On November 8th, 2022 Native American dancers, Senior Kiona Young and Freshman Summer Harrison-Little Cloud performed for students and falculty, during lunch. This was in celebration of Native American Heritage Month. Harrison-Little Cloud, part of the Navajo Pomo Paiute Yankton tribe, expressed what she felt during their performance.
“Right when the song started I was trying to think of my moves and looking at everybody, because all their eyes were on me.” Harrison-Little Cloud said. “But once I started dancing I felt more comfortable because I’ve been doing it for a while now and I just let everything out and at the end I was very happy because my friends were really supportive of me and I was excited to show people my culture.”
From the rumble of jackhammers to the beeps of construction machinery, a flurry of workers come everyday to work on the new building at AHS. The smell of soil, dust and powdered concrete dominate the senses. The new building stands triumphantly over its gray foundations, seeking to house future generations of students.
A tangible, chrome odor accompanied its new ID-card activated doors, state-of-the-art televisions, and shiny bathrooms. Alongside its perimeter were various types of plant life made to contrast the concrete. It is a glimpse of the future of AHS, a move forward in our changing educational environment.
The new building being constructed is the first major infrastructure development in AHS since the construction of the science hall in 2011. Its design phase started twoand-a-half years ago. Construction progress is 90% complete, and should be complete by March 2023 and ready for the following school year. The purpose of this new building is to modernize AHS’s infrastructure and replace the portables, and make room for new students long into the future.
Director of Facilities and Construction Behrooz Danish is the lead of this construction project. He makes sure that the district’s longterm and short-term visions are enacted, and he is currently working on 13 other projects. He and his construction team coordinated with AHS’s administration to make this a reality. The work is interdepartmental, where various departments of the district work together to construct the building.
“The old portables that we have districtwide in most of the campuses including [AHS] were meant to be temporarily used. But in some cases we have been using them for decades, and at [AHS] we had a total of 12 portable classrooms that needed to be replaced with new structures.” Danish said.
The project’s cost was approximately $7 to $10 million dollars, funded by the San Lorenzo taxpayers via Measure B, an initiative voted in late 2018 by the community that allocates nearly $130 million in bonds towards school modernization.
“The design of the portable classrooms are for temporary use, but because of the school needs and the school’s number of students, the portables have been used on [a] permanent basis since 1996. But typically the [lifespan] of the portables is 25 years, and we are getting close to that.” Danish said.
Paraeducator Ian Poole is a teacher’s assistant in the Special Education (SPED) program. He enthusiastically supports AHS’s new initiative. The current facilities used for the program may be satisfactory, but are limited and cannot function in full capacity.
Three out of eight classrooms inside will be given to the SPED program, while the other five will be for general education. The rooms have designated bathrooms, hoyer lifts, and kitchens. This includes a dedicated driveway for the program’s use.
“This new building will allow the teachers that I work with to teach functional life skills. This will be a huge advantage for the students that I work with as they need to learn these skills to be as independent as possible,” said Poole.
English teacher Kingsley Andersen’s classroom is nearby the construction site, and has observed its construction since its inception. Its noise sometimes bleeds through the walls and windows of his classroom, but he says that the workers were diligent in fulfilling their duties, and were kind enough to be mindful of class time.
Though he is supportive of the new building, Andersen believes that the district should prioritize bringing teacher salaries up-to-par with the rest of the country to retain employed teachers and attract new ones, especially in a time when student enrollment is declining.
“It’s very interesting. We have declining enrollment at this time so it’s a strange time to be building new buildings, but apparently the SPED department will be moving out there, and
I think the rooms are more conducive to their operations [and] more up to date.” Andersen said.
The $7 to $10 million allocated to this project may seem like an extravagant sum better spent in fixing AHS’s dilapidated bathrooms, lockers, and classrooms. However, a plan had already been made just for that.
“There’s another project, we call it “[AHS] Existing Campus Modernization”; that’s currently in the design phase, part of the district’s long term plans, and we’ll [modernize] the existing campus [in] the next three years.” Behrooz said.
Danish remains optimistic that school modernizations will continue according to plan. Between declining student enrollment and the need for higher pay, the school has much on its plate to handle. Ultimately, the new building is only a puzzle piece in the wider extrapolations of the school district. After all, future generations are bound to learn in AHS.
“This is in alignment with the 50-year long term plan of the district because no matter what, [AHS]’s going to be here for the next 50 years,” Danish said.
Two new social media platforms have been making the rounds at Arroyo High School, these two platforms known as BeReal and Gas App. BeReal’s main attraction is being a singular post each day within random intervals. “Posting in class or at school is kind of what everybody is doing. With people for example in AP Bio or BioTech, [the students] just want to take a photo with Ms. Johnson.“ Senior Marakii Woldergiorgios said.
Within thoser andom intervals of the day, users on BeReal can post within a two-minute span every day which makes consistency and without the use of editing can create the perfect in-the-moment photo for users for events to moments with friends and even within classes as well. GasApp is known as a poll-style system and it’s a way for students to anonymously send compliments to one another or that the app calls them ‘gasses’ as a way to compliment to notify someone onto something.
As BeReal is within the realm of being in the moment and being unfiltered, as it changes the of a social media app with many like Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram being with endless scrolling as a way to increase demographics.
Senior Marakii Woldegiorgis has been using BeReal since the early summer and likes how BeReal switches it up and how it contrasts from Instagram.
“I think it does break the norm of a social media app with it just being unfiltered. Like you have to take a photo and you can’t edit the photo or anything.” Woldegiorgis said.
Many students take photos with their friends and in their classes to get that “in that moment” photo where it solidifies the user’s moment without augmentation. Woldegorgis has been posting about once a week on BeReal.
“You’d get a notification at different times of the day that says ‘You have two minutes to post your BeReal!’ and you can obviously post it late, like `This person has posted a BeReal 5 hours later.’ but it is just that whole stay consistent thing of notifications and you have two minutes to post a BeReal.” Woldegiorgis said.
Senior Jassy Tejano has used the Gas App before. As the two apps do have the stint of being a constant usage that being an everyday use or an hourly thing, it’s a different style of how we use social media apps, rather than endless scrolling like Instagram and TikTok, Gas App and BeReal would be a one and done for the day type of idea.
“The Gas App is fun to use because it’s usually just for giving and sending each other compliments that the app generates for everyone to do. Like every other hour it’ll give you a list of ten prompts and a poll of four other people. And you’ll just send it anonymously and they won’t know who sent it to them or sent you certain compliments” Tejano said.
BeReal has been either a hit or miss with a lot of students and teachers. Since it can be either a distracting way to use in classes, become one of those one off things that many pass off as a
trend of the past or just not as different from any other social media app. Junior Xanti Souza would want to download BeReal, but as far the ‘hype’ surrounding it hasn’t convinced him yet to download it.
“I mean it’s just that you take pictures. And it’s just during a random point of the day. There isn’t anything special there” Souza said.
With maintaining that one gimmick of BeReal being a post everyday at a specific time, and Gas App with a refresh every hour, it can be certainly draining to stay consistent of usage of the apps. With a one and done deal, it does draw in many users to use it everyday but it’s a different experience when you use the app for a long period of time.
“I think BeReal is kind of boring. Like it is nice to make your own BeReal’s for the memories of like soccer be real or other events. And I would always save my BeReal’s for memories but just going on the app every day to see what everyone else is doing is kind of draining” Woldegiorgis said.
These trending apps around campus have been seen, heard or used by nearly everyone, with many students around AHS using this app to either encourage others to save the moments on this specific day. As the trending apps are deleted, it’ll be a reminder how others find and use these upcoming apps.
“Something I am looking to do when it comes to BeReal is probably that at the moment. Like that notification of that time to post. Whether that be in class or an after-school activity with friends and it’ll be like ‘Hey guys let’s post a BeReal!’. I think it’s something I look forward to just not having to put on that face or this person since it is more in the moment.” Woldergiogis said.
“I had downloaded BeReal for one of my clubs last year, back in March. And BeReal kind of sponsored their events and in return, we just downloaded BeReal as a way to kind of take away from social media, the perfect life aspect of it and show everyone’s actual life.”
-What Made You Want to Download
Senior Kevin Law
“Well my friend sent me an invite and I just downloaded the app and that’s how I started using Gas.”
By Jazmin Quintero-Gaviño
On Nov. 10 Junior Sakeena Saber joined Developmental Psychology of Adolescents on a field trip to a rope courses in Santa Cruz, for Saber it was her first field trip since spring of 2018.
“It’s been so long since I have had such a fun school day” said Saber.
From March of 2020 to the spring of 2022 there were almost no field trips at AHS. Since the spring of 2022 groups at AHS have slowly begun to restart going on field trips. As they have begun this process they have been greeted with some new policies from the district that govern the planning of these trips. Among the differences in this new policy there are changes to the process of getting buses and parent chaperones.
Future Academy co-lead Kay Zimmerman said that in the past teachers largely were responsible for the organizing of field trips.
“In the past, when there was someone organizing a field trip like a teacher who would research the place. We figured out where we were traveling and then we would find the bus, create a contract with the bus, turn in the paperwork to our school office, and then all of that will get turned in to the district and they would do the approvals and process everything” said Zimmerman.
