a rule to combat “excessive and unproductive hours.” However, the administration failed to foresee the vexation that would ensue after the policy was instated. Many students were alarmed when they heard that their frees could be taken. After all, it
is one of the few aspects of BCA that keeps students sane. Josh Gonzales, an ABF junior, explained his take on the new policy. He said, “The five hour rule is probably one of the worst policies that was implemented this year. Students were told when they applied to BCA that they would get a lot of work, but that they would also be provided with a significant amount of time to get that work done.” He added, “If that is taken away, that is not only a broken promise on behalf of the administration, but it is also detrimental to the health of all the students.”
Because students take so many IB, AP, and honors classes, they need those extra hours to survive in the rigorous academic environment.
Another anonymous student in AVPA-M explained that the scores of students might suffer in light of the five hour policy, saying that “if a student has an AP or IB class and no time to study, their grades and test scores will be lower.” 3
Those who play sports and participate in extracurricular activities also had concerns about the new policy. BCA ends at 4:30 P.M. — much later than other high schools in Bergen County. For those who do afterschool activities, such as sports, free time during school is an incredible blessing. Taking that away can be equated with taking away valuable hours of study time. Frees enable athletes to participate in sports, and without it, the Bergen Tech athletic programs could be affected. However, it is important to note that other campuses of the Bergen County Technical Schools have neither free time nor Physical Education exemptions for sports. The BCA administration understood the concerns of student-athletes and those who use their free time productively. However, these individuals were not the type of students for which the policy was aimed. Rather, the five hour policy was for those who are not using their time to do academic activities.
Yet, work often prevents leisure and social activities. Even though students may not be doing work, frees may still be beneficial to them. In protest of the policy, ABF Junior Josh Gonzales created a petition. He received over 700 signatures. Additionally, Brian Kehoe, Student Council President, met with Mr. Davis. The controversy dissolved when Mr. Davis sent out an email. He further clarified the policy, writing, “We are concerned about students with excessive free time, (i.e. 13 hours free plus 5 hours of lunch) who are not taking advantage of the unique opportunities our school offers. (Advanced classes, research, electives, arts offerings etc.). If you do not have an excessive amount of free time, there is no need to worry that you will be forced to take additional classes.�
He explained that the policy was meant to preserve the frees of students while limiting excessive free time. I had the opportunity to talk to Principal Russell Davis about the policy. He explained that the policy was targeted at the small number of students who had 12-13 hours free and that those who were concerned about the policy were not really affected by it. On another note, there is an entirely different argument in favor of free time: socializing. Most will agree that high school is a largely social experience. However, at BCA, social time is very limited. Since students live relatively far apart, school is one of the only times that they can communicate.
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Students spend their frees working on their own creative projects, such as decorating their locker. Left to right: Maiya Mao, Rachel Havriliak, and Sneha Bapana. Victoria Lumapan and Katherine Park (not pictured) also contributed to decorating.
The Outlook on Outlook By Grace Tan
“B
ergen Email Migration” read the subject line from system admin. Even before the school year started, the August 18th announcement seemed to foreshadow the big changes to come to BCA in 2017. After the migration of student Webapp accounts to Office 365, the biggest changes are the Microsoft services and the layout of the inbox.
The new functions are unused by the majority of students, and the design received mixed reviews. However, if you’re like Kevin Muca, ABF junior, who says that “the main thing [he] cares about isn’t the layout or details; [he’s] just interested in the email system,” Outlook has been received positively — everybody seems to have at least one new thing they like about the server! First, the Microsoft apps such as OneDrive, Skype chat, and Word seem to be overshadowed by the very similar services that are provided by a Gmail account. Google’s slow trend of “dethroning Microsoft” is nothing new, as the New York Times reports. After all, “more than half the nation’s students [are using] Google education apps” and Gmail: and it seems that the California tech giant’s dominance over its rival continues at BCA. In a survey of 400 BCA students, 58% of respondents answered that they are either unaware of the new functionalities, or ignore them.
