THE
OCTAGON
VOL. 40, NO. 2
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Sacramento Country Day School
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2636 Latham Drive, Sacramento
Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sacramento, CA Permit No. 1668 @scdsoctagon
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November 1, 2016
Alumna looks back on perks of program
BY SONJA HANSEN Due to the termination of SCDS’s partnership with Breakthrough, current Breakthrough students no longer receive college counseling from the program. America Lopez, ‘16, was one of the last students to take advantage of the program. Lopez attends UC Merced and plans on majoring in biology. Q: How did Breakthrough make you more aware of colleges? A: All my life I just thought I would go to Sac State because it was close by. But then I saw so many better options for me. In the summer program, our advisers and teachers were high-school and college students, so just the exposure of having these teachers around made me realize that there were so many colleges out there besides Sac State and UC Davis. College of the Day (when teachers present about their colleges) also helped give me all the facts about a college and open up my options. The Word of the Day taught us about college things. Like one day a word would be “undergraduate” or “FAFSA” (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), and that’s how I found out in seventh grade that there was a program dedicated to helping low-income students. Q: How did the program help you in applying to colleges?
LOPEZ page 4 >>
BREAKING THROUGH Breakthrough students perform a skit during the program’s spirit week last summer. A minute later, the students burst through the banner, which represented the ACT, a standardized test that many of them will take in high school. PHOTO BY NINA DYM
Loss of SCOE grant big problem for Breakthrough Recession, changes in Sacramento meant end of beloved school program BY SONJA HANSEN
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n August, the Board of Trustees ended financial support for Breakthrough Sacramento, a year-round program that supports low-income middle and high schoolers, citing its large deficit and uncertain outside funding as unsustainable for the school. But Breakthrough was not always in this precarious financial situation. Former headmaster Stephen Repsher said that in the early ‘90s and for a few years into his tenure-
ship, Breakthrough’s budget broke even, meaning SCDS provided only in-kind services and did not have to cover any of Breakthrough’s expenses. Kelley Taber, president of the Board of Trustees, also confirmed that Breakthrough’s annual budget broke even a few times when outside support was strong. According to chief financial officer Bill Petchauer, the budget broke even in five fiscal years: from 1998-2002 and in 2004-5. So what caused Breakthrough to lose its financial prosperity? Breakthrough’s financial state be-
came increasingly stable in 1999, when the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) started sponsoring Breakthrough. The SCOE grant annually contributed an average of about $98,000, about half of Breakthrough’s budget, according to former Breakthrough director Adolfo Mercado, who began in 2005. SCOE’s largest donation was $129,500 in 2002. Mercado said that the grant money allowed Breakthrough to line up with the Breakthrough National standard for all programs. Thanks to SCOE,
Breakthrough went from not only teaching the summer program but also hosting a year-round college adviser service and after-school classes for Breakthrough students. The $17,000 budget increase for new year-round teacher salaries and materials was manageable, according to Mercado, because of the grant. Not only did the grant strongly support Breakthrough, but it also made Sacramentans more aware of the program, according to former Breakthrough advisory board mem-
BREAKTHROUGH page 4 >>
Disproportionate cuts frustrate elective teachers BY MARIGOT FACKENTHAL
25 YEARS AND COUNTING Senior Isabelle Leavy, president of the National Art Honor Society, celebrates after finishing her square (“The Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh). Leavy organized the 25th anniversary of the Chalk Mural, when students chalk the sidewalk with famous pieces of art. Leavy chose this painting because of the respect and admiration she’s always had for Van Gogh. PHOTO BY KEVIN HUANG
