Editorial

Open camera expectation does not suffice for student engagement

In a year of remote learning, the board, teachers and students can agree that student engagement is absolutely essential for education. With this in mind, CVUSD implemented a “camera on” expectation on Feb. 1, stating that all students are expected to keep their cameras on during class Zoom meetings. This was done in order to increase “active participation in the virtual classroom,” according to the Canvas message sent out by the CVUSD staff. While efforts should be made to increase student participation, asking all students to turn their cameras on in class does not inherently ensure this to happen.

Engagement requires students to respond to their teachers and actively contribute to class discussion; having cameras turned on does not equal participation in class. Many will choose to not participate regardless of having their camera on. In some instances, requiring students to have their cameras on could even be counterintuitive when it comes to increasing engagement. For students with poor Internet connection, having cameras on can worsen connectivity, making it difficult to hear what they say.

The district should consult students directly on what actions should be taken to improve learning engagement, such as sending out mandatory surveys and consulting with stakeholder groups. Having students and teachers participate in finding a solution would make these groups more likely to follow and enforce a potential policy. Many teachers have developed innovative ways to measure participation, such as requiring students to type answers into the chat and giving credit to those who participate, answer and ask questions on a daily basis. Not only does this encourage students to tune into a lesson, but it also emulates a classroom environment.

Teachers and administrators have gone lengths to make remote learning as effective as possible in these difficult circumstances. While the intentions behind the camera on expectation were good, the product is a solution that does not tackle the root of disengagement. In order to increase student participation, include students in the conversation.

Corrections:

Prasheetha Karthikeyan’s name was spelled incorrectly on page 16.

Front Cover Caption:

Holiday spirit - Jack Frye stands under a Christmas tree at a class holiday party with friends. “He had the most enduring, cackling laugh that you could ever see or ever hear. He was just pure, you know,” Anne Alvarez, LEAP teacher, said. Anne Alvarez/With Permission

Prasheetha Karthikeyan/Prowler

PANTHER PROWLER

2020-2021 staff

Editors-in-Chief Manas Khatore Jessica Zhou

Front Cover Editor Reese Kelem

Editorial Editor Abby Gorman News Editor Sarena Kabir

Opinion Editor Emma Schoors

DPS Editor Adalia Luo

Entertainment Editor

Anna Johnson

Features Editor Copy Editors Photographers

Carter Castillo Sports Editor Prasheetha Karthikeyan Back Cover Editor Gwen Buchanan Online Editors

Gwen Buchanan Carter Castillo Abby Gorman Anna Johnson Prasheetha Karthikeyan Adalia Luo Staff Writers

Chief// Reese Kelem Parker Bohl McGlauthon Fleming IV Emerson Fuentes-Alabanza Hayden Meixner Nandini Patro Allison Nguyen

Carter Castillo Sarena Kabir Prasheetha Karthikeyan Adalia Luo

Managing Team

Lead// Cynthia Gao Dhruv Patel

Social Media Leads

Gwen Buchanan Prasheetha Karthikeyan Allison Nguyen Nandini Patro Karyss Amato Parker Bohl Hayden Meixner Nandini Patro McGlauthon Fleming IV Emerson Fuentes-Alabanza Sera Mohammed Allison Nguyen Tea Sklar Deepa Venkat

Graphic Artists Carter Castillo Prasheetha Karthikeyan Emerson Fuentes-Alabanza Tea Sklar Adviser Michelle Saremi Follow us: @npprowler on Instagram/Twitter NPHS Panther Prowler on Facebook

The Panther Prowler is the offical publication of Newbury Park High School, and is created and produced by the Advanced Journalism students. The newspaper is funded by advertisements from local companies. The Panther Prowler staff makes all final decisions on information published in its newspaper, its website, and its other publishing in other social medias. While Mrs. Michelle Saremi advises the Advanced Journalism students, the staff is solely responsible for what is printed.

