DGG June 2019 by Dry Gulch Gazette

DGG Dry Gulch Gazette

Arroyo High School | Volume 58 Issue 6 | June 5, 2019

CAMPUS: 3 Max Johnson 4 Concurrent Enrollment 6 Summertime Lunch 7 Fire Alarms 8 Summer Guide 10 New Superintendent COMMUNITY: 11 Leaving the Bay 12 Making Money 13 Global Glimpse A CLOSER LOOK: 15 What We Remember SENIOR SECTION: 18 Getting Through It 20 Survival Guide OPINION: 22 Graduating Early 23 Dedication to Sports ARTS AND CULTURE: 24 IG Foodie Account 26 Jazz Group 27 Prom Dress Account 28 Film Recommendations SPORTS: 29 Warriors Bonding 30 Keeping Fit 31 Sports Recap

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Cover Illustration by Janice Lee and Rafael Duran Correction from Issue 5: Freshman Christian J. Bernados name was misspelled and was given the wrong title.

Skipping onto the Next Milestone

Junior passes the proficiency exam to opt out of high school a year early.

By Vivian Wong not known by many people because it is not popularized in or pushed by SLZUSD. “Our district actually does not encourage students to exit high school early, but it is a state law so students have that option. People do have their personal preferences. If their parents are supporting this process, then they are free to do that. As a counselor, I will support whatever decision- if that’s what the student wants: I will give them the information,” said Gandhari.

Despite these limitations, Johnson believes the advantages outweigh the restrictions. “If I was able to move up to a higher level of education and distinguish myself from my peers, I will not only look better to colleges but also be able to advance earlier in my life. I don’t see it as a cutting off of my teenage years and more of me accepting that I want to move forward. I want to be something in the world and in order for me to do that as fast as possible, I have to be willing to make sacrifices,” said Johnson. Johnson simply does not like the structure and layout of high school so he is willing to sacrifice his last year of high school. In his opinion, it is a huge loss on his part. “It’s not a huge sacrifice because the only thing that I would miss is the social aspect, but I will still be close enough to keep in touch with everyone. Everyone talks about missing senior year and prom and graduation and all these moments. Although I had fun at the school events that I have attended, these Junior Maxwell social events have never been Johnson is monumental to me,” posing with said Johnson. his board of Since it depends on the student’s situation academic goals and their readiness along with to advance to college, requirements. Johnson is hesitant to recommend this pathway to on W all students. i an “I think for people who Viv | to understand what they want to do and o Ph have a plan, then I definitely recommend the test. With that being said, it’s not for everybody. Not everyone is ready for college,” However, there are drawbacks of attaining said Johnson. the high school equivalency certificate in Johnson strategically plans and executes replace of a high school diploma. his pathway to accomplish each one of his “It is not an easy pathway for UC and goals listed on his whiteboard. CSU. Unless you meet the requirements for “I will be attending Chabot or Berkeley admissions, you will not be able to apply City College for a year to get my AA at which directly to a UC. You can go to a community point I will attempt to transfer to University college and transfer to a UC. The certificate of California, Berkeley to get my degrees. I may also not be valid in replacement of a will be majoring in molecular and cellular diploma in other states as it may not be a biology with specialty in microbiology or law in all states. You may also not get into the genetics and a minor in data sciences,¨ said military with the certificate,” said Gandhari. Johnson. • g

ur seniors are set to graduate this June and venture to the next chapter in their lives through various pathways. In addition to the Class of 2019, Junior Maxwell Johnson will be legally leaving AHS this summer and will be starting college in the upcoming fall. Johnson has always been a preplanned person; he has been setting his goals and mapping out his future since the ninth grade. With the advice from one of his friends, the thought of taking the California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) and going to college a year early made it on his board of goals to be accomplished. CHSPE is a testing program that was established by the state of California Law- Education code CA 48412. It consists of an English Language Arts portion that accesses Language and Reading and a math portion that accesses Statistics, p r o b a b i l i t y, A l g e b r a , Geometry, and m e a s u re m e n t s that take roughly three hours. By passing this exam, students will receive a high school proficiency certificate in which students can legally depart high school with parental consent for those that are younger than eighteen years of age. ¨This was not a plan last year. I started thinking about it this year. I have a friend from Berkeley High who went to college a year early who brought the idea to me. I wanted to move on from AHS as well as get a headstart. So I started mapping out the requirements for CHSPE and what would happen beyond AHS,¨ said Johnson. As CHSPE is an option, there are requirements that must be met in order for a student to even take the exam. “Student has to be at least sixteen years old or be enrolled in and complete one academic year of tenth grade,” said Counselor Aparna Gandhari. Taking advantage of the opportunity to leave high school early through CHPSE is

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Students register for concurrent enrollment at Chabot College to earn credits and experience the college lifestyle. By Samantha Wang

oncurrent enrollment, or dual enrollment, is a free program for high school students in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade who desire to take college-level courses and earn either college or high school credit at a local community college. AHS counselor Aparna Gandhari estimated that approximately forty sophomores had registered for concurrent enrollment last summer. According to Chabot Class-Website, Chabot offers over sixty types of classes, from adaptive physical education to theater arts CC, which provide students extra opportunities to learn, build more skills, and pursue a subject that they are interested in. Although AHS offers some Advanced Placement (AP) classes, students are only allowed to take a maximum of one AP class in sophomore year and three AP classes in junior and senior year. AHS freshman Thinh Huynh is interested in photography and will be taking photography-related courses at Chabot this summer. Huynh thinks that despite not having a chance to take photography at school, taking

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concurrent enrollment this summer will be an opportunity for him to explore and gain an understanding of his interests. “Since I am taking AP classes, I don’t think I have enough elective[s] to do photography. Then since I see Chabot also provided it, I can use it to learn my new skills,” Huynh said. Besides earning college credit by taking concurrent enrollment at Chabot, Gandhari said that it can also be difficult for students to adapt to since they learn the course in a short period of time. “Because it’s a college course, the rigor is much higher than what you expected to have in a high school AP course. And also you have to follow college rules, there’s no handholding,” Gandhari explained. “Let’s say you don’t do well on this course—you can drop it in the first two weeks or first three weeks of the course—but if you don’t drop it and continue getting a bad grade, that will be on your college transcript forever.” Despite students having to learn a yearlong course in two months, approximately one hundred people took concurrent enrollment at local community colleges. Nonetheless, Gandhari explained that by

taking this classes, students can have a clear idea of what college courses are like. “The pros are that you are attending a college course, and you kind of get a taste of what college courses is like ahead of time before you go to college,” Gandhari continued. “You can explore courses that are not offered at the school. Sometimes it’s exciting for students to do that.” Likewise, Heather Oshiro, a Chabot counselor who used to be a high school counselor, also thinks that students can benefit from taking concurrent enrollment. Not only does concurrent enrollment provide students an early exposure to the college environment, but it also impacts them in the long-term. “I think they get exposure to college early, which is really, really important. If you think about it, taking a college class while you are in high school...you get to see what it’s like, and you get to see that you can be a college student,” Oshiro said. “And for some students—especially students who maybe is the first generation to go to college—so they have the opportunity to see, ‘Wow, I can do it’...it really boost[s] their confidence.” •

