High Tide: Dec. 16, 2016

HIGH TIDE Redondo Union High School Redondo Beach, CA December 15, 2016 Vol. XCVII Edition 7

FASHION KING [story on pg. 24]

Vogue. Drake Brown poses during a test shoot, which is when his

agency supplies a model with a professional photographer, but the model does not get paid. The test shoots help Brown to build his portfolio in order to pursue a career in modeling. PHOTOS COURTESTY OF DRAKE BROWN

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news

High Tide

By Kylee Kallick

Actors share thoughts on unique play

1.

T

his year’s fall play is based around a single, everyday object: a dining table. It follows how the use of such an ordinary object, has changed throughout time. The fall play, The Dining Room, was performed on Dec. 8th, 9th and 10th.

There is no dominant lead in this play, but instead has over fifty roles.

“You see each of the character’s relationships throughout different periods of time, but the actors put in a lot of work and effort to make sure that they fit each role to the best of their ability,” senior Isadora Quevedo-Capizzi said.

Because of the use of so many characters, actors are doing something that they typically don’t do on a regular basis: playing multiple roles.

“It’s been a different experience preparing for this show because I am playing multiple roles. It’s unique to develop different characters for the same play, which has forced me to concentrate on every detail about my characters,” senior Noelani Montas said.

According to Quevedo-Capizzi, the atmosphere during rehersals is different than previous plays because of the large amount of roles present. The actors get more of a chance to see their fellow actors playing their role, and get to experience how it feels for everything to come together.

“When we do a whole run through the show, you get to see scenes other actors have been working on. All of our scenes come together at the end and form this play. It’s an amazing process,” Quevedo-Capizzi said.

On top of the change of having so many characters, they also had a change in directors, with old drama teacher Justin Baldridge leaving after eight years.

“It wasn’t much harder preparing with a different teacher, as most of us have worked with multiple directors in our lives, but it had a different experience than what we are used to,” Montas said.

One of the biggest things that they have struggled with though, without Baldridge there, is not having the pressure on them.

“We don’t really feel pressured yet. We don’t have Mr. Baldridge yelling, making us nervous, and putting the pressure on. That feels different because right now we’re in tech week, and normally we’re stressed, frustrated and angry, which makes us work better,” said Montas.

Quevedo-Capizzi believes the play, which might look as if it has a simple meaning to it, actually goes much deeper than it seems.

“The moral of the story is that families no longer gather around the dinner table in unison to spend that quality time together. People seem to lose that idea through time and is one that brings everyone closer together,” Isadora Quevedo-Capizzi said.

According to Montas, the actors have put in a lot of time and effort into making sure the play goes as planned and runs smoothly.

They have also put in a lot of practice into transitioning between the different moods of the story well.

“I had a little trouble in one of my roles.

The scene shifted to comedic and I have so much trouble with comedic scenes. It has

2.

Dinner is served.

1. Senior Stacey Manos and juniors Scott Mueller and Danielle Silkes role play a family a family during the 1950s performing daily tasks around their dining table. “Rehearsing for this play is different that most because you’re not in every scene and you don’t play a continuous character. It’s actually very cool because when we do a whole run through of the show you get to see scenes other actors have been working on,” senior Isadora Quevedo-Qapizzi said. PHOTO BY MATTHEW YONEMURA 2. Senior Stacey Manos and sophmore Beck Hokanson depict children awaiting desert in the fall play, The Dining Room. PHOTOS BY CELINIE OH.

been a learning experience though.” Quevedo-Capizzi said.

The differences between this play and others did not let the cast stop them from making the play the best it can be. It also helped prepare them for the real acting world.

“Most of us have worked with multiple different directors in our lives and different genres, but it was a different experience than we are used to,” Montas said.

According to Quevedo-Capizzi, the whole cast and crew have put in countless hours into making sure the show is up to their standards.

“People should come see the play because we have worked extremely hard hours to put together this production, strictly for an audience to enjoy. It is very fun with scenes that are comedic as well as dramatic. The department would love the support and encouragement,” Quevedo-Capizzi said.

Dec. 15, 2016

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news

Screenagers shows impacts of technology use

By Austin Nunis “I’ve been doing research on the effects Guinness said.

On Tuesday Dec. 29th, the RBUSD PTA Though they might not see eye to hosted a showing of the movie Screenagers of smartphones and tablets and the amount we all spend on our screens eye on the subject of technology and in an attempt to raise awareness about the of time already,” McGuinness said. social media, Matt knows that the harmful effects of technology on “I’m trying to protect my movie got his daughters thinking. teenagers. kids from spending too “I think that the fact that they “I think as parents we much time on their screens. had a negative reaction after the all have seen this going on I think that we don’t know movie was a really good sign, bewith our kids, we’ve given yet whether the amount of cause when someone starts facthese devices to our children time people spend on ing you with a truth that whether as educational their screens is danger- you don’t like, you don’t toys or trying to keep ous or not just because want to believe it,” Matt them busy as we wait in it’s such a new thing said. “After seeing the line at the grocery store. and it’s happening so movie, one kid said that And once social media fast.” she was going to go withcame into play it kind of

In an effort to out Instagram, Snapchat, changed the game,” PTA show his daughters the and Twitter for three days, Vice President of Pro- INFORMATION FROM COMMON SENSE MEDIA scientific research be- but didn’t make it. At least grams and mother Amanhind his reasoning, McGuinthey thought about it and tried, that’s the da Cartee said. first step.”

After noticing the growing amount of so- ness took his family to the

That reaction was exactly cial media and digital screens in her life and showing of Screenagers in the what Cartee was hoping for. the lives of those around her, Cartee and a RUHS Auditorium.

“I thought it made some

“I hope that in that sevgroup of administrators decided to address good points, but I also feel like enty minutes of the movie the issue.

ILLU STR ATIO NS BY ADR that there was even five IAN CRACIUN “I see a ton of kids, whenever I’m at it didn’t accurately porminutes that spoke to schools, looking down [at their phones], tray what teenagers use someone,” Cartee said. not attempting to engage with the people technology for. I feel like “I think there was somearound them,” Cartee said. “I’m concerned they chose bad examples thing in it for everybody, that they might not have the skills to sit of kids that use technoland I just hope they down and have a conversation with another ogy and didn’t show kids that also use their phones were able to grab on to person.” in a good way.

They really at least five minutes of Like Cartee, local father and television information that they writer, Matt McGuinness, is also concerned focused on the negative about the effect of social media on his three ways that kids use technology,” McGuin- never knew before.” ness’s daughter, sophomore Maggie McAfter five months of planning and prodaughters.

moting the movie to neighboring school districts, Cartee and administrators were able to fill over 1,000 seats in the auditorium without charging anyone.

“When we found out that the RBUSD was willing to partner with us and make this happen, we knew we could turn this into a very powerful message. We wanted to provide skills and solutions for the parents that are trying to figure this out,” Cartee said.

“And because so many people have signed up for PTA memberships this year, we were able to put this on for free.”

Despite her efforts to bring attention to the growing subject of social media and subsequent screen time, Cartee says that she’s not “anti-social media”, but just believes in the concept of moderation.

“I think that social media’s fantastic. We would not have been able to get the crowd that we got there without it and there’s all these positive things about it, but you just need a healthy balance,” Cartee said. “There’s going to be some times where we’re going to be on our screens for work or school, but when it starts to take over your life where you’re on it constantly and you’re staying up late and you feel you feel like your self-worth comes from the amount of likes you get, that’s starting to get to an unhealthy place.”

66 percent

Teens spend an average of

1:11 hours

“multitask” using technology while doing homework

on social media daily

... and an average of

9 hours

on screens, not including schoolwork

3.

History teachers reflect on results of presidential election

By Nadia Stodder For many high schoolers, the 2016 presidential election is the first election that students have been actively involved in, creating a new environment in history classes that concentrates more heavily on what is happening in the government today and the controversies of the election.

“We got to take our AP Government students through the whole primary process and watched the different candidates. As people dropped out, or as different events happened and different people won it was a great opportunity for me as a government teacher to teach government while watching it happen in real life,” AP Government teacher Michael Henges said.

Students are exposed to political conventions, debates and the candidates on the campaign trial, which Henges believes has raisied many new questions and interest in politics that was not as present in students in the past.

“Most students were asking me the first day of school what a superdelegate was, so [their interest in politics] makes my job a lot easier and a lot more relevant,” Henges said.

“As far as the general election goes, the interest level is way up.”

AP US History teacher Amber Keller agrees that more students are aware of this election than before.

“For my AP classes, people are a lot more aware of this election because it had a lot of craziness going on and a lot of controversial issues were addressed. I think kids were definitely more into this election than any other election I’ve seen,” Keller said.

Henges believes there is a relationship between student interest in politics and the number of AP Government classes. Last year, there were four classes, and this year there are five.

“I think most of them have a higher interest level right now and at this point there’s a little bit of fatigue because it’s all everyone is talking about and that’s all that is in the news but I think that there is definitely, in general, a higher interest and a recognition that this stuff that we’re talking about in class is important,” Henges said.

According to Henges, by teaching in the middle of a presidential election, the teaching strategies and information being given to the students has been impacted in a positive way.

“It adds a flavor to the class that, instead

of a powerpoint slide and a lecture, I might be talking about a recent news story and still be making the same point,” Henges said.

“Also, students bring questions to me instead of me having to try to elicit questions from them.”

Henges claims to have seen a great increase in student interest in politics and government in the classroom environment, and he is using this to his advantage.

“I think that students recognize the importance of getting involved and participation and this election definitely shows them that.” Henges said.

Henges and Keller work hard to incorporate the circumstances of the election into their education and keep their students informed of politics and what is occurring in the world around them.

“One of the things I encourage in my class is for people to discuss and form relationships with people who might not agree with them and just have a conversation with them instead of treating people as ‘the other’ or ‘those people,’” Henges said. “In my classes, we have mock elections and mock congresses, things that make the learning a bit more experiential instead of just taking

notes.”

Especially in AP classes, where current events are regularly discussed, the election has come up as a topic in classrooms throughout the school. According to Keller, students have expressed significant fear for the future of them and their friends and peers.

“I always make sure students have a safe place in my classroom to discuss all points of view,” Keller said. “As Americans, we have to make sure to stay vigilant and to watch and to make sure bad things aren’t taking place. Students know that we have teachers, family,and friends always protecting us.”

According to Henges, student involvement in this year’s election has lead to new conversations between classmates and teachers, creating exposure to opinions that many had not interacted with until this election.

“If you get to sit down, converse, and interact with a diverse group of people politically you learn that a lot of people have a lot of different world views but their motivations and reasons for those world views might be more complex than people realize,” Henges said.

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High Tide

news

Vice principal Bridi moves on

Bridi promoted to new position as principal of Redondo Shores

by Yasi Fazeli

After beginning as a substitute teacher in RBUSD, then becoming a teacher and assistant principal at Parras Middle School, and spending the past five years as an assistant principal at RUHS, Anthony Bridi is now beginning a new position as the principal of Redondo Shores.

“I’m honored and it’s a privilege just to continue to serve not only in the district but to continue supporting our family and our students in another realm but as principal,” Bridi said.

Bridi emphasizes the value of teamwork, a lesson he has learned at RUHS and will take it with him to Redondo Shores. He believes it is the cooperation between the students, their families, and the faculty that makes this school a great place to both learn and work.

“I’m very fortunate to be a part of Redondo Union but also to be part of the excellent culture that’s built here in this great city. I just feel like I’m part of a great team,” Bridi said. “And it’s not just about our school, but also our district. It’s everybody working together. Having that team approach, being supportive, and being part of the community brings me that great joy of accomplishment.”

According to Bridi, the staff, students, and events he has been a part of have all contributed to his positive experience at RUHS.

Looking back on his “incredible” experience at Redondo, he finds that it is difficult to describe “without getting goosebumps.”

“Working with Dr. Wesley, and her leadership, and Mr. Brandt, and Ms. Corcoran, and all the teachers and awesome students has been amazing,” Bridi said. “I see all the moments and experiences as I look down the hall of all these pictures like of all the athletic competitions and titles. I look at these pictures, and I see that I was there for a majority of the events in the seats just being a spectator, just knowing that this was something we supported as a team and helped build.”

