High Tide Nov. 20, 2014

IGH H

Redondo Union High School Redondo Beach, CA November 20 , 2014 Vol. XCV Edition 6

TIDE

A new age How technology has changed the way modern teens look at the world and if Chrome Books will enhance or inhibit the educational process

PHOTO BY TED CAVUS PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY KAITA PANNOR

Inside

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pg. 8

pg. 16

Adam Genovese has returned to RUHS as a Student Advisor

Jordan Tse and Alex Nguyen have met some of their closest friends through B-Boy

Girls volleyball has made it to the final round of the CIF-SS tournament

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High Tide

news

News and Briefs

UCLA BruinMUN 2014

Teen Court Grand Opening

1.

PHOTOS BY CHANDLER ROSS

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER PALUDI

Court order. 1. Los Angeles Superior Court

A worldly gathering. 1. MUN attends

BruinMUN at UCLA. They represented the delegation from Spain. 2. Senior Ilana Golub gives a speech about Bulgarian immigration.

2.

Dia de los Muertos

1.

Preciding Judge David Wesley speaks about the value of Teen Court. 2. The jury for the court is being sworn in. They found the accused guilty.

Social media threats at Costa affect RUHS

by Allegra Peelor

1.

PHOTOS BY CHANDLER ROSS

Paying Homage. 1. One of the Ofrendas on display in the Bingo Room. This one

was dedicated to the late Robin Williams, featuring a photo of Williams, a piece of Legend of Zelda memorabilia, the Disney logo and more. 2. Spanish teacher Amanda Duran shows off her skeletal face make-up.

2.

RUHS had a spike in absences on Tuesday, the same day Mira Costa was closed due to threatening posts on anonymous social media app Yik Yak. RUHS had 146 absences Nov. 18, compared to 112 Nov. 19 and 115 Oct. 28.

The Manhattan Beach PD and MBUSD conducted a threat assessment and decided to close Mira Costa to give MBPD time to conduct and continue their investigation on Wednesday.

Another post on Yik Yak Tuesday night stated, “I am coming for you too Redondo,” but Redondo Beach PD conducted a threat assessment and determined there is no credible threat to RUHS. According to principal Nicole Wesley, administration will “take all necessary precautions to ensure student safety.”

Genovese welcomed back on staff

by Simrun Ursani

After being an assistant principal for two years, Adam Genovese has recently returned to RUHS from an alternative school in Palos Verdes to be a student advisor.

When Genovese left RUHS in the summer of 2013, he had been a school counselor for eight years and an assistant principal for two years.

“I loved every second of it, but I felt that after ten years I wanted to try something different because I have always been at comprehensive high schools. I felt like it was time to try something new,” Genovese said.

According to Principal Nicole Wesley, the student advisor position Genovese now fills was created to help students who may be having a hard time and need to talk to someone who can assist them.

“I thought it would be a great idea to create this position so we can have someone whose sole focus is to work with students who are struggling in some way,” Wesley said. “The idea was to reach out to a greater population of students, so that’s where the idea came about. We posted the position

and Mr. Genovese applied.”

According to Genovese, he decided to return to RUHS because he missed the vibe and the wonderful atmosphere.

“This new position opened up and it just sounded perfect, it’s basically a scenario where I get to work with students one-onone to try to assist them however I can,” Genovese said.

Wesley and a panel of selected teachers, administration, and staff believed that Genovese would be perfect for the job, according to Wesley.

“We selected Mr. Genovese mainly because we knew that when he was here as an Assistant Principal, his greatest strength was connecting with the students, intervening and working with those who were dealing with drama and academic issues,” Wesley said.

Now as a student advisor, Genovese feels that he is more involved directly with the students rather than everyone on the staff and administration on a daily basis.

“I no longer do discipline. I no longer

oversee employees, therefore I don’t do evaluations. I basically have the opportunity to work directly with the students, something Assistant Principals do but with less frequency because of all the administrative work they have on the side,” Genovese said.

According to Genovese, his experience being back on the staff has been “exciting.”

“I really enjoyed being part of the staff when I was here. I have such great memories of all our interactions together, so now that I am back it feels like not much has changed as far as the way we interact with one another. The demeanor is always so positive, and the administration is wonderful,” Genovese said.

Wesley believes it is great having Genovese back on staff.

“It’s exciting to have him back on the team. Not only is he working well with the students, he’s also really easy to talk to about emotional or personal things,” Wesley said.

Now that RUHS has a staff member whose job is to exclusively work with stu-

dents and help them succeed, Wesley hopes to see many great improvements.

“He has some students he has already started working with so over time I think we will see some growth in our student learning outcomes,” Wesley said. “Going forward, we would like to see our A-G completion rate and our attendance rate increase.”

In addition, Wesley hopes to involve the majority of the students at RUHS. “Our focus this year is increasing student involvement, which is hard to measure. One of Mr. Genovese’s roles is to help students who are not necessarily involved with anything on campus find their purpose or their passion,” Wesley said.

Genovese’s goal is to ensure all students have a greater sense of school spirit so that their high school years can be memorable.

“The main goal I have for this year is to help those students really focus on school connectedness and help them to feel like this is their school. Basically to help them have a great high school experience,” Genovese said.

Nov. 20, 2014

8

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news

Q: What happens with the Chromebooks at the end of the year? Do we get A: Actually, you get your same laptop back every year, and it’s very important. Seniors do have to turn in their laptops for good obviously, so we recycle those back into the system. All other grade levels turn in their laptops at the end of the year, when we check them for software upgrades and ensure they’re in good condition, but the next year the same one you used is the one you get back.

Questions about the new Chromebooks

Assistant Principal Jens Brandt, who was in charge of the Chromebook distribution, talks about the new technology.

by Jason Rochlin

Q: Why did the school decide to provide laptops for all students?

A: We really wanted students to have access to what we consider a professional learning device. We’re preparing them for higher education - colleges and universities, - and for professional environments, where they’ll most likely be using a laptop.

Q: Why is it important that students keep the same laptop year to year?

A: There’s an aspect of ownership that way. These are professional laptops that the district owns, similar to the laptops a lot of teachers and admin have. If they didn’t feel any ownership, students might just tear the Chromebooks up, but if students know it’s theirs, then they’ll likely take better care of it.

Q: How come we were given Chromebooks rather then a different laptop, or some kind of tablet?

A: The Chromebooks are fairly reasonably priced, each less than $300. They’re easy to maintain, they get great support from Google, and they are easily implemented into classroom discussion thanks to Google Docs and Google Classroom.

Tablets don’t have access to the different Google Apps we’re using.

Q: What have the responses for Chromebook distribution been like?

A: We’ve had support from the community, and here at the school we’ve had a lot of support from teachers and staff. Many teachers are already using them and the implementation has gone really well. We’ve also gotten a lot of support from parents that feel like the laptops are good for preparing our students for college and beyond.

Q: How will Chromebook distribution change after this first year A: The goal is to do distribution through registration from now on so it doesn’t affect instructional time. This year we had to use English classes, disrupting those classes instruction. We’re also hoping to put all the agreements and everything online, so that students and parents can re-sign them from there. This way, the laptops would be distributed on the day of registration with no hassle.

Q: Do you and the administration have any advice for using the new Chromebooks?

A: We just ask that students make good decisions, obviously using the laptops in professional matters like they will one day with the devices they have for professional use. There needs to be a differentiation between a personal and professional laptop, and I think so far most of our students are doing really well avoiding any kind of inappropriate materials or sharing.

Q: How were the new Chromebooks paid for?

A: The Chromebooks are all supported via Measure Q, which passed back in 2012 and gave us nearly $65 million for computers, solar energy and network infrastructure. Obviously a majority of that money is being spent on the laptops.

PHOTO BY CHANDLER ROSS

Both RUHS publications win awards

by Grace Zoerner

The staffs of the High Tide and Pilot attended the National High School Journalism convention from Nov. 4 through Nov. 9 in Washington, D.C., bringing home five new plaques to hang on the wall of the publications classroom.

The Journalism Education Association (JEA) and its sponsor, the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), host conventions biannually to celebrate student press from across the country.

“This is my fourth convention,” senior Allegra Peelor, editor-in-chief of the High Tide, said. “We won more awards this year than ever before.

The NSPA gives out the Pacemaker award, the most prestigious award a student publication can win, as well as awards for outstanding design, writing, and photography, while the JEA hosts write-offs and critique sessions.

Though the High Tide was a Pacemaker finalist, it did not win the award; however, editor-in-chief senior Allegra Peelor is still proud of the staff’s work.

“Just being a Pacemaker finalist is an honor,” Peelor said. “It’s still exciting, and I’m really proud of us.”

The High Tide won several other awards: Peelor won 3rd place in design of the year for a newspaper centerspread, and the 2013-14 editor-in-chief, Cedric Hyon, won 1st place in design of the year for a newspaper cover.

“I was really shocked and happy that I placed,” Peelor said. “I was happy for Cedric, too. I knew he had worked really hard on his design to make it the best it could be.”

Because the yearbook Pacemaker winners are not announced until the spring, the Pilot was not eligible for a Pacemaker award this convention. However, Brittany Nguyen won 2nd place in design of the year for a

yearbook spread, and Matt Mardesich won 2nd place in photo of the year for an environmental shot. The Pilot also placed sixth in Best of Show.

“When I found out I placed I felt so excited and proud,” Nguyen said.