The Panther Prowler is published every three weeks. For advertisement information, visit pantherprowler.org

The Panther Prowler is accepting letters to the editor. To submit your feedback, please provide your full name, email and a letter about 300 words in length. Letters can be submitted to the email posted below.

Newbury Park High School 456 North Reino Rd, Newbury Park, California (805) 498-3676 x 1110 prowler.newspaper@gmail.com

news 3

Panther Prowler • Feb. 12, 2021

College Board cancels SAT essay and subject tests

Téa Sklar Staff Writer

Téa Sklar/Prowler

The College Board released a statement on Jan. 19 saying “we’re making some changes to reduce demands on students,” officially cancelling the SAT optional essay and SAT Subject Tests.

Sage Patel, junior, had been preparing for the SAT through prep classes, but when her test was cancelled in December, she “turned to independent studying” until she could take her test.

The College Board had tried to make an accessible SAT exam by first experimenting with an online AP exam. It was expected that only about one percent of the students testing would have technical difficulties when submitting the test. They have successfully created a shortened online AP test, but not without technicalities. If a student were to encounter an issue when submitting, they would be able to immediately email their answers and if that fails, they would have to wait months before retaking the test.

Brittany Hong, NPHS College and Career Center Advisor, addressed the issue of testing availability. “The coronavirus has continued to affect the testing capacity and testing locations due to the public health restrictions in our region,” Hong said.

Charlotte Weymer, senior, took the SAT and SAT Mathematics Level 2 last year. She believes that “there were many problems stemmed from immediately getting rid of the SATs with hardly any warning.” However, she does agree with the overall cancellations. “It is not indicative of future student success nor academic achievement,” Weymer said.

The role of standardized tests in college admissions has been a debate since the pandemic started interfering with the school year. Many colleges, such as Stanford, Duke and the UC system, have waived their requirements for state testing scores for the 2020-2021 applicants. As the pandemic continued, many colleges have started excusing the class of 2022 from the standardized testing requirements.

These changes are permanent and due to the status of the pandemic, the College Board will continue to make permanent changes to make future testing cycles accessible and equitable.

COVID-19 cases decline statewide

Deepa Venkat Staff Writer

Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the stay-at-home order that Californians have been living under for over a month on Jan. 25, after the state projected that ICU capacity would rise above 15% across the state within the next month. Over the past week, the state has averaged 13,327 cases per day, a 50.8% decrease from the previous two weeks. Although the number of California’s new cases have been decreasing, Ventura County currently has the fifth highest number of new cases per 100,000 people across the state.

While the stay-at-home order is no longer effective, a majority of the counties continue to remain in the purple tier in the state’s color-coded tier system. Although the purple tier is less restrictive than the stay-at-home order, it still requires non-essential businesses to close and restaurants to serve outdoors only.

Although the daily number of new positive cases in California is decreasing, the rate is still higher than it was in November when the second spike began. The rate at which vaccine doses have been administered has been increasing as well. As of Feb. 11, 5.3 million people, including healthcare workers, long term care residents and individuals 65 and older are currently being vaccinated. The next group of individuals who are to be vaccinated include those at risk of exposure in their field of work.

As of Feb. 11, there have been a total of 74,218 cases of COVID-19 in Ventura County, of which 169 were reported on Feb. 11. There have been a total of 714 deaths in Ventura County, of which 18 were reported on Feb. 11.

Carter Castillo/Prowler

There have been 13,342 second doses of the vaccine given and 52,925 first doses received in Ventura County out of a total of 846,006 people.

In order for high schools to begin reopening, Ventura County must be in the red tier for at least five consecutive days. The current seven day average case rate per 100,000 people is 41.1, short of the red tier threshold of less than 7. The 7 day testing positivity rate is 10.5 percent, greater than the county’s goal of less than 8 percent. The health equity 7 day testing positivity rate, which measures the rate at which tests come back positive in disadvantaged neighborhoods, is 16.2 percent, which is double the goal of less than 8 percent.