Future’s Academy co-lead Brian Fredin added that this process was relatively quick and easy
“It was very quick, maybe 45 minutes per
field trip, you first have to book a paid trip to a company. And once you have a date, what we would do is we would contact a bus company, the order of us, they would give us a quote, we put our request into the district. And since we have money through the small learning communities, they would pay for that. And then the bus would show up on the day we needed a field trip.“
Zimmerman said the process for getting buses has become significantly more challenging for teachers planning field trips.
“We cannot choose our own buses. We have to turn in the paperwork for the field trip itself,and then we have to sort of just wait and hope that the bus is being ordered appropriately. We hope that it’s been approved, we don’t get information in a timely fashion, about whether it’s approved or not. So the approval process is more mysterious and then it takes a long time.”
She added that the changes to the chaperone requirements have also made it difficult for teachers to get enough chaperone support for these trips
“They’re in the process of changing the rules for parent chaperones and are going to start requiring parents to get fingerprinted in order to be a chaperone. But that hasn’t been officially established yet. So right now, we’re just not allowed to have parent chaperones. So it’s just there’s a lot of transition going on behind field trips. And so it’s making it really
hard for teachers to smoothly and confidently plan our trips.”
In spite of all the challenges teachers and staff have still managed to put on field trips this year. The Future academy has gone on field trips to a ropes course and saint marys In addition to the Future Academy, AHS students have gone on field trips like college visits to San José State University and San Francisco State University with the Career Center.
Senior Andrew Le says that having field trips back feels refreshing.
“Having field trips again feels like a refreshing change of pace because usual classes every day get repetitive. College field trips in particular are a really positive experience in my opinion because they can remind you of why you want to keep working hard in usual classes, because by studying hard you can earn a place in the schools you’re visiting.”
In spite of the challenges Zimmerman is hopeful that it will be easier to plan field trips here at AHS.
“And also, it can happen, it can work. You know, it just feels harder right now.” Zimmerman said.
“I’m hoping that once everything gets finalized at the district level, that they will create some kind of handbook or guide set of five lines for the proper steps for doing a field trip so that anyone that’s able to plan a field trip can do it in a timely fashion.”
Students board a bus on the morning of Nov. 17 to go on field trip to San Jose State University. Photographer: Logan HoughtellingIn October of this school year English teacher
Matt Hagan finally decided to make the switch. After starting the year using Google Classroom, he decided, following instructions from the district, to use Canvas to distribute materials digitally to his English classes.
“It was very frustrating because it was not second nature like Google Classroom was. I never needed help with Google Classroom once I was introduced to it. I could run my class on it and I use it all the time and so switching to Canvas has been very problematic because it is not as smooth, it’s not as easy to understand.” said Hagan.
Two years ago, the district had made a decision to make the switch over from Google Classroom to a new learning management system called Canvas. Within those two years it is assumed that all teachers have made the switch over to Canvas. Many teachers found themselves finally making that transition this fall.
While teachers are making the transition, some are questioning why the decision was made. Hagan believes that it was because it’s a system that is popular with colleges.
“I think someone from Canvas had really good sales people and they told our district that colleges are using Canvas and that it’s really important to give your students an edge by giving them Canvas now and it’s only going to help them in the college atmosphere.” Hagan said.
For some teachers, as soon as the announcement to switch over was made, they immediately did as instructed. History teacher Terra Caldwell is one of those teachers who were among the first to make the switch.
“I’m using Canvas because the district is making us use Canvas. The district rolled out Canvas about 2 years ago and said this is what we’re going to use instead of Google Classroom and I opted to use it right away.” said Caldwell.
Still, many held off on switching over because they felt that the rollout was not executed effectively.
“I’ve just never been that particularly happy with the rollout, how we were trained with it. I don’t really feel like I’m an expert at it and proficient at it. Right now I’m kinda learning on the fly as I go.” Hagan said.
Not only that, but the pressure that teachers face nowadays only further compounds issues of learning Canvas.
“I think maybe that a lot of teachers see it as that there [is] a lot going on with teaching specifically in our district, specifically in our district right now we have a lot of pressure with the lack of other teachers/colleagues. I mean students are aware of this.” Hagan said. “There’s a lot of other things we are dealing with outside teaching and so to add Canvas doesn’t seem like very good timing. Like I guess if we were going to prioritize what’s most important
to students it doesn’t seem like Canvas should be the priority.”
Other teachers on campus simply believe that Canvas was just not needed. Physics teacher Jeff Jorgensen, believes that Canvas had complicated his system of sharing assignments with students.
“Because all of my assignments are in Google Drive, linking anything to them is much easier through Google Classroom. It’s far easier for students to access things in the Google Drive through Classroom than it is through Canvas.” Jorgensen said.
“It’s far more labor intensive to do that in Canvas. My attitude to the district has been, I’ve got a Honda that works perfectly well, stop trying to sell me a Lamborghini. Maybe it can do more stuff, maybe it can do 200 miles an hour and it’s got all kinds of bells and whistles I don’t need. I just want to plot along with my Google Classroom that works just fine.” said Jorgensen
Jorgensen also says that the students that he has talked to all much prefer Google Classroom over Canvas.
“Every time I ask students what they prefer it has been unanimously that they prefer Google Classroom to Canvas. Canvas is a very cumbersome piece of software.” Jorgensen said.
However Jorgensen mentions that a potential lack of a learning management system isn’t as much of a problem for teachers as it would be for students.
“The threat was that Google Classroom was going away and the fear was that you wouldn’t have access to that platform anymore. So if you didn’t have a presence on Canvas you were going to be unable to electronically share anything with students. So the teachers don’t necessarily suffer, the students do.” Jorgensen said.
While some teachers and students have expressed this dislike of Canvas, it appears to be here to stay for the forseeable future. Caldwell believes the best way to deal with this is to embrace Canvas and get to use it more.
“Canvas is a bit annoying but overall it is better than Google Classroom. It’s got more bells and whistles and there’s more things you can do with it. I haven’t regretted switching to Canvas but I also understand why people don’t want to use it.” Caldwell said.
Caldwell added a final piece of advice for those struggling to adjust to the new platform.
“There’s an old engineering adage called mess around and find out and I think that’s probably the best way at this point going about Canvas is to mess around with it and see what happens.” Caldwell said
“I hate Canvas. It’s just a really convoluted version of Google Classroom that is unnecessary. We’d probably be better off without it. The user interface is just a lot more complicated than Google Classroom and besides people are more familiar with Google Classroom than Canvas.”
“It’s not the best. There’s teachers who really don’t know how to use it and teachers who know how to use it but don’t like using it. They’re just not used to something new. They do want to stick with what they’re familiar with although it’s good to try something new.”
“Started out rough but it has grown on me. It seemed confusing and complicated at first but after using it for some time it has been nice.”
Senior Eric Xian Senior Shuai Zhang Senior Victor GonzalezClasses in C-4 have been without a teacher. Students discuss a challenging environment and efforts to learn on their own
Illustration by Eden Buell
This year, a teacher shortage has led many students, especially in Math II, to not have teachers. Sophomore Brie Berggren said that being in a vacant class has created a chaotic and anxiety filled experience.
“It’s really stressful and really difficult to get work done because I don’t know what’s happening. I just can’t teach myself the work.” Berggren said.
Berggren’s Math II class is one of three periods of sophomore classes that don’t have a teacher for Math II this year. With this many students without a teacher, and some who haven’t had a math teacher in years due to the teacher shortage, questions have been raised about how students are learning and what resources are being provided to them.
The classes this year started on Desmos, a math website, and have recently transitioned to Apex Learning, an online learning program. With no one physically teaching the work, and the math on these websites not exactly lining up with the current curriculum taught in the packets, many students turned to separate websites, videos, help from peers, and tutoring to learn.
Since the start of the year, all the learning
and work for Math II classes with substitute teachers has been online. Bergrenn explains the struggle of trying to learn without a teacher, and the lack of guidance with work and comprehension.
“Without somebody there to explain the work and what we’re actually doing, I have no idea what is happening. We’ve recently moved to Apex, where there’s not really a great explanation of the concepts we’re going over, and it’s kinda a mix of concepts [...] I really don’t have much of a support system in the class [...].” Bergrenn said.
Sophomore Tizoc Rosas was in the same class and spoke to the lack of support. He has since transferred into Math teacher Gagan Grewel’s Math II class and explained the difference of how he is learning.
“[Before I switched out], I almost gave up […] We did Apex until we couldn’t understand it anymore. [Now that I’ve switched classes] My learning has improved by a lot, but at the same time, it’s hard adjusting so late in the year.” said Rosas.
Math teacher and department chair Georgia Mountain, explains how she sympathizes with students, and how the school offers tutoring as
an aid.
“I understand [Apex] is supposed to be a recovery for students […] I dont think it’s a great course for them[...]The way I tried to help students learn before Apex was by giving them videos though Desmos.” said Mountain.
Mountain also later added that despite the teacher shortage the school is interviewing teachers and hopefully there will be another Math II teacher soon. However, for the time being, Mountain advises students to research videos online or go tutoring, which is available after school and offered by multiple teachers and in the library.
“I have offered for students to come in during lunch.” Mountain said.
Even though students are struggling with learning and doing work, the best thing students in these vacant classes can do right now is seek after school help in tutoring if possible. In the future hopefully a new teacher could be a possibility, but as of the moment, teachers alike sympathize with them.
“I feel horrible that students don’t have anyone to support them.” Mountain said.