A junior using his Outlook inbox. Sophomore Peter Bitanga captures this sentiment, saying, “I use it just for email; I don’t really know what else it would be used for.” One AMST junior, Matt Bansil, offers an explanation for this statistic: First, “Office 365 doesn’t give the full version of all its apps, so there are a few missing functions” that Google might offer. In addition, most BCA students are already accustomed to and perhaps favor Google Docs and Slides. The result is that “students don’t really use Outlook for anything other than school email.” The second big change was design: with new icons, subcategories, and sidebars, Outlook Webapp looks significantly different on browsers now. Ruanna Small, a senior in AMST, says that although “it’s more aesthetically pleasing,” she checks email mostly through phone, so the change is a little lost on her. Based off the survey, this would indicate that the approximate 40% of students who primarily use the phone app will
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also miss out on the computer screen design. Furthermore, not everyone is on board with the rework — some are disgruntled by the changed structure. “Why are the bars so big?” asks Michelle Surets, AAST junior. “You know what else is annoying? I can’t customize it. I used to have polar bears and it made me feel happy; now it’s just Microsoft at the top.” For incoming freshmen, the more elaborate layout provided a steeper learning curve as well. Maya Slobodenyuk of AMST says, “the freshmen had a lot of confusion with the email, especially in the first week when we were still unfamiliar with other programs like Turnitin and Schoology.” Perhaps an email or some sort of introduction to the email could have been useful, “especially for those who had never used a school email before,” she suggests.
Other complaints included the default setting to Reply All, which led to some accidental mass replies. Some new features definitely took some getting used to: “You’re invited to a lot of events, which makes it confusing for some people,” says Slobodenyuk. “When you hit control-R, it replies instead of refreshing,” adds ABF junior Jun-Davinci Choi.
undecorated. Perhaps this is because they don’t care for customization, or because they haven’t found how to do it yet, as in Suret’s case.
In general, though, people agreed that while it is harder to learn, the new webapp comes with greater rewards upon taking the time to explore and personalize it. “It looks more sleek, though it also feels more complicated,” says Muca. “But overall, I do like it.” He appreciates that “notifications come straight to his desktop, and that the directory is easier to use.” A handy search bar makes finding classmates and groups smoother than ever before.As Surets says, “It used to be that we had to look them up on Schoology.” Furthermore, the new Microsoft OneDrive and format “makes attaching files and Google Docs even more convenient,” says Angelica D’Souza, AMST senior. “With the old version of Webapp, you had to open attachments manually,” says D’Souza. “Now, you get a preview of any documents people attach.”
The automatic filtering of emails into the Focused and Other categories also seemed like an unnecessary partition. It turns out a lot of these inbox preferences can be adjusted — it just requires exploring all of the new settings.
Another plus is that drafting emails now occurs in the same window, and not a separate one that would constantly log you out for inactivity. Webmail can also be opened on multiple windows now, notes Choi. “Finally!”
Unfortunately, only 30% of survey respondents expressed that they had any modicum of inbox design, and a remaining 66% have left their Outlook
“I think it’s fairly simple, it’s just that not everybody understands how it works yet,” says Slobodenyuk.
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% SURVEY RESPONSES
A total of 400 students responded to our survey. Here’s how it breaks down by grade.
Sophomores: 26%
Freshmen: 36%
EMAIL CHECK FREQUENCY ASAP: 28%
Juniors: 26%
Seniors: 12%
Data excludes those who do not check their email (the survey was sent over email).
3+ times a day: 31%
About twice a day: 27%
A few a week: 10%
It’s a miracle I even saw this email: 2%
UNREAD EMAILS Under 10: 59%
10 - 30: 12%
30+: 12%
Too many:15%
CUSTOMIZATION LEVELS None: 66%
A little: 30.5% Fully customized: 3.5% 7
An Interview With BCA’s Siemens Semifinalists
By Angela Lee and Jamie Lee
Recently, we had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with BCA’s Siemens Competition Semi-Finalists Katherine Dai and Isabella Impalli. Both were kind enough to discuss with us their research, school lives, and plans for the future.