In recent years, the school’s overall budget has been about $10 million. This year, due to a drop in enrollment, there was an approximate $500,000 decrease, according to head of school Lee Thomsen. In other words, the total budget went down by approximately 5 percent. This led to cuts across the school. Breakthrough was forced to become independent, maintenance was minimized and a lower-school assistant teacher was let go. In addition, the Octagon was severely affected by the budget drop. Every year, the Octagon elective receives $6,000 from the school. But in the fall, that budget was reduced to $1,000, which is less than the printing cost of one issue. Adviser Patricia Fels was notified of the cut by head of high school Brooke Wells right before school started. She was told that the cut was so drastic because the Octagon had raised a lot of money through advertising sales last year and could, therefore, afford to take the hit to its school-provided budget. “I was pretty shocked at the time,” Fels said. “I had assured the staffers in the spring that we didn’t need to rush to buy anything new for the next year because our budget, unlike some other school budgets, carries over from year to year. “I never considered that the school would take away its own contribution, especially to that extent.” The staff had discussed purchasing live-streaming equipment in the spring, which would have cost about $3,500. While that would have been an easy purchase prior to the cut, it would now push the paper into debt. Former Octagon business manager Sonja Hansen, the one responsible for the Octagon’s financial success last year, was also very disappointed when she heard the news. “It just felt really demoralizing. Everything I did last year - out the door. It was a really big deal for me last year to
be organizing the budget and calling up these families. The Octagon budget was so huge.” As part of her job, Hansen had sent emails to 60 businesses around Sacramento and produced and handed out flyers at Open House and around Loehmann’s Plaza. In total, she raised $13,000. “When the money was taken away, I felt kind of betrayed,” Hansen said. “Our budget was supposed to cross over. The money I raised was supposed to stick with us, and it did. But we were also counting on the money from the school to back us up.” Hansen said that the worst part about the cut was the lack of notice. “I understand why they (cut the budget). I know times are tough, so I understand their decision. It would have been nice to have a heads up, though.
BUDGET CUTS page 10 >>
BUDGETS AND BASKETBALL Lower schoolers play a game of Knockout during lunch. According to PE department chair Michelle Myers, this year she may not be able to buy small basketballs for the lower schoolers, so they will be forced to use larger middle-school ones. PHOTO BY KEVIN HUANG
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THE OCTAGON
NEWS
November 1, 2016
Busy intersection has long history of accidents, close misses
Drivers don’t always pay attention to pedestrians using flags; students suggest adding stoplight BY ALLISON ZHANG
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efore school on Sept. 26, seventh grader Tina Huang and her mother were turning left from Munroe Street onto Latham Drive when they were
rear-ended. Neither one was hurt, but this isn’t the first time there has been an accident at the intersection. Jenny Kerbs, ‘16, caused a three-car accident while crossing Munroe after parking her car.
PED XING Sophomores Gabi Alvarado and Brandy Riziki return to school from Loehman’s Plaza by using the flags at the Munroe Street crosswalk. The flags were added to the busy crosswalk by SCDS parents since so many students have had near-accident incidents there. In an Oct. 3 Octagon poll of 117 high schoolers, 28 said they’ve almost been hit. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE CHAO
“Some woman saw me at the last minute, so she stopped.,” Kerbs, now a freshman at Vassar College, said. “But when she stopped, the person behind her didn’t see and crashed into her.” “And the person behind him didn’t see either and crashed into the second car.” It was also raining that day, which could have exacerbated the issue, she said. Kerbs said she thinks a stoplight would have prevented the crash. “Even just a blinking light that pedestrians could press would have helped,” she said. “Basically anything would be better than what there is now.” There have also been many near-accidents that have involved other students. Late last school year, juniors Esme Bruce-Romo and Smita Sikaria walked to Loehmann’s Plaza for food and were almost hit while crossing Munroe on the way back to school. “When we began to cross, all of the cars on Munroe had come to a stop, but there was a woman that was waiting on Latham to make a left turn (onto Munroe),” Bruce-Romo said. “She tried to turn, but the second she realized she wasn’t going to make it, she stopped about five feet to my left.” In an effort to solve the problem, neon-orange flags were added in May 2015, by Doug and Susan Brown, parents of junior Lily and Emma, ‘16. While students say the flags are helpful, they also say drivers don’t always pay attention to them. Bruce-Romo and Sikaria didn’t use the flags but said that because