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Students recover credits and maintain skills through SLZUSD’s summer school program. By Trinity Mai

ver a span of four weeks, the San Lorenzo Unified School District (SLZUSD) provides summer school for students across all grade levels. Although priority is given to high school students who need to recover credits for graduation, some students attend summer school to complete their Individual Education Plans or to learn about a subject that they did not have an opportunity to during the regular school year. Prior to 2014, SLZUSD lacked funding and did not offer summer school for nearly ten years. However, assistant superintendent Barbara DeBarger, who represents the community on what funding should be spend on, stressed the importance of maintaining skills acquired during the school year. Similarly, the SLZUSD board saw the impact of summer school as well and ultimately revived the program. “We didn’t have elementary or middle school summer school. And then when we got funding five years ago, [the] school board added it as a program we wanted to have for kids,” DeBarger said. “There are students who need support making up their credits and

maintaining their skills, and summer school is also required for the special education students, so that is why we have offered it.” In this program, students such as AHS junior Carl-John Nebre complete different types of assignment relating to their respective courses. During his credit recovery, Nebre took notes and wrote essays relating to his course. Despite the workload he takes on during schooltime, he recalled his time in summer school as a somewhat pleasant experience. “The teachers there are really nice, but there are some teachers who ask for absolute quiet. Whenever you need help, they’re right there [and] right beside you. They give you positive things. They give you a better perspective of what to do,” Nebre said. In summer school, Nebre had completed his assignments through the Apex Learning online courses. The courses, which were implemented by the district five years ago, had been proven to be more effective than traditional classroom lessons. Washington Manor Middle School and secondary summer school principal Theresa Armada, who has worked with SLZUSD’s summer school program since 1983, witnessed the

change firsthand and the impact the revised curriculum had on students. “Before it was computer-based, you would see the same kid year after year. It would just be the cycle of summer school,“ Armada said. “Now you don’t see that as much. And I think that’s because they’re actually learning some skills so they don’t come back...I don’t see the same kids summer after summer the way I used to see them when I was a teacher in front of them.” In spite of the assistance summer school provides to students like Nebre, administrators such as DeBarger recognize the stigma that surrounds the idea of attending the program. Regardless, she believes that summer school should not be referred to negatively. “It’s hard on kids to fail a class, but by the same token, if they were never given an opportunity to make it up, they wouldn’t actually graduate, which is worse. It depends on how it’s advertised or how it’s marketed out there as an opportunity rather than a punishment...It just depends on how you approach it,” DeBarger said. •

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Lunch at the Library San Lorenzo Library offers free lunch to youth over the summer in the absence of schoolprovided lunches. By Rizelle Jugarap

uring the school year, students in need are provided with free lunches, but this resource is not available when school is on break. According to the San Lorenzo Unified school district website, 64.7% of students are on free or reduced lunch. For members of the community who are in need of meals during the summer, the San Lorenzo Library provides free meals during Lunch at the Library. Free meals are available starting from June 17 to August. Any person below the age of 18 can get a free lunch no questions asked and without an ID. The program was started by the California Library Association and California Summer Meal Coalition. The lunches are provided by Hayward Unified School District and the donations collected during the San Lorenzo Library’s Summer Mixer on July 9. “Some people rely on school lunches,” said senior Ashley Flores. “If they don’t have that source for them, it’s very hard to get food.” Flores is the president of the San Lorenzo Library’s Teen Advisory Group (TAG). She was involved with the founding of the free meals program at the SLZ library. “A lot of the people that come here are

Percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch in SLZUSD

35.3% of students are not on free or reduced lunch

64.7% of students are on free or reduced lunch

*Statistics from the SLZUSD student demographics from 2016-2017

from immigrant families,” said teen services librarian Noelle Cruz. “We wanted to offer them food and a way to get connected to the community.”

About fifty children a day get free lunches from the library, while 6,838* students in SLZ Unified are in need of free or reduced lunch. However, many students are unaware about this resource. Junior Eddie Yang, who has been on free or reduced lunch for about five to six years, claims to not have known about the program, but recognizes the importance of these programs. “For some people, their families don’t have time or have enough in their house for a full meal,” says Yang. Cruz claims that most of the children receiving free lunches are toddlers. “Parents were really happy that the food situation was something they could take advantage of,” said Cruz. “They did ask if we were going to repeat it next year.” This year, the San Lorenzo Library is hopeful that pairing the library’s daily activities such as storytime, arts and crafts, and movies in addition to outreach at schools and local businesses will invite more participants to take advantage of the Lunch at the Library. They are looking for more teenage volunteers to help. “We are trying to just involve more teens and make an improvement to the community. The library just wants to reach out and help,” says Flores. •

Photo Illustration | Rizelle Jugarap

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Pull Alarm, False Alarm Students and teachers reflect on the frequent fire alarm pullings.

Photo Illustration |Cassandra Yuan

By Bethelehem Engeda For AHS students like Senior Justin Lau, the frequent fire alarm pullings have been a source of anxiety and loss of class time. “They give me anxiety. Whenever they’re pulled I’ll be writing or doing my work and the next thing I know the fire alarm is going off and it’s scary for me,” Lau said. English teacher and lead teacher of ASSERT club (Arroyo Student Safety Emergency Response Team) Kingsley Andersen is disappointed by the constant pulling of the fire alarms. ¨From what I understand, there is a fire alarm that is relatively uncovered and that’s part of the source of the problem. Hopefully, people who are inclined to practical jokes become aware of the situation, that a lot of people who are traumatized or have post traumatic stress are not really liking fire alarms or finding it amusing at all,” Andersen said. Senior Kimberly Loredo, one of the presidents of ASSERT, is also frustrated by the constant pullings of the fire alarms. “I feel like it’s a waste of time because people are in class doing assignments and working on important things and then all the time is wasted because we have to go outside for something that never happened. I’m not

scared, because I’m pretty used to it now but the day that it actually happens I will be prepared for it [because of ASSERT],” Loredo said. Loredo believes there are many issues that come up when students being used to students ringing the fire alarms.

“If you keep pranking and pranking and then it actually comes true, people will skip class and go about their day not caring, which could lead to them being injured or worse.”