“The yearbook is one of my proudest accomplishment so far, and it is so incredPHOTO COURTESY OF ALLEGRA PEELOR ible to me that our work at Recognition. High Tide staff Jason Clebowicz, Peelor, Moreno, Redondo is nationally ac- and Pilot photographer Kamila Aouragh pose with the write-off awards they won at the conference. claimed and respected.”

In addition, Peelor, senior Jason Clebow- hard work. icz, senior Kamila Aouragh, and junior Romy “When we won an award, we all just went Moreno won awards in the write-offs and wild and starting screaming,” senior Alejanphotography critique sessions. dro Quevedo, managing editor of the High Overall, the staffs of both publications Tide, said. “There was a good atmosphere. are proud to receive recognition for their We’re all really happy about the results.”

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Micah’s

Rise of the Chromebooks

Musings

Chromebooks are here, bringing RBUSD into the 21st century as pioneers of modern learning

Football doesn’t deserve preferential treatment

by Micah Ezzes

High Tide

opinion

Editorial PHOTO BY CHANDLER ROSS

In light of the recent Flock Fiasco, I feel that there are some things that need to be addressed rather than swept under the rug.

Some backstory, in case you don’t remember: the football team had a game on Halloween against Palos Verdes, to which, naturally, absolutely no one showed up. The players were outraged, and many complained of a lack of school spirit.

I can’t possibly be the only one who sees the hypocrisy in this situation. “Support the football team tomorrow as we owe it to them after last Friday,” wrote the Flock’s official Twitter page in preparation for the following week’s game. It would seem that this Twitter account, along with the players involved in that game, think that we have some duty to support them in their games. Last I checked, we don’t owe them anything.

I’m not saying school spirit is a bad thing, and I certainly don’t have anything against supporting our fellow students. However, this sense of entitlement is totally representative of the athletic hierarchy at our school.

If we “owe it” to the football players as the Flock page might suggest, shouldn’t it also follow in that logic that those football players owe it to their fellow athletes by attending games in other sports? Anyone who has played in a school sport that no one comes to watch knows that this argument for supporting the football team is invalid. If the football players care so much about rallying for support, they should turn that around and start going to the events that other sports have, like, say, water polo or soccer. But the fact of the matter is, the majority of the crowd that attends these games is comprised of parents, people who have direct ties to the players playing in the game.

Interestingly, such an event in which one sport supports another has already happened: the boys basketball team was seen supporting girls volleyball just last week. This is a step in the right direction, and good on the basketball team for supporting their fellow athletes. However, this also serves to undermine the football team’s complaints in a classic example of actions speaking louder than words.

If the basketball team could do it, why can’t the football team? I haven’t seen them do anything to support other sports. If the least someone can do to show their support is show up, why can’t the football team?

I do, of course, understand that football is a sport that has a lot of players, and it would be hard to organize the entire team into doing something. But if this is the case, the least they can do is be vocal about other sports. Can’t show up? Invite others to attend, then. In any case, the football team needs to do something, because right now all they are doing is complaining about themselves.

Maybe this is the system’s fault. Maybe our society glorifies football on a high school level in ways that it does not for other sports. I can’t say that I have the answers for those problems. All I’m saying is that the football team and the Flock need to recognize that there are other sports out there that get along just fine without people watching them every time they play- what’s low attendance at one game going to harm them?

Had you walked into an RUHS classroom more than two weeks ago, the most advanced devices in the room would have been a few students with the iPhone 6 plus.

Walk into a classroom today, and you can’t help but be impressed with our district’s leap into the 21st century: every student at RUHS now has a Chromebook laptop, and with it comes access to the greatest learning tool that has ever existed—the internet— and exciting new possibilities for the Chromebooks’ application.

In our ever-advancing technologydriven era, it’s a disadvantage to be behind the curve. Until two weeks ago, to use a computer a student had to go to the library and wait practically all of snack for a computer to load. Until two weeks ago, if a class wanted to look something up a student would have to pull out their cell phone — until two weeks ago.

But now things are different. We’ve property, internet responsibility and jumped into the modern age, and look- email etiquette comprise a short list ing up a fact is the most trivial of the of computer-related skills necessary in Chromebooks’ uses. Students can cre- the modern workplace, skills that were ate presentations in class, load text- impossible to teach to students before books online, work on the same docu- the Chromebook era.

Students will still devote the majorment together—the uses are many and ity of their attention to teachers; the varied, with more coming as we think of quality of instruction and the classnew uses for our technology. room environment will not decrease, It’s obvious that computers play an but rather will be enhanced as teachers increasingly dominant role in our everyday lives, especially in work envi- discover ways to engage students with ronments. It’s now essential that stu- these new teaching tools.

Privacy shouldn’t be a concern. If dents learn computer skills, etiquette one is using their school device for and general applications in order to be school work in a school-appropriate employable in the modern job market. manner, then administration will not These Chromebooks have been dishave any reason to even be curious as tributed both as an instructional tool to what a student is doing. But then and as a job training device. Responsibility for and ethical use of business again, if a student is using what is es-

ILLUSTRATION BY LUMA WEGMAN

sentialy a work device innapropriately, administration has the right to know — technically it is their device, after all — and any fallout from the matter would be deserved. As long as the use is appropriate, it’s very hard to imagine administration spying on every student.

What we now have are tools for learning more advanced than anything our school—or most schools— have ever seen before. Teachers don’t know all of the uses for these computers yet, and neither do the students.

But we’re all going to figure it out together, and as the glitches and bugs are eliminated and the wifi speeds up, Chromebooks will not be a novelty anymore, but an essential learning tool we question our past lives without.

Editorial Board vote Chromebooks are an important step in bringing the classroom into the 21st century, and will open the door for important teaching innovations.

agree

disagree

7 2

The money for Chromebooks could have been better spent somewhere else. They are not and will not become essential learning tools.

Nov. 20, 2014

Letters to the Editor

O ON R P C

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

Editor in Chief: Allegra Peelor

Managing Editor: Alejandro Quevedo News Editor: Jason Rochlin Opinion Editor: Christopher Paludi Features Editors: Yasmeen El-Hasan;

Vaidehi Gandhi; Caterina Hyneman; Shawn Mallen; Shaniya Markalanda; Amanda Shaw

Sports Editors: Nina Gomez; Sophie Maguy

Design Editor: Grace Zoerner Writing Editors: Stella Gianoukakwis; Kayla Nicholls

Photo Editors: Ted Cavus; Chandler Ross Copy Editors: Joseph Blakely; Kira Bowen Online Editors: Vivian Lam; Romy Moreno

Photographers: Dinah Aiad; Samantha

Bendall; Jennifer Blanco; Madison Brooks; Erin Czulewicz; Daniel Green; Janelle Howe; Lexi Kleen; Carla Macar; Masha Pescheryakova; Laua’e Schweitzer; Tyler Wunderli; Adam Yorke

Illustrators: Steven Bell-Nixon; Kaita Pannor; Luma Wegman

Staff Writers: Dinah Aiad; Gianna Aqui-

lina; Samantha Bendall; Jennifer Blanco; Madison Brooks; Malek Chamas; Jason Clebowicz; Isabella Cordero; Erin Czulewicz; Kelly Dickinson; Micah Ezzes; Lizzie Fauver; Yasamin Fazeli; Jason Fong; Camille Gerson; Daniel Green; Ilene Guerrero; Zach Hatakeyama; Kayla Hiken; Jessica Johnson; Massa Kassab; Brittany Ketting; Jon Mallen; Marie Ona; Kaita Pannor; Sadie Pearson; Masha Pescheryakova; Samaya Rubio; Reema Saad; Laua’e Schweitzer; Parker Scott; Mylene Silver; Ava Uema; Simrun Ursani; Tyler Wunderli; Adam Yorke High Tide dedicates itself to producing a high-quality publication that both informs and entertains the entire student body.

This is a wholly student-managed, designed, and written newspaper that focuses on school and community events.

High Tide is published by the journalism class at Redondo Union High School, One Sea Hawk Way, Redondo Beach, CA 90277.

Signed commentaries and editorial cartoons represent the opinions of the staff writer or cartoonist and in no way reflect the opinions of the rest of the staff.

page 5

opinion

Christopher Paludi

There are two sides to every story.

Here, two students share their perspectives on RUHS’s new Chromebooks.

It’s happened — the machines have taken over, and we all need to rebel against the Terminators. Or so you might think, from some students’ reactions to the Chromebooks. So here’s why we don’t need Arnold Schwarzenegger to save us from our laptops.

Chromebooks are useful; they really are — bear with me, skeptics. And once we get past the typical high school reactionary “I hate this” phase, Chromebooks are just plain cool. They’re an injection of life, a jolt into our school. To be able to partner in groups during class to create documents or presentations; to be able to look up anything that you want, whenever you want; to be able to finally sit in the back of the class if you have glasses, because now your teacher’s slide show is right on your laptop — these weren’t possible before Chromebooks.

I get that it’s not cool to be excited about the Chromebooks.

But when you consider that we’re one of a handful of schools in California where every single student has a laptop?! That’s incredible — how can you see it any other way? This is the 21st century. What we see around campus every day is what most schools dream about happening five years from now. We’re attending a school of the future — our school’s that far ahead of the curve.