the woman saw them, waving flags island and rectangular rapid flashing wouldn’t have changed anything. beacons (RRFB). Also near the end of last school However, when contacted for an year, freshman Monet Cook was al- update on the proposal, John Perez, most hit while she and a group of who works in traffic engineering, refriends were crossing Munroe, even directed the reporter to the Office of though they were using the flags. Media and Communications. “We had split into two big groups, Then Maria Razo, a Media and and one of the groups had already Communications specialist for the crossed the street,” Cook said. city of Sacramento, said the questions Cook was still waiting to cross, and should be directed to Sacramento she was waving a flag. Then she and County, not the city. her friends started to cross. “And despite repeated calls, mem“We were almost across when a car bers of the Department of Transporcame at us really fast, and someone tation for Sacramento County could yelled at the front of our group to step not be reached. back,” Cook said. Thus far, noth“We stepped ing has been done back, and the because, according car hit no one, to chief finanbut it was still cial officer Bill really scary.” ‘SHE TRIED TO TURN, Petchauer, this opAnd, of tion is still awaitBUT THE SECOND SHE course, students ing funding by the REALIZED SHE WASN’T can’t use the city. flags if they’re GOING TO MAKE IT, SHE According to on bikes. the Pedestrian and STOPPED ABOUT FIVE When sophBicycle InformaFEET TO MY LEFT’ omores Gabi tion Center, the Alvarado and ESME BRUCE-ROMO, cost for building Brandy Riziki a refuge island JUNIOR were bikranges from $535ing home last 1,065 per foot, despring, they pending on design, were almost hit by Johann Dias, ‘16. site conditions and material. “We were on the other side of The cost of purchasing and installMunroe, and (Dias) pulled out be- ing two RRFBs (one on either side cause he was parked and almost hit of the street) is $10,000-15,000, the us,” Alvarado said. U.S. Department of Transportation’s While the flags do draw attention website states. to pedestrians, they are not a permaAs for a traffic light, in 2010 the nent solution. Munroe-Latham intersection was In late May of 2015, Sacramen- 23rd on the list of streets awaiting a to’s traffic engineering department light Petchauer, said. proposed adding a pedestrian refuge Six years later it is 18th.
Octagon, school roster get much-needed facelifts BY MEHDI LACOMBE When Emma Williams, ‘15, opened the first print edition of the Octagon in October, she was stunned. “It looks like a completely different paper,” Williams said in an email. “I know that must have taken a lot of work!” And it did. Over the summer print co-editors-in-chief Marigot Fackenthal and Adam Dean changed the fonts of the copy, captions and headlines. Fackenthal also changed the jump lines and bylines, which she feels really improved the overall look. In addition, the number of columns has been increased from three or four to five. Fackenthal said that the editors received inspiration from The ReMarker, her favorite high-school newspaper, which excels in presenting lots of graphics and small stories. The circles around the page number were directly imported from the ReMarker, the newspaper of St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas. One of last year’s printeditors-in-chief, Manson Tung, also praised the new layout, describing the changes as “modern and bold.” He thinks the future of journal-
ism is really in design and no longer just blocks of text. He also “thinks the paper stands a good shot at winning Pacemaker,” the prestigious award from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), sometimes called “the Pulitzer Prize of high-school journalism.” It was, in fact, the NSPA’s critique that inspired some of the changes. That critique of last year’s issues warned the Octagon to be careful about any floating images, as well as making sure every poll or graphic is properly labeled. The NSPA also advises the editors “not to be afraid of white space as this will create a more visually appealing page.” Fackenthal said she always assumed that the reason the paper looked the way it did every year was because the editors were limited by certain guidelines. However, upon becoming editor-in-chief, Fackenthal was told there were no such guidelines, which is why this year she “took the initiative and changed things up!” The editors will continue to improve the layout over the course of the year in preparation for the next critique. However, the Octagon wasn’t the only publication to receive a facelift. The school’s
roster was also redesigned for the first time in over a dozen years. Director of communications Julie Nelson said that she, assistant head of school Tucker Foehl and director of technology Tom Wroten worked on the new design over the summer. They actually started by designing a new viewbook, the book sent to families interested in the school. The viewbook was using a design that hadn’t been changed in a long time, Nelson said. The logo on all of these publications was the standard SCDS book stack, which Nelson modernized by making it into a colored shield. She then decided that she would use the viewbook’s new logo to refresh the roster, the advertising, the 20152016 Budget Report and the Annual Fund material. Another big change was the font. Many years ago it was Times New Roman, one of the only options at the time. Later they quickly switched to Arial Narrow as it saved a large amount of space, Nelson said. Last year they changed to Optima. Since no one seemed to notice the difference, the school switched to Avenir Next this year. “I’m into fonts!” Nelson said.