As he leaves RUHS, Bridi encourages students to embrace the opportunities they are given at Redondo and “make it their own.”

He hopes that with the opportunities they are given, students can “find [their] passion, find [their] purpose, be [a] conduit of change.”

“I’m going to miss you, the student. I’m going to miss every student that I’ve come into contact with–which I would say is every single one. I hope I’ve impacted them in in their decision making of what they want to do in their life such as an opportunity they want to pursue. I hope they’ve found that here at Redondo,” Bridi said.

Though he will be at a different site, Bridi

Bye bye Bridi. Bridi has a conversation with senior Ikaika Napohaku during last Tuesday’s lunchtime.

Among many of the things he will miss, Bridi emphasizes the students, and hopes he has done all he can to be a role model for each and every student as well as leave a positive impact on the school. PHOTO BY LIAM ADKINS

will continue attending school events–continue being a part of the team at Redondo.

“I will continue doing great things for our

students regardless of the site I am at at,” Bridi said. “I will always be there, and my door will always be open for our students.”

RBUSD to implement district-wide safety training program

by Malek Chamas

In the next few months, RBUSD will implement a new district-wide safety training program for its campuses called “Run, Hide, Fight.” Director of Student Services Nicole Wesley created the plan, which, as its name suggests, offers three main options

in the event of an emergency. She and Assistant Principal Anthony Bridi both agree that the “Hide” portion is largely based on the school’s current lockdown policy, while the other two are newer policies put in place for the purpose of providing opportunity for

Active shooter incidents by location

BUSINESS: 40% SCHOOL: 29 % OUTDOORS: 19 % OTHER: 12 % STATISTICS PROVIDED BY FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION 2014. ILLUSTRATIONS BY LULU WEGMAN

students to think more critically in a dangerous situation.

“Like many other organizations, we had a lockdown procedure. We might have had an announcement over the PA system saying there’s a lockdown, but very little information, so you didn’t know specifically where the threat is coming from or why you were locking down,” Bridi said. “We’re going to have staff and students think on their feet.

It’s about allowing them to think independently in a crisis. Every emergency situation is different, and has a variety of components.

I think this model gives the staff and students that ability to think and react based on their current situation.”

From January to February, Wesley will travel to each of RBUSD’s thirteen campuses to train staff members on the new safety protocols. Then, students will be shown videos and slideshow presentations in order to instruct them on how to execute the three main courses of action offered by the plan. The first campus drills are set to occur in March or April, and school officials will decide how exactly to conduct it. Afterwards, RBUSD plans to have drills occur at least once a semester.

“Principals and teachers will get to decide

if they want certain classrooms to practice hiding, and others to practice fighting, and so on,” Wesley said. “We know that if there is an actual emergency, there will be some chaos, because some people will panic. But for the most part, if we ever did have a fire or an earthquake, a majority of students would know what to do. However, with an active shooter, I don’t believe students would respond with that same level of confidence. So we hope to get to a point where students will respond that way by having drills.”

Bridi believes the purpose of “Run, Hide, Fight” is to provide students with “a safer way to look at the world” which they can use in their lives outside of school if they are ever to end up in a dangerous situation. He also values the “team nature” of the program.

“It’s utilizing the ability and the knowledge of law enforcement, and also that of our schools, to figure out what really makes sense in the event of an actual active shooter emergency,” Bridi said. “We have to work as a team to continue to be safe and to continue to be aware of things that are happening in our world. And I just want to make sure we provide the necessary skills, lessons and knowledge to our staff and students to be safe.”

Dec. 15, 2016

news

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SEA Lab holds belief inclusive celebration

by Sarah Flannery

The Sea Lab hosted a belief inclusive celebration of each occasion being celebrated around the world this holiday season to teach kids all about the importance of understanding other religious beliefs.

SEA Lab volunteer Kendall Mata, a volunteer at the Sea Lab, shared how she understands that it is good for young people to be aware of other religions.

“I definitely think it’s important to teach people, especially little kids, that there are different things that people celebrate,” Mata said.

The event included crafts, carolers, and presentations from people of all different beliefs. The events were focused on educating young people and kids on different cultures and beliefs.

The event began with ornament making and Christmas music, for each child to get a sense of Christmas in the American household. Everyone attending had the opportunity to hang ornaments on a festively decorated tree.

Next, the guests listened to many stories about the religious celebrations taking place in all different parts of the world this holiday season from Hanukkah to Kwanzaa. To conclude the festivities, carolers sang holiday songs from many different cultures.

Mata also talked about how it’s “nice” for people to have an awareness about accepting and celebrating all religions.

“It’s a good way to get them into the spirit while each kid feels included,” Mata

said.

Sierra Chesla, a fellow volunteer at the Sea Lab and student at Wakefield High School believes that it’s important to cultivate a more understanding generation.

“I think having a lot of different cultures represented to kids breeds more of an understanding and mindfulness towards their peers” Chesla said.

Mata also added that making the event interactive helped the kids learn more about each culture.

“I think being interactive helps kids really take it in, it makes it more fun. It’s easy to look at a book and read, but seeing it in front of you makes it more real” Mata said.

Sea Lab volunteer Jennie Bao included how making each activity short and sweet catered to the kids’ shorter attention spans, while still keeping them engaged.

“When I was watching, they all looked interested. They were smiling and asking questions, which is a good sign” Bao said.

Bao also noted that incorporating simple and effective, ways of teaching, like music and videos, helped the kids to remember.

“Using song created a sort of environment where kids could learn more about diversity in an easier and more memorable way,” Bao said.

Mata also shared that applying these lessons to real life helped the kids perceive the topic in a way that’s easier to learn.

“When kids get a more real life feel for it, it helps them understand rather than see,”

Mata said.

“Just because a child celebrates something it doesn’t necessarily mean other people around them might not and it helps add more of a respect for other people’s beliefs, we want everyone to celebrate,”

Chesla said.

Mata gathered that coexisting with other religions early on is important to understanding the people around them.

“It opens up new doors and makes you culturally round.” Mata said.

Learning about new cultures from a young age. A mother and her daughter take part in the

celebrations at the arts and crafts table, along with other parents and their kids. Along with arts and crafts, the event featured other attractions such as carolers and presentations from members of multiple different beliefs and cultures. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SEA LAB

Different faiths together under the same roof

Temple Menorah hosts 44th annual South Bay Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

by Grace McGonigle Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindi, Baha’i, and more—the service was one for everyone.

The 44th annual South Bay Interfaith Thanksgiving Service was held at Temple Menorah on Tuesday, November 22, to unite many different religions as one.

“We are all from the same place and we are all one, regardless of where we come from and what we believe. We are all the same, really, and although we get caught up in what we do every day, the fact is that for that night, we could recognize that we are all one,” attendee Jen Molod said.

The event, which took about two months to plan, has become extremely popular over the years, with between 700 and 900 people attending this year.

“It was a nice group of people from all different walks of life and all different religious backgrounds. Everyone and everything came together really nicely,” Jordan Nicolaides, one of the organizers of the event, said.

The week of Thanksgiving has been cho-

sen to hold the interfaith service annually because it isn’t specific to any religion.

“We want to promote feelings of understanding, tolerance and respect for different religions, especially those of minority. We’re very interested in Thanksgiving because it’s a nondenominational holiday,” Temple Menorah’s Rabbi Steven Silver said.

The theme of the service was “open your hands, feeding body, mind and soul,” which, according to Rabbi Silver, encourages people to open up.

“For a little bit of time people were more openhearted and more generous with their money and their time and their volunteerism.

I would say it hits a sweet spot in terms of people’s altruism,” Rabbi SIlver said.

However, this year’s service was less about opening up to become a better citizen, and more about opening up to become a better American.

“I think it had special resonance this year because we had to sort of think about what it means to be American and what it means to

tolerate and honor people of divergent faiths and religions There has been a lot of scary rhetoric and I think people needed a place to come and contemplate all the issues that have been raised as a result of the election,” Rabbi Silver said.

Rabbi Silver, who gave the service, appreciated the spectacle of seeing religious figures of many different kinds standing together and speaking.

“The statement is very powerful when you see all these religious leaders standing together. The visual, the optic of seeing everyone up on the deis was a really powerful thing, and that is what it means to be American, not all this stuff you’ve been hearing on the TV,” Rabbi Silver said.

Rabbi Silver saw it as important because of how it reinforced religious tolerance in relation to America’s ideals.

“It is a very big part of who we are as people, and what’s interesting now is that the fastest growing group in America is none of the above. We want to remind people

that America is different from the rest of the world because we are the most tolerant society, despite all that’s been happening,” Rabbi Silver said.

One of the most appreciated parts of the event was the 60 voice choir, which sang songs from every represented religion.

“I love how the music just swept you away and made you feel so grateful with all the different voices, and instruments, and dancers.

It’s not music we’re accustomed to hearing in our synagogue and that was so inspiring and so wonderful. It really swept you away.

You had moments of closing your eyes and feeling so grateful to be there,” Molod said.

The event has been bringing people of different faiths together since 1972 and has not lost any relevance.

“It’s important for all of the community to come together and be united in one spirit and one feeling,” Nicolaides said. “There’s a lot of separation in the world right now, so when we do come together it’s a very beautiful thing.”

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High Tide

opinion

Editorial

Education versus celebration Muslim students should vocalize their concerns for making religious celebrations local holidays

With a predominant Muslim community in RBUSD, it would only seem logical that the two major holidays observed in Islam, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, would be given off for students as “local holidays” when appropriate. However, for Muslim students, getting these two days off has never been a tangible idea.

Because Christmas, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are always guaranteed days off, Muslim students deserve the same opportunity to celebrate their holidays when they happen to fall on a school day.

It wasn’t until 2011 that certain Jewish holidays were made “local holidays” in RBUSD. According to Board Member Brad Waller, the district decides to make certain days local holidays based on student attendance. In the case of Jewish holidays, the

district noticed that the student absentee rate was two to three times higher than normal.

Because the school year still has to run a certain number of days, it is more beneficial for the district to give days like these off to students, since RBUSD makes about $50 per student that attends school each day.

With this in mind, it seems like right off the bat that Muslim holidays aren’t given off to students simply because not enough students are missing school on those days.

However, that same logic can be applied in reverse.

Students are constantly encouraged to attend school, and excellent attendance is always stressed. This would explain why many Muslims decide to come to school instead of observe their holidays. Based

on trends in student involvement around campus, there seems to be a growing Muslim community, and they deserve to be accounted for when it comes time to celebrate their holidays.

As students move from elementary and middle school to high school, it is more difficult to miss a day of school. Even though missing school for religious reasons is an excused absence, that doesn’t change the fact that one still has to make up all the work he or she missed that day. Older students have more responsibilities and more homework but less time as it is.

Just this past first quarter of school, RUHS only had two “Monday schedule” days, which left many members of the Muslim Student Association asking “What’s another Monday?” when Eid al-Adha was not given off for students. Even Halloween

was a non-student day and used as a professional development day instead.

Students should be given every right to observe their religious holidays, but when it is at the cost of education and staying caught up in academics, it becomes a bit unfair.

Therefore, the Muslim community should be more vocal to the school district when its holidays happen to fall on school days.

After all, if it weren’t for the convenience of Christmas falling over winter break and spring break aligning with Easter, Christian students would be outraged to know that their major holidays were not recognized by the school district. Therefore, it makes sense that Muslim students would feel similarly and have every right to vocalize their discontent.

ILLUSTRATION BY LULU WEGMAN

Yes

7

Editorial Board vote

When appropriate, Muslim holidays should be taken into consideration when creating the district calendar

No

0

Dec. 15, 2016

page 7

opinion

Letters to the

Seduced by the

Editor

If you have an opinion about one of the articles, letters can be sent to the editor at hightideonline@gmail. com.

We reserve the right to edit them for content, grammar, and space constraints. Letters must be signed and are not guaranteed to be printed.

Please keep letters to a maximum of 250 words. Longer guest opinions are also accepted.

