inside the issue
culture shock: FOBS ADJUST TO A NEW LIFE
SERIOUSLY SATIRICAL: DONALD TRUMP
feature 6
opinion 5
sports 16
a&e 11
UPCOMING FALL TV SHOWS
the bull’s eye NEWS
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OPINION
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F E AT U RE
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BRAHMAS START SEASON WITH 3 WINS
September 16, 2015 Volume XXXIV, Issue I ONLINE at dbbullseye.com
ART S & E N TE RTA I N ME N T
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S P O RT S
Brummett moves forward The social studies teacher joins Hong and Aguilar as one of the deans. frances wu news editor
Photo courtesy of WILLIAM FOLEY
Catherine Real, with staff members Stephanie Duenas and Dave Desmond at her goodbye party.
Parting ways with DBHS
Catherine Real moves on after five years as the school’s principal. yusheng xia editor-in-chief In September of 2010, Catherine Real took the job as principal of Diamond Bar High School, embarking on a journey with the hopes of continuing the school’s growth in order to give students the quality education she believed they deserved. Five years and numerous school developments later, Real has stepped down from her job in order to move on to the next challenge of her life. Real, in an interview with the Bull’s Eye, said she believes that one of her biggest accomplishments as principal has been mak-
ing Advanced Placement courses accessible to a larger range of students. This process has included removing many barriers such as writing exams, application packets, and teacher recommendations, which previously existed at DBHS and are still enacted in many schools today.
“As I interact with different kids around, it makes me sad to think that I’m not going to do that all day every day...” CATHERINE REAL
“We’ve increased the number of students who are trying [AP courses], but that’s not easy because we’ve also had to increase the number of sections,” Real said. “We can’t just say ‘Hey everyone come on, take an AP class’ and then there is not enough seats.”
By increasing the number of AP courses offered, Real said that she thinks more students challenge themselves by taking these classes. While she doesn’t believe AP classes are right for everyone, Real thinks that the classes are beneficial in that they improve time management skills and help students “up their game” with higher level thinking and writing. “I think if you’re capable, you should try it because those skills will make you successful when you go to college,” Real said. “We don’t want to send to send kids to college thinking they’re all that and then they get there and they realize ‘Oh my God, everybody’s intellectual level and discourse in things are so far above what I’m capable of.’” Providing more opportunities for students in terms of class dif-
PRINCIPAL on p.3
Matt Brummett, who once spent his days teaching students about civic responsibility, has decided to take on some more responsibility of his own by stepping out of his classroom and into his new office. Brummett is now the Instructional Dean for the Social Studies, English, and the PE/Health divisions at Diamond Bar High School. As a result, Deans David Hong and Gabriel Aguilar have each been re-assigned to different departments as well, due to a combination of Brummett’s pre-existing Social Science background and the other deans’ desire for new challenges. Hong is now the head of the Math, Science, and Fine & Performing Acts divisions, while Aguilar has taken on the Careers/Technology/ROP, Foreign Language, and Special Education sections. As an Instructional Dean, Brummett’s job is to work with teachers and GLCs to accommodate the students’ needs, as well as meet the teachers’ needs. The deans work with Vice Principal John Terry to create the master schedule and determine class sizes. “Our job is, first and foremost, to oversee teachers in our division and to support the school from an administrative setting,” Brummett said. Brummett, who has been interested in becoming an administrator for a few years now, had encouragement from several existing
Photo courtesy of DBHS.ORG
administrators to apply for this position. “Ms. Real, Mr. Aguilar, and many other administrators have given me the opportunity to build my resume … I was definitely interested [in this job] and I talked it over with my wife [GLC Jenna Brummett]. We thought it would be a good opportunity for me to pursue, and lo and behold, I was fortunate enough to be hired,” he said. Currently, Brummett has only set short-term goals for himself, saving any large-scale projects for the upcoming years. As of now, his main goal is to focus on getting to familiar with all of the teachers in his divisions and to build relationships with them. Additionally, he is working on improving different departments of the school in order to maintain the school’s accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. He, like the other deans, also still
BRUMMETT on p.2
School welcomes group of new teachers Eleven new teachers have joined the DBHS staff, five of them alumni. ingrid chan staff writer sarah markiewicz asst. opinion editor Though there are new teachers who join the Diamond Bar High School staff every year, this year’s crop is an uncommonly large group, with 11 instructors taking their places in the classroom. With teachers Courtney Corona and Isabella Chiang in the math department; Nancy Najera, Katy Swetnam, and Caroline Gatlin in the language departments; Jacob Kaitz in drama; Sam Jacoby in woodshop; Isaac Lee and Jon Hurst in the social science department; Adriana Garibay in the special
needs department; and Vianney Hwang in art DBHS will soon be accustomed to ten new faces taking charge of its classrooms. In addition to interacting with students in the classroom, Corona and Chiang are the advisors for the 2019 class committee. Corona, a 2003 DBHS graduate, now teaches Algebra A and Algebra II, and is able to work with some of her favorite teachers from
FOR MORE ON JON HURST’S BASEBALL CAREER, SEE SPORTS, PAGE 15 her school days, including Kent Neal, who also teaches Algebra II. Students involved in baseball will have a common interest with another new teacher, Jon Hurst, who used to play baseball with the Gulf Coast League Yankees in the minor league system. Hurst teach-
TEACHERS on p.2
ERIC HONG
Seven of eleven new teachers (left to right) Nancy Najera, Sam Jacoby, Vianney Hwang, Courtney Corona, Isabella Chiang, Katie Swetnam, and Caroline Gatlin stand at the entrance of DBHS, their new workplace.