“I got many comments on how readable the new roster was,” Nelson said. “I’m glad people are appreciating the changes we make.” Another change is in how the document is printed. The roster, which used to be printed professionally, is now done in-house, which allows small changes to be made and processed much more quickly, Nelson said. Both design teams said they hope these changes will give their publications a modernized look.
REMARKER RAPTURE Print editors-in-chief Marigot Fackenthal and Adam Dean check out an issue of The ReMarker, the newspaper of St. Mark’s School of Dallas in Texas, for inspiration on a page layout. Fackenthal was browsing Issuu, a publication archive, when she first stumbled upon the ReMarker. PHOTO BY KEVIN HUANG
November 1, 2016
THE OCTAGON
SPORTS
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Varsity girls go 11-1, tie for first in league BY CHARDONNAY NEEDLER
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UNBLOCKABLE Outside hitter Lia Kaufman reaches to hit a hard angle ball during the Oct. 14 game against Buckingham Charter, as sophomore Tori Van Vleck, junior Katia Dahmani and junior Annya Dahmani cover her. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE CHAO
ying with league rival Valley Christian Academy, varsity volleyball finished the season first in the league with a 11-1 record. A coin toss was hosted by the league to determine who would receive a higher seed in the playoffs, and the Cavs won. The Cavs still have some things to work on to prepare for the playoffs, especially after their 0-3 loss against Bradshaw Christian, a Div. V team, on Oct. 27. But the scores show how much the girls have improved. In their first match on Aug. 29, the Cavs lost to the Bradshaw Christian Pride, 13-25, 15-25, 17-25. But in their Oct. 27 post-league match they came closer: 19-25, 21-25, 18-25. The Cavs haven’t ever made it past semi-finals, but junior Yasmin Gupta said she believes this could be the year. Yet their journey to becoming league champs had some bumps along the way. And one of those was the injury of freshman outside hitter Bri Davies. Davies, a starter, suffered a partial ligament tear (LCL), a bone contusion, and a knee injury in a Sept. 24 tournament, about two weeks into league play. “But the team stepped up to cover her position and lift each other up,” Song said. “I think you (need to) work with what you’ve got” Song said. Davies said that she hopes to return by Nov. 16. And making the best of situations
seemed to be one of the girls’ strongest attributes this season. “We could be losing to what seems like a point of no return, but then we (would) step up and make a comeback,” senior Kaeleigh Valverde said. Whether it was coming back, 25-22, against Valley Christian at the end of a long four-set match on Sept. 16 or not letting their guard down when Sacramento Adventist Academy almost caught up during their final league game, the Cavs have battled fatigue to be the victors. Last month, coach Jason Kreps said the girls needed to “gel together” since they were still new to working with each other. And since then, they’ve done just that. They’ve become so comfortable that now they regularly switch between positions and lineups to fill in whichever places are needed or to ensure that all the girls get time on the court. Song says that she has some concrete goals for the playoffs. “My number-one goal is that the team starts fast, starts ready,” she said. “I feel like in the season we’ve been starting out slow. I want to see some fire early on.” Another goal is to improve defense. “We’ve got to be crashing the middle on defense,” Song said. “When the opponents put a ball straight up and our wings drop, someone’s got to be putting that ball up. “They need to be alert, communicate and be ready to move - believe that they can make it to that ball.”