There are going to both be some unexpected and expected problems. The wifi’s going to be slow at first, the teachers (and students) aren’t going to know how exactly to use these new devices yet, but very soon, once these laptops become a staple of many curriculums and classes on campus, we’re all going to forget that many of us called these Chromebooks “stupid” or “useless,” to name a few unhappy students’ watered-down descriptions of choice. I think that before long we won’t be making fun of or raging against our new laptops; rather, we’ll look at Mira Costa kids, for example, who don’t have our fancy gear and we’ll brag.

The time is not far down the line where Chromebooks become another part of our Sea Hawk Pride — we all have it, because this is a great school and I think that we all know and feel that on some level, even if for most it’s not cool to admit. So, let me be the first of the many who will embrace Chromebooks.

Cody Williams

“NETWORK CONNECTION ERROR.” “Sorry, something went wrong, that’s all we know.” “Try again later.” These simple words that evoke the strongest desires of self have abruptly become the backbone of our education here at RUHS. The countless flaws and confusions caused by the institution of Chromebooks are clear every time one of their fragile shells is opened, but sorry kids— they’re here to stay.

Although mandating the use of Chromebooks for educational purposes is an ambitious venture, the unnecessary complexity and stress that they bring into the classroom make chromebooks a petty attempt at modernizing education.

Because of this complexity, some teachers are already discouraged by the chromebook system, telling students to simply leave chromebooks out of class in order to avoid the difficulties associated with sharing documents, connecting to the network, slow internet speed — the list goes on. So far, the greatest use of chromebooks has come from playing Pokemon during the passing periods.

And what happens when a Chromebook is lost, stolen or broken? Will the unfortunate owner be forced to sit idly while the remainder of the class keystrokes their way through an assignment?

The benefits of a digital education are clear, but an eventual conversion to an entirely electronic learning system can be risky, leaving possibility for large scale problems that could abruptly halt the learning environment.

And the worst part of all, current students are still heaving around textbooks and now have to worry about coddling their fragile gift from RBUSD on top of their load. The trees saved by the supposed conversion of paper through an entirely digital conversion might as well be burned down by the electricity slurped through the charging cord.

To be fair, the problems will eventually be corrected and conversions will be made. However, the time required to make these changes is still unknown, making Chromebooks irrelevant to the current classes.

PHOTOS BY CHANDLER ROSS

Students say...

Of 153 students polled:

34% 71% 49% 76% 66%

Wanted their Chromebook before they got it.

Could see how it will be useful now that they do have their laptop.

Think that our district did the right thing by purchasing Chromebooks.

Think Chromebooks will be used more as the school year progresses.

Think that school laptops help prepare them for life in the modern era.

ILLUSTRATION BY KAITA PANNOR

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High Tide

features

On the right path

Eastham works towards hiking the John Muir Trail in Yosemite

by Zach Hatakeyama Her backpack weighs her down as she walks, calm despite the blistered ankles and exhaustion that she has acquired during her training. English teacher Kerri Eastham is working towards hiking the John Muir Trail in Yosemite.

Easthamdoes does not plan on hiking the entire trail in the near future, but is training to hike 50-70 miles of it on her next trip to Yosemite this summer.

“I read a book that got me thinking about it called Wild. It is about a woman who hiked the trail alone. It made me think of my college trips and how happy I am when I hike. That is how I decided to do it,” she said.

In college, Eastham began hiking through the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming but had to stop because few people were able to join her.

“I did two back-country backpacking trips through the Wind River Range in the Rockies when I was in college. They were pretty hardcore, I had to train for them and I didn’t train enough because I thought I was young and in shape and I thought I could handle it,” she said. “I didn’t feel secure going alone and I didn’t have a lot of people that would go with me.”

Eastham fondly remembers her experience from her past two hiking trips.

“We were almost 14,000 feet up [and] the scenery was so gorgeous. There were fields of wildflowers and the mountains were still covered with snow in the middle of summer.

It was so peaceful and so serene,” Eastham said.

Along with the pleasant memories, Eastham also recalls the struggles she faced while hiking.

“What people don’t realize is that altitude affects you pretty severely. I didn’t sleep well in high elevation and it was strenuous hiking when I didn’t sleep well. It affects a lot of people that way,” she said.

It was not until a recent trip to Yosemite that her interest in hiking sparked again.

“My family took a trip to Yosemite and one of my sisters-in-law, who is a big backpacker, mentioned that she wanted to hike the John Muir Trail,” she said.

The John Muir trail, 211 miles, is of the longest trails in Yosemite.

In order to prepare for the length of the trail, Eastham has been going on training hikes in Idyllwild, a small town in the San Jacinto mountains about 120 miles from Los

Angeles.

Even though she feels that she will be prepared for the hike, she is still concerned about obstacles along the way.

“I’m scared. Black bears are not known to be aggressive, they are not like Grizzlies.

That having been said, they are wild animals and they are out there and it’s not uncommon to see them,” she said. “I do not have a good natural sense of direction, which is why I would never do a long distance trip alone. When you’re out in the back country, its scary. If you’re not by a water source and you’re out of water, there’s not store to go to.”

Spanish teacher Amanda Duran has 10 years of hiking experience and has also heard of the John Muir trail “I heard about the John Muir Trail from the book Wild as well. All I’ve heard that its really long and really hard so you shouldn’t try to do it by yourself. You really have to work up to it and be experienced to do it,” Duran said.

Duran takes an interest in possibly hiking the trail as well.

“I have taken students out on a week long hike and I also did training in the Sequoias

this summer with Mr. Lewis. I definitely see myself hiking the John Muir Trail in the future,” she said.

According to Eastham, the satisfaction of finishing a hike outweighs the concern in the beginning.

“I have a huge sense of accomplishment afterwards. Part of that is from endorphins because exercise makes you feel better but another part is the fact that I was carrying my own gear,” she said. “I feel lighter afterward, I feel a lot more grounded and calm.

I have read studies that the color green can put a positive effect on people and then I think about how the green in nature plays a part in that.”

Eastham plans on hiking the portion of the John Muir Trail this summer after she gets her permit to hike th trail and feels that she is sufficiently prepared. She is confident that she will successfully hike the trail and feel good afterwards.

“I am always optimistic that even if I’m tired or even if I have bleeding blisters from my hiking boots, I will go further. I don’t complain. By the end of it, my whole body will hurt,” she said. “Physically I will ache, but mentally I will feel stronger.”

The Top Hiking Destinations

information from digitalinformationworld.com

Alaska

Germany Yosemite National Park Grand Canyon Yellowstone National Park

Vietnam

France Spain

Cambodia Italy

Australia

Thailand

Appalachian Trail New Zealand

Nov. 20, 2014

page 7

features

Anatomy of a backpacker

information from digitalinformationworld.com ILLUSTRATIONS BY LULU WEGMAN

Backpacking preparation tips

for the 1. Train trip a guide2. Carry book your vi3. Have sas/passports trav4. Purchase el insurance immuni5. Keep zations up-to-

Sunglasses

Sleeping bag

Flashlight Lip balm

Wicking shirts Tent and stakes Water bottle

date (if hiking abroad)

6.

Leave itinerary and maps with friends and family back home

Convertible, quick-drying hiking pants

Insect repellent

First-aid kit Knife

Hiking boots

page 8

BREAKING

features Break “B-boy” dancing is a form of Hip-Hop that has been revived in the past couple of years by young dancers.

This makes this type of dance “different” according to Tse because it has no set formation a dancer must follow which leaves the dance open to interpretation and it has freedoms that most other dances do not have.

“The art is great since any emotion can be conveyed like anger, happiness, or sadness. Breaking allows for free expression in what ever way you want whether you want to show your style,” says Tse. Tse was originally thinking about joining Hip-Hop Club when he entered high school. His uncle was a breakdancer, so Tse was surprised to find out that RUHS had a breakdancing club. He finally decided to join when his friend pushed Tse to join with him.

Tse believes that the B-boy club has changed his life. When he first entered high school, Tse says he did not have a lot of friends and didn’t have a “passion.”

Now, Tse and Nguyen have made countless friends and they all practice after school or outside of school together and give each other advice on how each other can improve. Their club formally meets after school on thursdays, but the members have formed such close friendships with e a c h other they usually meet more than once a week.

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Jordan Tse and Alex Nguyen explain the impact of B-Boy club

by Jessica Johnson

Hip-Hop, power moves, and footwork techniques are some of the dance styles that Senior Jordan Tse works on, but he never thought he could use all that knowledge in his newfound passion, breakdancing.

“B-boying is a dance that sets no bounds unlike other dances since you can also incorporate other moves from other styles of dance such as jerking, cooking, swaggin’ or you can make your own moves” Senior Jordan Tse says.

“Practice is not required since this dance doesn’t really force you to do anything but depending on how good you want to be will determine how much you push yourself and practice,” Tse says.

Nguyen estimates a committed Bboy would practice anywhere from 1015 hours a week to master the art of his or her backflips and other challenging moves.

“We study the history of breakdancing and spread it to any new members. We also go out to events and represent Redondo as a breaking club,” Nguyen says.

Junior Alex Nguyen and Tse both agree that the club’s atmosphere is family-like and people just want the best for each other.

“The club has introduced me to many close friends that inspire me in more ways than dancing, someone who has been there for me from the start is my friend Duran. He’s inspired me to become a better person and to meditate everyday,” Nguyen says.

Both boys agree that breakdancing has positively influenced their lives and highly encourage students that enjoy dancing to try it out.