What led to your start of research and how did you know what you wanted to do? Isabella: Since I’m in business, I didn’t really have the typical “Experimental Tech” class, but typically
that’s how most kids are introduced to research. I actually decided that I wanted to do research because in biology class, they brought us to the electron microscopy lab. I got the actual idea for what I wanted to research after listening to an NPR broadcast on antibiotic resistant bacteria. So then, I decided that I wanted to work with Mrs. Leonardi and I took her prerequisite class, and then I got started.
Katherine: I would say that when I first came in, I had a passion for biology - it was something that I
always wanted to try out, but I did not necessarily know that I wanted to be a doctor. So research was a really good way for me to see if I really liked biology and if it was something that I actually wanted to pursue in my future. What first sparked my idea for research was an article I read for Bioethics, and it was on brain disorders. And I thought - since people with Parkinson’s experience cells that don’t grow quickly enough and in cancer, patients experience cells that grow too quickly - what if I could use this relationship to see what type of pathways I could exploit and what other things are shared that others haven’t really researched yet?
Isabella, can you also tell us a little about your research? Isabella: I worked with antibiotic resistant bacteria. The main idea of my project is centered around hospital-acquired infections. If you go to a hospital and you have a surgery— when your body is open, you can get an infection. About 10% of hospital patients end up with infections like that. Most often, these infections are caused by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotic treatment, which means that they don’t respond well to treatment, and they can often be lethal infections.
I was trying to target one specific bacteria, called Staphylococci, one of the leading causes of these infections. My project explored the use of a peptide, which reduces the proteins that make the bacteria able to adhere to different parts of your body or different surgical instruments. In effect, my project was able to reduce the amount of stickiness that the cells had to each other. It also lowered the antibiotic resistance, which was something that I wasn’t really expecting. I think that was the main hook to my project.
Do you guys have any personal connections to your research, or was it just an idea? Isabella: Yeah, it was just an idea.
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Katherine: Well, for me, I was first introduced to cancer because my grandmother had cancer and she passed
away. So it is something that’s a bit personal for me. But in general, cancer is something that is so broad and it is so applicable to millions of people around the world. If something was discovered, it could be so significant because cancer isn’t just one disease - it’s many diseases that are so unique. Lung cancer can be very different from breast cancer. My project focuses on energy and how cancers reprogram their metabolism, so it’s something that has the potential to be used for multiple cancers.
How did you first feel when you found out about being a Siemens semifinalist? Isabella: [laughs] So the announcement was supposed to come out at 12, but I guess BCA kids hacked the web-
site. So I walked into the lab to work on something that had nothing to do with the Siemens Competition, and everybody started saying “Congratulations!” I sort of didn’t want to believe it because the official announcement hadn’t come out yet, and I was thinking “What if they found something, and it’s not really true?” So I just tried to hold it in until the official announcement came out. Then I thought, “This is awesome!”
Katherine: Similar to what Isabella described, one of my friends found the list before I did, so she texted me
saying “Oh, congratulations!” And I was so confused and asked, “On what?” Then she said “Oh, for Siemens!” So it was a shock and it was very surprising, but I was super honored to be recognized for my research.
Do you have any advice for research students entering Siemens, or research students in general? Isabella: With research in general, it has to be something that you’re passionate about. I know a lot of kids do it
just because they think it’s going to look good on their resume, but it’s not going to look good if you don’t put the time into it. And putting the time into it comes from a place of passion, and a place of really enjoying what you’re doing. For competitions, really taking the time to write your paper is important. You can’t just have good data you have to be able to explain it in a way that other people will understand.
From left to right: Principal Russell Davis, Katherine Dai, Isabella Impalli, Mrs. Donna Leonardi 9
Katherine: Be unafraid to try new things. Thinking creatively is really important, and doing
something that a lot of people may have thought wasn’t possible. There is definitely also an aspect aside from spending so many hours in a traditional lab coat— another part is really communicating your idea to judges. Getting your idea across is as equally important as putting in all those hours in the lab.