New eco-friendly arena includes 4K scoreboard, overpriced food BY ADAM DEAN It’s finally here! The new crown jewel of Sacramento, better known as the Golden 1 Center, opened in October. And I attended the Kings’ first game in their new, $566.6 million home when they faced Maccabi Haifa in a preseason game on Oct. 10. The element that stands out the most throughout the arena is the vast amount of tech. The massive 4K scoreboard hangs above the court. It’s about the size of two semi-trucks stacked on each other, making it the world’s largest indoor scoreboard. And it holds the title for the highest resolution in the NBA. Automated turnstiles allow fans to scan their tickets, whether they are printed or on their phones, and enter quickly. One of the coolest complements to the arena is the Kings’ new smartphone app. Unfortunately, the most intriguing parts of
the app were unavailable to me because it was only a preseason game and they were still finalizing it. The app is supposed to allow fans to see real-time lines for concessions, and get food delivered to their seats. The arena has 40-foot hangar doors hovering over the main entrance that can be opened or closed for events. When I attended, they were open to allow the Delta breeze to cool the inside. The doors are not the only eco-friendly technology feature the arena has either. Solar panels cover nearly the whole roof of the Golden 1 Center. And they can meet all of the arena’s energy needs. When I first walked in, I got a panoramic view of the whole arena. The scene was really amazing. That’s when it clicked that this world-class sports facility was actually here in Sacramento. But I had little time for excitement before my nose picked up on some appetizing smells.
GOLDEN ENTRANCE The entrance to the brand-new Kings’ arena includes five sets of retractable windows that provide vistors with a spectacular view from inside and outside the arena. PHOTO BY ADAM DEAN
PANORAMIC VIEW Senior Adam Dean’s seats on the upper level gave him and his friends a panoramic view of the arena due to the steepness of the seats. PHOTO BY ADAM DEAN
The arena offers sushi, gyros, rice bowls, burgers, shakes, kebabs, tacos and more. These options are much more appetizing than the heated-up frozen pretzels at Sleep Train Arena. Every time I passed a concession stand, I was tempted to buy something. But there was something holding me back: the price. Overpriced food and beverages are staples of most concerts or sports games. But the prices at the Golden 1 Center are outrageous. It’s kind of hard to justify spending $14 on a burger, $10 on a Costco-sized slice of pizza or $13 on a beer. Now I don’t drink, but I know $13 for a domestic beer is steep. That’s only a few dollars cheaper than what I paid for my nosebleed seats ($19, including service fees). Which was also expensive considering how far up I was and that it was a preseason game. But those are the prices you’re going to pay for a new arena. The upper bowl of the arena is very steep. This allows for a surprisingly decent view of the game, even though it’s so high up. But it becomes a little sketchy trying to ma-
neuver to your seats. Even with people standing to let me through, it was a tight fit. The cramped pathways to seats are in the lower bowl as well. In the inaugural event, a man was injured in the upper bowl when a woman fell on him from behind because of the steepness and narrowness. But at least my seat was comfortable and I was able to get a decent view of the Kings demolishing a Middle Eastern team. Overall, there are a few faults with the new arena, but the flaws don’t come close to outweighing the positives. There is just an unwavering sense of pride that comes with having such a world-class arena here in Sacramento. And I’m not the only one who thinks that. Walking around, I noticed people feeding into the excitement. Most had a gleam of awe in their eyes while pointing out a piece of art (like the 400 glass globes that represent Sacramento’s rivers) or admiring the scoreboard. Get out there in the coming months, even if you aren’t interested in basketball. It’s a must-see for any Sacramentan.