Senior Kimberly Loredo said

“The danger is like ‘the boy [who] cries wolf’. If you keep pranking and pranking and then it actually comes true, people will skip class and go about their day not caring, which could lead to them being injured or worse,” Loredo said. Andersen also believes that students would benefit from joining ASSERT. “ASSERT will give you an idea of how events can actually transpire in an emergency

and it will demonstrate how professionals do things and it may lead to a discovery of some kind of EMS career that you might want to go into. Hopefully, if you got a plan and you thought it through in a situation of an emergency, it gives you a little piece of mind,” Andersen said. Andersen described the complicated situation of trying to create a solution to the fire alarm issue, and proposed a solution of his own. “Well, you could take away some fire alarms but that would be disadvantageous. Some people have suggested security cameras but there are places like the gym where cameras are not allowed so that’s not really going to be a solution. The best solution is for people to think about what they’re doing and practice good citizenship,” Andersen said. For the rest of the AHS students, things must be done to end these continuous fire alarms. Lau wants administration to be more enforcing of regulations and let students know that it is not okay to pull these alarms. “We need to be made more aware of what happens and more transparency in the way the administration addresses these issues. I understand that administration is trying their best but we need to put a stop to this,” Lau said. •

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By Kayara Rocco and Andrea Lomeli

ometimes the summer season can be real strain on your wallet. With the hot sunny weather, there are many events to go in the Bay Area with friends and family, that will not cost a dime to attend. The Bay Area is a source of many fun creative events that high school students can go to if they don’t have a summer job. Event prices ranging as high as 25 dollars to free, can fit your budget, and is a perfect to spend your vacation. Illustration | Samantha Wang

Free

Bart Stops:

SF Pride Parade:

The annual San Francisco Pride parade will take place from June 29 to the 30th, marching through the heart of the city, along Market Street, with more than 100,000 spectators. San Francisco Pride is one of the oldest and largest LGBT parades in the world. Since 1997, SF Pride has awarded over $2.5 million dollars from proceeds of the Pride Parade to non-profit LGBT organizations and organizations supporting the research of HIV/AIDs and cancer, the homeless, and animal welfare. Each year at the Pride parade in SF, there are headlining performers on the main stage. Past performers of the event have included Kehlani, Lady Gaga, The Backstreets Boys, Solange, and BoA, as well as many celebrity guest hosts and appearances from Graham Norton and Margaret Cho. The celebrations are held in downtown SF, in the Civic Center, the last weekend of June. The Parade, which takes place the Sunday morning of the event, kicks off in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

o c n s Sa nci a r F

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Under $25 Powell:

Visit the SF MoMA, it’s free to students, and a good way to send a good portion of your day, Something to eat 12$ 13 for knick knacks there something to spare for knick knacks or snacks .

Embarcadero:

Get ready to walk because you’re going for a journey. Walk on the piers ! Dreyers, pop off with some ice cream five dollars For some food walk down to the pier market for calamari or other seafood snacks for around 11.95 Then, you’ll still have 8.05 to spend on souvenirs to remember your San Fransisco summer adventures.

fREE Psychic Fair:

Bart Stop:

Sat, June 22, 2019

The pride parade has taken place annually in the bay area since 1969, although there are many other events that have just started this year. The first annual Psychic Fair to be held at the Historic Peralta House in San Leandro on Saturday, June 22. Many activities and classes will be held, from psychic readings, tarot, palm readings, energy healings, crystals and metaphysical products.

ro d n a y e t i L C n n A S nio &U

Union city:

Get off at the union city stop. Hit up the pyramid, it’s a hot spot for the instagram shots and free! If you want to get a fresh meal you can go to Break your fast for breakfast/brunch food and spend about ten dollars.

Under $25

fREE Berkeley Kite Festival & Championships: Saturday, July 27, 2019

The earth, sky, and wind will combine and create an amazing family friendly experience at the Berkeley Kite Festival. This year will be the 34th annual Berkeley Kite Festival & West Coast Kite Championships. Kites will range from giant creature kites as big as houses, to free kite making and free candy drops for kids.

Under $25

d n a y l e l k Oa rke e B &

Bart Stop: MacArthur:

Get off at the MacArthur station and walk down to Homeroom which is known for their various macaroni dishes. It’s about 11-19 dollars for a bowl of macaroni and cheese, and it’s just a quick walk from the Macarthur station. Then, when you’re done with your mac and cheese you can walk around and shop at some cute shops in the area like; 1-2-3-4 GO! records. Or, go to the Rockridge station: Diesel, A bookstore.

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SLZUSD Gets New Leader San Lorenzo Unified gets a new superintendent. By Valentin Ochoa

tarting July first, 2019, Dr. Daryl Camp of Riverbank Unified School District will be taking over the position of superintendent at San Lorenzo Unified School District (SLZUSD). The previous superintendent Fred Brill retired from SLZUSD back in October after serving since 2013. Dr. Bruce Harter, who has over 35 years of experience in public education, will be overseeing operations at SLZUSD until Camp begins next fall. Camp has worked in the Riverbank USD for the past eight years, of which were spent as superintendent. Camp first heard about the superintendent position at SLZUSD from a group of his colleagues which enticed him to apply for the opening. “I heard a lot of good things from the board of trustees back in March. It seems to be a really cohesive group and I sense that they really want to do what’s best for the community and that was really a point of attraction,” Camp said. One of the other major reasons Camp chose to apply to SLZUSD’s superintendent position is the fact that he has an attachment to the Bay Area, which is where he was raised. “I have Bay Area roots so I felt like it was time for me to return to the Bay Area and really come back to what I consider my home. I was born in SF and grew up in Oakland and I just love the Bay Area,” said Dr. Camp. Through the many issues that surround SLZUSD, Camp only wishes to observe before rushing in to make change to better educate himself on the issues in order to make the best, most informed decisions to help SLZUSD as much as he can. “I just want to come in and learn. I want to hear from students, parents, teachers and different members of the community and I want to hear from their prospective what the best parts of San

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Photo Courtesy of Darlene Ribeiro

New superintendent Dr. Daryl Camp of San Lorenzo Unified School District, starting in Fall 2019.

“I heard a lot of good things from the board of trustees back in March. It seems to be a really cohesive group and I sense that they really want to do what’s best for the community and that was really a point of attraction.”

Dr. Daryl Camp said

Lorenzo are and what are some things that we need to improve on. This first year is just going to be a lot of learning and listening,” Dr. Camp said. However, there is one issue that Camp has taken a particular notice to in SLZUSD, and that’s the declining number of student enrollment. Year after year, the amount of students signing up to attend public school in San Lorenzo has been dwindling. “One thing that’s interested me is that San Lorenzo has had declining enrollment for a number of years and I want to be part of a team that creates an environment that doesn’t lose students year after year after year, and I need to know what does that mean, why are we losing students and is there anything we can do to change that trend,” said Dr. Camp •

Bye Bay Babies Students reflect on how growing up in the Bay Area affected their college decisions.