How do you balance research with schoolwork? Do you have any tips for time management? Isabella: It’s been difficult for me. Sophomore year was hardest just because of the way my schedule worked out. That’s when I took the most classes, so having to worry about eight different classes at a time and then research was a lot. It should be something you’re passionate about and something you’re willing to spend your lunch hour in the lab for. Of course you have your scheduled hours which is sort of a built-in time commitment that you make, but you can’t do it with two or four hours a week. You have to be willing to spend that extra time in the lab working.
Katherine: And for research, what you put into it is what you get out of it. Even if you come in
10 or 15 minutes early at 7:30 in the morning to go into the lab, that helps. Even staying 10 or 20 minutes after school helps. Everything adds up. Every single time you have frees, if you put in that commitment, it really helps.
What are your plans for your future research - either this project or in college? Isabella: For the rest of the year, I don’t have any plans to continue just because the next step in
my project is a very big step, and it’s not something I can accomplish in the next four months. In college, whatever research you do is sort of dependent on whatever professor you have and whatever they’re working on. I hope that what I’ve done sparks the interest of professionals who are able to go ahead with it more than I am able to at this point. Perhaps when I get older, if I do decide to do this because that is a very real possibility, then this could be something I pick up again.
Katherine: Right now, I’m in the middle of doing the next step, which is bringing this project to application. I designed a peptide, and the structure of my protein hasn’t really been studied before, so I used that structure to design an inhibitor. I’m still in the process of seeing if that works. This could potentially be a drug, but I’m not certain yet. The main thing for me is that having this experience in high school so early on has really steered me towards the direction of biology. Biology research is definitely something I want to pursue in college, and it might be a completely different topic. It might not be cancer, but it’s something I know that I’m interested in.
Is there anyone you want to thank? Isabella: Mrs. Leonardi, of course! We get emails from her at four in the morning, literally. Katherine: Yeah! We both had the same teacher. She comes early and stays late for us. She even comes on weekends and goes through our paper line by line. She really puts in her maximum effort.
Congratulations, Isabella and Katherine, for your accomplishments! We wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavors! 10
Mrs. Buccino and her New Administrative Role by Angela Lee Mrs. Buccino, one of our beloved history teachers, has now taken on an administrative role at BCA. The Chronicle got the chance to sit down and ask her a few questions about her life as both a teacher and now an administrator. She graciously shared her insights on our school and student life, including some words of advice for both underclassmen and upperclassmen.
How long have you taught at BCA, and what were some of your favorite courses to teach? I have been at BCA since 2002, so almost 16 years. I guess I’ve been teaching the same courses for 16 years. I’ve always had freshmen and seniors, but I did start as the Senior Experience Coordinator. I was originally hired to be the Senior Experience Coordinator for AMST, ABF, ATCS, and all of AVPA. But after my first year, there were some changes that the school made, and a position became available in the history department, so I went to the history department because I had the history degrees.
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Did you want to become a history teacher to begin with, or did circumstances lead you to the job?
so significant here. Even though we’re not doing those other duties, we’re still doing other things that take up time. So I think those were some of the main differences.
Prior to coming here, I taught for three years as a history teacher. It’s just that when I was hired as Senior Experience Coordinator before becoming a teacher, I also had business experience. So I was in the corporate world for a couple of years, and then I transitioned to teaching.
Oh, and my favorite course is probably the IB senior course and then my elective, which I haven’t taught in a while, but Criminology. I really enjoyed that.
You mentioned that you taught at another district for three years. Is is different teaching here at BCA as compared to teaching at another school? Absolutely. Before coming here, I taught at Paterson for three years, so discipline is very different. The type of student that we have here is also very different in that the students here tend to be more motivated and interested. It’s not that the students in Paterson weren’t, but a lot of the time in the classroom was really spent trying to get the class in order versus trying to get the material across. I think that’s the main difference. And I think the biggest thing, walking into BCA for my interview, was the hallway thing– so strange to me. The fact that you didn’t need a pass and that people were just wandering the halls was really strange. The fact that you could be in the hallway during your free time was awkward, too. As a teacher, not having to do cafeteria duty or hallway duty or other duties was odd. But then as I came to realize, your time is
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How did you get interested in history? It was actually my high school history teacher... in my senior year, I think it was. I took Honors History and he also taught Sociology and Psychology, and I took all his courses. He was just really inspirational. The way that he taught history, I guess, he just made me want to know more about it. And so when I went into college, I declared history and political science.