Everyday before walking into C-4, Junior Manisha Chand wonder how chaotic their day is going to be. Chand said the class, which has not had a teacher all year, strugles from a lack of stability.
“It’s literally just so hard, and it’s like no one can do something about it. There’s, like, different teachers every day, and there’s so much work every day but still nothing in our brain, so yeah. It just sucks.” Chand said.
Chand is a student in the Math 2 class of C-4. At first, the students were given Desmos with no knowledge if their work was being graded. This caused her to go to her counselor seeking some help. While using Desmos, the students were informed that the grading system had changed for them. Instead of the pass or fail system they had started on, they switched it to letter grades. This frustrated students because they had no teacher to teach them the subject, and they felt that the the lettter grades isn’t fair for their situation.
“That’s what I talked to the counselor about already. She just kept telling me to do my work and make sure someone is grading my work. If not, then speak with another math teacher or so on.” Chand said.
During the time that class C-4 has had no teacher, there have been frequent substitutes. One of those substitutes is Jessie Fritzen. She’s been periodically covered classes in C-4 and noticed that not many students do their work. Because of this she believes that the school switching to letter grade is justified.
“I think that it should be letters. I do because
there are people who are working hard and who are receiving an A and they should have that on their transcript. And there are people who literally are not doing anything and it should reflect that as well on their transcript.” said Fritzen.
Another student in the same class, Junior Hyrum Ahquin, is also struggling with having no teacher. With no teacher in the class to explain the material to the students. They are simply given work and expected to complete it, learning little to nothing.
“The main one [struggle with having no teacher] is just not being able to learn, and they’re kind of like throwing us into the fire by giving us material that we haven’t learned about. So without having a teacher to teach us, really, about anything, then we’re not learning anything.’’ Ahquin says.
This was a struggle that both of the students shared, but an easy solution to this problem could be to ask the substitutes for help. However, there are new substitutes everyday which makes going to class more difficult with no stability. Another issue with that is most of the substitutes know little about the math that the students are being given, so they often don’t give the proper information which just further confuses the students. “Some substitutes just sit there. And some of the teachers are just not the best at teaching, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing, and they just start explaining some random topic to you that you don’t even know about.” Chand said.
Fritzen is one substitute that used to be a
math teacher, but even she has admitted that the work that is given to the students is difficult. Before switching to Apex when the students were just given worksheets she tried her best to give lessons and explain the work to the students. But after switching to Apex it got more difficult since Apex isn’t really something you can explain as a group because everyone’s on different units. The work that is given during Apex is even difficult with very poor information.
“Which is a little more challenging because they’re all in different spot[s] in APEX. And so like some kids are in unit 4 and some kids are barely in unit 1 because they’re just not doing it. So I can’t really do like a group lesson for the whole class whereas before it [was] not apex. I could do teaching like everybody.” Fritzen said. “Apex is definitely more difficult the curriculum is not so much geared toward group engagement and very visualized. The wording of how things are there’s a computer test and a paper test that they have to do at the end of every unit. And that was unclear for a lot of people.’’
Even with all of these struggles of having no teacher the students are still hopeful of having a teacher soon. That way they can finally be taught what they are learning on APEX.
“Some changes I would like is to have a teacher. I feel like we’re doing APEX with no learning then what’s the whole point in doing it you know what I mean. Like why be in a class when you can’t learn.” Ahquin said.
The pressure and anxiety of bubbling SAT answer sheets against the clock is no longer a reality for students like junior Keira Tan. She wanted to prioritize her AP classes and planned on attending community college, which places less emphasis on standardized testing.
“I feel great, honestly. I thought I was gonna have to take and fail it, because it’s mostly math, writing and reading and I’m not particularly the best [student],” Tan said.
In the wake of the pandemic, many colleges across the country have gone test-optional, meaning that submitting test scores are not required as a part of a student’s application. This policy is expected to last through at least 2024. In addition, some colleges are test blind, meaning that they do not factor in the scores at all in their decisions for who gets accepted. Beginning May of 2021, the University of California (UC) system now no longer considers the standardized test scores of students in their admission process at all.
College and Career specialist Cece Adams explained that one of the reasons that many colleges are putting less emphasis on the test, is that they’re aiming for a more holistic approach to their decisions by also weighing other factors of a student other than test scores. Adams views this change positively; it makes the college admissions process more fair regardless of how much funding a school gets.
“I think it’s a little bit inequitable, in my opinion…A high end school that has the… money to put into their programs can get [their] students ready [for the test]… If you go to a school like ours where we don’t have that, it eliminates you from being competitive [test score wise],” said Adams.
2020 data from the California Department of Education recorded SAT results from every school in the state and recorded the percentage of test takers that achieved the state’s benchmark scores (see table). For AHS, 59.79% of the test takers met those targets. By comparison, schools in more affluent neighborhoods do much better on the SAT. In Monte Vista High, located in Silicon Valley, 96.93% of their students that took the test met those targets.
Math teacher Toby Jaw, who primarily teaches Math 3, recognizes the limitations of the SAT. However, math concepts that Jaw enjoyed teaching, like angles and areas of polygons for instance, have become less important in the current curriculum. Without the SAT, he has noted that the math department has focused less on these skills in earlier levels of math and are taught in later years. He acknowledges that in these times, tackling those skills may not be as important to students, particularly with the development of new technologies and programs that eliminate the need to memorize an array of formulas and concepts for real world applications.
“I think [those skills] are deemphasized which…makes me sad, but…when you look at the big picture, how much of those specific topics do you need to know really well in order to be successful in [topics] like calculus or engineering? There are newer technologies… for people to figure out areas of things, [and] times change,” said Jaw.
Even though the test’s importance is diminishing, some still choose to take it. Senior Carlos Taluban took the SAT in May, but retook the SAT in December in order to improve his score. He was under the impression that some of the colleges he was applying to, like Stanford, still required SAT scores. Taluban later found out that Stanford, like many other colleges, made submitting test scores optional. Nonetheless, he took the test anyway because he had already paid for the test, both in terms of fees and the time spent studying for it.
“I still studied, but more so from the feeling of a sunk cost fallacy than from serious determination. I already paid, and it’d be a waste to pay that late fee for canceling. If I don’t score high then it’s whatever, but if I end up scoring high then it’s a win for me.” said Taluban.
In the end, this new policy allows students to have the freedom to make their own decision on whether or not to take the test. Although the test is not perfect, students that are confident in their language and math skills can choose to take it and submit their scores if they’re satisfied with their results. Students that don’t take the test have one less thing to worry about among all of the obstacles and stressors of the later high school years, and can focus more on their classes and their lives after high school.
Buell“It allows students to be more like a student, and have a great senior year, than be stressed out about one more thing on their plate,” said Adams.
Illustration by EdenScience teacher Toshimi Fujikawa’s face scrunched with confusion. Regarding the tardy policy, she was told that students had to be given detention and it wasn’t up to her to decide.
“If they [students ] are not sitting [in] their seats by the bell, then they are marked as tardy, and if they have three tardies, then they are assigned a detention or a reflection session with the AP office. I also give them the option to serve a detention with me [...] I was told that this was the policy by the principal and assistant principals, that students had to get detention, not that it’s up to the teacher to assign one.” Fujikawa said.
Assistant Principal Gena Kurzfeld stated that there was no set policy for tardy students. But somehow, teachers and students were led to believe that there was a set and new policy for tardiness. Kurzfeld stated that the current policy for tardiness is:
“If a student is tardy three times they get a truancy, and it’s up to the teacher to decide whether or not the student gets detention.”
Science teacher Brian Fredin believes in not using a tardy policy. As a teacher they have different methods for how they control their classroom. This is Fredin’s way.
“It’s not a directive, it’s a suggestive policy. And it is up to teachers. So, as a student that’s confusing right? But you have to kind of adapt to your teachers, so you know if your teacher is gonna go with the policy that is suggested by administrators then you have to respect that. So, it can be a bit confusing.” Fredin said.
Fredin, who has taught at AHS for 17 years, noticed this policy as well as the confusion around it.
“I think we’ve only heard about it once, and so it helps to hear it multiple times. If you’ve been a teacher here long enough, you know about it from before so it’s not confusing. But if you’re new or if you’ve been here for three or four years when we haven’t used it, you were told kind of once and that was it. So [it’s] better communication that way especially for newer staff.” Fredin said.
Junior Toby Frischknecht explained that he didn’t know that teachers were able to give detention for tardies. He feels like the current tardy policy is somewhat vague.
“I didn’t know that teachers could give detention for tardiness. I feel like it’s [Tardy policy] weird and it leads to a lot of holes and gaps; it almost creates an unstable environment.” Frichknecht said.
Fujikawa concluded that the confusion around the tardy policy is partly because of the administration and teachers.
“Part of it [confusion around the tardy
policy] is because of school leadership, as in our school admin, they don’t always enforce it And also because teachers interpret it in different ways.” [...] “I think some teachers are not aware of the tardy policy, or they forgot about it, or they are just choosing to ignore it. [...] “I would like all the teachers to be on the same page and doing the same things.” Fujikawa said.
Fujikawa connected the situation with the tardy policy to a similar occurrence with the dress code a few years back. She also stated that the dress code was up to interpretation with teachers.
“A few years ago there was confusion about the dress code policy, who it applies to, and if it treats certain populations unfairly. It was also up for interpretation from teachers ; some teachers would choose to enforce it and some wouldn’t, which is a similar scenario.” Fujikawa said.