CSU Humboldt (295 mi. from AHS)

(3.2 mi. from AHS)

Chabot College AHS

Yale

(2,599 mi. from AHS)

Illustration | Taliilagi Agatupu

By Daniel R. Grafil

or a lot of AHS students, the Bay Area has been their home for most- if not all - of their lives. Graduating high school may be a call for some of these students to leave the nest and explore the world. After graduating, Senior Hainan Lam plans on studying at Yale University, a very exclusive college in New Haven, Connecticut, 3,000 miles away from Lam’s home in San Leandro. However, moving this far for college was not always Lam’s plan. “I was planning to go to UC Berkeley for most of my life, but then I got waitlisted,” Lam said. Being waitlisted by the university was what caused Lam to realize that he should broaden his horizons. Seeing that he is moving to the East Coast, Lam is moving relatively farther away than most graduating from AHS. Compared to him, Senior Devin Loredo is fairly close, with only a five-hour drive from San Lorenzo to his school of choice: Cal State Humboldt. When asked about why he chose this school, he credited his love of nature and smaller environments, acquired from time spent at his grandfather’s house.

“My grandfather lives outside of the Bay, quite a few hours away. Every year, we would go to his house for a week or two during the spring or summer, and I genuinely enjoyed the solitude of the forest and enjoyed being in a place where there maybe there was 250 people, but everybody knew who you were,” Loredo said.

“I think it helped me growing up because I was exposed to a lot of different people and a lot of different experiences. So, I’m not that very quick to judge.” Senior Hainan Lam said

Not everybody graduating from AHS is leaving the Bay Area. Senior Wen Wu plans on attending Chabot College. Wu’s choice of school is accredited to his fondness of the area in which he grew up, as well as his

familial ties in the Bay Area. “I guess I’m attached to my family. Plus, I don’t wanna go far,” Wu said. Regardless of how far college is for these three, all seem to be influenced by the Bay Area, whether it be its diversity, liberalism, or culture. Lam praises the Bay Area’s diversity when compared to the East Coast. “In the East Coast, you’re not gonna see a lot of diversity. You’re gonna see a bunch of white people. Here, you see everything. You see a lot of different religions and cultures,” Lam said. Along with its warm environment, both in a weather sense and in terms of people, the Bay Area’s diversity has been the common thread in what these students love about the Bay. “There are a lot of people in the Bay and everyone here is so different. You’re not gonna meet someone who’s exactly like you, which is why I love the Bay Area,” Wu said. •

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Illustration | Samantha Wang

Students discuss how they earn money outside of traditional jobs. By Serey Nouth

an Leandro High School senior Najja Sahedi and AHS senior Jonathan Reyes take different routes to making extra money. Sahedi and her older sister, Sade’ Saheli, started their own hair company FineGirlHair at the encouragement of their Instagram followers, and Reyes sells spam musubi to friends and other customers. “We started planning it in December of 2015 because someone suggested that we should start it because our hair is always super nice and then we took her ideas into consideration. We started looking at different vendors that we could work with to sell hair from...then once we found a vendor, because we have a following on Instagram, we asked our followers if they would support our business, and we got a majority positive feedback from them,” Saheli said. “So we were like, they’re saying they would support our business, so we made a website, and then we started selling. Everything worked out from there.” Saheli and her sister promote their business through their individual social media presence and a new company Instagram page @finegirlhairofficial. Their Instagram page is now filled with customer reviews, but it initially started off with only themselves and two models. “At first it was kind of difficult to get used to the number of orders we would get daily, but now that we have had our business for

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over a year, we basically know what we’re doing now, it’s easy,” Saheli said. Reyes also understands the struggle of managing a side venture, as he sells spam musubi to his friends when he is in need of extra cash. “It is so time consuming. Because I have to cook about 40 pieces of spam and then make sure I have at least 40 pieces of spam and then make sure I have at least 3 cups of rice made for it to work. However, most of the time I always end up with not enough rice so I have to cook more,” Reyes said. He recently only started selling his musubi, but he has built a devoted customer base as his friends all love his musubi. It was actually his friends who encouraged him to begin selling the musubi in the first place. “I started selling not too long ago, around April. And I have always made spam musubi. My mom showed me how to make it my freshmen year and I just absolutely loved it. So as high school went on I would [make] spam musubi for some people and they said they also loved it and told me to sell it. Sadly, I didn’t listen until the end of my high school career,” Reyes said. Both business models are incredibly profitable. Saheli explains that her hair business is profitable because of the low cost of wholesale purchases. “Hair is super profitable, everyone tries to sell hair because it’s guaranteed that you’ll make profit from it. But to start off with hair, usually to start off with, a bundle deal can cost a hundred dollars and we’ll sell it for

more to make profit. But it is really not that expensive to start off with,” Saheli said. Reyes explains that because he already has a majority of the ingredients required ahead of time, he is able to profit largely as a result. “It’s actually all profit because my parents get the groceries and I just end up putting in a little extra stuff like extra spam or extra rice seasoning. My mom likes to make exotic foods so we usually always get the food ingredients that I need to make spam musubi,” Reyes said. AHS business and marketing teacher Christina Charlton has advice for students looking to start their own business or have their own side venture. “Fail faster with feedback. So many time, students or young people - because of their experience with education - think that they have to succeed the first time. The sooner they can accept the ideal way to start a business is to fail faster with as much feedback as possible, to developing a prototype and an MVP known as a modified viable product, and to begin a planning process that includes how to get to the market,” Charlton said. Charlton continues, “What kind of personality does this brand have? Who does it serve? If they identify the product and its personality, they know who they are attracting as a people or market and they are able to price it accordingly to that person or market, and they know how to promote it based on those people and where they are. So its product, placement, price, promotion, and then failing faster with feedback.” •

A Glimpse Into the Unknown Global Glimpse program provides the experience Junior Briana of studying abroad. Washington By Anvin Tang

Junior Nanda Bean

Junior Julia Manzano

Junior Janeyda Gonzalez

Illustration | Vivian Liu

Junior Citlali Perez-Zarate Junior Delilah Martinez

lobal Glimpse is a two-week summer program that takes students to either the Dominican Republic, Panama, or Ecuador. According to the director of the program for AHS, English teacher Jess Vaughn, this program gives students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the native culture and to cultivate communication and leadership skills. “It’s an opportunity for students to step outside their comfort zone which requires developing a lot of different skills to have to meet all new people and to try new things everyday. It’s really hard you have to overcome a lot of fears,” said Vaughn. This program aims to provide an experience for students who want to expand their worldview and to gain a first-hand standpoint of the vastly differing conditions that students might not truly understand. “It’s going to sound cliche but I want to gain a different perspective. We talk to alumni and they said that when you get back from the trip you’ll see the world differently and think of things differently and that’s because you

Junior Flora Wu

Junior Vivian Liu

get to see such different living conditions,” said junior Julia Manzano. Students also get a chance to make a difference in the country that they are staying in. This includes English tutoring or creating civic action project so that they can leave a long-term effect on wherever they stay.