What are some of your hobbies outside of school? [laughs] I wish I could say they were more exciting. You know what? I love my soap operas. So I watch a lot of soap operas...I recommend “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Those are my two favorites. I also love playing with my daughter...I love playing dolls and house with her, so that’s fun. I love walking if I get the chance to go for a walk outside, but it’s rare.
I know a lot of people know you as a teacher, but this year you’ve taken on a lot of responsibilities as an administrator. How has the transition been? I’m still transitioning…[laughs] It’s a lot more than I guess I originally thought. However, last year I started with an internship in administration for my degree. So that gave me a taste, but this year, I feel like I have more of a taste. It’s a lot of different and new things all at once. So I think that’s the hardest part for me — handling all these different new things and some things I don’t know anything about. Trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do, and then how to carry it out, and then putting my own little spin on things has been a challenge.
Do you prefer one job over the other? Not really! I like both because the teaching I’ve definitely always loved, and I still love it. I didn’t want to give it up, so that was one of my stipulations — that if I was going to move into some sort of administrative role, I wasn’t ready to go full administration. I wanted to still be in the classroom. But the administration part is kind of fun because I get to do things I’ve never done before. Plus, I get to learn the other side of the school and it kind of helps me better understand some of the decisions that Administration makes, just because I get to see it from a different perspective.
Since you teach both freshmen and seniors, what advice do you have for underclassmen and upperclassmen? For underclassmen, my advice is always, always get yourself organized. Find a routine. If you can find that routine and you can master it by November, then you’re going to do fine here. So for the freshmen it’s definitely organization, and sometimes for the seniors, too. [laughs] But for the seniors, I think my biggest thing — because I see them stress a lot over colleges — is that you’re going to wind up where you’re meant to be. And if it’s not where you’re meant to be, then you’ll figure it out. I think seniors stress too much over colleges and figuring out what the next step is. They kind of forget to enjoy the here and the now.
Embrace the journey? Yeah, I know that’s kind of cliche, but… It’s your senior year! You should be really enjoying it and not stressing so much over the college process because you will get in. [laughs] And they’ll get in somewhere. It may not be their top pick in the long run but I’ve always said, “A degree is a degree and nobody can take it from you.” They really should stress more when they’re looking to get their master’s or the next level of education because in terms of jobs, a lot of times it’s your second degree that comes into play more than the first. Thank you, Mrs. Buccino, for your hard work and dedication! Your passion and drive continues to inspire many students. We wish you all the best with your new roles in the school. 13
The New Morning Rules by Hannah Noh & Maeve McFadden As most returning BCA students have likely noticed, there have been a myriad of changes in protocols and regulations for the new school year, one of them being the way in which our mornings are laid out. According to the administration, any student who arrives before or at 7:20 A.M. must report only to one of the following areas of the building: the Commons, the main floor cafeteria, the second floor cafeteria, or the gymnasium.
Morning clubs must now begin at 7:40 A.M., & IGS must now commence at 7:55 A.M.
Only at 7:40 A.M. are students free to leave their designated areas and to access the hallways, lockers, and classrooms. Additionally, starting from this time, morning clubs are permitted to begin meetings.
Ms. Skuriat, who teaches physics to freshman and sophomores, assists the administration in implementing this new policy by ensuring students are where they
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are supposed to be and that there is a space to walk through in the middle of the hallway. She told us that the administration “wanted to make sure that all students are supervised and accounted for at all times, especially in the event of an emergency.” She added, “It’s changed from last year based on improvements and suggestions for maximum safety.”