“I have met countless people from different cities, states, and even countries all because of dancing. I’ve become more social and outgoing because of it,” Tse says.

High Tide

Let the music flow Mitch Trinidad and Jasmine Manithip discuss what is behind Hip-Hop club.

by Jason Fong Just go with the flow; feel the music, junior Mitch Trinidad thinks to himself as he begins to dance.

“I really have come to enjoy dancing because of the challenge. It can be pretty difficult for me to let go, and let the music flow through me. Also, learning new moves is hard for me, but something about the challenge makes me stick with it,” Trinidad said.

In addition to providing him a challenge, Trinidad, a new member of the RUHS hip hop club, says that learning how to dance has also led him to discover new parts of his personality.

“It helped me discover new things about myself: that I really like to have fun, and vibe to the music,” Trinidad said.

Newly elected club president, Sophomore Jasmine Manithip, claims that the hardest part about dancing is that there is “so much to learn.” Manithip, along with her vice president, mainly spend their time creating and helping to teach choreographed routines to the novice dancers.

“When we put together our own routines, everyone has their own style, which we teach to everyone. We basically take the best aspects from everyone’s ideas, and mix it all together. It’s kind of like putting together a puzzle. Then, we have to spend time working and practicing the routine.”

Manithip said.

Manithip encourages students to develop their own individual styles of dancing, by building off of the foundational style which she teaches the club members through these routines.

“Generally, the team is still trying to figure out it’s own style of dance. Personally, I try to be really well-rounded, and add certain aspects of dance from all styles of hip hop.

I also am trying to get more into flowing and freestyling,” Manithip said.

The club has around 20 new members, and anyone interested is invited to participate.

“Most of the kids who come don’t know how to dance at all. I personally learned from the club, and just started to branch out more as I got more interested in dancing. We definitely are open to anyone coming. We’re like a family here, and welcome anyone to the club, no experience is necessary,” Manithip said.

PHOTO BY KAMILA AOURAGH

Pop and lock. Hip-Hop club performed in a joint routine with B-Boy club in the October rally.

Oct. 16, 2014

features

The science behind salsa

page 9

Members of salsa club share the work that goes into the organization

by Lizzie Fauver Every friday the lunch bell rings and music fills the air as room 210 turns into a dance floor. Dozens of students gather around to socialize and form new bonds, all while sharing their passion for salsa.

“It’s just a really good atmosphere. We all work really hard, but the main goal is to have fun,” senior Jeremy Prince, Salsa Club president said.

Students in Salsa Club do more than just attend practices and compete. The cabinet members work hard for everyone to bond and become a “tight- knit” group.

“Everyone in salsa is involved and we all form tight bonds,” junior Samantha Moran, dance captain, said.

Although all the club members are friends, partners hold a special type of connection.

“Most bonds form between partners through dancing and partner work. Once you get a partner you are with them for the rest of the year. You also develop great people skills and learn to work well together,” junior Jerónimo Seminario, treasurer, said.

Even the more experienced members were nervous the first time they joined the club.

“My first year, I was terrified and didn’t know any people,” Moran said. “I wasn’t completely sure if I wanted to join, but dancing brings people together.”

Along with creating new relationships, Salsa Club also is looking to work hard in order to have a successful season.

“This year our competition team is going up against a lot of talented teams, “ Seminario said. “We go up against high schools and colleges and it’s pretty intimidating.

We are not only going against salsa teams, but also against hip-hop and interpretive.”

In order to achieve their goal, club members must be willing to put in effort in order to improve.

“We don’t demand too much time. We only meet two times a week, and occasionally on Fridays. But it does take some dedication and a lot of hard work,” Prince said.

However, according to Moran everything pays off when the performance or competition time arrives.

“A month before competition we go crazy, but the good type. We go over routines so much we get tired of them and can do them in our sleep,” Moran said. “When we take the floor it feels so great, with the lights, music, and audience. After it’s over it is such a good feeling. Everyone is hugging each other and some people are even in tears.”

Cabinet members strive to make Salsa Club a place where people come together through their love of dance, forming bonds that can last a lifetime.

“If you can walk on two feet, you can dance salsa,” Moran said. “Everything is totally worth it when you join this big family.”

Skill showcase.

Salsa club held tryouts for their competition team yesterday.

PHOTOS BY CANDLER ROSS AND ILENE GUERRERO

78% page 10

High Tide

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What is your opinion of the new Chromebooks? compiled by Stella Gianoukakis and Allegra Peelor

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It is a good opportunity for students to take notes in class on a computer, but it is being used for things it shouldn’t be used for at school.

Drew DeCurtis, 11

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Connecting to Wifi can be annoying at times, but it helps with keeping track of homework.

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I think they are not necessary, but they could be useful if they work. I do not like that they are forced on everyone.

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Stacey Manos, 10

“

They are useful for senior projects.

Angelo DeVincent, 12

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“

They are really cool. I can keep track of what I need for homework and I like that teachers can interact with students on them.

Destiny Coleman, 11

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“

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PHOTOS BY CHANDLER ROSS AND TED CAVUS

page 12

High Tide

features

Infi-knit sisterhood Krueger bonds with her sisters through their shared Etsy account

by Gianna Aquilina

Nothing describes a close-knit family more than a family that runs a business together. AVID and English teacher, Emily Krueger sells knitted and crochet goods on Etsy with her two sisters.

Her store on Etsy consists of knit and crochet accessories including hats, cowls, scarves, mittens and wrist warmers.

“Both of my sisters are involved in the shop. Alanah and I make the items, while our other sister, Tessa, models all the items,” Krueger said.

Alanah handles the business side of the store, managing the online listings, responding to customers and keeping everything up to date, while Krueger makes the items that they sell.

The three sisters recently celebrated five

years on Etsy in September. During this time, they sold items all over the world, including countries such as England, Australia, Mexico, Switzerland and Ireland.

“It has always been a dream of mine to be in a foreign country and to see someone wearing something I made while walking by them on the streets,” Krueger said.

This dream of seeing a stranger wearing her clothes has been with Krueger since she first started to knit as a senior in high school.

“My mom taught me my very first knitting stitch on some old needles she had lying around the house and I just took to it,” Krueger said.

In addition to her mother’s teachings, Krueger also learned to knit by looking online and looking through books.

“It’s amazing what you can teach yourself if you are stubborn enough to stick with it,” Krueger said.

Soon after she started knitting, her younger sister found an interest in knitting.

“As my little sister, Alanah always wanted to do what I was doing, so at one point I started to teach her how to knit and crochet and she fell in love with it, just like I had,” Krueger said.

According to Krueger, she and her sisters are closer because of Etsy.

“We have regular business meetings which usually result in us watching a scary movie and drinking diet orange crush. The shop has definitely brought all of us closer together as we experienced the highs and lows as a team,” Krueger said.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Chrome Book initiation yields mixed reactions

by Marie Ona

With the chromebooks comes concerns and expectations for students. RBEF board member Wendi Ezzes believes the Chrome Books are “great” for students.

“In concept I think it’s great that everybody is on the same page, that everybody bought the same materials to use,” Ezzes said.

According to Ezzes, Chrome Books allow students who did not have computers with the same advantage as those who alreadyhad computers.

“Those who don’t have computers aren’t at a disadvantage because there are still some people who can’t afford computers,” she said. “Everybody’s got the opportunity to work on a laptop if they’ve never worked on one before. I think that’s on the plus side.”

Ezzes is concerned with students bringing their Chrome Books home and connecting to their home wifi, and feels that parents should be provided with more information.

“Personally, I think they need to upgrade or discuss more about security for them. They’ve distributed all these Chrome Books and haven’t really told the parents very much information about them. It’s just that every child has to have one whether you’re for it or not and then you need insurance in case your kid loses it or damages it,” Ezzes said.

Students can bring their Chrome Books home and are able to connect to their home wifi.

Ezzes has a “huge” problem with Chrome Books using her router at home.

“Just like stores’ security have been breached, the same thing can happen with the Chrome Books,” Ezzes said. “You go home with your Chrome Book and you log on using your home route, then you go back to school and the district can then pick up at what you’ve looked at. Anyone who hacks into the district can get through to your Chrome Book and can get your router information and can be used to look

at your emails or bank statements. They can also look at the cameras while you’re using it”.

Many students paid a $25 for insurance for the Chrome Books.

“So you’re being forced to pay $25 for insurance whether you want to or not because it’s cheaper than replacing the Chrome Book that’s never really given you a choice of the matter,” she said.

According to Ezzes, each and every student needs to be wise when using their Chrome Books.

“Maybe kids think it’s a challenge. I could see somebody taking this as a challenge to break through the Chrome Book,” she said.

Parras Middle School teacher, Amy Beran, believes that students will handle complications on the Chrome Book well even though it comes with responsibility.

“I think that in something newly introduced, especially with students, there’s always a lot of concerns and there’s a lot of

responsibility and accountability with these concerns,” Beran said. “It’s like giving a kid a car. If it isn’t in your nature to be responsible, there’s a good chance you’re going to mess something up, but ther’re a lot of responsible kids here. I have faith in our Redondo students. They’ll do the right thing.”

Like Ezzes, Beran also finds that Chrome Books are beneficial for students.

“The students are doing better than I expected on how accomplished they are and how they’re willing to help each other. They’re not intimidated by it,” Beran said. “Things exceeded my expectations. I expected more problems, more complications, or resistance, but everyone has been pretty positive.”