High Tide

staff

Editors-in-Chief: Caterina Hyneman; Shaniya Markalanda Online Editor-in-Chief: Reema Saad Opinion Editor: Dina Ghanim News Editors: Ben Brill; Jon Mallen Features Editors: Reem Chamas; Miriam Farah; Lizzie Fauver; Summer Saad; Adam Yorke; Kylie Yorke Sports Editors: Mia Berger; Luke Peterson Senior Editors: Yasamin Fazeli; Amanda Shaw Photo Editor: Eden Millan

Caterina Hyneman

GLOSS

The reality of teen modeling is anything but glamorous Our culture is centered around models; we revere them, envy them, try to copy them on social media. Who wouldn’t? They’re beautiful, rich, glamorous. But instead of being jealous of our fellow teen models, maybe it’s time we support them in their fight for good working conditions.

The truth of the matter is that it’s a harsh industry. While supermodels get paid millions of dollars, the average teen or young adult trying to make it doesn’t even get paid.

At many shoots they are offered clothes as compensation, or are given nothing, but told that the shoots would help give them coverage.

For young people who are pursuing this as a job, this life of wondering whether or not they’ll even get paid is not enough. They don’t have food to put on the table, they don’t have health insurance to take care of themselves, they barely make minimum wage, and many are denied basic rights like

overtime pay, workers compensation, and the right to unionize. Many agencies chip away at the little earnings models do make through commissions and expenses; professional headshots and other necessities are also costly.

Because of the harsh realities of the job, pressures from managers, agencies, and employers themselves, many teen models find themselves missing weeks or even months of school at a time. For many, modeling is only a temporary career, and disruptions in schooling may have negative repercussions on models’ future aspirations or careers.

The bottom line is that teen models are not being treated as well as they should be more often than not. They are exploited because big companies know that they can get away with it.

There are currently no government regulations in the industry, making it difficult

for teens to fight back against their poor labor conditions. However, there’s been a bill introduced in California that would require that all modeling agencies to be licensed with the state Labor Commission. It would also list models as actual employees, not contract workers, and require the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to focus on workplace safety, eating disorders, and sexual exploitation in the modeling industry (www.hsph.harvard.edu).

But this would only apply for models in California with the rest of the models in the US still subject to unfair conditions.

So like your fellow aspiring model friend’s picture on social media. Leave a nice comment. The more attention he or she gets on social media, the more desirable he or she will be to an employer; maybe they’ll get more in return on pay day. It’s time we realize that our likes are influential, and we can help our fellow teens out.

Copy Editors: Davina Nguyen; Marie Ona; Samaya Rubio Social Media Editor: Justin Pioletti Illustrators: Lulu Wegman Staff Writers: Brian Adler; Analise Asaro; Maryam Bacaloni; Brittany Baker; Amanda Ban; Mia Berger; Tessa Biscaldi; Malek Chamas; Michael Teng-Kai Chang; Alexander Dang; Whayden Dhamcho; Kayvon Elahihaghighi; Yasmine Elahihaghighi; Martha Farah; Sarah Flannery; Daphnie Fulton; Camille Grace; Maya Groark; Kelly Harraka; Kayla Hiken; Kylee Kallick; Lauren Kim; Julian Kimura; Shyanne Landers; Grace McGonigle; Hayley O’Connor-Rigby; Daniel Parhizi; William Pournamdari; Julian Quevado; Rubab Quraishi; Batia Rotshtein; Keana Sterling; Nadia Stodder; Angie Tait; Benjamin Yepez; Erika Zlatkin Photographers: Cass Anderson; Matthew Davidson; Hiroki Goto; Kaitlyn Katayame; Jarrah May; Anne-Elyse Peterson; Danielle Sestak; Michael Yoon This is a wholly student-managed, designed, and written newspaper that focuses on the school and community.

Signed commentaries and editorial cartoons represent the opinions of the staff writer or cartoonist.

Artificial intelligence Standardized testing is flawed, focusing on a robotic routine of memory retention and application with no critical thinking The use of standardized testing in America has increased substantially after 2002, when the No Child Left Behind act was put in place. For highschoolers, a greater emphasis was placed on math and reading as well as the SAT and AP tests.

The idea was to create centralized forms of testing that would adequately measure a student’s knowledge and growth. However, this type of system is flawed, as it favors short term memory cramming rather than long term retention, and places an emphasis on learning test taking strategies rather than developing critical thinking skills.

Teachers focus their courses around preparation for these demanding tests, and therefore, the quality of their work suffers.

AP tests, for example, require a student to memorize an exorbitant amount of content and apply them in strictly formatted essay questions.

Therefore, the number one priority for

AP teachers is to get all of the content into the student’s memory—which is a difficult task in of itself— instead of teaching the students to think critically about what they learned.

This is not the teacher’s fault, as they are essentially forced to teach this way. Standardized tests are used as a way to measure a teacher’s performance, and they are rewarded or punished accordingly to their class test scores.

This causes teachers to teach in this deficient way lest they risk losing their jobs or having a reduced payroll.

The whole purpose of the No Child Left Behind Act was to increase America’s educational rank among developed countries.

However, the opposite has actually occurred, and the nation’s educational status has been slowly deteriorating. Since the act was enacted, the U.S has dropped from the 18th spot in the Programme for Inter-

Ethan Park national Student Assessment (PISA) to the 31st place in math, with similar results in our reading and science positions. The National Research Council in 2011 could not find evidence that test-based incentive programs are actually working.

Having the future of his/her academic success rests on a few tests ultimately causes a lot of stress for the student. Stress has scientifically shown to reduce the physical and mental health of a person.

The No Child Left Behind Act and its predecessor the Every Student Succeeds Act was approved by politicians who wanted to make America competitive internationally.

While they certainly had good intentions, the role of education the nation’s children should be left to those most qualified, the educator’s themselves. Let the teachers decided how they should teach, without having the threat of losing their job because of low test scores looming over their heads.

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F ipping out

Senior Ely Khatib has been jumping, flipping, and turning since he was two, and now he is considering a professional career.

Kahtib’s mother put him into a Fit Kids program and later gymnastics in Arizona.

He and his family then moved to Redondo Beach where he continued doing gymnastics at Studio West. He then fell deeply in love with the sport.

“There will always be new type of combination to do and try,” said Khatib, “and a person can come up with a limitless abundance of new tricks, skills, and elements that can be added.”

The great feelings of accomplishments Khatib finds in the sport is what motivates him to keep practicing and try to become

by Michael Teng-Kai Chang better. He is applying to multiple colleges with gymnastics program and also colleges here in Southern California where he has been accepted into several gymnastics clubs.

He will start official training in college and then contemplate the possibilities of “turning professional.”

“I just want to keep competing,” said Khatib, “I really want to be just keep doing gymnastics, even in a club, I can still compete against other clubs and if I can be good enough, I can [go on] and compete in the higher level.”

In order to stand out from the rest, Khatib participates in all six categories in gymnastics including Floor, Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and High Bar. He Ring leader. Kahtib holds himself up in a pike position on the rings. “The feeling one gets when doing a skill has to train “six times harder” to be able to and getting a new skill is amazing.” said Khatib, “Nothing can compare to doing a new trick and the feeling of master all those events and earn good scores hitting a routine.” PHOTO COURTOSY OF ELY KAHTIB. in each of them. Now, he is training on new

Ely Khatib competes as an elite gymnast

moves to better round out his game and put more tricks up in his sleeves.

“Right now there are a bunch of skills such as Double Backflip, Double Fullflip, Healy, Tcatchev, One Pommel Circles that I want to put in my routine,” said Khatib, “I want to just ultimately get better, and one of my biggest dreams I have is to make it to world championships.”

Khatib, being of the youngest gymnast in his studio, has to train few times harder to keep up with the others who are few years ahead of him in both skills and experiences.

“We try to coach each other, and since I’m older than Ely, I can coach him and spot him on skills.” said Elias Flores, one of Khatib’s long time teammates said. “It’s kinda hard for him because he is the youngest in the group, but it means that he will grow and get better around more experienced [gymnasts].”

Khatib can now hold his own in the gym and in competitions, he has also been coaching for two years now, training even younger group of kids. Khatib and his teammates saved the boys program from being cut by fully committed in training the kids and leading them to their first competition.

“Coaching is a lot of fun knowing there are more boys coming in and the program isn’t dying off.” said Khatib” From a kid running around in a Fit Kids program to a boy jumping and turning in the gym, Khatib has come a long way and is still marching towards his ultimate dreams.

“Going pro would be really awesome and I would love to follow in the footsteps of my favorite Olympian, Sam Mikulak.”

Senior O.J. Morris shares his intern experience at ESPN Marie Ona

Senior O.J. Morris is one step closer to living his dream of working in broadcasting through interning at ESPN. Upon hearing that his mom was to do makeup on set of ESPN, it sparked an interest in Morris to go with her. Little did he know about who he would meet. ¨I wanted to go with her because I like to make opportunities for myself. Me being me I just walked off from my mom and walked into rooms I’m not supposed to, and I ran into one of the broadcasters, Sarah Walsh,” Morris said.

The internship allows Morris to gain more knowledge about broadcasting.

“I run errands like get people water or coffee and they allow me to drive their cars, but also help set up things like cameras and microphones which helps a lot with what I want to do with broadcasting. In the future, I want to be on ESPN, and I’m there everyday now. It’s just a great experience that I really got lucky with,” Morris said.

During a basketball game, Morris witnessed how hectic it can get.

“I was working during the opening night of the Clippers playing at the Staples Center and I see people rushing, trying to put together highlight tapes to air that night on the sports center,” Morris said. “With this internship, I’m right there, seeing everything right in front of me.”

Making an impression on Walsh with his outgoing personality earned him the internship.

“She asked me what I was doing there. I made a few jokes and I showed her some of the school broadcasts. I guess she

liked them so she asked for contact information and I got an email from her offering me an internship,” Morris said Morris appreciates the opportunities he’s gotten from the internship.

“So many doors have opened for me. I get to witness things I’ve always been wishing to see,” Morris said. “I meet people everyday, like Floyd Mayweather, Oscar de la Hoya and a few soccer players.”

Morris gets a closer look into the production process by being behind the scenes, and some things are not what he expected. ¨People who are seen on television aren’t always who they seem to be, and I used to think everybody on camera was a selfish prick, but Sarah was actually a really nice lady. She let me shadow her and wherever she would go I go,” Morris said.

In effort to be noticed, Morris tries to “stay active” and is determined to work through the challenge.

Morris invests in business attire to look the part.

“I’m always in suit everytime I go, nothing less because I’m trying to make an impression. I spend around $500 of my own money to get a couple of suits so I can look professional and like I belong there,” Morris said.

Not until this year did Morris become an anchor for Beach City News. However, it wasn’t difficult to get comfortable in front of the camera.

“I never had the intention of being a broadcaster until I started this year and then I realized it’s something I could do for a living,” Morris said.

Suit up. Morris stands in front of a wall of Kareem Abdul Jabaar and

a teammate at ESPN headquarters where he interns.” PHOTO COURTOSY OF OJ MORRIS.

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Highway to health

Thomas Clay sheds over 40 pounds by changing his lifestyle

by William Pournamdari Whether it was strapping on running shoes, lacrosse cleats, or sticking to a diet, Senior Tomas Clay did whatever he could to lose over 40 pounds.

“Losing all that weight impacted me in showing that I was able to accomplish a long term goal that I never thought would have been possible,” Clay said. “It’s taught me that making smart choices in how I take care of my body can go a long way in the long run.”

When Clay began high school, he realized his weight was starting to get in the way of his future and he decided to change things.

“My biggest motivation was knowing that if I want a career in the United States Marine Corps that I’d definitely need to shed most of my weight, which of course is body fat,” Clay said.

For Clay, the struggle with being overweight began

In the beginning Clay kept himself busy with one mile jogs and short sets of pushups, and according to Clay, his engagement in RUHS sports played a pivotal role in his weight loss.

He attributes his success to Lacrosse Coach Campo and Cross Country Coach Ferron who were big motivators for him. “[Ferron has] pushed me past my limits throughout the season and helped me to achieve my purpose of joining cross country,” Clay said. “Coach Campo has always educated me on living a healthy lifestyle, whether it’s making the right choice in what I put in my body, or the impact that sitting on the couch to a T.V. versus getting out and playing lacrosse with friends can have.”

Clay’s mother Vanessa Clay provided him with the emotional support and self-assurance that would help him stay on his rigorous weight loss plan. “Thomas’s progress came from his continued efforts in his struggle,” Clay said. “He set his sights high and propelled himself through a grueling journey of hard work, consistency, and self-discipline. I am so very proud of my son.”