Fredin proposed that instead of punishing students with detention, we should rather talk to them about the problems with being tardy.
“I think all of us need to do a better job talking to kids about why being tardy is a detriment to their education. As teachers we should have conversations about that.” Fredin said.
Fujikawa suggested that the tardy policy should be compiled into some sort of handbook so that teachers and students know what to follow.
“I think making it written in some policy handbook or teacher handbook, but also making it very clear to students this is an agreement that they abide as being students here. Students also are supposed to have a handbook as well, but they are not aware that this exists.” Fujikawa said.
Senior Rita Chen presumed that an announcement about the tardy policy would clear the confusion. She also recommended that AHS should give students more time in order to get to their classes.
“An announcement would be best. I don’t know if it’s possible, but to give more break time, or something along the lines of adjusting the bell schedule to incorporate more time.” Chen said.
Frischknecht wished more consideration was given to students. He indicated that there are major factors that lead a student to be late.
“I think having more understanding for students and how their lives are different. Some people depend on their parents to get here. Some people have a lot of underlying issues. There are a lot of obstacles for people to get here. ” Frischknecht said.
“I would want the tardy policy to be centralized. Tardiness is a student management issue. Like, administration should handle it.”
Teachers answer: “How would you want the tardy policy to be?”Math Teacher Toby Jaw Gov/Econ Teacher Kevin Beal Ethnic Studies Teacher James Aguilar
“If I wanted to [assign detentions for tardies] I would run them in my own classroom vs once a year I get to cover a detention.”
“I think it’s gotta be dependent on the period. I’m not a big fan of marking students late for first period.”
Students frustrated with finals occuring immediately after winter breakIllustartion By Claire Terzich and Wynne Bendell By Wesley Wong
Last year during winter break, Senior Andrew Le was celebrating Christmas with his family and friends, relaxing, and having fun. The following week, he found himself studying AP classroom quizzes for his classes like AP Physics, AP U.S. History, and AP English Literature and Composition. It was the perfect transition from relaxation to reviewing the content he had been studying for the past few months. This year, students like Le won’t have the same routine with the removal of the crucial review week.
This year, the fall semester finals will be taking place the first week back from winter break, rather than two weeks after returning as they have been in previous year.This change eliminates the time students have to study after break, and instead students will have to regulate having fun during the holidays with studying. Students like Le and his peers already feel more stressed out during their break.
“My experience with finals week is that it is usually really stressful and usually not a lot of sleep… the people around me are overwhelmed.” Le said. “Classes like AP Physics and APUSH rely on concepts, so you can’t just remember things and instead have to understand concepts.” Le added.
Since Le is a high achieving student, he is still taking the maximum amount of AP classes possible at AHS, and has to keep the same stressful pattern like last year.
“Before finals, I spend most of my time re-
viewing my class notes.’’ Le said.
Another student, Senior Noreen Gomez, also had a similar idea. She believes that “the dead week gives [students] an opportunity to study if they were unable to during break.” and also that, “it’s more of the factor of intimidation of finals that gives students stress.” Gomez refers to the week of school before finals as “dead week”.
In other words, if students do not have that “dead week” before break, then it would result in students stressing during their holidays.
In general, students like Le and Gomez would overwhelmingly agree that this change is not beneficial for their study habits and their mental state. Students require free time away from school.
“The change is unnecessary as it ruins student’s breaks as we will have to spend more time studying during a time where we aren’t in school,” Le said.
Gomez also believes it is unfair for students to be forced to study during break. She says that not having a finals week ultimately “contradicts the purpose of a break” Gomez added.
If students choose not to study during break, they are forced to cram and in turn, increasing stress for students even more.
“It is unfair for students to have to study during break, they are entitled to free time away from school activities.” Le added.
“I don’t like the fact that we have finals right when we come back, if winter break was so late this year, we should not have started so early in August.”
“I
final before break, and then we just start the 2nd semester when we get back,in terms in what the students want, makes more sense to have finals before break.”
HowGeology Teacher Corey Kramer Biology Teacher Samantha Johnson
“I think it’s unfortunate that it had to work out that way... it just seems it could’ve been thought about a little more, on terms about how it affects my classes.”
think that having finals the first week back from break is silly although I understand why we’re doing it, I give the
“[Not having a dead week] contradicts the purpose of a break.”Senior Noreen Gomez
“[Students] will have to spend more time studying during a time where we aren’t in school,”
By Jessica Reyes-Fajardo
Sitting on the wooden bench in the middle of the mall, looking to the right used to be a figure store and to the left used to be a Sanrio store.
Senior Annie Xu, a San Leandro resident, said that there used to be people here, but now there is nothing. All you can see is glass and empty businesses, it’s a ghost town.
Bayfair, one of the first malls in the Bay area opened in 1957 and is closing its doors. It was recently bought out by B3 and Gaw Capital Partners for fifty-seven million dollars, and is being studied for transformation into a mixed-use campus featuring homes, offices, and retail. Bayfair closing down isn’t a surprising change for the community since Bayfair has been slowly losing businesses for years now with people saying it’s crime ridden.
Has Bayfair always been this way? Many people from the community have memories connected with Bayfair rooted from when they were children. It used to be considered a place to hang out at but in recent years ``there really isn’t much to do nowadays” , said Xu, who grew up going to the Bayfair mall.
Bayfair wasn’t always empty, it used to be lively. There used to be crowds of people and each business had its customers and you’d always hear the children’s laughter running around in the play structures.
“I remember it being full of people, eating, actually going to the stores and kids running around playing with chess pieces. It doesn’t really serve anything, it just takes up space because there isn’t much to do anymore”, Senior Kimmy Avelar said.
Avelar believes that the rise of online shopping could have contributed to a decline of Bayfair, “Online shopping has become huge and stores started to close down and people started to come less and less”.
Even with this closing she misses when people would come inside, aside from it becoming a ghost town she misses the community factor, reminiscing how teenagers would come and volunteer and every Sunday, “the community would meet up and do activities every Sunday ” Avelar says.
Castro Valley High School Junior Arianna Rosillo, who lives in San Leandro, has their own worries, concerning the businesses surrounding Bayfair,
“The farmers market gives a chance for people from different cities to come together and it helps the small businesses, I would hate to see that go away”, Rosillo said.
While some say they’ll miss Bayfair, they agree on its closing due to its inactivity; many just have the hope that it will become something beneficial for the community.
Xu agrees, “that Bayfair’s space will be used to benefit the community, it shouldn’t just be there holding up space that can be changed to something beneficial”.
Along with the other community members Avelar believes that the space should be used for good and be used to actually unite the community. she doesn’t agree with the housing plan .
Avelar says, “I’m not fond of housing because it will make everything crowded. I want it to be a place people can have a good time at instead of making the place stuffy”.
They all want a change; they want Bayfair to be a place to unify the community like it did back then; they don’t want Bayfair to continue to be empty.
With Rosillo saying, “I hope it becomes something new and be lively like it used to be”
“I remember it being full of people, eating, actually going to the stores and kids running around playing with chess pieces. It doesn’t really serve anything, it just takes up space because there isn’t much to do anymore.” Senior
of its closing spreads.
By Wynne Bendell, Lynnsy Ang, Mia Chan, Arianna Carandang, Killian Garcia 1,531 students, from clubs to classes, are all connected.
Four students. Four communities. Four routes. Four connections. Students intersect with one another as they’re being mapped out. There is no stop sign when it comes to student interaction.
What made you join track?
Peixoto: The experience of being on a team and being able to collaborate with people.
Do you feel like there is a community in track?
Peixoto: Definitely, there are two main comunities, the runners and throwers. These communities definitely merge a lot and we cheer each other on during meets.
What made you join drama tech?
Juanson: I was walking back from track and [Junior Sara Gibbs] reeled me in. She made it fun and it was also just fun being there because I got to see what the actors did.
Do you feel like there is a community in drama?
Juanson: Yeah, especially because of Ms. Jacobs. She connected everyone. It was really fun.”
Do you feel like there is a community in orchestra?
Smith-Van: I think it [orchestra community] would be like veterans and newbies. The veterans are kind of like elders of the family and the newbies are like the young new cousins.
How did the orchestra community develop over time?
Smith-Van: At the start of the year we obviously weren’t as close since it’s the start of the year and everyone had their own different cliques. But as the year goes on, we interact and talk with more members of the orchestra and we get closer with them.
Do you feel like there is a community in wrestling?
Tran: Yeah, there is a community because not a lot of people do it, so the people who are on the team are very tight knit and people get to know each other very well.
How did the wrestling community develop over time?
Tran: People who were already in the team are already comfortable and they want to make sure everyone else is comfortable. Everyone just becomes friends.
Students at AHS participate in numerous clubs, teams, and classes. But how strong is the community on campus? A school wide survey showed data on how students from a range of different communities feel about communities on campus. Students also share their personal feelings abut community and what it looks like for them at AHS. This is a closer look into students’ perspectives on communities at AHS.
“I feel like the only reason communities exist is because of people that have similar interests. I don’t think there is anyone to exactly connect these people and give them a space. Clubs are one thing but I feel like they’re limited.”
disagree agree
“After growing a lot throughout high school, I’m happy to say Arroyo has helped me socialize a lot. There were several environments, such as last year’s choir class, that helped me make great friends.”