“We talk to alumni and they said that when you get back from the trip you’ll see the world differently and think of things differently.”

Junior Julia Manzano Said

“They learn about the country and tour the city they’re in and learn different cultural practices and learn about the history. They get a chance to see what it’s like to live on one dollar a day. They get to go and work with

the farmers. They do English tutoring. They also create like a CAP project so they leave something impactful behind,” said Vaughn. This program provides students a potentially cheaper way of exploring a foreign country allowing them to explore areas outside of the first-world American bubble that they live in. It is easy to read about a place or to have a concept of conditions outside America, but it is impossible to get a real understanding without immersion into a representation of those actual conditions. “I think you learn about yourself in the whole process. Just the idea of being away from your family for that long and going with people you’ve never met before, that’s a huge growing experience. Everyday the students do something new and helps them expand their understanding of how life is and I think that is is incredibly valuable. When we learn more about cultures, it helps us grow and build empathy in ways that we wouldn’t be able to do if we stayed in our comfort zone,” said Vaughn.•

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DGG Dry Gulch Gazette

WHO ARE WE? The Dry Gulch Gazette is the Arroyo High School campus publication of record. Founded in 1957 the publication had been briefly discontinued until the 2019-2020 school year when a campus club revived it as a newsmagazine. In 20182019 the club has transformed into a class that is working to produce 7 issues during the school year. The Dry Gulch Gazette is committed to telling the stories of the members of our campus and community

WHY SUBSCRIBE?

While we put copies into the hands of every student and staff member at AHS, subscriptions are a way of ensuring that a copy of each of our seven issues gets mailed directly to your home. Subscribing to the Gazette is a way to both support this new and growing program while also keeping a record of your studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time here at AHS. The funds collected from subscriptions go directly to the costs of printing the Dry Gulch Gazette.

SUBSCRIBE If you are interested in subscribing to the Dry Gulch Gazette please fill out the form below and turn it in to room A9 or email AHSGazette@gmail.com for a digital form.

SUBSCRIBER INFO

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Email Address: ______________________________ Phone Number:______________________________ Mailing Address: _____________________________

_________________________________________ PAYMENT

The cost of an annual subscription to the Dry Gulch Gazette is $30 dollars. After turning in this form you will receive an email linking you to an online payment sysem. Alternatively you can pay with cash or credit card at the AHS finance office. If there any questions, issues, or concerns please contact faculty adviser Samved Sangameswara via email at ssangameswara@slzusd.org.

What We Remember... ... Different generations reminisce the trends of the past.

FAVO R I T E TRENDS “Bell bottoms and we wore patchwork. We used to sew leather and suede patches all over our pants because we were cool.” Art teacher Mary Rosiles

DEFINING HISTORICAL MOMENT

FAVO R I T E SHOWS/MOVIES/ SONGS

“Watching Vietnam warfootage on TV at night and the moon landing of ‘69.”

“I loved ‘Sherlock Holmes’, especially the really old ‘Sherlock Holmes’ movies. My dad and I would stay up on Friday nights or Saturday nights.”

Social Studies teacher Kevin Beal

Science teacher Kai Brown

BABY BOOMERS

“So many people wore acid wash “The Great Quake of 1989. Everything was shaking and it won’t stop. I jeans. Also, MC hammer pants are remember staring out of the window very popular. Hairspray was also watching the electric poles moving in very important back then. A lot of girls made their hair very big with weird directions. The earthquake drills we have now is dedicated to this event.” hairspray. “ English teacher Kay Zimmerman

Office manager Donna Fuller

“My favorite movie was ‘The Usual Suspects’. I also loved watching ‘Friends’, the TV show.” Art teacher Merav Kagan

GEN X

“I think 9/11 was a big one. I remember “I really liked spice girls, high heels, everything about that day, it was really scary. Like everything changed after that, and tennis shoes. ” security in airports and public spaces I don’t know it was like a really big shift.” English Teacher Jill Jacobs

English Teacher Jessica Vaughn

“The only one that I could remember was the 50 states one.” English teacher Samuel Oh

MILLENIALS

“My favorite fashion trend, in middle shool, everybody wore bucket hats.“ Senior Makahla Knight GEN Z

“2008 recession, I just remember finances being difficult and my parents were stressed out and a lot of people were being laid off.” Senior Vivian Luong

“I’m going to have to go with Teen Titans, the OG not Teen Titans GO.” Sophomore Rohan Determan

ONE THING YOU WANT TO BRING BACK

WHAT’S YOUR GEN?

“Phones being nailed to walls and not being portable. So you have to get outside and live your life away from devices.” English teachern Kingsley Andersen

“When I was young, like in middle high and high school, music that I listened to was a lot more conscious than a lot of the stuff that comes out today. I think that is something that this generation really missed.”

1946 - 1964

Early to mid-1960s to early 1980s

Early 1980s to mid1990s

Mid-1990s to mid2000s

Social studies teacher Joel Gonzales

“I would like to bring back the Blockbusters Video.” Student Teacher Daniel Bonnitz

“Hannah Montana, because I really liked that TV show.” Sophmore Donovan Johnson

Check out this QR code for a surprise!

Freshmen Year

“[The biggest challenge was] not knowing anyone and adjusting to the new environment.” -Alicia Ridings

“[The biggest challenge was] Adjusting to actually trying in school, and having ever little thing matter.” -DJ Bess

“Well, a challenging thing was to find a way to fit in and to figure out how things were different from middle school.” -Alejandro Morales

Sophomore Year “My biggest challenge was adjusting to a new school.” -Austin Lu

“My favorite memory was the trip to Cal State, it gave me an idea of life after school.” -Chris Fernandez

“My favorite memory was meeting those who I’m close with now.” -Josh Ancheta

Junior Year “It’s best to stay on your stuff. Don’t give in to pressure, and make sure you relax a bit.” -Jaysea Lowe “Stay focused on your school work because junior year is the most important year. Still, you should try to find balance between work and fun.” -Michael Stuber “Next year is going to be the hardest of the four, keep track of your responsibilities and don’t stress over everything.” - Erwai Wei

Relationships “ I have been in love and i am in love right now. My love life is very happy and heaalthy. My reality is long distance so it’s a little difficult at times, not being in the same time zone as your person but communication and bond is really nice. -Jasmine Cordero

Parents Seniors give advice after almost finishing at AHS.