According to Beran, having equipment to work with is better than having no equipment at all.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel; history is not going to change, but rubber is better than wood. If you were redesigning the wheel, this is a great way,” Beran said.

Nov. 20, 2014

page 13

features

Hoxha hopes to teach English

by Jason Clebowicz

Senior David Hoxha wants to return to the culture of his home country, and bring something back with him.

Hoxha wants to return to Albania in order to teach others English and use it, not only as a tool to help others, but as a catalyst to find himself.

“My main reason for going is not necessarily to teach other people inside of a classroom for a fixed period of time, but rather to gain different experiences and teach people along the way. This will not only benefit my students, but it will benefit myself because it’ll help me discover what I love to do,” Hoxha said.

After a close encounter with death as a young infant, Hoxha and his family sought refuge in America.

“Albania was in a civil war when I was born. While in labor, my mother had to walk to the maternity ward at midnight with my grandma and father on each side serving as human shields to protect me in the womb from bullets whizzing around them,” Hoxha said. “Immediately after that incident we got our visas and came to the United States with a couple hundred dollars in borrowed money and one small suitcase.”

For the first 10 years of his life, Hoxha and

his family resided in Chicago before moving to a more permanent home in Redondo Beach.

Although he lives 5,680 miles away from Albania, Hoxha is drawn to his native culture.

Despite the distance, Hoxha feels that his Albanian origin has had an influene on his life.

“I have grown up in America, surrounded

by Albanians, speaking Albanian, listening to Albanian music, following Albanian traditions, but contrary to most people, I love it; because its mine. My people, my language, my history, my culture. It is me, and that is the one thing in my life that I am undoubtedly sure of,” Hoxha said.

Hoxha feels that returning to Albania to teach English is the “unlikely” purpose of his life that he wants to pursue.

“Every single time I go back there, almost every single person asks me why I come back, or why I would ever want to live in Albania,” Hoxha said. “And every time I tell them that I feel life has brought me to this point for a purpose, and I want to go back to help change things in my homeland so people will not have to repeatedly go through all the suffering that they have been through and can be prosperous in their own endeavors.”

7,000

estimated number of languages in the world

Of the world population,

1/4

has some knowledge of English

2,400 2,200 languages are from Asia

are in danger of becoming extinct

About

INFORMATION COMPILED FROM www.edudemic.com

Veicer leaves Brazil for California

by Yasamin Fazeli

Sophomore Felipe Veicer decided to leave behind his life in Brazil two months ago for a short time and enjoys the differences of living in California.

Some parts of leaving Sao Paulo were difficult, however Veicer feels that by taking part in sports he used to play in Brazil, he has adjusted fairly easily to the new culture.

“It’s been pretty fun so far,” Veicer said. “I was on the water polo team this year, and now that the season is over I’m thinking about trying out for soccer.”

Friends such as sophomore Ikaika Alluin, who are on the water polo team, have also eased the adjustment for Veicer.

“I could sense that at first he was a little more shy, but now he’s a lot more outgoing.

Once he joined water polo, he made a lot of really cool friends,” said Alluin Throughout his time here, Veicer feels that there are both positive and negative differences from Brazil.

“I didn’t know about curfew when I got here, so that really surprised me,” Veicer said.

“I didn’t have curfew there, so when I would hang out with my friends everything started way later. At around eleven p.m. I could leave my home and hang out with friends, or go to parties.”

Although disappointed about curfew, Veicer enjoys other differences.

“I was surprised in a positive way about

school. The public schools here, at least Redondo, are really good. It really surprised me. I didn’t know public schools were so good and had so much technology.” Veicer said. “I used to go to private school in Brazil because public schools there are not very good. They are low class, and don’t have very good teachers.”

In the Brazil school system, high school only has three years, sports are year round.

“If I go back to Brazil it will be my last year of school there,” Veicer said. “Its really different. I think it’s more difficult in Brazil. In the school system there, I can’t choose which classes I want to take. In one year there, I’d have all the math classes in general. I would take geometry, algebra, pre-calculus, everything.”

While Veicer has already experienced differences of living in America, his friends have also learned about the Brazilian culture.

“Because, I’m friends with him, I’ve also talked to a lot of his friends who are Brazilian as well so I’ve learned some stuff about their culture too,” said Alluin.

Additionally, Veicer enjoys the fact that teenagers are able to get their drivers licences at 16 as opposed to 18 in Brazil, and the greater amount of safety there is in California “I like that I can surf a lot here and that I can have my driver’s license at 16,” Veicer

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FELIPE VEICER

said. “In some way, I feel like I had more freedom there. I could go wherever I wanted to, but it’s not so safe there like it is here,” Veicer said.

Overall, he would not change much about living here; however there are a few things Veicer wishes were different.

“I haven’t had any bad experiences so far.

Everything has been pretty good for me,” Veicer said. “I wouldn’t change much about school here, but I wish that sports didn’t have seasons. I would make everything all year long.”

Since Veicer is not a part of a foreign exchange program, he has the option of staying here for as long as he wants rather than returning back to school in Brazil in a year.

“I don’t know how long I will stay yet,

Saying goodbye. Before leaving Brazil, Veicer’s friends threw a good bye party.

maybe a year. I’ve been making more and more friends and having a lot of fun here so far, so that’s why I’m still thinking about how long I’m going to stay,” Veicer said.

Veicer is ambivalent about finishing school here because he would have liked to spend his last year of high school in his home town.

“I might want to go to college here, but I will probably go back to Brazil to graduate from high school with the friends I’ve spent my whole life with, and next year will be my last year,” Veicer said. “Its possible, that I will come back and move my whole life here because I like it here.”

page 14

features

Master of the stage

High Tide

Mr. Baldridge completes his thesis project to receive his Master of the Arts degree with the production of Macbeth

by Malek Chamas

Master of the House. Mr. Baldridge gets passionate while helping his actors.

Photo by Ted Cavus.

Ordinarily, only students need to approve of the fall plays, directed by Drama Teacher Justin Baldridge. But the fall play this year needed to meet the approval of another type of person as well. For the past three years, Baldridge has been going to Chicago for six weeks to complete the Master of Arts (MA) in Directing Fast Track Program at Roosevelt University.

The fall play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, was Baldridge’s thesis production, which is the equivalent of a thesis paper that is used to get many other types of Master’s Degrees. If the moderator from Roosevelt University who saw the play decided that the production successfully incorporated all the necessary elements of a “good” play that he was taught about in the MA in Directing Fast Track Program, Baldridge will receive his MA. “Everything on stage is directly from my Master’s program,” Baldridge said. “We talked about how set design can reflect the world we are living in, and that was reflected in our set choices. And about how costumes show loyalties in this world. We talked about the Sharks and the Jets from West Side Story. One wears blue, the other wears red. You know who is who. So we did the costumes for Macbeth with a similar idea.”

Because of the importance of the play this year, both Baldridge and the students needed to take their determination and confidence and translate it into a good production to face the unprecedented task at hand.

“They are handling the Shakespearean text very well for high-schoolers. Macbeth is a challenging play. And they have tackled the roles real well. It has been a lot of fun to work with them in that sense,” Baldridge said. “They really handled the fight choreography better than I thought they would. I thought they really tackled the dialogue in a mature way, which I appreciated.”

According to junior Alec Johnson, who was involved with the lighting of the production, he and the other students felt determined to do well and were confident in their abilities. Johnson feels that both the actors on stage and the students backstage had jobs they executed very well.

“The cast is going to really focus on their acting, really work hard, and then the person moderating the play will love the production based on its acting,” Johnson said. “If I hit the wrong light cue, they will not be able to see the action on stage and they will go to a completely different setting depending on what I do. So I have to make sure that all the lights I design correlate to the right scene.”

According to Baldridge, the performance

level of the students determined his confidence level.

“The product on the stage is a reflection of me as a director. So, if they are not up to par in my mind, my confidence level as a director really goes down,” Baldridge said.

Baldridge says that thanks to their confidence, students stepped up to perform key tasks backstage, and that this was needed since this production required more backstage work than normal. This production had 150 light cues, while Baldridge normally directs plays that contain 95 to 100 light cues.

“I did not do the sound design. A student designed it,” Baldridge said. “I have students that did all the make-up design.”

According to Johnson, many other students were initially a lot less confident, but Baldridge made efforts to be helpful and fun for his students, and their confidence has improved because of that.

“At first they were a bit nervous,” Johnson said. “But they knew they always had Mr. Baldridge’s guidance and helpful hints to help them produce the results he wanted.”

Baldridge says that although positive emotions were predominant in him during the making of the show, he also had a good deal of negative emotions. A huge challenge in putting on a good production was a lack of the strong intimacy he normally has with the students involved with his production.

“Because of the large size of the crew, we had lost the intimacy that I normally have with my productions. Normally the cast and the crew are more tightly knit, because I only have about 50 kids involved. That was the biggest challenge,” Baldridge said. “I was nervous sometimes because there were things in the production I could only hope would happen right. And sometimes frustrated, because I’d think, ‘We’ve rehearsed this over and over and it’s still not where it needs to be.’”

Baldridge says he also felt the director’s normal desire for more time to rehearse the production.

“The set was great, the lighting turned out great, and the costumes and makeup turned out great,” Baldridge said. “But there never is enough.”