As well as keeping fit through exercise and sports Clay stresses

Clay’s initial success kept him confident he could reach his goal.

According to Clay, “When [he] saw the numbers dropping lower and lower and I knew what I was doing was helping make progress and that I had to keep going.” Clay believes his gradual progress kept him encouraged and reminded him his efforts would pay off.

“It’s really important for kids to start living a healthy life now instead of regretting it later,” Clay said.

Asides from struggling with his health Clay found his pride hurt from obesity too. “My self esteem was low, I looked at myself differently, and it never made me feel good,” Clay said.

“Waking up everyday knowing that you’re larger in size from the average person can really destroy your confidence.”

After losing nearly all of his body fat, Clay says it was

the importance of maintaining a healthy diet. “When it came to eating, I completely cut out junk food, limited eating out to at the most, once a week, and stuck to only three meals a day,” Clay said.

“To lose weight, you have to change what you do, that’s the science behind it,” Clay said. “The hardest thing about losing weight is that you have to make sacrifices and do things you don’t want to do.”

Although he found it hard to keep motivated at times,

well worth the time and effort.

“Weight loss takes time and never happens overnight. It’s a process that takes time, determination, sacrifice, strength, and willingness, and what you choose to put in is the result of what you will get out of it,” Clay said.

long before ninth grade.

“Obesity has always been in my life, especially since it runs in my family, so I knew I

couldn’t let it overcome me as a person,” Clay said. “Losing weight doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time. The two key things are daily exercise and eating right.”

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Weigh to go. 1. Clay poses for his school photo in 2012 as an 8th grader, at the beginning of his weight-loss journey. 2. Clay kneels in his football uniform before transitioning to lacrosse. According to Clay, getting involved in sports were an “instrumental” part of his weight-loss. 3. Clay poses for his senior portrait earlier this year. PHOTOS COURTOSY OF THOMAS CLAY

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She saw the sign

Sophomore Kennedy Trawick learns American Sign Language off campus

by Erika Zlatkin The sound of one hand clapping any be a philosophical mystery to a Zen Buddhist, but the silent movement of hands often carries a literal world of meaning to practitioners of American Sign Language (ASL).

Sophomore Kennedy Trawick studies ASL as her language credit and is planning to become fluent.

“Last year when I was taking Spanish, I didn’t feel motivated in learning it so I tried to look for other languages to take,” Trawick said. “Even before high school I was really interested in learning sign language.”

Trawick was inspired to take ASL because of how “unique” the language was compared to the rest because it wasn’t oral.

“Sign language I feel isn’t as popular for a teenager in our area to know as opposed to Spanish or French,” Trawick said. “So the fact that you could take a language and communicate with people who may be deaf and don’t have someone to translate for them sounded useful to me.”

In addition to learning the language, Trawick believes she has learned a lot about the deaf culture and how important it is to efficiently communicate in society to “survive.”

“I think you learn a lot more in ASL as opposed to in a spoken class,” Trawick said.

“It opens your eyes to a whole other community that lives with us and we may not even know it.”

Trawick wants to look into being an interpreter or keep it open as an option. She hopes it will help her be more “aware” about

the deaf people around her.

“As an individual, someone who could speak sign language would be the only person that could communicate with someone deaf and actually help them,” Trawick said.

Trawick hopes to utilize her knowledge in ASL to be able to assist deaf people in everyday life and wants to take more courses after high school to become fluent.

“In certain situations, knowing sign language could save someone’s life,” Trawick said. “If they were to be injured and I was the only one that could communicate with them, then I would be the only person that could help them.”

Although she is very passionate about learning ASL, Trawick admits that taking the off campus class at Southern California Regional Occupational Center can be a “hassle.”

“Sign language is kind of like my sport this year.” Trawick said. “With all the after school practices and training you have to do to get better at your sport, sign language is almost as time consuming.”

Trawick’s “sacrifice” of pursuing the language she loves most has come at the price of her free time after school, which limits her

Signing. Trawick signs “ASL,” an acronym for American Sign Language. PHOTOS BY MICHAEL YOON

time to take extra curricular activities.

“I didn’t mind going to an off campus class that lasts longer during the week because of my passion for learning sign language,” Trawick said. “The ends justify the means in the sense that all the hustle to and from the location pay off eventually.”

In due part to her busy schedule, taking ASL has helped Trawick become more “time efficient” and credits her teacher to helping her become more organized as well.

“Because the campus is off class, not a lot of students take it so the teacher can be more helpful to you and more personal.” Trawick said Trawick describes the class as more “tight knit” as it consists of only two dozen kids from various schools in the south bay, one of which is Julian Tastor who attends Mira Costa.

“Taking a class with people from different schools allows you to get to know more people and widens your perspective on the different cultures, including the deaf culture, around you,” Tastor said.

Tastor has been able to communicate with the deaf kids at his school and is “grateful” he has learned ASL because of the friends he

has made outside and in the classroom.

“I didn’t show a lot of interest in learning ASL at first,” Tastor said. “Yet as I started to retain more ASL symbols, I started to be able to talk to the deaf kids at my school.”

Tastor believes learning ASL can help unite kids from different social groups, despite their disabilities, and create a more welcoming environment for them.

“There are many kids at schools that don’t have many friends because of that language barrier,” Trawick said. “So sign language could allow me to reach out to someone that no one else could.”

Talking to people who are hard of hearing has taught Tastor and Trawick to be more “welcoming and considerate” to a whole new community of people.

“I’ve had actual conversations with deaf people who have a language barrier that isolates them from their peers,” Tastor said. “It has taught me to be more open to people who have this condition that hold them back.”

Although Trawick hasn’t had the opportunity to use sign language as a tool outside of class, she hopes that someday she could be of service to the deaf people around her.

“The class makes you more cultured than if you were to take a spoken class,” Trawick said. “We learn about what they have to deal with and the problems they have faced and still face today without being able to communicate with others, which is why I chose to take ASL, to reach out to a whole new spectrum of people who can’t on their own.”

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S

he may be a Spanish teacher, but a bunch of light bulbs turned on for her when she started teaching English. Teacher Sarah Robinson taught English to Panamanian students in the summer of 2015.

“They were really inquisitive and wanted to learn English. They all understood how important it was and how many opportunities it would open for them if they could speak English, especially in that city,” Robinson said.

“There are a lot of foreigners who come there, so if you can speak English, there are so many jobs open to you.”

Although many students were serious about learning English, there were some who were hesitant because of their background.

“There is a large indigenous population where I was. In their culture, education was not as important, so those kids were more hesitant to talk,” Robinson said. “I really had to approach them a little more one on one and give them a chance to give an answer without saying it in front of the class.”

She taught at a school called Colegio Felix Olivares, located in David, Panama. All the students were in the same class despite their different levels in English, which made it challenging for Robinson to try and help everyone.

“We did a lot of games, and very little written work. We really focused on speaking and so that way the kids who were really basic, I could talk to them in very basic terms, and for the kids who were more advanced, I could get involved in more of an advanced conversation,” Robinson said.

Robinson first went to Panama in 2013, encouraging her to go back because of the many people she met there. She received an opportunity to go back to Panama when she found a program called, “Panama Bilingüe,” which improves English teaching in Panamanian schools.

Unlike some of the other teachers in the program, Robinson speaks Spanish, making it easier for her to communicate with the students.

“They had tons of questions like, ‘How do you speak Spanish if you’re American?’ Sharing with them, I learned Spanish just like you’re learning English right now. I learned it in school, and then kept studying it,” Robinson said. “To be able to express that to them and for them to see like, ‘Oh, wow. If I keep studying English, who knows what I can do.’ That was really great to see them realize they can do this.”

The program was run by the U.S. Embassy, and they gave teachers a small stipend of money to buy supplies for the class. Therefore,

Learning the language.

Robinson crosses a bridge in the town of Boquete. PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH ROBINSON

Spread the word

teachers had to be creative with the few materials they had.

“I had to make my own photo copies and print stuff because they didn’t have that at the schools. Teachers there have to pay for their own materials if they want to use them in the classroom,” Robinson said. “They don’t make a lot of money, so they really care about their students and spend their own money to give them stuff to use in the classroom.”

The schools in Panama only had one outlet, white board, marker and no light would be available in the school. Also, they had no technology.

This transition from having chromebooks at RUHS to no technology at all reminded Robinson, as a teacher, to go back to the basics.

“Even if you have all the technology in the world, but you don’t have good ideas and good lessons for the students to do, then it doesn’t really matter. For me, it really made me go back to the basics of my teaching,” Robinson said.

Teaching in Panama helped Robinson realize that although grammar and writing is important, the most significant thing is communication.

“My purpose was to get these kids speaking and hearing English as much as possible. It is important to write, but sometimes can you just have a conversation with someone in Spanish?

That is the most important part,” Robinson said.

Robinson hopes she influenced the students’ lives in Panama by showing them that even though they are from different countries and cultures, they can still connect with each other.

“My job when I went there wasn’t to tell people what to do. It was to share my experience as a teacher here and learn from the teachers and students there about their country and culture,” Robinson said. “That is what I hope [students] saw the most, that people from the U.S. aren’t just coming there to enjoy their beautiful beaches and go to hotels, but that we really care about learning their culture too.”

Robinson is thankful for everyone who assisted her in this experience, including the Panamanian government, the U.S. Embassy, the host family she stayed with, and teachers she met in Panama.

Robinson hopes that all students try to take as many opportunities as they can to go to other countries.

“Whether it is volunteering, traveling combined with volunteering, or if it is just traveling to meet people and see how they do things in other countries, it’s really important that you as the person who is traveling get so much out of it,” Robinson said. “You can also share with the people there about our country and all the great stuff here.”

Sarah Robinson shares her experince teaching English to children in Panama

by Martha Farah

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Model Status

by William Pournamdari

Senior Pierson Wodzynski photographs her friends modeling and shares her passion on Instagram

Captured moments. 1. “I’ve gotten way closer with people I had only made eye contact with at school. It’s really cool to be strangers at the beginning, and by the

end of the shoot be completely comfortable with each other,” senior Pierson Wodzynski said. 2. “I love landscape pictures but I’ve never been a fan of shooting them myself. I feel like with people, I have more of a say in what the final product will look like, as opposed to taking a photo of the beach or another landscape where nature does all the dirty work,” Wodzynski said. 3. “I find inspiration in fashion magazines like Vogue and Elle or even modern day models like Gigi Hadid or Cara Delevigne,” Wodzynski said. “I’m always looking for inspiration and when I find anything, I’ll cut it out of a magazine and paste it in my notebook, or I’ll screenshot the photos and add it to my separate inspiration album.” 4. “I mainly choose my props based off of the coloring in the background and what the models are wearing. I was really pleased with how this shot came out with the smoke. In color, the smoke is orange and I dressed the models accordingly. I make sure that the color scheme is balanced with every aspect of the photo,” Wodzynski said. 5. “I loved that I could totally see this photo on a billboard for some heroic end of the world movie. Tristan has a natural talent in front of the camera and made my job easy,” Wodzynksi said. PHOTOS COURTESY OF PIERSON WODZYNSKI

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hat started off as passing time at the beach turned into a passion for art. Senior Pierson Wodzynski demonstrates her artistic background through her photography. “[My photography] allows me to express my creative ability in ways I never knew I could,” Wodzynski said. “I’ve always had an eye for art everywhere I go and now my photos are a way to share it.”

Creating her own portraits the way she sees fit allows Wodzynski to articulate her ideas with complete flexibility while bonding with friends.

“I love having a vision and seeing how everything comes together in the end,” Wodzynski said. “It’s a way to escape and express my artistic ability.”

Wodzynski began sharing her passion for art while taking pictures of her friends in Venice Beach which provided a rich background for photos. “It started off getting a bunch of people I know and taking pictures of them, and have them wear cool outfits in front of colored walls or something,” Wodzynski said.

While piecing together her artwork, Wodzinski directs her model on what to wear, what background, and how to pose.

“She asked me to me to put on clothes that she put together with accessories and she would tell me a certain pose to do or do whatever came natural to me,” senior Kaleigh Hanley said.