“I’ve been in love many times throughout high school but it never turned out the way I wanted to, people wouldn’t feel the same feelings I felt for them, until I met Angeline. I got friend zoned a lot until senior yearwhen I started working on myself and eventually found my one and only Angelne. -Christian Linschoten

“They have always supported me and pushed me to do better and I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for them.” -Pedro Zamora “Good communication and positivity on both ends. It can be challenging though trying to meet my expectations before theirs.” -Elva Camacho

Senior Year “My biggest challenge senior year was staying motivated. It got more difficult toward the end of the year because I was just focused on graduating and I had already gotten accepted into schools.” - Kelsy Guerrero

“Through high school I had a very supportive mom. She always gave me the opportunities to do what I want. Even though there are times where they seem like the most difficult person alive, they will always love you in the end.” -Wen Wu

Friendships

“My biggest challenge this year was juggling many different things on the side of getting my education in high school. Throughout the year I have been going to work on the weekend, activities at school and also just attending school.” -Jamiel Sampson

“Back in 9th grade I had a friend breakup and it was really bad. It was the best decision I had made and it made me a better person.” -Anthony Segura

My biggest challenge during senior year was the senioritis. I was so focused on what would happen after high school that I began procrasinating heavily on all my assignments.” -Chelsey Lewis Williams

“A friend breakup I had was pretty simple. We just naturally faded away. Its difficult to comprehend but it happens.” -Maika Aeryl Jeciel

AHS Survival Guide Seniors give advice to underclassmen on how to survive high school. By Bethelehem Engeda

Benita Ng

Cindy Wong

To all the underclassmen, we all understand your share of struggles. However, it is extremely important to understand that having time management is [important]. As you are going into your adulthood, time management will play a huge role. The ability to prepare you to get something done on time will prepare you better for what is expected for you later on. Procrastination is not a way to go. Make the best of your high school [year] because it will be your last.

Illustration| Village Green Public Addendum

College is a big deal and it is important, but the name of the college you are going to is not the most important thing in the world. Going to college, whether it be community college or a university, is already a step to helping yourself in the future, so don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get into the best college or your dream college.

Karina Sin I would advise them to always try and communicate with your teachers and peers at all times.They are going to be the ones to help you the most when you need it. If you realize you don’t need help, look for the shy ones sitting in the corner and see if they need help. They probably do, but they’re just too closed off to ask for help. When they open up later on, you’ll find that they’re actually one of the coolest or funniest people in the world. Never let your failures get to you. You will learn from them and be able to push through as long as you believe in yourself.

Arazeli Barragan

Don’t be quick to judge anybody because you don’t know what they are going through. Don’t get involved in stupid drama like over a boy because in the end it really won’t matter. Think ahead about your future because it comes up quick and by the time you get there and if you don’t know you are screwed. Also, do concurrent enrollment because it’s not that hard.

SENIOR SECTION

GET YOUR

YEARBOOK! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not too late to get your copy of the 2018-2019 edition of The Arroyan!

Yearbooks can be purchased for $100 in the finance office.

The More You Know...

College is not the only route to accomplish your goals.

By Melanie Thai

raduating early is something a lot of people would love to be able to do. Most people are quite fond of the idea of getting high school over with, moving on with our lives, and going to college. However, for most people, graduating early does not seem like a possibility, which is okay. Maxwell Johnson is a junior who is graduating early because he wants to get a head start on his career, but this is not something to be jealous of. It is as if that one little fact about someone instantly makes them seem exceptional, so people just shrink into their own little shell of self-doubt. We all need to become more comfortable with accepting the fact that everyone has their own path and be more open to taking a pathway that strays from the norm. Some people may have shortcuts or may take longer, but in the end it is what you make of your pathway that determines how well you do. There are so many different pathways that most people would not know because the only path that people have been told to follow their whole lives is going to college. However, after being at AHS for a while, you get to witness all the unique pathways that your peers choose to take and some of them might surprise you. Firstly, there is an option at AHS for students to go on independent study which allows them to maintain a job without the hassle of being at school most of the time. Although some people may believe that it would be more difficult to keep up with your studies, this is an option that people should still consider. You would be able to make money earlier and gain more experience, which is much more valuable than just having an education when applying for other jobs. Independent study also pushes

Illustrations | Vivian Liu

OPINION

you to be less dependent on others because you have to be more accountable for yourself, which is something that everyone will have to be able to do once they leave the comfort of being watched over by their parents. All sophomores tour Eden Area ROP to expose them to an alternative to being at school all day. ROP is an option available to students during their junior and senior year where students are in class at Arroyo for one half of the day and at Eden Area ROP the other half of the day. At ROP, students are able to specialize and gain more handson experience in their chosen fields. This is an option that students should strongly consider. This experience gives you a chance to work in your field with professionals who actually work in the field and can tell you everything that you need to know. Despite these benefits though, many people have the notion that ROP is the safety raft when your grades are not up to par. Contrary to this belief, ROP can actually open more doors for you than college can because you have more experience than those who have only been learning in classrooms their whole lives and in some instances, you can even get a certification, putting you way ahead of those in school. Trade school and the military are also very viable options. Trade school gets you immersed into your career without the hassle of taking classes that are required for

general education. It gives you the training that you need to be able to get a job in your field and gets you into the field usually more quickly than college would. The military allows you to work in the field of your choice and educates you as well so that you would receive a certification. Once you are out of the military, you would have a certification and more experience than people fresh out of college, making you more likely to get hired. If that did not seem appealing enough, the military also offers many benefits for you and your family that would help you get by, such as paying for your housing, a free education, and free flights. Some people may argue that the only way to be successful is to go to straight to college after high school. However, there are plenty of college students who struggle finding jobs right when they graduate. More than half of college graduates are not putting their degrees to use, which shows that college does not necessarily guarantee success. Usually, the main reason for this is that college students have no experience working, but if you were to take a different route to gain experience, you would automatically stand out from your competition when applying for jobs. All the other applicants most likely just have a college degree, but employers want to know that you have the experience to be capable of performing well. Therefore, we should all get the idea of going straight to a four-year university after high school out of our heads because that really is not the only way to get you to where you want to be. There are many pathways to success, you just have to find the one that fits you, not the one that everyone else is taking or is telling you that you should take. â&#x20AC;˘