Although this new early morning schedule introduces more structure than that of previous years, it may also result in certain setbacks when viewed through the perspectives of students. For instance, morning clubs must now begin at 7:40 A.M., while IGS must now commence at 7:55 A.M. rather than 7:57 A.M., as it did in previous school years. Therefore, clubs that gather before
However, ABF junior Jae Joon Lee admits that although there exist possible drawbacks regarding the shortening of morning club meetings, the benefits of this change are potentially greater. school may be at a disadvantage due to time constraints. Additionally, research students no longer have as much time to attend their laboratories in order to work on their projects in the mornings. AMST junior Afua Ansah points out how helpful it can be for her to sometimes attend research in the mornings. She explains, “a few minutes can prevent me from being late to classes later in the day. However, the new schedule does not really accommodate research in the mornings given that we only have 20 minutes as compared to the 40 minutes we originally had.” Therefore, updated morning time restrictions have possible negative effects. Jae Joon Lee recalls how difficult it had been to recruit members to morning clubs because of some students’ beliefs that fifteen minutes of club time translated to optional commitment and attendance. Now with an even shorter time period for morn-
ing clubs, some BCA morning clubs like UNICEF chose to convert to Wednesday afternoon clubs. Lee concludes that this decision was “a great choice not only because [the club] now [has] extra time, but also because it now has a way to differentiate itself from all the other clubs that fundraise to develop awareness.” On the other hand, Kaitlyn Gill, AAST junior and another UNICEF representative, acknowledges the downfall of having to switch to a Wednesday afternoon club: the decreased number of club joiners. She remarks that students who were already committed to a Wednesday club understandably would rather remain in their respective clubs. Aside from the timing of clubs changing, there has been a limit to the amount of morning clubs available this year. This consolidation took place in an effort to coincide separate clubs with similar goals and interests, so that it was easier to pick a club without having to choose from five very similar clubs. Also, morning clubs focused just on fundraising were mostly unapproved, because there is a limited amount of time and space for bake sales and after school events. Each proposing morning club had to submit a lesson plan for at least their first ten weeks. Not considering the organizational benefits, we wondered if limiting the amount of clubs also limits each club’s individuality. Heidi Yun, a sophomore in AAST, does not think so. She says, “When I was a freshmen, I came into this school knowing about only a few clubs, but once I realized how many clubs were available every day I became overwhelmed. Now, as a sophomore, I can focus my interests and effort in clubs such as World Vision and Operation Smile.” The smaller amount of clubs creates a starker difference between each club- this way, you can make more of an impact in reaching your goal.
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New Season New Dance by Casey Chan
B
CA is officially wrapping up the fall season. This means the pumpkin spice lattes have been put away and everyone has had their last glimpse of picturesque autumn. However, the 2017 fall season was different for BCA students in one major way. The BCA student council held its first-ever Fall Ball, instead of Homecoming, on October 20th. Fall Ball, a widely publicized event, had its own promotional emails and spirit week. The student council also promoted the dance as having free merchandise and food, including halal, sushi, and Korean barbeque. Unlike Homecoming, Fall Ball was BCA exclusive. Although this means that other Bergen County Technical schools could not attend, it also gave BCA a chance to build school spirit at the beginning of the year.
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Student Council Vice President Michael Murphy sums up the dance perfectly. He says, “Our [The Student Council’s] biggest hope with Fall Ball was to revive the tradition of a BCA fall dance. With the various changes to the district wide Homecoming over the last two years, we on the Student Council wanted to create a dance celebrating BCA and to get people hyped over the new school year.” Most students agreed that the dance accomplished its goal of creating a light-hearted atmosphere at BCA. The event was popular among the entire student body, with many freshmen experiencing their first-ever BCA dance. Overall, Fall Ball attendees gave it positive reviews. Many students were thankful for the chance to dress up, hang out with their friends, and dance. Class of 2021 Vice President David Du said, “Fall Ball was an amazing night full of dancing, delicious food, and fun.”
Class of 2019 President Kevin Chew said, “The dessert layout was very nice, a lot of Baked by Melissa products. I partied hard on the dance floor. I thought the DJ was a lot better than last year.”
In the midst of all of the feedback about the dance itself, most students were left wondering why Homecoming was replaced by Fall Ball. Homecoming, a decades-old tradition, is a large part of BCA culture.
Of course, since Fall Ball is a completely new event, there were also areas to improve upon for next year. Many of the complaints focused on the quality of the DJ and the limited access to food. Food was served in the upper cafeteria, but this area was closed later in the evening. Partygoers also had to wait on long lines for their food.