While directing her models, Wodzynski makes sure to maintain a pleasant atmosphere.

“When I got there she just told me to stay comfortable, there’s nothing serious about this you know we are just going to go and have fun, and take some cool pictures,” senior Tristan Osborne said.

Wodzynski uses a multitude of vibrant colors and backgrounds when designing the set for her photos.

“I love a lot of color. I just love a lot of con-

trast, and geometric figures are a big thing. I like making sure everything is color coated and in a good perspective,” Wodzynski said.

Despite starting off as a hobby, Wodzynski hopes to pursue her photography on a professional level.

“Hopefully I can pursue it in the future if my feedback is good and if I meet the right people,” Wodzynski said. “I’d love to do that, and make a website possibly and just go talk to real photographers because it’s something I’m passionate about.”

Wodzynski is able to share her photography through Instagram’s growing network.

“To see my followers grow is amazing and it gives me the confidence to continue and keep going and strive for excellence.” The more followers she gets, the more enthusiastic she becomes.

“This is a great way to show my art and show the world what I can do and catapult my career,” Wodzynski said. “It’s a way to express myself and make others feel good.”

Encouragement and support from friends provides Wodzynski with confidence in her work.

“All my friends are really supportive of this and brings me closer to them,” Wodzynski said.

Capturing the spirit of her models through photography has allowed Wodzynski to connect with her friends.

“I took a lot of cool pictures that I actually sent in to a modeling company and bonded more with Pierson, who’s been a best friend of mine since kindergarten,” Hanley said.

According to senior Sophia Viggiano, Wodzinky’s style of photography “really sets her apart from other photographers.”

“When she photographs people she really keeps that person’s input and true personality in the pictures. I think that’s super admirable, and definitely unique,” senior Sophia Viggiano said.

page 13 Depsite the need to pay attention to her models’ posture and look, Wodzynski puts her model’s comfort first, in order to capture their unfiltered character.

“I had a lot of fun shooting with Pierson because she didn’t constantly direct my posing, gesturing, or expressions,” Viggiano said.

In order to render the best possible photo, Wodzynski has to account for illuminating and setting her background before taking any pictures.

“Pierson is seriously talented in the way she strategically places colors with different patterns and lighting. Her photos are so original and different. I love looking at them,” Viggiano said.

Many of Wodzynski models were “satisfied” to see their work pay off.

“I enjoyed it because it’s fun to take pictures with your friends and in the end look very professional. Pierson’s a really great photographer so I love when she takes my pictures,” Hanley said.

Although being fairly new to modeling photography, Wodzynski’s photos exceeded her own expectations.

“When I did the modeling for her she literally said she just picked up that camera a month before she started shooting. When she showed me the pictures I was dumbfounded by the unbelievable talent she has with camera in her hand,” Osborne said.

According to Wodzynski her favorite part of the process was seeing everyone’s response to her finished products.

“I love being able to see a great reaction after shooting someone, being able to boost someone’s confidence, and have them boost mine in my own photography make me want to continue to do shoot. I feel like I’m not only doing it for myself but for others too. It’s a joint effort and we both get a gain from it,” Wodzynski said.

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him)

Ride dick or die hard

(make

Mixologist

Eskenazi helped create and mix a single, “Rearview,” with Special “C”

by Shyanne Landers D chord, C chord, pause. D chord, C chord, pause. The same notes are heard on repeat, each attempt possessing its own uniqueness while bringing the band’s thoughts to life. Senior Athena Eskenazi sits on the opposite side of the recording window as she records and mixes the new single for Special “C” titled Rearview, which was released on iTunes on Aug. 19, 2016.

“My mom had told Chip, the owner of Screaming Leopards Studio, that when they were recording, I would love to help out,” Eskenazi said. “I was lucky because sometimes bands can be weird about having an outsider come in because they don’t want anyone stealing their ideas. He told my mom Special “C” was cool with me being there to help them record.”

New to mixing music, Eskenazi received help compiling the various layers of music from the band’s tech crew.

“The coolest part was getting to see their actual recording. When they were recording, it was way different than I expected. I would’ve thought they all would be in the same room at the same time. It was completely different than that,” Eskenazi said. “They had different rooms for different instruments.

The drummer had a separate room that had these special walls that would prevent echoes when he was drumming because it was insanely loud.”

The drummer, Jason “Bubba” McMackin, was described as having his heart set on getting the right sound.

“They would do take after take because he wanted the right feel for the song and to record it exactly how he heard it in his head so everyone else could hear that, too. He would be going in and out

of that room to get exactly what he was that I would be in their way, wanted, and when he did, it was I was so intimidated. Even when amazing,” Eskenazi said.

by I was planning what to wear I Because Special “C” strives to thought I had to look a certain way perfect the songs, recording just because I didn’t want to come off one song can take about five to six as super preppy, but I also didn’t hours. want to seem like a homeless per“They all told me about how son off the street,” Eskenazi said. long the whole writing process Her worries were at ease once took because he wanted the song she became closer with the bandto come off a certain way, but that members and their tech crew. doesn’t always happen, so you have “When I got to know them to change around a whole chorus more, they were cooking me food, or riff just to have it sound the way and offering me to just hang out. they want,” Eskenazi said.

They were all super nice and genEven though the timing was “te- uinely wanted my input to get a dious,” Eskenazi described it as an teenager’s point of view because overall enjoyable experience. they want to open up to that kind “To just listen to the bass play- of crowd,” Eskenazi said. ing the same notes over and over With Eskenazi and her friends again had some weird, soothing listening to local bands such as effect. When he played the riff, he Descendants, Circle Jerks and rocked it. He knew exactly what he Pennywise, she has familiarized wanted and he got what he want- herself with the “home-feeling” ed,” Eskenazi said. these bands have.

She worked with the crew to add “They felt like a little family layers of music and instruments when all of us were in the studio. that Special “C” recorded individu- Because it’s a local band, they ally. As a result, the song was “stuck have that home feeling. Not like in her head very often.” the huge bands who I don’t know “When it came out I was so and I don’t think they would have happy because I knew every lyric. that kind of feel to them since bigIt was so much fun to mix. It feels ger bands travel and do all of that like it was such a long time ago and stuff,” Eskenazi said.

I really want to go back and do it According to Eskenazi, bands again,” Eskenazi said. like Special “C” have had a major Ian Peterson, the official pro- influence on today’s music scene ducer for Special “C”, spent a lot of and continue to inspire new listentime with Eskenazi and helped her ers and musicians. mix the song.

“My friends and I have noticed “When there’s someone else there’s this whole thing of ‘South besides the band and crew in the Bay Punk’ getting revived. It used studio, everyone wants to make to be like Black Flag, Descendants, sure the band is comfortable. They and all of those bands started evreally want anyone besides them to erything,” Eskenazi said. “Now it’s be a fly on the wall and not make opening up to local bands like much commotion,” Peterson said.

Neck Breaker, The Resolutions, Eskenazi’s first meeting with the and Special “C”. Even though band put pressure on her to fit into they have been around for a while, a certain criteria. they’re still influencing this new “My worst fear when I was there era.”

Give me a beat.

Recording studio techician puts in the output jacks into the specific numbers of the outputs in order to distinguish between the intruments used to create their single, “Rearview.” “The room was very ‘home-y.’

The drum room had all of the mics for the drums.

There’s another room with an audio mixer, a bunch of computers, a really comfy couch, and a little fridge. It was super small,” senior Athena Eskenazi said. PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHENA ESKENAZI

Dec. 15, 2016

page 15

features

Pitch Perfect

Morrison has been selected to compete in the California All-State Choir

by Alex Dang Hannah is no stranger to singing along to radio hits while in the car or the occasional slip into a song verse while doing chores; as a choir girl singing group pieces from the national anthem to songs from the Renaissance, sophomore Hannah Morrison has been chosen to participate in California AllState Choir.

The All-State Choir concert will be held on Feb. 18 in San Jose. Although she does not know what she will be performing come February, Morrison feels that she will be “prepared” because of her previous experience in singing many different types of pieces varying from traditional jazz to contemporary pop, as well as foreign pieces in French and Macedonian.

“Being involved with choir has shown me that I can be passionate about something and that I can share my passion with others.

Making it into All-State, I feel that I will finally get to express all of my hard work. Even if there is no one in the audience watching me like a parent or anything,” Morrison said.

“Hopefully someone walks out of that room and thinks about something differently that day because of something they heard or maybe if the music makes them happier.”

Prior to being in the choir program, Morrison’s only formal singing experience was her

The sound of music.

participation in musical theater and the vocal lessons she received from a family friend.

Initially “hesitant” to join the program, she discovered that the ability to sing is not really a talent, but instead just a skill waiting to be developed.

“I think singing abilities are definitely grown. If you put your mind to it, a lot of this isn’t about natural talent. You can develop your singing abilities like learning a foreign language: you interpret music, you learn how different things go together and then all of a sudden when you hear a song on the radio, you can harmonize with it because you learned that skill in choir,” Morrison said.

Before joining choir freshman year, Morrison was not involved with any singing programs or concerts outside of school. The choir teacher, Kelly Self, offered to help Morrison train for the auditions for the Southern California Regional Honor Choir, held at San Godinez High School in October.

“She prepared me for what I should expect. I had to sing live in front of two judges, and they ranked me. I was surprised that I got such a high score of 94 out of 100. I went in for sopranos, so it was kind of cool that I made it since my group had the highest cutoff,” Morrison said.

The selection into the Regional Honor

Sophomore Hannah Morrison plays the piano while singing “Waltz of the Flowers.” “You are focusing on the music and trying to recall as much advice the director gave you to make your performance the best it possibly could be. When it’s done, a sensation of satisfaction comes over you, and you just look at your friends and smile at how great the performance was or laugh at how terrible it was,” Morrison said. PHOTO BY EDEN MILLAN

Choir led to Morrison’s consideration for AllState Choir, which she also auditioned and was chosen for. According to Self, Morrison’s selection was influenced by a talent that was not cultivated in choir.

“I was not surprised when she got selected because she is a good sight reader, which means that she can look at a piece of music and be able to sing it from scratch without hearing anything on the piano. Sight reading was a big part of the audition,” Self said.

Self believes that Morrison’s drive to assist others has helped strengthen her qualities as a leader.

“In choir, Hannah is our student director.

She also helps lead in her section because she plays piano. She is in charge of leading the choir if I am ever absent or if I am somewhere else,” Self said. “She’s been able to shine in choir because she’s taken the opportunities to volunteer and step up as a leader.”

During performances, Morrison feels that singing in large groups provides a sense of “security.” She claims that being part of a

choir has helped with the growth of her ability to successfully work and communicate with others, which in turn furthers her passion for music.

“Performing with a choir has a sense of a heightened communication with others, a kind of group feeling, being able to share your vocal abilities with others, you get to feel light. You only focus on the music at the time, and everything else sort of melts away,” Morrison said. “I feel like with the Honor Choir, that was the first time I have felt like I was truly living in the moment, up on stage.”

According to Morrison, the hours of work and dedication truly crescendos when she is able to share her abilities with others.

“Stepping onstage gives me a joyful feeling, because I feel so happy to be able to see the consummation of all the hard work being put out to a large audience that I have not been working with and allowing them to see the final product,” Morrison said.

Although she does not see herself having a career in singing, Morrison plans to continue her involvement with it as a hobby, potentially as a member of a college choir.

Her experience in choir has led her to hold a firm notion regarding the singing talents of every person.

“There’s no such thing as a person who cannot sing,” Morrison said.

page 16

High Tide

features

Making waves

George Ejupi’s photograph was reposted by SURFING Magazine

1.

by Whayden Dhamcho Waking up early in the morning to go out and photograph surfers is a sacrifice freshman George Ejupi is willing to take if it means perfecting his hobby of taking pictures. After accumulating over 22,000 likes on his Instagram post of after a repost by SURFING Magazine, Ejupi has gained the drive to further improve his skills and take his photography to the next level.

Gaining thousands of likes, getting recognition from a popular magazine and doing what he loves, all began in second grade during a trip to the Bahamas after the family purchased a new camera.

“My parents didn’t want me touching [the camera], but I did anyways because that’s just me, I’m that kid you know?” Ejupi said. “I just played around with it for many years, and I started seeing things differently. I started to notice photos with more detail and gained more aesthetic pleasure from photos.”