DGG

Your = Your Present Future

Dry Gulch Gazette

Working hard during the summer pays off. By Christopher Yalung

ummer: it’s a special slice of time where all of you who have been under pressure by the crushing weight of school get to be free. Most of you guys will be relaxing, playing video games, or doing other unproductive things during the duration of your summer. Well, you’re doing it wrong. As you’ve probably already heard at least once in your life, you lose reading and math skills if you don’t stimulate your mind with educational content during the break. According to a report released by the RAND Corporation, you lose about 1 month of total learning when you do not review over the summer. Not only that, you’re wasting free time that could be used doing other productive things, like getting a job or an internship. Our high school years are meant to “culture” our growth into suitable, educated college kids who strive for careers in the future. All the time you spend doing things unrelated to that give other people time to pass you up on the scoreboards, and you’ll be further down to be looked at by admissions officers for that precious college seat. All of you who aren’t setting their eyes towards college are probably saying, “This doesn’t apply to me! I’m fine doing entrepreneurship or working fast food!” That may be true, but your future still won’t completely rely on the greasy minimumwage of your local McDonalds. You’ll spend a lot of your life paying taxes, and there’s

a pretty high chance you’ll be picking up a pen to write an educated letter to a superior. Your education is there for a reason, folks. Athletes, you’re the people that are least exempt from not doing productive things this summer. Grades are already important for you, and the loss of reading and writing skills phenomenon also applies to your skill in your sport. The less you practice, the more that you aren’t prepared for next year. For those trying to advance their athletic career into collegiate athletics, you should be working hard over the summer on both your education and your skills to make yourself look nice for college scouts. Not to say you should be working like a mule 24/7 though; that would be terrible, and it would eventually lead to you burning out and being even less productive than before. Instead, this is advice giving all of you that need a wake-up call a heads up; life is rushing full speed at this point in your life. In a few years, you’ll all be adults, and the decisions that you made in these years will determine where you’ll be. It’s crappy, yes, but it’s the hard truth, and you have to do everything in your power to make sure that you get where you want to be, whether that’s college, entrepreneurship, or the fast food chain. In the end, what makes you happy is what makes you happy, as long as you get where you want to be.•

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.

BY THE NUMBERS

Editor-in-Chief: Janice Lee Managing Editors: Bethelehem Engeda, Jeanette Hernandez, Cassandra Yuan Campus Editor: Calif Chen

Community Editor: Angela Peña Special Feature Editor: Trinity Mai, Serey Nouth Opinion Editor: Vivian Liu Arts and Culture Editor: Andrea Marie Lomeli Sports Editor: Steven Avalos Art Directors: Nanda Bean, Rizelle Jugarap Copy Editor: Samantha Wang Gazette Staff Writers: Taliilagi Agatupu,

1 MONTH

50%

20%

of education is lost during the summer

of employers hire their interns as fulltime employees

is the rate of High School employment

Olivia Leigh Doctor, Rafael Duran, Daniel Grafil, Anthony Martinez, Joseph Meyer, Valentin Ochoa, Mirella Ramirez, Jacqueline Rico, Kayara Rocco, Anvin Tang, Melanie Thai, Michael Thornton, Wesley Waldrep, Vivian Wong, Christopher Yalung, Vivian Yan

Staff Adviser: Samved Sangameswara

OPINION

THE FEED

Endulging in food via social media is the new trend. By Cassandra Yuan

he newest trend today is foodie Instagram accounts. These bloggers use their social media platforms to showcase their best eats by feeding the feed with all of the foods they post. AHS has a few foodies of their own who share why they started out. Curating the right feed for hungry people to follow, these creators take their time in creating reviews for various food places.

enior Amy Nguyen has described herself as a foodie and created her account in Dec. 2018. Nguyen start the account so she could the foods she eats with her friends. Nguyen manages this account with senior John Esteban, who also considers himself a foodie. Esteban elaborates on his love for food and why he believes the account is great to have. “The account just helps us do the thing we love doing with just a little something extra,” Esteban said. The two feel as if food gives them a way to explore their identities and as a fun way to bond with people and make new experiences. This method of networking is common on social media platforms like Instagram. “It helps us find new friends and bond over new interests. Its different than just following someone’s instagram, it’s a lot more active than that,” Esteban said.

Nguyen felt uneasy to trying new things but trying new foods was her way of expressing new interests. By having this account, Nguyen

SENIORS AMY NGUYEN AND JOHN ESTEBAN

believes that it inspires her to try more things. “I tend to be a little deviant when I try to do new things, but eating new foods is a different type of

comfort,” Nguyen said. There are any foodie Instagram accounts that are tailored to certain food options, like vegan and vegetarian accounts. Nguyen follows different accounts of the foods she is interested in and uses them as an example for her own account. “I follow a lot of Instagram accounts and since there are so many out there that feature different foods and cultures, I can have my feed be things that I want to see,” Nguyen said. Nguyen mentions the reason behind her account was to solely have fun and just to document what she ate and how she felt about it. “I love food. I love Instagram. I made the account for me personally to track what I eat and how I feel about it, having it public and open for my friends is just something to make documenting what I eat more fun,” Nguyen said. •

enior Aileen Alvizo also has a foodie account. Alvizo go into her posts like the place, what she is eating, her opinion start the account with her friend, Zinnia Dominguez. about it, and the best angles for the food pictures. Alvizo started the account with Dominguez in Mar. “We make sure to tag restaurants and use their hashtags. 2019. She had started the account after she had realized We also try to get the best angles in all of the pictures,” Alvizo how much she would go out to eat good food. said, “We like to think of it as an upgraded Following other foodie accounts also inspired her and interactive way of using Yelp.” SENIOR to make her own. One of the main reasons Alvizo wanted AILEEN ALVIZO to start “One of my friends would invite me out to eat the account was to venture out into and get really good food. I just got interested. I different food palates, whilst also having fun was also following a bunch of foodie accounts, so and talking to more people. Alviso says that that also inspired me,” Alvizo said. the best part of running the account is to try However, she did not want to post the foods she new foods and recommend new things to tried on her personal account and ruin her own new people, and vice versa. personal feed, so she decided to make a seperate ¨Since I wanted to try new foods from account. different cultures, I figured I would share it ¨Ï wanted to share it and post it but I didn’t with my friends and I could recommend stuff want to spam on my personal account so I made for them and they could recommend stuff for the separate account for fun,¨ Alvizo said. me to try,” Alvizo said. Alvizo’s favorite food to try are different Alvizo elaborates on how her journey first desserts from different cultures. Her very first post on her started out as something to do for fun, but soon it inspired foodie page consists of what is now one of her favorite places. another pathway that she did not think would happen. “UC Dessert in Oakland is one of my favourites. I’m really “It [was] definitely something that started off as a fun way into Hong Kong style desserts,” Alvizo said. to share our favorite food places but it’s quickly turning into Many things add to a foodie post, like hashtags. Alvizo more than that. We realize that it has the potential to turn and Dominguez use hashtags to describe the food from the into some kind of business,” Alvizo said. * restaurant and hashtags of the restaurant itself. Many things