Although Macbeth was evaluated by the moderator on its Nov. 8 showing, Baldridge hasn’t received the report from his moderator yet. Baldridge met the moderator, and despite any anxious feelings he had during the making of the shows, Baldridge feels that the report will be a positive one.

“He enjoyed the production but he had to go, so we did not get to talk,” Baldridge said.

“Very excited about that.”

Nov. 20, 2014

features

Friends of the ocean

page 15

Bender and St.-Pierre volunteer at the SEA Lab

by Reema Saad

The SEA Lab is a beach backyard for freshmen Halle Bender and Dani St-Pierre, where the girls get to learn about the wide variety of marine animals and even take care of them every weekend.

As volunteers at the local SEA Lab, a marine education center in Redondo Beach, they get to work hands-on with the various animals of the Pacific Coast.

Bender and St-Pierre carry out a variety of tasks that range from cleaning tanks to preparing food for fish feedings. St-Pierre finds leading public tours to be the most challenging job.

“Sometimes people ask questions that I don’t know the answer to and that’s challenging,” St-Pierre said. “I was nervous about having to talk to people more than I usually do. I’m just afraid I’ll freeze up because I’ve done that before and it’s so embarrassing.”

Bender, however, does not find tours to be difficult, but she does have a hard time rejecting people who want to look at the tanks when there is not a tour being given.

“Memorizing everything about the animals was hard, but public tours are always okay because I can always run and get our supervisor, but sometimes I’ll just be in the back cleaning a tank and people walk in and usually it takes me awhile to stick up the courage and explain that they can’t be back there,” Bender said.

Both find teaching the visitors about the animals to be the most satisfying part of the tours.

“One of my favorite things is when I’m giving a tour and I say a fact or something about the animals or a characteristic they have and the people go ‘Wow, that’s cool’ and you just think ‘Yes’ because you taught them something,” St-Pierre said.

Bender added that she likes being able to pass on what she knows about the animals.

“Learning about animals is something that I’ve always liked, so being able to teach people about animals is so nice. Every other morning this guy comes in with his little daughter at 10:00 for the tour and she knows more than I do about the animals so that’s pretty cool,” Bender said.

Because St-Pierre and Bender volunteer every weekend, the tasks have become gradually become easier because of the repetition of their work.

“I look forward to it because every day is different. It’s the same in some ways but it’s different because new things happen and new people come,” St-Pierre said.

Their experiences so far have urged them to think of different career choices for their futures. St-Pierre is volunteering “just for fun,” but has not discarded the idea of entering a marine field.

“I’ve wanted to volunteer there for a long time and I find it very interesting, but I actually want to be a paramedic so it’s no where near it, but I get that question a lot too, if I want to be a marine biologist or something.

I’m not saying no, but it’s not up there on my career list,” St-Pierre said.

Bender has also used her volunteer work to become more open to career choices.

“It sounded like the most fun because I went there a lot when I was little for school and stuff, but I was never old enough to volunteer. I don’t really know what I want to do so I’m trying to keep my options open and I try to do anything that I can to get a better feel with the experiences in any field,” Bender said.

In the end, both hope to take away some sort of skills they can use in the their eventual profession of choice.

“I want to improve my public speaking skills and to learn about the animals. I want to help the community,” St-Pierre said.

Bender also wants to improve her speaking skills in specific ways.

“I hope to obtain speaking skills, so speak-

ing to a big group of people and also small groups of people and learning how to work as a team with other people.”

St-Pierre has found that the SEA Lab is more of a family than a workplace, even though going in she was intimidated by some of the staff members.

“Everyone’s cool and we talk even though I thought it would have to be all about the SEA Lab. Everyone is like a family,” St-Pierre said.

Reaching for the stars. 1. St-Pierre

and Bender feed and care for a variety of species of star fish. 2. Bender looks after the tank of sharks.

Funding allows for more hands-on learning

by Yasamin Fazeli

The textbook pages are seemingly endless. Students repeatedly lose their attention and interest in the lesson and learning science is far from their minds.

Science teachers Gillian Moberg and Marie Botchie are both working to implement hands on learning into their classrooms through money granted to them by various organizations and RBEF. “Labs in science is better because then you get it more. You’re like, ‘Oh i rememeber doing that’ instead of ‘I remember reading that’ because you read a lot of stuff. I think hands on learning is the way to go,” sophomore Janiya Sistrunk said.

Organizations such as Adopt a Classroom and Donors Choose fund Moberg on supplies that she uses in her geoscience classes for various labs.

“Geoscience uses a lot of hardware, not so much on the stuff I can get from these donors, so for geoscience I rely a lot on the RBEF grant for the digital probes and then I spend my own money on the things that are

perishable,” Moberg said.

Both Moberg and Botchie believe that hands on activities are much more effective than learning out of a textbook and place a strong emphasis on labs in their curriculum.

“There is a balance [between lab work and reading from a textbook]. I try to strike a 60-40% balance at least, or in the case if the AP classes 50-50% between lab work and worksheets and group work that is not lab based. I don’t lecture,” Moberg said. “The lab, I think, is the point of science. It’s to be empirical and get the data to back up whatever you say.”

Moberg believes that working to implemt more hands on based activities is positively affecting the students.

“I think that although a lot of my students are visual learners, a lot more of them learn best by doing. Addressing these students’ different learning style and needs is essential to their success,” said Moberg. “It’s essential to have hands on components for a science class. It’s a no-brainer. It’s the skill

of actually taking and analyzing data that makes it science, and so we have give students an opportunity to do that.

Botchie, who teaches the class Foundations of Biology, also uses money granted by Donors Choose and RBEF and strives to perform as many labs as possible.

“I think I tried to allow students to do around a hundred labs last year. My goal is that every block day we’re doing a lab because it’s so hard to teach out of a book,” Botchie said. “My goal is to make it as completely experiential as possible.”

Moberg recently received $2500 from the college board to raise test scores. She plans to spend that money to replace equipment and continue gathering equipment for lab work, field work, and outside work.

As well as lab materials, field trips are also funded by Adopt a Classroom. Moberg’s AP Environmental Science class recently went on a field trip to the Ballona Wetlands to perform a water quality testing analysis lab.

Moberg believes that these hands on experi-

ences will correlate with higher test scores.

“I’ll use that money to make the science more relatable to students’ lives. It’s something that you experience rather than just read about or hear about,” Moberg said.

Due to the unique nature of the labs that Botchie arranges for her class, she also relies on donations from parents and students.

She values items that many people would find useless, such as finished snapple bottles or broken skateboards in her labs.

“If you’re throwing something away or don’t need it anymore, think of us,” Botchie said. “It keeps me on my toes trying to find what I can use.”

Both Botchie and Moberg greatly value the money granted to them and hope to raise even more to use for their labs.

“I got a trickle of funding and hopefully it will become a storm,” Moberg said Botchie hopes to continue the labs and is excited at the prospect of further funding.

“I’ll just keep building from here. I just keep my list of labs going,” Botchie said.

page 16

High Tide

sports

athlete of the issue: Preston Faecher

Faecher inspired by friends and family

by Jason Clebowicz

Preston Faecher is living the American high school dream. It’s not even the second semester of his junior year, and he’s already been named the starting quarterback for the RUHS Varsity Football team, and is a two time First Team All League Varsity Lacrosse Player with two Offensive MVP’s under his belt.

As a two-sport athlete, Faecher must balance his time between both football and lacrosse.

“The only time [football and lacrosse] really conflict is over the summer when I’m playing club lacrosse and doing summer football camp. But I manage my time well enough to make the most of everything that I can to benefit both sports,” Faecher said.

Faecher attributes his success to his parents and coaches for providing assistance and consistently helping him.

“My parents have done so much to make me better and encourage me in everything I do, giving me the most opportunities to be successful. As well, my coaches have always

been great through my whole life preparing me for what I need to do on the field to be great, but also to be a good man off the field,” Faecher said.

Additionally, Faecher credits his friends for their encouragement.

“My friends also always are encouraging me to go do big things. Whether it’s little texts before games or making me signs or just cheering for me, those things mean a lot showing their support,” Faecher said.

Both the lacrosse and football field, Faecher tries not to overcompensate his abilities and follow his duties.

“I just try to do my job and make our team better by doing what we need to do to win games. I don’t try to make huge plays, but rather play consistent through each game,” Faecher said.

According to Faecher, both lacrosse and football are similar passions, but he plays the sports for pure enjoyment. “[Lacrosse and football] are both passions and hobbies. I love football, but I really

play it to have fun. However, I want to be the best and do everything I can to get there.

I’m willing to do anything to be the best I can be and try to make our team better in every way. It’s a big part of my life and time, but that’s a choice I chose to accept,” Faecher said.

Tackling his goals.

PHOTO BY PETER TRAN

Quarterback Preston Faecher tackles a player.

Girls volleyball advances to CIF finals

by Chris Paludi

On Tuesday night, girls volleyball advanced to the next round of CIF playoffs, defeating Great Oak high school.

After losing last year, junior Megan Rice says that of the team’s improvements, defense was most important in coming back to avenge the loss.

“We figured out early on what their plays were,” Rice said. “Our defense was our biggest strength that night because we realized what their good sets were, what they ran, and we were able to arrange ourselves to stop them.”