A year and a half ago, Ejupi started taking photography more seriously. It took a while for Ejupi to decide to photograph surfers and the waves. He debated between photographing landscapes, portraits and skateboarding, which he still makes time to do.

“I would surf and always go swimming in the ocean. This helped me immensely,” Ejupi said, “I feel like I have the eye for it and where to be and positioning and all that.

I know how to get the perfect position for a shot and adjust to the rip currents and the strong waves.”

Inspired by the sense of calmness he feels when in the ocean and the work of other photographers like Zak Noyle and Brent Bielmann, Ejupi’s inspirations have influenced him to take his photography to the next level of professionalism.

“With what I do, I always have fun no matter what, but there is definitely hard work that goes into it,” Ejupi said, “You can’t really play with the ocean, you have to keep up with the unpredictability and the constant change. That’s just mother nature, you never know what is going to happen when you are in there, so you just have to stay on it.”

According to Ejupi, friends and family, have been supportive of him during his experiences of photographing surfers and waves.

“I’ve had a couple friends when I first started that would always want to shoot with me, like my friends Kyle, Brian, and Johnny,” Ejupi said, “My parents of course would be supportive, and my family would always love to look at my pictures. Also Zak Noyle, one of the best surf photographers, has helped me a lot.”

Though, Ejupi has tried to adjust his schedule to be able to accommodate taking pictures of surfers and waves, and other im-

portant people and hobbies, he still has had to make some sacrifices .

“I’ve been missing out on hanging with family and friends, waking up really early and leaving my warm bed to go into the ocean, and just doing homework later,” Ejupi said, “I’ve missed out on some basketball as well, and it’s kind of sad that I have drifted away from it, but I like this better and it is important that I do what I love.”

One of Ejupi’s friends, freshman Kyle Jacobs, has helped Ejupi out for quite some time. He would critique his photos, give him advice on filters, where and when to shoot and help with editing.

“George takes really amazing pictures, and I get excited when he gets a really awesome one,” Jacobs said, “I really encourage him to get as many pictures as he can, because you never know when he can get an amazing shot.”

It took Ejupi a little over half a year, from Dec. 2015 to June 2016, to get comfortable with surf photography and become good through techniques and countless hours of being in the ocean and practicing, according to Ejupi.

For Ejupi, getting his photo re-posted on SURFING Magazine’s Instagram account, currently holding over 1.2 million followers, is a surreal and cool experience,” and he

hopes for more opportunities in the future.

“To have the photo editor, who has really tough taste in photos, want to have my photo and pay for it is a really cool thing, and I hope to have more pictures in the future and hopefully have it in the print edition as well.”

Ejupi has used the publicity to gain followers and attention from other magazines and companies and has used it to help contact them and possibly get more pictures in social media accounts as well as magazines.

“I’ve been noticed and I e-mailed other photo editors at other magazines and they said that I have a great eye and to keep submitting photos,” Ejupi said. “I just need to make more connections.”

In the near future, Ejupi plans on going to many different exotic places to get the best photos and to smeet talented surfers.

“Years in the future, I want to be contributing photographer at either SURFING Magazine, Surfer Magazine, or What Youth.

I still have much to learn because I am still so young, but my main goal is to be a member of the staff at one of these magazines.”

Ejupi said, “It would mean the world to me to be appointed as a staff member, and it’s a lot of responsibility and it’s kind of scary at the same time, but it’s great because I get to do what I love as a job.”

Picture perfect. 1. Freshman George Ejupi takes pictures of his friends

surfing in his free time. “This was last summer at the end of July, waves were 2-3 feet and glassy. When this wave hit I was in the perfect position,” Ejupi said.

2. SURFING Magazine chose this photo to repost on Instagram. “This day it was raining and very windy, so I used shorts over my long lens to keep my camera dry,” Ejupi said. PHOTOS COURTESY OF GEORGE EJUPI

2.

Dec. 15, 2016

page 17

features

DeTate writes fantasy to express her feelings

by Kayla Hiken As she walks through the studentfilled halls, her imagination runs wild.

She imagines the halls being taken over by an unknown species on a mission to save their kind. All of a sudden she snaps back into reality and quickly steps aside to write this idea in her notebook.

For junior Maddison DeTate, her surroundings are constantly sparking new ideas. all these creative thoughts have come together in a book which she has been working on for over two years.

“The book originally started out as a completely different story when I started writing it my freshman year, but because my writing style has changed and progressed, I just recycled the characters and redid their personalities,” DeTate said.

The book, titled Muted Flames, is a fantasy/action story about a made-up species and the journey they go through in order to save their species along with the 11 different elementals/goddesses. The book is based around the main character, who is mute and is the one who accidentally finds one of the 11 elementals, which happens to be the Fire Elemental.

DeTate has been writing since sixth grade and likes the fact that writing is able to capture her artsy side. Along with her creative imagination, DeTate pulls inspiration from her surroundings.

“Music helps a lot. I’ll just be randomly listening to something on the radio and I’ll get an idea,” DeTate said. “My knowledge and love of fantasy in general has given me an idea of where I should start with different creatures, but my ideas come from everything

around me, not one particular author or book.”

Although she doesn’t find inspiration from a specific book, reading in general and playing video games sparks ideas for her.

“Reading other people’s things helps a lot because it’ll give me ideas that I didn’t know could happen or that I didn’t know could work in a story. I also pull inspiration for certain characters from books like Harry Potter or DC Comics,” DeTate said. “So a lot of my inspiration is just a lot of mix-matched ideas where I could be like ‘Hey maybe I could take this trait and turn it into something.’”

Her characters represent her outlook on certain things and portray certain moods that she too is feeling.

“In the book, the main character describes her love interest, which is a representation of my ideal type of person. She also talks about her family. When I write about her parents, I project my parents into them, and the description of her brother is what my ideal twin brother would be like,” DeTate said. “For some scenes I definitely draw from my surroundings, so if I’m feeling kind of down and a sad scene is coming up, I pour all of my negative energy into that or if I’m excited and there’s something good going on, I put all of my energy into that.”

In order to get feedback on her book, DeTate shares her book with a few close friends and receives input from them.

“I’m still insecure about my writing, and I don’t think that’s ever going to go away. I share my document with my friends and sometimes they’ll share it with their friends,” DeTate said.

As she is getting near the end of a rough outline of the book, DeTate is thinking about publishing it on an online platform first, to see the type of feedback she can get.

Thinking towards the future, DeTate has an interest in being a writer, but would like to keep it as a hobby at first and see how far her writing can get her.

“I know that a career in writing is difficult to get.

It’s like if you get noticed you’re set, but if you aren’t you just have to keep on trying and ho p e that

people enjoy your material,” DeTate said. “And maybe if it turns into something then I can do it for real.”

Enchanting. Maddison

DeTate is writing a novel that is over 30 chapters and 300 pages. “I draw a lot. When I sketch it will normally turn into one of my characters,” DeTate said. “There’s quite a few characters in this story so I normally carry my sketch book around with me.” ILLUSTRATION BY MADDISON DETATE

Encarnado is a referee at the LA Galaxy Soccer Center

by Lauren Kim Sophomore Samantha Encarnado referees and breaks boundaries by being both the second female and youngest referee at the LA Galaxy Soccer Center, a futsal warehouse in Torrance. Futsal is indoor soccer with ten players on a field at a time, with five on each team.

Encarnado’s job is to referee the games and make sure that nobody is is hurt when they play.

Encarnado also decided to start reffing futsal becuse of her love for soccer. She started playing soccer when she was three years old and started playing for club when she was eight.

“I really just love the environment and the comradery that comes with playing soccer. I’ve been playing with the same group of girls for a long time and we’ve gotten really close, they’re like a second family to me,” said Encarnado.

When Encarnado gets on the field, she forgets the rest of the world and focuses only

on the game.

“When I get on the field, nothing else matters but winning the game. I forget about everything and everyone that is giving me trouble,” said Encarnado. There’s a constant rush of adrenaline and nothing compares to the feeling when we score a goal. Everyone gets excited it motivates us to continue playing to the best of our ability.”

Encarnado plans to continue her soccer career in college and play in a Division 1 school.

“I’m definitely going to play college in soccer,” said Encarnado. “I’m always so excited to get on the field and play as hard as I can. I don’t think I can ever stop playing a sport I love that much.”

Being the youngest referee and only the second female to ever work there is not nerve wracking to Encarnado.

“Honestly it wasn’t that scary going in.

I’ve been playing since I was ten so I knew everyone there pretty well, and they were re-

ally nice and helped me adjust. I thought I would be more anxious when I started but it was just a lot of fun,” Encarnado said.

According to Encarnado, she has faced only one problem because of her age.

“The only problem I really remember is this one time I was reffing and this kid’s mom started yelling and said my call was wrong.

And that I did not know what I was doing because I was too young and she thought that I should not have my job,” Encarnado said.

Encarnado’s older sister, Dani Torres, was the one that inspired her to get a job at the LA Galaxy Soccer Center.

“I just thought it was really cool that [my sister] was the first female to ever be a referee there and I honestly think that as long as a girl is confident, they can do anything guy can do,” said Encarnado. “My sister reffing there gave me the confidence to follow in her footsteps.”

Torres believes that being a futsal referee has helped her younger sister grow as a per-

son.

“I think that her job has really helped her grow up,” said Torres. “She has had to learn about responsibility and committing to something. Having a job has helped her learn how to work for the things that she wants.”

Encarnado says that she plans to recruit more females onto the staff at the LA Galaxy Soccer Center.

“I really want more girls to join the staff there. I think it’d make the job more fun and enjoyable for everyone on the staff. I am going to try and get some of the girls on my team, Beach Academy, to join,” said Encarnado.

Encarnado enjoys her job and plans to continue working until she graduates.

“I absolutely love working there. I’m definitely working here until I graduate and I want to come back after to come. The staff there is so much fun and I don’t think I can work anywhere else,” said Encarnado.

page 18

features

High Tide

Doing it for a cause

After losing their loved ones, Nevarez and Williams volunteer at a camp to help others dealing with loss

by Amanda Ban After losing one of the most important people in his life, junior Daniel Nevarez was inspired to channel his pain into helping others who have experienced a loss.

Nevarez decided to volunteer at Comfort Zone Camp, a support camp for kids who have lost an immediate family member.

“Losing my sister definitely impacted me and made me want to be a better person and be kinder to other people. It made me realize that things can be gone in a second,” Nevarez said.

The camp pairs a child who has lost a family member with a partner who is 17 or older. The partners are there to help the kids through their difficult times. Nevarez first attended camp when he lost his sister, which inspired him to volunteer.

“I went to the camp myself and realized how good of a camp it was and how much it can do for some kids, so I decided to become a volunteer,” Nevarez said.

Junior Mia Williams lost her mother to breast cancer when she was 10 years old, and attended Comfort Zone Camp to help her cope.

“When my mom passed away it was so hard. It affected me a lot because my dad left when I was three years old and so my mom was all I had,” Williams said. “It was really nice knowing everyone there had gone

In memory of. 1. Junior Daniel Nevarez poses with other volunteers on his first day of camp. ““I love watching these kids grow. At the beginning they’re all super shy, then you see them at the end of the camp and they’re having fun and are able to openly talk about their loss,” Nevarez said. PHOTO COURTESY OF DANIEL NEVARREZ

through the same thing. We had all lost someone. They made sure we knew it was okay to talk about it if we wanted, but we were never pressured. Sometimes they would give you a little push, and sometimes you need that in order to get through it.”

Nevarez has been involved in organizing activities at the camp and finding partners

for the kids. He recently turned 17, and has never been a partner himself, but looks forward to it, knowing from personal experience how helpful it can be.

“I went and I realized that the volunteers are all really nice people and they all really care about what they do. Being part of that has really made me grow as a person. I think

they change people’s lives in ways that they don’t even realize. Words really can’t express how great those people actually are and how much they have truly helped me,” Nevarez said.

The camp’s purpose is to provide a safe place for kids to talk to about the emotional impact of losing someone, but it also aims to provide activities for the kids to do in order to take their minds off of the difficult times they are going through.

“You do fun things like ropes courses and games, and then at certain times the kids talk to you about their loss and tell you what’s going on at home and how they feel.