AHS does a good job at facilitating community.Sophomore Justin Li Senior Evan Brill
477 students answered the question, “What does community look like at AHS?”
“I’d say it’s pretty easy, everyone’s pretty friendly around here. I’ve never really had any issues making friends with anyone.”
Nicho Sunardi - “This club is mainly a place to show appreciation for culture and to let students at Arroyo know if they need a spot, they can come to our club. But at the same time, I really want to emphasize that it isn’t just for Asian students, and that a big part of it is education and teaching everyone about different cultures in general.”
Q: Have you felt supported by school administration?
LK - “Some of our administrators are of African American and Black descent so having kind of that there kind of helps with our club at least, so I do feel supported in my club.”
nice, she was nothing but wonderful, I always felt like it was just weird. I was just like, ‘ugh maybe it would be better if there was an LGBT teacher,’ but it’s okay, our advisor is now LGBT, so I feel like that’s nice.”
Q: What are you most proud of about your club?
Q: Why do you think it’s important to have your specific community on campus?
Hulissa Aguilar - “Hispanics make up the majority of the students here at Arroyo, and I think our group isn’t talked about enough either, although we are the majority. So just to kinda have that safe space for people to go to, and I think our club and our main purpose is to help people learn more about their culture, since a lot of us don’t have those outlets at home. Also to have that sense of community with people that are similar to you, and to find yourself too.”
Lisa Kamau - “Black students make up a big population of this school as well, so having somewhere where we can all come together and understand each other on a cultural basis, and give each other the space to connect with each other, with people that you relate to the most is important. The place where you feel safe and comfortable is important, so I hope to create that in BSU.”
Kel Alarcon-Cruz - “I definitely feel like it’s important to have this club, because I want students to have a safe place to know that they belong. Because you know, sometimes at home they aren’t really accepted for who they are, for something they cannot control. So I want them to know whenever they come to school, there’s always going to be a place for them to feel safe and have a good outlet.”
NS - “I feel like at school, the teachers support me, or support my clubs, and what I do for the different clubs. As far as admin, I had so much trouble getting my clubs off the ground. I had to meet for so many different clubs about so many different things. I don’t know if it’s necessarily because of the amount that i’m trying to do, which isn’t a lot in general. It honestly feels like I’m not being supported at all by admin. And I know that Jrod, especially her, she’s trying and has a lot on her plate and I know that she can’t cater to me specifically for my clubs. In general, I feel like I’ve been shut down so many times whenever I try to do anything. Which sucks, and its hard to keep going.”
HA - “I feel very supported, and we have two amazing advisors, so I love them, and they’ve helped us so much. Especially because they’re both Latino. We’ve also had some good feedback from teachers, especially after our event... But those forms are way too complicated, especially for fundraisers. And also, they’ve never properly explained to us how we get our funds and how we put orders through.”
KA -“I do feel pretty supported, just for me and the club, because obviously I don’t know whats going on with every other student that is a part of my club, there could be something else going on that they’re not telling me or making it known. Especially having a teacher [advisor] that is LGBT, that made it ten times better. Sometimes I’d always feel awkward with my other advisor even though she was so
HA -“I’m proud of how we’ve really started up again, because I remember during COVID, we only had one meeting the whole year, maybe two max. So definitely getting the school more involved. And I feel like a lot of people know about our club now, which is good. I think we’re kind of setting a good platform for the future, and I want to continue to have it. I guess really just showing that there’s a lot of Latinos here, a majority, and we’re gonna continue to share our culture. And also to get involved, since I don’t feel like we’re really shown in leadership roles here or taken seriously.”
LK - “I’m proud of how long we’ve had our club, ‘cause I was told by one of our advisors the other day that her daughter who went here a couple years ago, she was leading BSU. So out of the legacy we’ve held, I hope to continue to raise awareness the year that I’m president and keep that going. I’m also proud of how we celebrate the people who are in our club.”
KA - “I’m just glad to be a part of it. I’m proud of all the acceptance in the club, and the community part of it. I feel like it’s really important to feel accepted at school. “
NS - “I’d say I’m most proud of during our freshman year, when we had a really big Lunar New Year festival on campus, and we sold food. I feel like sometimes cultural clubs in general are not taken seriously, so I’d say I’m proud of that. Being able to get that event off the ground, and jumping through all the hoops we have to go through. And this year, I know I’ll be jumping through hoops.”
Senior Lisa Kamau President of BSU
Senior Nicho Sunardi President of Arroyo Asian Alliance
Senior Kel Alarcon-Cruz President of GSA
Junior Hulissa Aguilar President of Latinos Unidos
Club leaders bond together in their experiences with building community.
Social Studies Teacher James
Aguilar: Around $100 a week.
Beal:I would say $200 a week and I’ve noticed the prices since I do all the shopping.
Hagan:I have a family of five, so I’m going to think about it in those terms. I bet in a week, I’d spend at least $500. It’s definitely higher than 2 years ago especially on a teaching salary, and I notice it because my salary has been the same and I’ve noticed having less money.
Senior Henry Xu:We spend around 50% more now on food than compared to 2 years ago.
Senior Chris Dorr:It’s got to be at least 25% or more.
English Teacher Matt Hagan: It’s like $100 to fill up my tank whereas it used to be like $65-$70 back then.
Social Studies Teacher Kevin Beal: Every week I go to Costco which is the cheapest gas I can get, which is just under $5 around $4.75. I fill up my truck everytime just under 15 gallons around $75.
Science Teacher Corey Kramer: I am paying a dollar more than what I was paying 3 years ago per gallon.
Beal: I have a house in Alameda, so I have a fixed loan and I fix the interest rate at a certain number.
Aguilar:Fortunately I’ve moved in with family and I am able to negotiate rent with them so it’s nothing compared to what I used to pay for,back then for a one bedroom apartment and one bathroom it was $1,300 .
We asked how inflation impacted the AHS community in three areas:
English teacher Kay Zimmerman never really grew up religious. For her the holidays are all about culture and spending time with family. To this day she still tries to connect her son to his roots and where his family’s culture comes from. Although less on the religious side and more focused on the fun and different traditions it has to offer. She is one of the many staff and students who come from two different cultures. During the holidays things can become a bit more tricky but always fun when celebrating both of their different cultures.
“I grew up in a very Jewish town so everyone around me celebrated Jewish holidays in a more religious way than my family, so I was more aware of Judaism from my neighbors than my own father.” Zimmerman said .
Zimmerman is not a very religious person herself so her holidays are all about the traditions she grew up with. Typically people think holidays are about religion and they used to be, but it seems nowadays many different religions and cultures celebrate Christmas in the United States.
“My family celebrates Christmas but also noticed our Jewish traditions and background.” Zimmerman said. In the United States Christmas like many other holidays have lost their religious background, making it more acceptable to be celebrated by others who are not of the Christan or Cathloic belief.
“My Jewish dad actually grew up with a Christmas tree in his house every year even though he was Jewish but at the same time he also had bat mitzvah and celebrated Jewish traditions,” said Zimmerman.
She grew up with a Christmas tree and also a menorah, you could say she had the best of
both worlds when celebrating two different holidays. Getting to learn about your family background while also celebrating a huge holiday like everyone else.
“To this day we still light the menorah while also celebrating Christmas and all the fun traditions each of them bring during this time of year”. Zimmerman said
Now Zimmerman is only one of the many staff and students who celebrates two different holidays, Junior Jacqueline Lomeli also has two different backgrounds that celebrate the holidays a bit differently than most coming from two different backgrounds.
“ I’m half Vietnamese and half Mexican so I would have to celebrate each side of the family on two separate days, for my Mexican side we celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve and then for my Vietnamese side we celebrate on Christmas Day” Lomeli said.
Just getting each side to agree on a date so they don’t interfere is a challenge in itself. When having two different backgrounds almost everything is different from the food and traditions, and the day that you meet with each side.
“ On my Mexican side we would have different foods like hot chocolate, tamales, and soup. Then for the Vietnamese side we would do a red envelope which is somewhat like a secret santa.” Lomeli said.
Holidays are a really busy time with all the planning, buying gifts, making food, and even having to mentally prepare yourself for the family members you aren’t so excited to see. But for people with two different cultures it might be a bit more difficult. Having to plan separate events so each side can enjoy and cherish their traditions with one another is a challenge that Lomeli and other people
manage each year.
“Sometimes it can be hard to find a day that everyone agrees with, but typically I’m the most busy out of my family because I have to change into different outfits multiple times and have to travel all day,” Lomeli said.
Having to wear different things to fit a certain cultural background for the holidays is even more challenging than having to just spend time with family who are all of the same background. Not everyone trying to integrate two holidays seems to find it super busy during the holidays, some just think it’s that time of year. The time of year when all the family members you don’t see regularly come to town then say how big and old you look from a few years ago. Most people go through the holidays super busy and their time stretched thin.
“ I think the holidays are just busy in general no matter if you come from two different backgrounds or one.” Zimmerman explained
In general we can all agree the holidays leave us feeling broke and full. But being able to bring two cultures together is a wonderful thing for everyone all around and during the holiday season just brings out all the fun things that come with each culture. Parents bringing their kids up in a two holiday household might find it challenging at times to balance both sides equally. However it makes it all worth it when you get to see your kids enjoy both their parents traditions they grew up with.
