e c
Stress. Panic. Action. Anxiety. Exhaustion. Repeat. It’s a never ending cycle of symptoms that occurs as the heavy burden of finals draws closer. Along with the obvious physical exhaustion that plague our bodies during this time of year, the psychological pressure put on us is one of the factors that tend to deter us from reaching our full capabilities. Most of the time, the pressure put on us is mostly self-inflicted. The possibility that our “best” isn’t good enough, is enough to bring us down to our all time lows. We are scared to disappoint our parents, teachers, and even ourselves. >>see Finals Stress Page 10
>> Winter Skin Page 10
By Angela Pedrigal Asst. News Editor
ANGELA PEDRIGAL/ The Explorer
By Lauren McGary Asst. Editor-in-Chief
Diversity matters in an educational setting
sity.” Due to an interest in examining the impacts of diverse educational environments, psychologists have studied groups of middle school students and their responses to an increase in different ethnicities. “Our analysis shows students feel safer in ethnically diverse classrooms and schools.” said Jana Juvonen, in a joint study with UCLA and UC Davis. In addition to feelings of safety, having people from different cultures in the same environment is one way to get a glimpse of the numerous cultures around the world. “I think diversity is important
because the world we live in is diverse,” said Frank Knight, Social Studies teacher and basketball coach. “You would think that a school that is preparing people to go out into the world looks like the world that they are going out into.” Some view diversity as an experience that enhances students’ scholarly growth; one that cannot be learned from a text book. “It is really good academically because you have all the intermixing of ideas,” freshman James Alexander said. Among other things, diversity may actually help in one’s own personal development.
>> Treat yo’ self Page 3
“You learn a lot of social skills being around people of different cultures,” Knight said. “It gives you empathy and understanding which you may not have had if you hadn’t had that example before.” LAUREN MCGARY/ The Explorer
KELSEY LOWE/ The Explorer
What’s Inside
lu
Everyone is different. When a group of people come together, there is bound to be diversity, which may be in ideas, beliefs, backgrounds, or ethnicities. Recently, a UCLA student, Sy Stokes, made a provocative, spoken word video, condemning the
ode b
KELSEY LOWE/ The Explorer
By Julia Pichay Asst. Sports Editor
ends up getting themselves or somebody else hurt,” junior Roshni Sopariwalli said. “Our shooter drill is better than a lot of schools because we have drills that address the Active Shooter Response directly and we work to improve,” said Hudelson. >>see Active Shooter Page 5 Campus security teamed up with Hayward PD to ensure a succesful
Different, but important university for its (in his opinion) lack of diversity. “This school is not diverse,” Stokes said. “They don’t care about the cultural limitations of being a minority in society.” For many people, diversity is something valuable to have in school. “Diversity enriches the students’ educational experience, creativity, and innovation; [it] brings different points of views, perspective, and stories,” junior Yasmin Esparza said. “The more we share with one another, the more we learn and the more we appreciate the value of diver-
port Joe Hudelson said. Heightened awareness regarding school safety has led to a dynamic partnership with the Hayward police. “If something dangerous were truly to happen, we need to ... respond without hesitation, because that moment of uncertainty can be the moment where somebody makes a mistake that
THE
Volume XLVI, Issue 3
Being active, staying aware Run. Hide. Fight. Moreau teamed up with Hayward’s police department on Nov. 22 for the first active shooter drill that the school has ever conducted. “Such drills can take years to organize with red tape in some school districts. As a private school we can design and implement training quickly,” AP of Student Sup-
l
Dec. 13, 2013
End of Semester crunch takes its inevitable toll
Stressed out
eb
ue
explorer
Moreau Catholic High School 27170 Mission Blvd. Hayward, CA
cod
Coach Frank Knight
>> MAD Photography Page 12
>> Winter concert Page 8