It’s great because it provides you with someone to talk to that you might not have at home,” Nevarez said.“The purpose is to help you emotionally get through it.”

Being able to help other kids who have experienced a loss has been very “rewarding” to Nevarez.

“I love watching these kids grow. At the beginning they’re all super shy, then you see them at the end of the camp and they’re having fun and they are able to openly talk about their loss and it’s great to watch them transform,” Nevarez said.

Want to read the whole story?

Check it out on hightideonline.org

Jordana Benone recounts her work at multiple radio stations

by Julian Quevedo

When students face difficulties in high school, they must either perservere, find help, or drop out. English teacher Jordana Benone, however, found comfort in a radio station.

Benone’s work as a teenager helped her keep a positive attitude about life after high school.

“Working in a radio station with older people gave me a sense of maturity about high school,” Babone said. “I could see that there was life beyond.”

By the time she was 16, Benone was a producer on a drivetime show, “Top 8 @ 8”, for KISS-FM. “I liked producing the most because it was creative and we could come up with bits, like comedy bits or sketches that were funny,” Benone said.

Previously, Benone also produced with Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps on “The Mark and Brian Show” for KLOS-FM.

“Their morning show was pretty crazy, so that was fun,” Benone said. “I was really young, so it was nice because those people treated me like a little sister.”

Benone recalls her time as a 17-year-old working with men trying to record noises for the station.

“They were like, ‘what are the weirdest sounds we can come up with?’ and were dropping cheese pizza on the microphone,” Benone said. “They really wanted to get the sound of it plopping, but they were damaging the equipment I needed to use. Essentially, I had to bust these grown men.”

When Benone’s sister was 16, she worked in the marketing department of the KIQQFM radio station, while also watching over her little sister, who was 11 at the time.

“Everyone at the radio station thought it was very cute to have this little girl roaming around,” Benone said. “And so they taught

me a lot about how to edit music, how to work with tape, and how to mix stuff.”

Later, Benone would work at the KIISFM studio for two to three years, answering phones, taking requests, and doing “remotes”, which involved talking to different people and giving out merchandise at the beach.

“Remotes were fun, because I liked to set up the equipment; I’m kind of a techy,” Benone said. “I liked trying to figure out how to get the best sound when you’re at the beach.

That’s a huge challenge.”

During her time working at KIIS, one of Benone’s favorite people to work with was “old school” DJ Bruce Vidal.

“He had a beautiful voice and he was so kind and funny and would teach me how to edit tape and all those kinds of things,” Benone said. “He was just a really good guy.”

College marked the end of Benone’s radio

days, despite many “great” job offers due to her experience in the business.

After participating in theatre throughout high school and minoring in it in college, Benone spent the summer teaching drama to incoming seventh graders.

“It felt so much better,” Benone said. “Do I want to make famous people more famous and wealthy people more wealthy and spend my life in clubs and at concerts? Or, do I want to something where I may be helping a person find some kind of talent?”

This realization inspired her to become a teacher, which she thinks is the best job of all.

“At the end of the day, if there’s one kid that’s like, ‘I’m going to be better at this thing because of you,’ that’s a way better day than, ‘oh, you played a really good show man!’”

Benone said. “Although I still like going to shows, it’s just that’s not my calling and not my passion.”

Dec 15. , 2016

Flower Power

page 19

features

Schneider hopes to increase monarch butterfly population

by Kelly Harraka

H

oping to increase the population of monarch butterflies with her garden, senior Jackie Schneider has been gardening since 2007, always keeping environmental factors in mind.

“Gardening is very peaceful and rewarding. It’s one of the best feelings in the world when I plant seeds and watch those seeds transform into stalks of green,” Schneider said.

Schneider’s interest in gardening sparked when she realized she could grow her own food. She had originally planned a traditional garden with vegetables such as carrots, spinach, and pumpkins. But, after learning about the monarch butterfly’s decrease in population of over 80% within the past two decades due to environmental changes, she began to do her part to help strengthen the species.

“I just created a butterfly garden composed of flowers such as cosmos, pentas, snapdragons, roses, lavender, and violas,” Schneider said. “In addition, butterfly gardens also need host plants where caterpillars are to be raised, so I also have milkweed for monarch caterpillars to eat.”

The plants raised in butterfly gardens are picked to specifically attract the monarch butterfly. Once the species becomes accustomed to visiting the butterfly garden, they begin to lay their eggs and the cycle continues.

1.

“The flowers provide nectar that attracts monarchs and provides a safe shelter for the butterflies, Schneider said.

This home project has motivated Schneider to pursue a career as a wildlife biologist, which accounts for the population of various species and comes up with a reason as to why each species’ population is increasing or decreasing.

“I feel like this career will suit me because I love being involved with nature,” Schneider said.

Schneider’s home made drip water irrigation system for her garden was designed to eliminate water waste during California’s drought. It consists of a system of pipelines that provide drips of water into the roots of a plant rather than a hose which wastes significant amounts of water.

“It’s a good feeling to know that I’m doing my part in 2. reducing the usage of water,” Schneider said.

Since gardening is a ‘unique’ hobby, Schneider has gladly accepted the support that she has received.

“My mom is very encouraging due to the fact that she was raised on an orchard in Ventura and she also shares the 3. same passion for gardening,” Schneider said. “I remember watching her plant annuals in the backyard when I was little, and seeing those flowers bloom.”

Loreen Washburn, Schneider’s mom, has been a big supporter in helping her daughter grow her ‘green thumb’.

“I think it’s wonderful and I fully support how her garden compliments my yard,” Washburn said.

After developing techniques over the past years, she now looks to a future involving gardening and the outdoors.

Until her career as a wildlife biologist starts, her backyard of various flowers 4.

5. and vegetables will keep her occupied.

“I’m looking forward to this year’s Butterfly fly away. 1. Schnider plants flowers in her garden, every flower planted specifically to attract monarch butterflies. 2. “I love gardening, it teaches me how to harvest and I’m excited to see improvebe patient and attentiveness,” Schneider said. “ 3. “I like to remediate the aphid and other pest problems by using natural bug predators such as ladybugs,” Schneider said. 4.

Schneider enjoys tending to her garden almost everyday, and hopes to use this passion to pursue being a wildlife biologist. 5. Schneider plants certain flowers that are used ments in the monarch population,” to attracte monarchs, helping her increase the population. PHOTO COURTESY OF JACKIE SCHNEIDER Schneider said.

page 20

Shooting for a good season

High Tide

sports

Girls soccer looks to win vs. San Pedro with returning players

by Angie Tait Girls Soccer is approaching the end of their preseason with an undefeated record, their most recent game ending in a tie 2-2 against Santa Monica on Dec. 12, despite many of their players’ absences.

“So far in the season we’ve only had one game as a team, so it’s hard to judge how we’ve played. About six of our starting players could not play because their club season was still going, so for the first five games of the school season we were missing crucial parts of the team.

Thankfully, other girls stepped up, and we played amazingly,” captain Madi Kennel, senior, said.

A large number of the girls on the team participate in both a club and a school team, which becomes a prevalent issue at the start of the season, when the two overlap.

There are regulations that prohibit any player from participating on both at once, so the girls choose to finish their club season and then transfer to the school team. This was a particularly prominent issue when many of the players flew to North Carolina

for a tournament called National League in the beginning of December.

“There was a huge impact on the team when people went to North Carolina because almost all of varsity couldn’t play.

That’s because CRL went longer than usual, and most of our team is in that league, so losing even more people to that trip only made our roster smaller,” senior Callie Hokanson, captain said.

The girls will be returning for this upcoming game against San Pedro and plan on playing better now that they will all be available.

“Since most people couldn’t play until this week, we haven’t spent much time playing together. We are a little disjointed right now, but we are looking strong and still have a lot of potential,” Hokanson said.

Sophomore Jadyn Bell had similar thoughts explaining that the preseason, usually a time full of practice before real league games, wasn’t utilized by every player on the team due to their club commitments.

“I am confident that now that our team is back, we can play to our full potential.”

by Justin Pioletti

Season goals. Junior Jessie Loren sprints towards towards the ball as she dodges a Bishop Montgomery player on Dec. 7. PHOTO BY JESSICA CHAVARRIA

“It was very hard for the team to create any kind of chemistry while the other girls still had club because we were forced to bring up girls from junior varsity; instead of utilizing the six games of preseason to work out all of the rough patches in our performance, we had to focus on training them,” Bell said.

The team reflects on moving forward in the season and replacing graduated players.

“Last year, we only had three seniors, so most of the positions are the same. However, two of those seniors were center backs, so we had to replace them with strong players, so that was the biggest change, but we have a few other girls who moved up as

well,” Hokanson said.

Regardless of these setbacks, the girls all believe that the team feels especially strong this year, and are feeling very confident and comfortable with their skills as they prepare for their next game against San Pedro on Dec. 15.

“This is my fourth year on varsity and I am confident that it will be our best year so far. Our senior class is more than half the team, and full of great players, and because of that we already have a lot of chemistry on and off the field,” Hokanson said. “We don’t really know much about San Pedro, but I am confident that now that our team is back, we can play to our full potential and perform.”

Girls Waterpolo

RUHS vs. El Segundo: Win 10-3 “Our strengths were our counterattacks and our perimeter passing. We struggled to break their dropping defense but we still kept control of the game,” senior Sophie Maguy, captain said.

“We are developing a strong freshmen group. We have a lot of experience between the sixteen of us which allowed us to use advanced plays that helped us to beat El Segundo and just elevate our level of play,” Maguy said.

Tournament on Friday, Dec. 16.

Girls just water have fun. Freshmen Tarah Schaffer looks to pass the

ball while fighting off a player from Culver City on Dec. 8 PHOTO BY ANNE-ELYSE PETERSON

“Our coach said this tournament is going to be rough, but we’re all really hopeful to show our potential. It is our first tournament of the season,” senior Ardyn Wallo said.

“This tournament will be an excellent oppurtunity to practice breaking the drop and hopefully keep our undefeated record.

We have been practicing,” Wallo said.

Dec. 15, 2016

Upcoming Winter Boys Soccer: Sports Games and Matches Girls Water Polo: 12/16/16 12/20/16 12/23/16 01/03/17 01/11/17 01/13/17

Tournament vs Poly/Long beach vsSchurr vs West Torrance vs Peninsula Tournament

page 21

sports 12/20/16 Tournament 12/26/16 Marina Tournament 01/03/17 vs El Segundo

Girls Soccer: 12/27/16 01/04/17 01/06/17 01/10/17 01/11/17 01/13/17

Excalibur Tournament vs West Torrance vs Pacifica vs Morningside vs Torrance vs Inglewood

01/04/17 vs Torrance 01/10/17 vs Morningside 01/13/17 vs Inglewood

Boys Basketball:

12/16/16 Tarkanian Classic 12/26/16 Rancho Mirage 01/07/17 Take Flight Challenge 01/10/17 vs Morningside 01/13/17 vs Inglewood

Girls Basketball:

12/27/16 Diamond State Classic 01/02/17 Legacy Tournament 01/10/17 vs Morningside 01/13/17 vs Inglewood

Barreling into the season waves

Redondo Surf wins in competition against South High School

by Camille Grace

Redondo’s surf team beat South High with a score of 103 to 65 in their competition on Wed. Dec. 7th.

“Redondo’s win against South is largely credited to the constant competition that’s occurring in the water during surf class,” captain Emma Waldinger, senior said.

Their early morning practices have been an essential part in helping the team improve their skills for competition.

“When there’s no waves we paddle to the break wall and back to get us in shape. We kind of just figure it out and then it translates to the contests all together,” captain Tate Curran, senior said.

The team agrees that there is lot of strategy and preparation that goes into getting ready for each competition.

“We do practice heats to help keep us in a strategic mode. Our coach works with the captains and stacks the heats to make sure good people are going up against other good people,” captain, Hali Honea, senior said.

According to the team, in order to score well it’s not just about the maneuvers done each time, but also when to go and what waves to choose.

“Being a smart surfer [is important]. The other team could have better surfers but being a smart in the water is what decides everything. Morning practice really helps us out,” Curran said.

The confidence the team has gained this season has helped

them keep a positive mindset during each competition.