“ I think it’s important to celebrate both sides so my son is aware of his roots and where he comes from, through conversations and traditions,” Zimmerman stated.
The first day of school used to make senior Eden Buell anxious. It wasn’t the new classes, teachers, or return to school work that caused the anxiety, it was teachers taking roll for the first time. Buell, who identifies as nonbinary, goes by a name that is different than his legal name. However, in Aeries they were identified by their deadname. A deadname is a given name to a person, it becomes a deadname when they no longer decide to associate with it. As a result, Buell would brace themselves for that first day of school.
“I was just anxious basically. I don’t like when my deadname is called out in front of everybody, obviously. I just felt really anxious and worried that my classmates would start using it since they didn’t know I used a different one “ Buell said.
On October 31st, a new district policy was announced by the Director of Student Support Services Dr. Ammar Saheli and the LGBTQ+ District wide support team that would change that first day experience for students like Buell.
This policy allows LGBTQ+ students to change their name in Aeries and on attendance sheets permanently. The process is simple, go to a school counselor and tell them you want to change your name. Counselors have access to a name change application, once it gets filled out and turned in it goes to the Technology Integrated services department, and makes the change in Aeries. This is not a legal name change, it only applies to students accounts and information with SLZUSD.
Saheli went on to describe both the team and the process that developed this policy. He said that while he facilitates, everyone on the team has input.
“On the team there’s about ten of us, and so all ten of us brought the process forward, we discussed the form, we surveyed other school districts and what they were doing.” Saheli said, “I facilitate the meeting, I’m not an expert but I facilitate to make sure the right people are on the team. It was a team project, everybody was able to weigh in and share their insights and thoughts. The logistics of it probably came down to 3 or 4 people actually nailing it out “
Saheli, who has been with the district since 2008, said he helped develop this policy because he noticed that every year he would have transgender or nonbinary students who used a name that was different than their legal name.
“ I realized there was also a need to establish a more supportive team to work on things so that we could be as responsive as possible to LGBTQ+ youth and families, so I developed whats called the LGBTQ district wide support team “
Senior Valentine Vicera is a student who goes by a name that is different from their
legal name. Vicera said that they appreciate the new policy, specifically that it does not force students to out themselves to their parents.
“I feel like it’s pretty good, I feel like the best part is you don’t have to tell your parents because that’s the worst feeling as a trans kid, not being out and having to tell them. “ Vicera said.
Vicera added that they do not intend to change their name, but they would consider doing it if they were not leaving AHS this year.
“I feel like I would change my name if I was younger. It’s just kind of nature for me too see my legal name on legal documentation I don’t want to start getting used to my preferred name until I’m older because then I’ll have it changed.” Vicer said.
Buell has already opted to change their name using the policy. They said that the process of changing was relatively quick and easy.
“The process of the change wasn’t hard for me personally, [counselor Alexis] Horn called me in her office and explained it to me. She gave me a paper to put my preferred name, pronouns and gender identity. I just put it all down on a piece of paper and gave it back to her. Some of it didn’t change super quickly but after a few weeks everything was changed. Buell said.
Buell said that going through the process has already had a positive impact for them.
“Before I did it I got anxious every time they did attendance and worried my deadname would be said out loud, after everything was set and changed I was less anxious because it’s on the attendance and Aeries and it’s there and I don’t have to worry about the deadnaming anymore “ Buell said.
Saheli said that the team does not plan to stop with just this name change policy and that there are future meetings planned with more ideas for how to better support LGBTQ+ students.
“Our team does not meet again until January 26th. But we’re going to discuss in that place some of the continual projects or further projects we want to work on.” Saheli said “We’re trying to pull off either an event during a school day or a Saturday that will be like a one day conference, hopefully pulling together all of the GSA’s. It’s very much in the preliminary stages. It’s not confirmed yet. “
The new policy explained in three steps
Talk to your Counselor. Students who want to change their name can initiate the process by going to their guidance counselor. They can go over the process and give them the application.
Complete and Submit the Application: Guidance Counselors will provide students with a name change form to complete. This form goes to the district Technology Integration Services department who makes the change in Aeries and other platforms. Parents and guardians do NOT need to sign this form.
Name is Changed: Student name will be changed on all SLZUSD platforms such as Aeries, Google Accounts, and Canvas.
Illustration by Ethan Nguyen
Juniors share their feelings on the supposed “most challenging” year of high school.
Calel Devera is a junior amongst many this year who is faced with heavy loads of work and packed schedules while picking apart intervals of time in order to keep his front, a common experience that many can resonate with. This grade is entering their last few years at AHS, and will soon be approaching paths diverging from their normal lives and instead into a future called adulthood. But first, many challenges await students, as they enter what is rumored to be their most difficult episode during their high school career.
“I feel like, already, math and AP Physics have… not necessarily ruined my experience, but it’s made it difficult because sometimes at home I’d have to do homework and I’d have to prioritize… this and I’ll save [another assignment for] tomorrow because it’s less important. I’d have history homework due the next day, but I’d prioritize my math homework, my physics homework, and my psychology homework and I’d save that for the next day. And if I don’t do it, it would pile up.” Said Devera.
Students at AHS are nearly through their first semester, with varying pathways and drives to determine their fate. Colleges and schools hold high expectations upon students, ready to see what this generation holds. AHS’ juniors prepare for their futures through taking up additional rigorous Advanced Placement classes, opportunities to become leaders in organizations, fine arts classes, internships, and more. Every student’s path differs from one another with hard academics as one side of the coin known to many. Yet the same ideology is held upon them that junior year is the most difficult and overwhelming year of all four.
When people hear about junior year, the first thing that comes to mind would be building your transcript for colleges to review. Many students this year are balancing the schoolwork and responsibilities of different programs and classes, while at the same time are being met with high expectations from not only dream schools, but also those closest to them: their parents. The pressure of the school year and the difficulty that hard work brings is rumored to make this year the most difficult, an opinion the majority can agree with.
According to a survey given out to AHS’ Juniors, many have answered “lots of pressure” when given a scale of 5 to rate the pressure of parental expectations, with 55.6% answering 4 and above. When given a scale of ten on the
stress of the year itself, 68.9% have answered seven and above, an alarming sign considering students have yet to even end their first semester.
Junior Ruijia Gu is no stranger to this final academic push, and has joined three AP classes and multiple organizations such as CSF and DECA in hopes of obtaining a high-end education, an experience many students this year can relate to. They recognize the difficulty of college due to the standards they and other students have set, and how that affects their school life for their junior year.
“Nowadays, going to college is very competitive, especially applying. And since we’re in the Bay Area, so many kids have stacked extracurriculars, stacked grades, so I think that it’s definitely more normalized to do more extracurriculars and normalized to have good grades. For me, I definitely want to get into a good college; it definitely influences how I treat my extracurriculars and how I treat my academics.” Said Gu.
The increasingly rigorous work ethic is a reality for many, but the statement that it is truly the most stressful experience so far is difficult to declare with such a diverse cast of students and academic ranges. Junior Bradey Handley is a student focused more on artistic passions and considers himself to be less of an extremist in school this year in terms of academics. He considers college to still be a good plan, though he desires a different future. Handley’s conclusion on this myth for this junior year takes on an approach focusing on individual academic performance.
“Yes, I think [junior year] is definitely stressful, but I don’t think it should be [true] for everybody. I had a bad start in the school year, I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t do too much of the work, and that caused me to fall behind and pile up all my work.… [But] if you do your work and be on schedule, you’ll be alright.” said Handley.
Gu takes a similar approach within their own judgment despite their large dedication to their college path, a surefire way towards loads of responsibilities, work, and busy schedules. They factor in different attributes such as motivation and time management contributing towards the potential difficulty and stress of this year, but ultimately decide that it doesn’t have to be.
“At the moment, I’m not that stressed I’d say. If you manage your time wisely and you’re on
task, I think Junior year is not supposed to be super stressful.” Said Gu. “But when you start not managing your time and start losing motivation, of course it’s going to be stressful, [and] having that mindset will definitely stress you out and make you more anxious.”
Between these majorly contrasting backgrounds, there stands a midpoint both interested in academics, but also interest in the arts and other programs. Junior Rachel Chan is one of these students who strives both for academic challenge and success towards colleges, but also to pace herself and enjoy what junior year has in store outside of tests and studying through joining art, dance, and coding programs. She maintains this balance through evaluating what experience the class will bring for her highschool experience, as opposed to a total dedication to academics. Chan had followed her own preference and considered this year to not be exceedingly difficult, but pondered on how her performance and overall mentality at school would’ve been affected had she not done so.
“The APs offered this year weren’t very interesting to me, so I feel like if I took any APs other than AP [Literature], I [wouldn’t be] as engaged with the class so I’d probably fall behind. It would’ve probably been worth it to take more APs grade wise, but from a general interest level, I don’t think it would’ve made me very happy.” Chan said.
Juniors this year are challenging themselves and pushing the pedal towards a great future once their last years at AHS come to the final curtain. The consequences of these efforts bring numerous difficulties and things to stress about during this school year, which the majority can agree makes this year certainly one of, if not, the most difficult and stressful year. The academic strain is a common experience generally shared by numerous scholars attending this school. It can be argued by some, though, that individual desires, pacing, and subjectivity regarding school and the future are principal characteristics in what students make of this year.