In response to these concerns, one student council member explained the general rationale behind this seemingly bold move. “There was a whole dispute with Paramus over the naming of Homecoming, because it’s BCA exclusive. But, the Homecoming tradition is usually district-wide. Paramus started arguing with us over whether we could use the name Homecoming, so we had to change the name.”
In the words of one sophomore, “I think the DJ choice wasn’t that great, because he only played very hype and heavy beat songs, with no slow songs in between. He also repeated some songs and did remixes I didn’t like.” AMST junior Kinan Khanzada said, “The line to get the food was super inefficient; it was smarter last year with the multiple table buffet-style.” These criticisms will no doubt be addressed by the Student Council, who was charged with the difficult task of planning the entire dance this year. The Council tried their best to consider potential issues ahead of time. Murphy says, “As with any high school dance, the DJ can be extremely awkward, so we [the Student Council] looked hard to find someone that had college party and college Homecoming experience. As was expected, we received mixed feedback about the DJ, but it looks like finding the perfect high school party DJ is an impossible task.”
Although Fall Ball seems like a completely new event, it does mirror Homecoming in some ways. Accordingly, most attendees have described similarities between the Ball and past dances, such as the Freshman-Sophomore Semi Formal. Kelly Lu, an AAST junior, said “The events always offer similar things– food, dance, and karaoke, but the atmosphere of Fall Ball was less hype overall.” Despite this criticism, Lu also went on to say,“At Fall Ball I spent time with my friends eating lots of good food, dancing in the gym, and singing karaoke.” Fall Ball has the potential to become a BCA tradition. The student body has faith that StuCo can keep the ball rolling.
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Too Fresh? How the Frosh Volleyball Team is Acing Sports and School by Amelie Caceres and Vivian Tan
Being a student athlete at BCA is tough without say- es and the free mods at school to catch up on ing, but the freshman girls volleyball team has shown homework or to start studying for an exam. that with dedication and passion, playing a sport does not have to mean late nights and bad grades. In fact, free mods are very important to the volleyball team. Middle player Francesca MignaIf you ever join the freshman girls on their bus ride to no (ACAHA) says she takes advantage of all her practice or back from a game, you’ll find many of them frees and setter Shira Rozenthal (ABF) emphatrying to endure the bumpy ride while finishing math sizes its benefits: “They are so important as withhomework or studying for a biology quiz. These girls have out them, I would have hours of homework at to juggle the Academies’ rigorous coursework with daily home and that’s time I can’t afford to waste.” practices, and this is especially a challenge for freshmen, who are still adjusting to their first year of high school. Nonetheless, the girls find that volleyball is worth the sacrifice. They might not be able to socialize or reAs middle blocker Madison Clancy (ACAHA) puts lax as much at school, but practices and games are it, “Now, I don’t get home until late at night, and the team’s way of gaining some time away from the with more homework, it is definitely more difficult.” stress of academics.“I don’t think about school on the court, they’re two completely different realms” The transition is hard, but these girls are managing it concludes opposite hitter Emily Hashem (AMST). successfully with good time management. One thing that is continually repeated during guidance sem- In addition, the sport also gives an opportunity inars is that in order to succeed at this school, you for some physical exercise that would be otherneed to be able to use your time wisely. Even if you wise hard to get. “No matter how much homework don’t participate in a sport, you still need to know I get, I still have to take care of my body and my how to balance your time between other extracur- health.” adds middle hitter Mikyaela Glavin (AMST). ricular activities, clubs, and community service. Even with BCA’s demanding workload, the frosh “Be organized, plan everything out, and do not pro- team has managed to find their flow. They balance crastinate,” advises Grace Yang, co-captain (AAST). homework and volleyball– getting the exercise they This includes using the travel time before practic- need and enjoying their time away from academics.