“Our mindset going into the competition was pretty relaxed. I don’t think anyone was really stressed because as much fun as it is to win, it’s also fun to compete and just surf,” Waldinger said.

The team claims to have their new found confidence from the strong freshman class that has joined the program.

“We have a lot of really good freshman boys this year who are going to step up I think. They’ve been doing really well in the previous competitions,” Honea said.

The team agrees that their camaraderie is what pushes each athlete to improve in the water.

“Many people on our team are friends and like to push each other to excel in the water which translates to better performance in competition surfing,” Waldinger

said.

The team is looking forward to their other competitions later in the season, most importantly Mira Costa.

“Mira Costa has been the best surf team in the South Bay for 10 years and this is the best chance we’ve had at beating them to be Bay League Champs,” Curran said. “This year we definitely have the most depth on the team in terms of players which will definitely benefit us.”

The team acknowledges that in order to beat Costa, they will have to intensify their competing mentalities.

“Going into it you kind of want to have the ‘let’s have fun’ mindset and be comfortable when you get in the water. But because we are going up against someone like Mira Costa, we definitely want to have more of a competitive mentality like ‘I gotta do things right,’” Curran said.

Lets go surfin’ now. Senior Emma Waldinger makes it into the barrel of the wave at the RUHS vs. Peninusla highschool competition located at Hermosa Pier on Saturday Nov. 11. Redondo won this competion 9-0. PHOTO

BY MICHAEL YOON

page 22

High Tide

sports

Comeaux breaks school record, wins CIF race

by Brittany Baker During the fifth race of the day but at only nine o’clock in the morning, he ran to reach his personal goal of being the first in the race to cross the finish line. Senior Ethan Comeaux placed first in the Division 1 CIF Southern Section Championships to advance to the California State meet, being the first in the team’s history to do so.

Taking the lead in the beginning of the race, Comeaux knew he couldn’t show any weakness in order to keep his position; he had to grind it out for as long as it took.

“With about 200 meters to go, I knew that I had enough left to hold anybody off that would try to out kick me,” Comeaux said.

Comeaux believes his coach assisted him to win the race by preparing him for what to expect.

After winning the CIF meet, Comeaux went on to place 5th at the State meet and 21st at Foot Locker West Qualifier.

Comeaux now holds the school record for being the first boy to win CIF as a result of the CIF Southern Section meet.

“My coach, Bob Leetch, helped me be more well prepared to get into good situations gave me a race plan that I stuck by,” Comeaux said.

According to Comeaux, Leetch’s plan is for him to stay with the lead group and not fall off of them and then if no one is making a move then to advance a move himself.

“About half a mile to go, I was in the front of the pack for pretty much the whole race but then with about half a mile to go people started sort of catching up to me and then I was a little worried they would pass me and I wouldn’t have enough to keep them off but I was able to hold them off until the end,” Comeaux said.

According to Comeaux, his strategy of being the top runner in the race and staying in front of the others is based off of his trust in his abilities.

“It usually just comes with confidence, if I have enough confidence in my abilities to stay with the leaders that I know I’m able and good enough to stay with them, then it helps a lot. And just being more fit than I have been in the past, I don’t get tired as easily so I can stay up going a lot faster for longer,” Comeaux said.

Although Comeaux is an experienced runner, he explains how placing first in the CIF Southern Section race affected his reaction to the important event. He recognizes the historical context of the situation in terms of the school.

“The school has been around since 1905, so being the first boy to win CIF as a seahawk is definitely a real honor. I always thought the boys in my section were faster than me, so to beat them all is really exciting,” Comeaux said.

2.

Kickin’ it. 1. Junior Connor Jones keeps the ball 1.

Boys soccer will face Jordan in preseason game

inbounds. 2. Junior Damian Sanchez looks to pass the ball to a teammate. 3. Junior Samir Abdous heads towards the goal. PHOTOS BY JARRAH MAY

by Kayvon Elahihaghighi

Boys soccer is taking on Jordan at home on Dec. 14 at three o’clock in the afternoon.

The team began its preseason successfully with wins over Bishop Montgomery, Santa Monica, and North Torrance.

“I feel our team has been doing pretty solid so far. Our work ethic was driven us to get three wins and I hope it continues,” cocaptain, Alvin Perez, junior, said.

However, the team recently suffered a loss of 6-0 to Millikan.

“I think we lost this game because we didn’t come out ready to play and the other team did,” Damian Sanchez, junior and captain said.

Sanchez’s co-captain saw the loss as a learning experience and emphasized the team’s necessity for a positive attitude.

“Our biggest problem is negativity. As a result players aren’t confident or comfortable on the ball. We need to trust each other and stay positive so players have the confidence to play their best,” Perez said.

This year’s varsity squad includes more freshmen than the previous two years with three sophomores in the starting lineup against Millikan and only one senior.

“I don’t think our size or age matters. It’s how much passion you have for the game and how much you are willing to sacrifice for the team,” Perez said.

Long term the team is pushing for better results than the previous two years.

“Our goal this year are to win bay league even though it won’t be easy. We also want to get past the first round of CIF since we’ve

3.

gotten knocked out by Santa Barbara in the first round in the last two years, and it’s been really frustrating,” Perez said.

The team expects long term success.

“The key to making it happen is to [be] more serious because if we do that then everything else will come,” Sanchez said.

Girls basketball Bay League

Redondo def. Gahr: 66-59 Narbonne def. Redondo: 64-57 Santa Margarita def. Redondo: 83-57 Redondo def. Long Beach Poly : 58-50 Redondo def. La Mirada: 85-52

“ I think that we all need to remain

focused and sustain intensity and to think positively while we play. We need to play unselfish basketball and play as one in order to reach our goals. - Dylan Horton, sophomore

”

Shooting for the stars. Senior Lane Arkangel takes a jump shot over a defender in a game with Millikan. PHOTO BY JESSICA CHAVARRIA

Dec. 15, 2016

page 23

sports

Trust the process

Boys basketball views development as key to success

by Patrick Cochran After a 28-7 season, and coming up just short against Crespi in the state regional finals, the varsity boys basketball team is optimistic for the upcoming season.

Last season averaging 14.8 points and 4.4 assists per game, star shooting guard Ryse Williams, senior, sees potential in this year’s new team. However, he knows the team needs work.

“So far we’re 2-2, just starting off this season, I see a lot of good things, and a lot of bad things. We just need a lot of practice and a lot of work because this is a new team and new people so we just have to get adjusted to each other and adjusted to the system.

We are still working on it,” Williams said.

The new team is missing some key players from last season due to their graduations, such as Leland Green, Elijah Nesbit and Morgan Means. With the lack of experience, there are many difficult challenges facing the team if it wants to win a lot of games. Williams is confident the team will be okay, however.

“Last year we had a lot of seniors and a lot of experienced guys who have played in big games. This year we have transfers and guys moving up from JV, we are kind of young and don’t have much experience, but at the same time we still get it done,” Williams said.

Another concern for the boys basketball team is the coaching change they experienced this season. Former head coach Reggie Mor-

ris, was offered a coaching position at LMU and accepted it, therefore leaving RUHS. The new head coach is Victor Martin, and luckily, he has coached with Morris his whole career.

“It’s not a big effect because coach Vic has been with us all four years, since coach Vic has been with coach morris his whole career, their coaching style are the same. It is not a huge affect, because he is still a good coach,” Williams said.

Coming off of a 33 point victory against La Mirada, the next time the boys will play is in the Tarkanian classic in Las Vegas and they are in the second overall division, so the competition will be steep.

“I feel like we can win definitely, but

Game time. 1. Senior

Ryse Williams, captain, holds up La Mirada on the defensive end at the Space City Jam Tournament on Dec. 9. RUHS won the game by a score of 85-52. 2. Senior Isaiah Tyler goes up for the basket while being double teamed. 3. Tyler drives past a defender and leaps in the air to get a rebound off the missed shot. 4. Sophomore Josh Maduno lays it in off the fast break. 5. Williams, in the middle, leads the pregame huddle and pumps up the other players. PHO1.

we need to make sure we have to come out and compete because those are big name teams and the tournament is a big tournament, in order for us to win we have to play to our full ability,” Williams said.

The “future looks bright” for Redondo as they just acquired Zekiah Lovett, a junior transfer student who last year averaged 20 points and five rebounds, who is seen to become a key player during the grind of the regular season. However, he is still waiting to be cleared to play

by CIF because of him being a transfer.

As a result of last seasons success and the acquisition of two new transfer players, Williams is optimistic of the future and believes his team will go far.

“This year I feel like we have a good team. As long as we can working we can go a long way. Obviously though, the main goal is to win another state title,” Williams said.

TOS BY MATTHEW YONEMURA

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page 24

features

High Tide

FASHION KING

Drake Brown pursues a career in modeling after signing on with DT Model Management

by Amanda Shaw Click, click, click. Light reflects. Directions and movements are called out. Flustered hair and makeup artists rush around. He tunes it all out and does his job: wearing high-end clothing, staring unblinkingly into the camera, and striking pose after pose. Senior Drake Brown is on his way to success as a male model, a passion that grew out of a love for fashion.

“I got a manager for modeling around a year and a half ago and that’s how it all started. Modeling gives you a lot of exposure. It’s cool because people start to notice you more.

The clothes are cool too because you get to try a lot of new styles, and some shoots even pay with clothes. It opens your eyes to new brands,” Brown said.

Brown was signed by DT Models after sending them his portfolio and undergoing the interview process. Since then, Brown has become much more involved in the fashion industry and has overcome obstacles on a personal level.

“I have a lot of anxiety and that has affected a lot of things in my life. The reason I am pursuing modeling is because I overcame that anxiety and just accepted myself.

I get anxiety but once I’m in the shoot I’m fine. It’s always before,” Brown said.

Although he works to minimize his anxiety before a shoot by listening to music and “getting pumped up,” once he is in the clothes and in front of the camera, letting go of the concern about his appearance during a shoot is something he is still working on.

“I think a lot and sometimes I have to calm myself down because I’m thinking about what face I’m making and what pose I’m doing,” Brown said. “But usually I end up just getting the help of the photographers to direct me, so I’m not thinking about too much, just basically what I’m doing and if it looks good.”

So far, a lot of the shoots he has been a part of have been test shoots, which are unpaid shoots with professional

Stri

Beac ke a po Man h” before se. Dra a k PHO gemen he was e Brow TOS t n po COU . “It wa even si ses f g s RTES TY O really fu ned on or a sh F DR his m oot fo n , an AKE BRO d I got odelin r the b WN g ra cloth es fr agency, nd “Life’s om i D t, “ B T Mode a rown l said .

photographers. Since Brown just signed with his agency a month and a half ago, he is still building his portfolio and uses these test shoots to do so. He also attends many castings, which are visual interviews where he presents himself in front of a client or casting director, most recently for CocaCola and PacSun. “A lot of shoots are just for websites that sell high-end clothing so I’m in the catalog where when you’re buying clothes you’ll see me wearing them. I also do lookbook-type shoots. I did a lookbook shoot for Life’s a Beach,” Brown said.

While Brown feels he has fit in fairly well into the modeling industry, he recognizes the intensity of the field and the fact that not everyone is welcome.

“I would say it’s really fun but it’s not for everyone. Obviously a lot of times [people] say you can do whatever you want in life and, and I like to say that to everyone, but modeling is really specific. They need a certain look and it’s a lot of work, so not everyone can do it,” Brown said. “Also, girls’ modeling is a lot harder I think. I’m really happy I’m not a girl trying to model because it’s so harsh.”

Regardless, in addition to being involved in modeling and fashion, Brown also makes his own music, a triple threat skillset that has become more common recently.

“One of the people that got me into fashion indirectly was Luka Sabbat. A lot of people say I look like him too because he has dreads, but he [is] my inspiration for fashion as well as people that go along with him like Ian Connor,” Brown said. “They are all youth and fashion and music all combined into one.”

With goals to one day be as successful as the young men he looks up to, Brown hopes to eventually model for big brands, like Gucci and Saint Laurent, and to see himself on a billboard.

“I would definitely like to make a career out of modeling if it takes me somewhere. It’s not a career forever because obviously I’m not going to be 70 and still be a model, but for the start of my life it would be a good career,” Brown said.