Photo Courtesy| Gary Lo, Amy Nguyen and Aileen Alvizo

Photo | Cassandra Yu

ath teacher Gary Lo also runs a foodie account dedicated to only ramen. On this account, Lo alongside his wife Doris, try different types of ramen while rating and reviewing them. Lo started the account because of his undying love for ramen. “My wife and I really enjoy ramen, it is like one of our passions. We decided to make a co-account where we review ramen, not only in the bay area but wherever city we visit also,” Lo said. Unlike Alvizo or Nguyen, Lo was not in on the foodie scheme, and did not sprout his inspiration to start an account from other foodies. Lo uses Instagram instead to document the different types of ramen for himself to go back on. Lo started the account with his wife back in June 2017, starting with his first post, or ramen. “[The account] was just an idea that popped up into our mind, and we made it right then and there. So we never followed previous foodie accounts. We just knew foodie accounts existed so we were like, ‘Let’s make one.’,” Lo said. Lo wants to be able to let his audience know how much he loves ramen, but also his opinion on various restaurants. Both him and his wife rate the ramen based upon characteristics of it and use this criteria to format the posts around. “We rate it out of three criteria. We usually taste the MATH TEACHER and toppings broth, noodles, GARY LO and price. All of the ramen we usually review range around 10-15 dollars.” Lo said. Unlike a typical foodie account, Lo adds his own personal spin on each of his posts. To add some personality, Lo uses hashtags that are not popular that correspond to his posts. “We do really weird hashtags, it is not like #ramenreview or anything like that. I do random hashtags like #oddlyspecificscore for an oddly specific score but it is not like a trending hashtag,” Lo said. Lo uses his ramen account to post the different types of ramens he has tried and enjoyed. He formulates each post with a standard review and where they went. Ramen has multiple components, as well as multiple components to each post. Lo’s favorite part of ramen, is all of it. “We tag the business, what city we found it in, the three criteria, and then a score between 1 and 10… [My favorite] is all of the components of it all. I look for that umami flavor punch when you first taste the broth,” Lo said, “Next is the noodles, when you first bite into it there should be this balance of resistance to the noodles. Then the toppings we usually look for a good mix of flavors like a crunch or a soft-boiled egg.” This foodie ramen account was not made for the popularity, but mostly for Lo’s personal expenses. By having this account, Lo is able to look back on his posts and see which ramen places he would want to go to again. The main reason making the account being just for fun. “It is mostly fun. We like going back and seeing the rating of this place and like was it good? We want to see if it earns enough points for a repeat business and we like sharing our experiences. It isn’t for popularity, though I do try to advertise it,” Lo said, “It is mostly for personal reasons. Like where we have been and the rating we gave on it.” •

A Unique Opportunity Junior Dylan Navarrete joins a prestigious jazz group under special circumstances. By Wesley Waldrep

unior Dylan Navarrete had a unique opportunity to be able to join an independent jazz group, and he took it. Navarrete was given the opportunity by his trombone teacher, Ken Yee, to be able to join the California Jazz Conservatory Studio Band, a talented independent jazz group. The band does many festivals, competitions, concerts, and records material to be professionally submitted. This band has an audition process, however due to special circumstances, Navarrete was able to join without having to audition. “Everybody else had to audition… if we weren’t up to speed to the rest of the group they probably would have kicked us out,” Navarrete said. Navarrete was granted the ability to join the group without an audition due to the need for a good trombone player. However, as Navarrete said, he was still held to a high standard of playing, and would have probably been kicked out if he did not meet that standard. “I’ve definitely grown as a musician, talking to everyone in this group and traveling,” Navarrete said. Although only meeting once a week for practice, this group still experiences many things together. Navarrete describes the experience as being able to bond and grow as a group over music. Navarrete’s trombone teacher, Ken Yee, was friends with the Jazz School Director of Jazz School Young Musicians Program and the Jazzschool Studio Band Director, Dave Eshelman. Yee was the one who originally recommended Navarette to join the group. “I made my recommendation but it was ultimately decided based on Dylan’s playing. I think Dylan is a hard worker and someone that pays very close attention to details,” Yee said. “Not many kids can say they are in a big band being directed by a world renown educator nor can they say they have performed at the world class Monterey Jazz Nextgen festival and will be touring Europe with the band.”

ARTS & CULTURE

Photo | Wesley Waldrep

Junior Dylan Navarrete practices trombone in the music room as part of his daily practice routine. Navarrete is part of an independent jazz group outside of school. Navarrete keeps a tight practice schedule for himself, as to not fall behind the skill level of the others in the group. Although he feels somewhat out of place at times, he works hard to remain at the standard of the rest of the group. “We have some of the bests musicians, not only in the Bay Area, but in California… a couple are in the State Honor Band, and others pursue very active jazz careers,” Navarrete said. Although there were some challenges

along the way, Navarrete does not regret for a minute joining this group. The ability to grow as a musician and person though an independent group is not something that everyone gets the opportunity to do. Navarrete plans to pursue music as his career in the future, and is going to college to study music. “I’ve felt, I’m not good enough, but, you know once everyone is playing together it feels like a family,” Navarrete said. •

By Vivian Yan

PIC-ing the Dress

Illustration | Samantha Wang

Student runs prom dress Instagram account for girls to send dresses in. By Vivian Yan

hen special education teacher Tracie Mangini attended AHS in 1997 to 2001, there was no way to avoid wearing the same dress as another girl. “No, if you showed up you showed up. I think that back then it was like well, you wore the same dress,” Mangini said. Senior Janelle Lara runs an Instagram account dedicated to decreasing the chances of girls wearing the same dress to prom. In previous years, she utilized Twitter for the purpose, but switched to Instagram for its convenience. “I for sure think the Instagram account is more effective because a lot more people have Instagram than Twitter so it’s open to more wide options,” Lara said. Lara heard about this idea from a friend from another school and thought that it would be a good idea to have one for AHS too. “So one of my friends from another school told me that their school had a prom dress account where people would send in their dresses to make sure no one has the same one, so I thought that I wanted to have one for this school too because I didn’t see any of

those made yet,” Lara said. The process to be featured is simple: girls send pictures of their dress to Lara and she posts them for her other followers to see. “Someone will DM me their prom dress and then I’ll just post it, and people can look at it so that they can see if they want to buy that one someone already has it or they can know if it’s a similar dress,” Lara said. Since the account started a month ago, there have been over 91 submissions from both junior and senior girls. Lara checks her DMs daily because there are always new followers sending in photos. To spread the word even further, she posts on her other social media platforms and has her friends tell others. Senior Trinity Saefong is one of the 121 girls who followed the account and sent in a dress to be featured. She followed the account last year too, so she was excited when this year’s account was created. “I think it’s pretty quite interesting because I mean I get to see other people’s dresses and it’s also good that it’s anonymous. I think it’s just very creative, and it’s good to see the

different dresses that there are out there so no one has the same dress as you,” Saefong said. When asked about her thoughts on the account, Mangini said, “I think everyone should wear whatever they want. Like if I want to wear that same dress I think they should be able to do it, but if you don’t want to wear a dress that someone else is wearing then I think it’s a good way to be able to what other people are wearing, and it also gives you ideas.” With no intention other than to help girls with their prom experience, Lara finds joy in being able to provide this platform for this purpose. “I’m happy to be able to help people to make sure that everyone has their own unique dress that other people don’t have... I like that I’m able to help other people not look the same as everyone else and be original,” Lara said.•

ARTS & CULTURE

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