“Everyone’s going at a different pace, so I think it’s wrong to generalize or to assume that everyone’s as intense.” Said Gu. “Not everyone’s going to have the same feelings as you about college, school, academics, and even just junior year… Everyone has something different they want to do and that’s okay.”
Because of the current finals schedule that has been implemented for many years, students spend their winter break stressing over grades, preparing for midterms, and studying throughout the holidays. Students deserve a real break where they can rest and enjoy the holidays, without having to worry about their grades and schoolwork. School administrators should change the final schedule to accommodate this. Neighboring districts have changed their school calendar to be able to have midterm finals before winter break. How have they done this? They start school earlier. An example of this is Castro Valley High School, who are a nearby campus that have finals before winter break. They started school on Aug. 9th and are set to end on June 2nd, 2023. Not only do they start school before us, but they also end school earlier. AHS started school on Aug. 18th and ends school on June 7th, 2023. By starting school earlier by about a week, we can have finals before winter break like Castro Valley HS. There are several benefits to this new school calendar. By starting the school year earlier, student athletes wouldn’t have to give up part of their summer break for conditioning and practices, because that’s when the school year begins. Student athletes have to balance both academics and sports, and the school should be accommodating to the pressure they are under by giving
them the break they deserve. Ending the school semester before winter break is also beneficial to other students, because it grants students a genuinely restful and enjoyable break after taking their finals. AHS needs to prioritize students’ mental health along with academics. It is important for the well-being of students, who have been studying hard, to have the essential two weeks between semesters where they can spend time with friends and family without the everpresent stress of deadlines and finals. The solution is to conclude the semester before we leave for winter break. This change would begin with next year’s schedule, so that the fall semester of the 2023-2024 year would end before winter break, along with semester finals. Having teachers hold finals before we leave for break limits the stress on students, so they can actually enjoy the break they earned. The calendar committee is a group of representatives from each of the three unions (SLEA, CSEA, and SEIU), and the Asst. Supt of HR. Calendar committee meetings are when the three unions come together and discuss their membership’s preferences which includes the school year calendar. The calendar committee has the ability to change our calendar which affects when finals will take place.
Dry Gulch Gazette
is an open forum for students and does not necessarily represent the views of Arroyo High School or of the San Lorenzo Unified School District. We want to provide our readers with entertaining, informational, and relevant stories that will be worth their time. We intend to produce accurate and unbiased reporting, and we will therefore work to correct any significant mistakes. You should contact us at AHSGazette@ gmail.com if you can find such a mistake in this publication. You may also email us to submit a letter to the editor, but we reserve the right to edit letters for length or accuracy. Letters will be rejected or published at the discretion of journalism staff.
Editors-In-Chief:
Wynne Bendell
Claire Terzich
Deputy Editors: Lynnsy Ang Mia Chan Makani Reith-Fifita
Not only are AHS students not getting paid, but because of the current finals schedule, the break will not feel like time off.
The clacking of dice; the cheers of pride; the groans of horror; all of these things can be heard echoing down A-Hall on Tuesday afternoons. The group responsible for this is the Dungeons and Dragons Club, headed by Justin Lam, who meet after school every Tuesday in A-8.
Often, the first thing you think of when you hear the words “board game” is a simplistic childhood game. However, DnD [Dungeons and Dragons] is anything but.
“[DnD] is a TTRPG, which stands for TableTop RolePlay Game,” said club president sophomore Justin Lam.
The game is made for players to design their own characters and isn’t tied down to set rules.
“Characters will get these sheets. Empty or pre-made depending on their preference. Premade will have all this info on them and you become your character in entirety. You can give your character name, race, gender,” said Lam. “Presets usually have a race for you and all of your stats set for you. In this game, there are no real rules. Basically, the only rules are what the DM (Dungeon Master), the person leading the game, wants to do.”
The key to the pleasantry of DnD club is the team building and collaboration during the meetings.
“It’s engaging because the story, the DMs, [Junior] Don [Mills-Segura] and [Junior] Jax Leyva they give an air to it. DnD is a co-op game where you work with your party to solve puzzles and fight monsters. So cooperation and communication is really key here.” Lam said. “So in the beginning we played icebreakers
and stuff to build relationships and that’s how we really got it all really engaging.”
Club Dungeon Master and Junior, Jax Leyva believes that engagement is achieved through building connection amongst members, which means prioritizing inclusion and having free reign stories to follow.
“We try to include every member, like have them go into breakout areas with other DMs and making sure they interact with each other, and having some combat or some classes for them. DnD is mostly just having the players do what they want. We [The DMs] come up with a baseline story to move them along, but usually we improvise no matter what.” Leyva said.
Fellow Dungeon Master and Junior, Don Mills-Segura, has a similar view of the game, as he leads with loose storylines and lets the players choose their story.
“The love people have for the game and most of the players are kind of new. So I’m sure it’s fun for them. I try to run the games like a story; it’s less about moving pieces and rolling dice and more of a play.” said Mills-Segura. “Most of my games are improvised, I like to give them a setting and have loose plot lines in my mind and let them go where they want to and build off the players.”
The creativity and imagination DnD fosters, filled with the unique characters helps players take a break from their reality and explore a completely new one.
“At these meetings, it’s just a way to get away from all of the stress in life as in the game, you’re not you. You are your character. You are an embodiment of them. That’s really what we do here.’’ Lam said.
There are many places where people can get clothes from either online or in person .But due to the pandemic and stores being shut down people have turned to or have already been shopping online as a way to get quicker and cheaper clothes from shops like Shein or Fashion Nova.
¨How I feel about online shopping is that I like it so far.¨ Helhey said.
Sophomore Cami Helhey the preppy style is currently trendin. She also gets her fashion inspiration from her mom since her mom used to dress like her when she was in high school. She prefers online shopping to in-person. The most she has spent doing online shopping was $112.
“I would rather prefer fashion online shopping because I’m not a fan of crowded places.” Helhey said.
Fast Fashion is a site of unexpensive clothes that keep up with the upcoming style trends. Article by the New York Times has said that Shein, a fast fashion site, is now valued at $100 billion, more than H&M and Zara combined. Due to the rapid growth of these businesses have come with criticism. On top of the additional environmental issues now, fast fashion garments spark a lot of ethical concerns. Its negative impact includes cheap, toxic textile dyes, making the fashion industry one of the largest polluters of clean water globally. Fashion productions comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions. It also promotes child labor because it is often low skilled so children can be exploited at a young age
Fashion is nothing new to Senior Mayo Jack. His interest in fashion started at the end of his elementary school year to the beginning of his middle school year. Before his interest in fashion, he shared that he used to not care what he wore until he started gaining nicer clothes for his birthday.That started his interest in styling.
“Since I only can afford certain clothes, I stick with street wear style, so, like Urban Outfitters and sometimes Forever 21.” Jack said
Freshman Kristina Saragena has a different shopping experience compared to Helhey. Saragena gets most of her inspiration for her style from Tiktok and goes shopping at least once a week at malls; She roughly spends around $200 each time. She mentions how she doesn’t really use websites as much as she goes in-person shopping.
¨I usually get them [my clothes] from H&M and Hot Topic¨ Saragena said.
But why do some people avoid fast fashion shops? English teacher Jorja Santillan mentioned how she goes shopping once a month. She shops for clothes that are comfortable and more accessible.When she does get new clothes, she tries to retire some of her other clothes so they don’t end up in the landfill like most of the clothes from the fast fashion websites.
“If I get something new, what can I retire that I may not use as much anymore,[I am] being cautious on how I dispose or pass down my clothes so they don’t end up in the landfill. It’s important to me because it’s giving them a new life.” Santillan said.
Everyone has their preferences of where they enjoy shopping. Helhey believes fast fashion websites are better than shopping in person. She mentioned how she has social anxiety so shopping in a mall is not her ideal way to go shopping. Plus she said it is so much easier to get clothes without anyone fighting about it.
“Payment is easier and quicker. You don’t have to look everywhere for money and with people like myself with social anxiety, you don’t have to interact with people.” Helhey said.
Jack had mentioned that he is glad that he no longer uses any fast fashion sites because of the quality of the clothes and how they don’t have great options for people who don’t look like the models on the site.
“I would say that I’m glad I don’t use them, because of multiple reasons. One is because they aren’t eco friendly, like at all. Two is because the quality isn’t that good. I value quality over quantity, and usually those sites don’t have good options for people of anything but the light skinned, thin women, making the garments unappealing on any other body type.” Jack said
“I would say that I’m glad I don’t use [fast fashion sites]” senior Mayo Jack said.
Lack of a proper area and chance for students to get involved with art drew attention to the need for a form of expression, which led to the creation of First Friday events.
“I brought my guitar everyday in the beginning of the school year, and just played to my friends on my crappy speaker,” sophomore Rublen Estella said. “Then I found out about Dreyfus’s classroom, and she offered the opportunity for me to perform with her classroom speakers [on stage]. She’s really welcoming and officially started Wednesday Open-Mics, so I decided to bring in my guitar every Wednesday to perform.”
Estella was one of the few who participated in the weekly Open-Mic events. Those aware of the event all agreed that it was a great idea, but it had little audience. As a solution, English & Performing Arts Teacher Jennifer Dreyfus decided to collaborate with the departmentwide First Friday event, with further advertisement that attracts more audience.