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2017 Autumn Tennis at BCA by Grace Pseu
This fall, the BCA girls’ tennis teams ended their seasons with very successful scores. Varsity had a record of 15-4 and were the undefeated league champions 10-0. The varsity team got to the semifinals of the state sectional tournament in group 4 but lost to Ridgewood, who won the tournament. They finished the season as seventh in the county, and ninth in the state’s group 4. John Yselonia, the varsity team coach, describes the season as very successful, considering that few expected them to do well-they lost 5 starters from last year’s team (that won the group 4 state sectional championship). In addition to that, the team was not even included in the preseason top 20. The key to this year’s varsity win was having a lineup that was “strong all the way through and not just heavy at one end”-there was no single superstar player. As the season progressed, confidence rose. “We believed that we could win, and we did. We just needed 3 out of 5 to win, so we really had a chance.” Overall, Yselonia says, “team balance”, “depth” (not being top or bottom-heavy), and “confidence”, and, not to mention, “the outstanding addition of BT freshman Ohnyu Che at 3rd singles”, were the biggest improvements. Next year, Yselonia is hoping to see more of an improvement in serve consistency. He adds, “Doubles could need some improvement—especially volleys, which we worked on all season.” As for junior varsity, one of the team captains, ABF sophomore Claire Ruppert, says, “The season went really well. We played both easy and hard matches and only lost two. It was a great bonding experience between the girls, and a lot of fun.” Abi Kaminsky, the oth-
er captain and an ACAHA sophomore, agrees, and adds, “Matches are based on our league, so we don’t get a say on who we play. We worked really hard.” When asked about balancing school and sports, both say it is a huge commitment. Ruppert explains, “When you sign up, you have to manage your time in a more efficient way.” Kaminsky adds, “It’s definitely hard at times when you get home at 7:30 - 8:00 PM when you have far away or longer matches.” However, she also highlights the benefit: “When I have less time to work, I get motivated to work harder, because I know when I get home I’m not gonna have time to relax.” Ruppert and Kaminsky add that it is a great stress relief and a good way to go outside and have fun. As Coach Yselonia said about varsity, Kaminsky says a lot of girls struggled with serving. “It was hard getting strong serves as your first serves and making sure your second serve is consistent enough to get you through without double-faulting,” she says. (Double-faulting: missing a serve twice.) Kaminsky and Ruppert agree that consistency with regular shots was tough too—it was difficult trying to get a good shot in over and over again. That aside, the JV captains have high hopes for next year. According to Claire, they have had pretty strong seasons in both years they have been playing—plus the incoming freshmen get stronger every year, says Abi—so hopefully, they’ll continue to win most of their games by honing in on their weaknesses and boosting their strengths. “Next year, everyone should come out and support the tennis team,” the JV captains say. “If you have an interest or experience in playing sports, you should try out. It’s a great way to meet people at BCA and a great extracurricular.” 19
As students who have been given the opportunity to receive an education regardless of our gender, we believe that all children should be given the same chance. As one of the many clubs of the United Nations Foundation Girl Up, we raise funds in order to advance the educational and developmental opportunities of others in underdeveloped countries. Although the title of our club suggests that we help only girls, our main purpose is to ensure that everyone is given the right tools and opportunities needed to succeed in life. Every child deserves the right to grow and mature in a safe and healthy environment. Children, no matter their gender or financial situation, should be able to learn the foundation for their future careers in an environment where they are not patronized for going against old societal standards. Education is a critical part of any adolescent's life because when people are educated, they have the power to make a positive impact in their community. Children who receive assistance in creating a better life for themselves are also more likely to go back to their hometown or village and give the next generation better opportunities. Together, as one organization, we raise awareness and advocate for the rights of all children. Contact Prayaga Prasa (prapra20@bergen.org) for more information.
Special thanks to Mr. Hathaway Mr. Pavlu Mr. Lang Mr. Guthrie Mr. Davis Dr. Bath Mrs. Zanoni–Mendelsohn Mrs. Buccino
The IRIS Club will be painting the basement hallway leading to the fitness center. To join, contact colorinbca@bergen.org.
design: Melissa Cui, Dan Hu, Grace Tan
cover art & photography by Dan Hu drawings by Grace Tan photo courtesy of Veronia Kan (pg.16) photo courtesy of Vivian Tan & Amelie Caceres (pg.18)