Junior Amanda Tsao, whose jaw was cut open during the game, also emphasized the importance of the team’s defense in stopping Great Oak. “It helped a lot that our team has been working hard to improve our defense specifically,” Tsao said. “Coach Chaffins has really stressed the importance of defense especially against very offensive teams like Great Oak who have big hitters and blockers.

Tonight we went for everything, and our improved communication allowed us to work well together on defense.”

Rice said that the girls’ biggest strength is probably their love of each other and how well they function as a team on and off of the court.

“If any team can do it and win state, I think we could. Our chemistry and our team’s talent is incredible. We have such a good team; we’re so deep that everyone is good on the team, even our bench and the people that don’t play much. You could put anyone in and they’ll play and do well.

Everyone’s good and everyone works together well.”

Explaining the importance of team chemistry, Rice spoke highly of her teammates and their competitiveness.

“In volleyball, team chemistry is huge,” Rice said. “The game’s all mental. If you don’t have good

chemistry with your team -- no matter how good your players are -- you’re not going to do as well as we have because your chemistry isn’t as good. We all like each other and that’s such a strength. We work so hard and so well together, and that’s a huge factor.

We compete

PHOTO BY MATTHEW YONEMURA

Ruling the court. Senior Yaazie Bedart-Ghani hits in the CIF semifinals.

like no one else, and our competitiveness is probably one of our biggest strengths.”

Although they were in the lead, Rice said that the players never thought of it.

“We don’t take anything for granted,” Rice said. “All of these teams are as far as we are because they don’t either. You have to expect greatness from other teams and they’re going to expect greatness from you. Even if you have a giant lead in the last game, you have to make sure that everything you’re doing is helping your team because nothing is certain.”

Although they have more games to play in the upcoming rounds, Rice and the team couldn’t help savoring this win together as a team.

“After the game ended, we were just so happy,” Rice said. “Just happiness. We were so excited that I can’t really even describe it -- it was just awesome. We get so pumped and excited; we go crazy. We all really like each other on the team, and that’s in my opinion a huge reason why we’ve done so well this year. We’re all friends and we all like each other off of the court -- I know that sounds cheesy but it honestly has done so much for us.”

On Saturday, the team will face Mater Dei in the next round.

“We are going into the finals with tons of confidence,” Tsao said. “We know what we’re capable of and that we can win it. We’re not underestimating Mater Dei at all, but we know we can beat them because we have already. We’re ready to play up to our potential and win on Saturday.”

Nov. 20, 2014

sports

page 17

Girls cross country prepares for CIF despite injuries

by Mylene Silver The girls’ cross country team prepares for CIF Southern Section Finals this Saturday, after placing second behind Serrano High School at the CIF Preliminary Division 2 race.

“Last year we were second in CIF finals.

We’ve been in the top three the last four out of five years, so we’ve had great success at CIF,” varsity coach Bob Leetch said. “This is essentially the same team that placed well last year and we’re expecting something similar this time, as well.”

CIF Finals will be held at the Mount San Antonio College course in Walnut, California.

CIF Southern Section Preliminary races were held at the same location Saturday, November 15th.

“The top 16 teams from preliminaries will run in Division 2 on Saturday and from that, the top seven teams in each division will go to the state championships,” Leetch said.

“We get so much stronger every day and I think if we really start out strong at the beginning of the race, we can keep it till the end,” senior Anevay Hiehle said. ”I have no doubt that we can start out fast and stay closer together and get a lower team time in the end.”

Hiehle placed 41st with a time of 18:40 at last year’s CIF finals.

“If they can get out a little quicker and stay together, more as a pack, it’ll really help them race better. Being very aggressive is one of the things that we’re known for,” Leetch said.

“Getting out quickly and establishing places early intimidates a lot of teams.”

According to Hiehle, the RUHS girls were strung out throughout the preliminary race and needed to get closer to each other and run in a pack.

“If they could pack up a little bit better, it would help. These are such large fast races, there’s just so many more people. Our girls are ordinarily so much faster than everyone else so that it’s kind of easy to be able to see each other and get a sense of where everyone is, but in these next two races, everyone is so fast.”

To the finish line. Senior Amber Gore runs in CIF prelims in Mount Sac last Saturday.

This is the time of the season that that the team begins to taper and cut down on mileage, according to Hiehle.

“Instead of maybe a 10 to 12 mile run, it might be like an eight mile run to freshen some legs up. But they’ve continued to train pretty hard, this is a pretty hard-working group, so we don’t cut back too much. I always feel like if we back off too much, they almost relax too much and we want to keep their edge pretty sharp,” Leetch said.

The girls are exhibiting some nerves now that the season is coming to en end, according to Leetch.

“For such a seasoned group I kind of expected a little bit more confidence,” Leetch said. “But it’s coming at the right time and, they’re certainly running fast and

I think nervousness is part of sports. Anything that you care about, you’re nervous about. But as you get to this level, you have to be able to kind of cope with it deal with it, and not let it overwhelm you.”

In the past ten seasons of cross country at RUHS, the girls’ team has only now come across their first real injured runner.

“One of our girls has a shin splint and hasn’t raced in over a month. We’re hoping that she’ll be ready this week. We’ve been able to hold her off, cross-train her, and get her kind of ready for the next two weeks,” Leetch said. “But until we get the whole team back, we need to go out there and give it our best this week.”

According to Leetch, if the girls can focus on the things that matter and taking care of business, they’ll fall into the footsteps of great teams from the past as well as leave their own mark.

“The attitude now is just to have fun and remember why we joined [cross country] in the first place,” Hiehle said. “We also have big dreams and we not only have fun but we know when to work and will do our best to surpass expectations.”

PHOTO BY SANDER FINK

Boys XC qualifies for CIF finals

by Mylene Silver Boys cross country placed second in at CIF Preliminary, qualifying the team for the CIF Southern Section (SS) Finals this Saturday.

“I thought we had a pretty good day overall. I think Ethan Comeaux ran really well, he’s been progressing really well over the season,” Suarez said. “Harrison Fox stepped up a lot. So, if we can get a few runners to step up just a little bit more, then we can easily be in the top three at CIF Finals. I’m really excited.”

CIF-SS Finals will be held at the Mount San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) course in Walnut, California.

“We weren’t really too strong of a pack the first mile, like we sometimes are, and I think we’ll definitely improve that at finals now that we know what we did wrong. We’ll take it out faster the first mile and just make sure everyone’s with each other,” junior Harrison Fox said. “We really have to do our best to advance to state because only the top seven teams make it. We really just have to get up in there.”

Last year, the boys’ team placed seventh at CIF Finals, which is the last qualifying position to move onto state championships.

“This year’s team is completely different.

Last year, we were really talented and had so many returning people from the year before that we got pretty cocky before finals. This year, the guys are not taking anything for

granted,” Suarez said. “This year we know we have to work for what we want and it’s not going to come easy. That’s the main difference; the mentality, the way we handle ourselves during training.”

This is Suarez’s third consecutive appearance at CIF Finals.

“The most important thing is to stay calm,” Saurez said. “Usually when I get pretty tentative and nervous before the race, I tend to not do as well. So lately my motto’s been ‘just relax and try not to think about it’. Just get out there and run.”

According to Saurez, Division 2 is extremely strong and has a lot of competition.

“We’ve been doing well the whole season, this is just another race. We can’t get it in our heads that this race is everything because we’re going to worry so much about it that we can’t perform when it actually happens,” Fox said.

Finals will be the team’s third time running Mt. SAC this season.

“The night before we always have a team dinner and we talk about strategies,” Saurez said. “I try not to say too much to the guys, I don’t want them to get nervous. I know that they know what they need to do so I try not to beat them to death.”

According to Suarez, the boys all have their heads in the same place and they know what they need to do to in order to execute the team plans.

PHOTO BY SANDER FINK

Sprinting to success. Senior Carlos Suarez takes on the Mount Sac course this past Saturday for the CIF prelims.

“To win CIF finals would be a huge slap in the face to everybody. Coming into the season with only two returners, we were not ranked very high for the California teams so no one really expected anything,” Fox said. “Everyone thought it was a rebuild-

ing year but we’ve really shown how tough we are and we’ve come so far. We’ve really stepped up and have something to prove this Saturday, so if everyone picks it up a little more and they run just slightly better, then I think we got it.”

page 18

High Tide

sports

High tides, high hopes

The surf team intends to win Bay League despite “devastating” loss

Riding rights. 1. Sophomore Kelly Harraka surfs a long-board in a competition earlier this season. 2. Senior Kris Hall surfs in the competition. 3. Sophomore Hali Honea rides on a long-board in the same competition.

3.

PHOTO BY CHANDLER ROSS

1.

PHOTO BY CHANDLER ROSS

by Adam Yorke After losing 80-88 to Mira Costa on October 30th, the surf team wants nothing but revenge.

“We haven’t won since 2006, so coming this close and having it just slip away really hurt,” surf coach Avery Duncan said.

The surf team had large lead going into the last heats, but let it slip away.

“It felt like a tease. We had them for a while, and when we could smell victory it was just taken away from us by a few slip ups. But it just lets us know that we can and will beat them in the future,” sophomore Todd Sander said.

As RUHS’s lead grew larger, the team grew tighter.

2.

PHOTO BY TAYLOR ROSE

“The whole team was pumped, encouraging and cheering on all of our surfers to at least show Costa that we have it in us. It was a pretty rad thing to see how supportive our team was,” sophomore Todd Sander said.