This year, the VAPA (Visual and Performing Arts) Department started doing First Fridays. Their ultimate goal is to introduce and familiarize the AHS Community with the different VAPA opportunities available. These events occur on the first Friday of every month, rotating between the different VAPA professions, showing the specialties of each one. The art programs consist of photography, ceramics, jewelry, sculpting, and the three levels of beginning, intermediate, and advanced art classes. The idea has been around for several years, but it wasn’t until this school year that they finally made it possible.
The original idea was influenced by nationwide events where they have community-wide art exhibitions occasionally. Ceramics teacher and VAPA Department Chair Merav Kagan wants to raise awareness and inform students of the various course opportunities; to give students a chance to showcase their talents, and provide opportunities for students to engage in entertaining activities all around campus.
“I want students to be aware, to get involved, even if they’re not taking the course, [so] they can still do the fun things that are happening. There are a lot of different art opportunities that people don’t realize they have, and it’s shattering to see people of talent just missing out on these opportunities,” Kagan said.
On October 7th, the first ever First Friday event- the Scavenger Hunt- occurred. Being the first event, there was minimal knowledge of its existence. Senior Kevin Law is one of the few who participated, and he claims it to be a great opportunity to discover places around campus that may be overlooked. The objective was to first find locations that displayed a part of the arts program, pose with something related to that art class, and then snap photos to submit.
“Maybe they don’t know that there’s a photography class,” Law said, “but in the scavenger hunt you have to take a selfie in front of the photography room… do a pose on the
stage in the quad… or do a high kick in front of the dance room. And so you kind of discover what’s out there.”
The First Friday events that happened so far aren’t on a huge scale, mainly due to the lack of publicity and advertising. The VAPA teachers claim to have tried advertising, and they understand that since this is a new event, it’ll take time and will for it to become a tradition. Students try to help with advertising and sharing the news both vocally and socially. The efforts put into preparing each of these events call for more audience participation.
“It takes time for people to know what’s happening,” Senior Taylor Neely said, “and it usually takes a few weeks to prepare each month’s event, sometimes nearly the whole month… I hope for more people to show up, to not only experience the fun, but to also help share the word for all the art divisions.”
Another reason the VAPA Department feels in need of this opportunity is due to the shrinkage of the department, as well as students’ neglect for art electives.
“We started with 7 teachers in the department, now we have 5 as the department shrinks,” states Kagan. “People gone aren’t getting replaced. And the thing is that- teacher’s motivations are also driven by the amount of students who sign up for these courses, and so the lack of enthusiasm in the area really deflates the mood.”
The pandemic was also a complication, not only for teachers, but for students as well.
“Because of the pandemic, they don’t get proper training in school such as instruments-” said Dreyfus. “They missed those opportunities, and when they enter high school, they don’t understand them so they didn’t choose them. These programs are fed by what students have access to in middle school, where they start finding interest in what they want to learn. [This] affected the art programs across the nation due to student’s decline in enrollment, and so these First Fridays are trying to get things back on track.”
The VAPA Leaders understand that things are rolling out slowly, but they have their plans. Kagan plans to create their own Social Media where they can share events and news to a bigger audience. So far, they only have minor advertisements, such as fliers, and morning announcements, but they believe there’s more, because students deserve these opportunities.
Those who are involved in the First Friday events are furthering their interest in the arts program. Kagan calls out to all artists, to not hesitate and experience them. They strongly believe the AHS community has many hidden talents, and it just takes a little push to find them. Many who have participated in these events feel accomplished, and will encourage others to join.
“Keep your dreams at heart… [and] when the time is right, do your best to go all out while you have the chance,” Estella said. “Don’t leave regrets for yourself.”
On Friday Dec. 9 during lunch, Spanish teacher Hilda Gonzalez’s room was packed. Not for frantic students studying for a Spanish test, but for the soccer fans at AHS who, for the past two weeks, had turned room A1 into a local watch party event. Every day before school and lunch, Gonzalez has been putting on the 2022 FIFA World Cup games for any students who want to watch and quickly has developed a crowd that comes to her room every day.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup was held this year in Qatar. Instead of being held in the summer as it traditionally is, this year’s tournament was held from Nov 20 to Dec 18. As a result, games happened during the school day through the past three weeks. Students and teachers found themselves watching the games before school, during lunch, and for some, even during class.
Gonzalez is one of the teachers in this school who gave the opportunity for students to watch the World Cup games during lunch. She said she really enjoyed the mood of the classroom during lunch while they tuned in.
“It is so positive! Everyone cleans up,
everyone is just very positive. Even if they don’t know each other, they’re still respective of each other. I’ve had things left behind by certain students and other students that aren’t even my students turn in items found,” Gonzalez said.
To Gonzalez, watching the World Cup is a part of who she is.
“It is a tradition in my culture and some in my family that we all watch and just be attentive to all the games of the World Cup.”, Gonzalez said.
Senior Rogelio Rojas-Madriz, watches the World Cup game in Gonzalez’s classroom during lunch and even outside of school.
“I like the excitement that happens in Ms.Gonzalez’s class because it happens every 4 years and seeing the whole room get along with each other was cool,” Rojas-Madriz said.
Senior Marcus Bautista is one of the students who participated in watching the games of the World Cup. Though he doesn’t know much about soccer, he still sees an interest within the games being shown during lunch.
“It’s pretty cool watching them run around and kick balls. I think it was a good idea to let
the students participate in the big social event, especially with the big game,” Bautista said.
To Gonzalez, this event is establising bonds and connections from those who are different from each other.
“A way to build a community to connect with students that have similar interests and to give them an opportunity to celebrate the World Cup,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez’s most memorable moments while watching the game was connecting and talking with family members and relatives.
“Honestly, connecting with my parents, aunts, uncles because this goes cross generations and just talking with them about different teams, strategies, who’s gonna win. It’s just a good conversation starter,” Gonzalez said. “Meeting different students that I don’t have and how they have connected with other students that they wouldn’t normally talk with.”
What Gonzalez enjoyed most about putting up these games for the past 2 weeks was meeting new students and seeing them interact with others.
Students tune in to watch the World Cup in Spanish Teacher Hilda Gonzalzez’s room on Dec 7, 2022 Photographer Joseph KimFor four years at AHS, class of 2022 alumna Vickie Jones was a focal point of the girls varsity soccer team. After a decorated career at both AHS and on her club team, Santa Rosa United, Jones has just finished her freshman season on one of the biggest possible stages, playing Division I soccer at University of Michigan.
“It’s been different coming from a small school like Arroyo to a really big school like Michigan and knowing that everybody is elite and the best of the best here.” Jones said.
Since the age of four, soccer has always resonated with Jones. Before graduating from AHS in 2022, Jones played on the varsity girls soccer team all four years of her high school career. Jones decided to pursue soccer beyond high school and is one of few AHS soccer players to receive a Division 1 scholarship after graduating. She currently plays for the University of Michigan in the Big Ten Conference, one of the largest in collegiate athletics.
Jones claims that coming into a new team is not easy, especially when most of the girls already have history and are familiar with one another. It has also been a challenge for Jones adapting to a different sense of competitiveness. However, Jones expresses happiness with how she’s getting along with her new teammates and how she’s been able to adapt.
“It has definitely been something that is new. It’s really hard walking into a group of girls and a team that already know each other and already have chemistry, and are also some of the top players in the country.” Jones said. “It was very hard adjusting but I think overall, I do very well at adapting and figuring out things on my own and being independent, so that helped me out a lot.” Jones adds.
Managing academics while being an athlete is not an easy thing to do. Jones is currently facing a lot of the stress that comes with being a student athlete. However, in times of stress, Jones manages through the time she gets alone and finds motivation by keeping in contact with her roots.
“A lot of the time here, I don’t have a lot of time by myself since I am a student athlete. So, if I do find that time, I find that really helpful. I would say what helps me stay motivated is talking to my family and friends and knowing why I’m doing this in the first place.” Jones said.
Jones describes her former coach and former AHS athletics director, Andrew Waranoff, as a huge mentor in her life. Waranoff coached
Jones for three years but has known her for over six years now. Although the recruitment process is done mostly through club programs, Waranoff was a great support system for Jones and continues to be as she tackles the highs and lows of playing college soccer.
“I was really excited for her when she had events to go to and did her college visits. My wife is an alumni so when Vickie started getting recruited by UM, it became a family affair for us.” Waranoff said. “As a highschool coach, my job was mostly to stand behind her and share the excitement. My role with Vickie was more being her number one cheerleader.” Waranoff adds.
On and off the field, former teammates described Jones as motivating and driven. Junior Madelyn Ramos played alongside Jones last school year and says that Jones set a good example by doing her best, which positively rubbed off onto the rest of the team as well.
“Something I learned from her [Jones] is that you should always practice hard because the way you practice is the way you play.” Ramos said.
The AHS girls soccer season has kicked off and Jones is a huge advocate for enjoying yourself and having fun. She stresses the importance of working together as a team and making the most of the experience and not dwelling on the little things.
“I would say have the most fun and don’t worry about anything that’s putting you down.” Jones said. “But I think just having fun, going out, doing your best, and working hard is all a coach can ask for and what your teammates can ask from you.”
University of Michigan freshman and AHS class of 2022 alumna Vickie Jones passes the ball during a game in the 2022 season.
“In high school it was more about having fun, here it is a different level of fun.” Vickie Jones said.Photo courtesy of Vickie Jones