The loss was especially emotional with Costa being RUHS’ arch rival.

“It feels like they laugh in our face because they have won so many times, but we know we can beat them,” sophomore Dylan Roa said.

Even though Redondo lost, team gave all their effort.

“I was extremely proud of the way we competed as a team. When athletes compete at the highest level and give everything they have to the team, I couldn’t be happier,” Duncan said.

The surf team has finished in the top three of league for the past ten years, always having close competition with Palos Verdes High School and Mira Costa. This year,

Sander predicts Redondo will have another strong year.

“Our returning surfers have improved quite a bit, but some of the freshman need some work,” Sander siad. “However, only time can tell.”

The next contest will take place against El Segundo today. They are looking to improve their tactics in order to win.

“I think we should kind of catch a few smaller waves just to get points on the board. When you hunt for the big ones, most of the time we lose points. We are searching for a perfect wave and end up not catching anything,” Sander said.

Despite the early loss to Costa, Duncan still believes that Redondo can win the league.

“Its only one loss, we still have eight more opponents and a strong team,” Duncan said.

“I think we could be very successful this year.”

Pushing their limits

Football aims for a win against Ventura tomorrow

by Tyler Wunderli

PHOTO BY TED CAVUS

Facemask. Running-back Dallas Branch stiff arms a Mira Costa defender to get a new set of downs.

The football team plays Ventura High School this Friday at home after a nail-biting victory over Pacifica.

Redondo won 14-13 at Pacifica last Friday in a game that could have gone either way. Coach Keith Ellison thought the team “showed a lot of poise” in their victory.

“The game could’ve gone either way, one play here, one play there, they make a play, we didn’t make a play,” Ellison said. “It could’ve easily been the other team that won.”

Pacifica was 9-1 going into the game, compared to Redondo’s 5-5, but when it came down to it, Redondo got it done when it counted.

Junior Guy Alford was happy about how the game went, but he knows they weren’t perfect.

“I think we did pretty well, there’s some things we could’ve done better, there were a couple mistakes we made, but I’m just glad we got the win,” Alford said.

Ellison was also impressed with the way the players performed throughout the game. They “played hard” the whole game and came out on top.

“A lot of credit goes to those kids, our players, for the way they just kinda hung in there and were able to come up with more plays than the other team,” Ellison said.

Redondo now has the opportunity to host Ventura and a chance to move on in the playoffs. However, they cannot take any game too lightly.

“They’re a very good team, they’re very well balanced on offense. They’re a very physical football team. It’s gonna be quite the challenge for us,” Ellison said.

Though the coaches are taking the game very seriously, Ellison is optimistic about their chances to win this game.

“We have a great chance to win this game; I think we’ve been preparing all year for these moments and these types of games against tough, physical teams,” Ellison said.

Alford thinks his team is going to need to put in hard work and improve wherever they can.

“We should tighten up things on defense and execute plays more on offense and just go,” Alford said.

Ellison believes his team has a lot of hard workers that “know how to prepare and get ready for a football game”, along with players that have very good football intelligence.

The team is not perfect, but the coaches are happy with how they have been performing recently.

“We just have to continue to do what we’ve been doing these last few weeks and just prepare this week for a battle,” Ellison said. “I definitely think we’re going to come out on top.”

Nov. 20, 2014

page 19

sports

Year of rebuilding

Girls golf looks forward to next year

by Sophie Maguy

Boys water polo failed to make their way to CIF playoffs, but believes they did the best they could this year.

“I think that we did well with what we had this year,” senior JR Beck said. “Sure we didn’t complete our goal of getting third in bay league but we gave it our all the entire time and got some solid wins.”

Junior Blaze Bird agrees that this season was ultimately a success due to the development of previously

by Romy Moreno

PHOTO BY LEXI KLEEN

Keeping goal. Junior Co-MVP Spencer Malone-White prepares to block the ball against a Mira Costa.

junior varsity players and the adjustment of learning a new system of play with a new coaching staff.

“I think that this season was really just a rebuilding year where our coach came in and gave us an entirely new system to learn and play by,” he said. “Even though we are losing two key parts of our starting team, Perry and JR, our team has gained much more experience.”

Senior JR Beck advises next years’ team to play club water polo and follow Coach Murin to whichever club he decides to coach at. Co-MVP Perry Corkos reflects on his past four years playing for Redondo, and offers advice for the future teams.

“My advice for next years’ team is to always remember that it’s just only a game,” he said.

With the season officially over, the girls golf team expressed their mixed feelings.

“I am actually really sad it’s all over,” senior Robynn Ree said. “But it is relieving because now I am able to move on to the next chapter of my life.”

Despite their highs and lows, the team only looks back on the season in a positive way.

“I don’t regret anything about this season because we all did our best and did a lot better,” Ree said.

Although they will be losing some of their strongest players, the girls have high hopes for the upcoming season.

“I think we’ll have a pretty solid season even though we aren’t expecting to win league title,” junior Carlin Liang said.

“But we still have some pretty promising returnees that will help make up for the loss.”

Although the girls will only look back on the season in a positive way, the players leaving expressed how it will be hard for them to leave the program.

“I’m really going to miss the girls and of course Mr. Burke,” Ree said. “We have been together since freshman year so it’s kind of sad to think that we’re all going to be separated.”

As the season ends, she has one primary goal for all incoming golfers: to savor the moments before it is over.

“I want the girls to have fun and enjoy the ride while it lasts,” Ree said.

A successful season

3.

PHOTOS BY CHANDLER ROSS

Love-ing it. 1. Junior Emily Zarghan returns

a hit from a Mira Costa player. 2. Senior Allegra Peelor hits a backhand in last month’s game.

3. Freshman Eliana Stuart recieves a serve from a Mira Costa opponent.

2.

1.

by Romy Moreno With one of their best seasons over, the girls are shifting their attention on to how they will continue this seasons momentum into their next.

“I have no doubt that our team will at

least do the same as this year, but most likely do even better,” junior Emily Zargham said.

“We were all so close this year and know that we are capable of being even better so that alone will drive us all to strive for even better results.”

Other members of the team have similar thoughts.

“We will be losing starting seniors for our singles team but we’ll still have some of our strongest players, so as long as we can find a third singles starter we should be good,” junior Isabella Guzman said. “On the other hand our doubles teams will be staying the same for the most part which means that we will be that much stronger since we are already used to each other.”

According to the team, they are already thinking of ways to better themselves for their next season.

“I think that if we do drills from the start instead of starting them right before league matches we will really benefit from them and they will better prepare us for the harder matches we face early on,” Guzman said.

Even with the season being almost a year away, the girls are already setting goals for what they hope to achieve in the future.

“My overall goal for the team is to make it further into CIF and hopefully advance some players to individual CIF for doubles and singles,” Zargham said.

page 20

features

High Tide | Nov. 20, 2014

Friedrich, Fucci integrate Chrome Books

by Jon Mallen

The recent acquisition of Chrome Books

by RBUSD has brought both successes and challenges for teachers. According to teacher Joshua Friedrich, the evaluated effect of the Chrome Books is still uncertain.

“I haven’t had a negative experience yet,” Friedrich said, “I just have these little apprehensions about what the Chrome Book might be used for.”

One useful feature of the Chrome Books, according to both Friedrich and Traci Fucci, teacher of AP and CP Statistics, is access to online graphing calculators such as DESMOS. “They’ve been able to do some investigations with scatterplots and moving points around to see how it affects the equation of the line,” Fucci said.

Friedrich enjoys the online graphing calculators due to them being easy to use.

“They’re a lot more user friendly than the graphing calculators we use in class,” Friedrich said, “They’re a lot more intuitive and you don’t have to press so many buttons, you can just use the mouse.”

Friedrich is also able to bring a sense of fun and competition into the classroom using an online game called Cahoot. Students can play from their Chrome Books or even their smartphones. Though the game sparks

greater interest in math for the students, AP Government and Economics teacher Mi- find as we try new things,” Henges said, “But Friedrich believes it should only be used chael Henges has used the Chrome Books anything you do that’s new, you’re always once in a while. as a window to allow students to work to- gonna run into some unforeseen obstacles, “I think that this type of review session, gether. and there’s gonna be unintended conseeven though it gets people learning and gets “There’s gonna be some pitfalls that we quences of having laptops in the classroom.” the competitive juices flowing, should be kept as a treat and not an everyday thing,” Friedrich said.

Friedrich’s reasoning comes from his belief in the “traditional” teaching system as well as the use of Chrome Books.

“I think it’s important that students know how to learn in the classroom through a traditional environment of paying attention to the teacher, taking notes, etc., and also be able to play games, utilize google forms, google documents, and all these new things that are coming up with the Chrome Books,” Friedrich said.

PHOTO BY TED CAVUS The Math Department is not the only one to put Technology time. Students in Traci Fucci’s AP Statistics class can view in-class Power Points on their Chrome Books use to the Chrome Books. during class and take notes directly on the slides.

Chrome Book privacy facts Step 1

inappropriate words detected by filter

Step 2

IT receives an automated message

First Offense Common Privacy Concerns

warning, phone call home

in-school suspension or out of school suspension

Overall...

IT cannot store personal passwords. Web searches are only catalogued if they are inappropriate. Administration cannot see personal emails when students log onto their Chrome Books. Administration and IT try to use common sense to see if searches that seem inappropriate are school related.

INFORMATION FROM JENS BRANDT