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REMAINDER
THE OCTAGON
November 1, 2016
Breakthrough: Taber blames city’s ‘stinginess’ (continued from page 1)
District, Repsher said. The district gave $65,000 in 2011 and $58,000 -ber Gail Graham. in 2013. But in following years, “This partnership galvanized the the deficit ballooned. According reputation of SCDS in the broader to Repsher, it could have been as community as a measure of com- high as $160,000 following the remitment to promoting quality ed- cession as Breakthrough struggled ucation for all students,” Graham to find alternative financial sources. said. New benefactors were hard to During the period of SCOE’s find during the recession because financial support, Breakthrough’s all foundations had taken mabudget increased from about jor hits as well. Corporations like $175,000 to more than $225,000 Intel, AmeriCorps, McClatchy due to the addition of more fac- Newspapers, AT&T and Wells ulty mentors, a two-week exten- Fargo (who Repsher and Graham sion of the summer program and said had funded Breakthrough an increase in salaries and ben- previously) were unable to help efits for staff. Repsher said that because they were struggling with Breakthrough Sacramento had to massive debts and layoffs. increase teachMercado er salaries to said that these match other foundations Breakthrough were focused ‘THIS PARTNERSHIP programs’ on supporting GALVANIZED THE teacher pay for non-profit prorecruitment grams that they REPUTATION OF purposes, but had long-term SCDS IN THE BROADthese increases relationships ER COMMUNITY’ in the budget with instead of were not contaking on new GAIL GRAHAM sidered dramatprograms, like ic enough to Breakthrough. cause concern. In 2011, SacIn 2010, ramento had however, former governor Arnold the third-weakest job market in Schwarzenegger cut $5.8 billion the U.S. and was ranked fifth on from the California education Forbes’s list of “20 most miserable system, forcing the SCOE grant cities after the recession.” As a reto end. At that point, the office sult, Breakthrough’s outside fundhad given Breakthrough almost ing decreased by two-thirds from $817,300. 2007 to 2010, according to Taber. Mercado said he remembers the Breakthrough’s reliance on yearmeeting he and Repsher attended to-year donors instead of secure when SCOE announced that they sponsorship made the budget flucwould be ending the grant. tuate greatly in recent years, Taber “We walked in blind,” Mercado said. Some years the deficit was as said. “I was shocked.” low as $50,000, while other years it Mercado was on the board of approached $150,000. the California Student OpportuSCDS struggled financially nity and Access Program at the during this time as well. Enrolltime of the cut, so while he knew ment dropped from 557 students that cuts were being made to all in 2004 to 450 in 2010. Taber program donations, he said he did said that while the lower enrollnot think that SCOE would take ment had huge implications on such drastic action. the school budget, Breakthrough In response to the sudden cut, was never affected. In the 2009-10 Breakthrough scrambled to apply school year, even though all faculty for financial assistance from the salaries were decreased by 5 perSacramento City Unified School cent, Breakthrough was kept alive.
HELPING HAND Writing teacher Alexander Hilts helps a seventh grader during STEM week. On math day, students made boats and airplanes. The boats were put in a tub and had washers put on them to see how much they would hold before sinking. PHOTO BY NINA DYM
But Mercado said this time was introduction of the Sacramento “nerve-wracking and scary” for fundraiser The Big Day of Giving Breakthrough. in 2015, from which Breakthrough “One year, I went into Mr. raised around $10,000, created a Repsher’s office and said, ‘Let me buzz in the business communiknow if I need to start packing my ty. But the donation still wasn’t bags,’” Mercado said. “But he said enough. that Country Day would support To redouble their efforts, in and stand by Breakthrough, and 2015-16 the Breakthrough develthey did.” opment group, - which included “Financially we really felt (the assistant head of school Tucker recession), but we also felt it in the Foehl, former director of advancecommunity and culture,” Mercado ment Jon Cormier, Repsher and said. “We were able to weather it, Mercado along with other SCDS but those were very rough years.” parents - met more often to find But even after Sacramento foun- ways to raise program awareness dations healed from the recession, and solicit donations. The group Breakthrough continued to have used advertisements, articles, teledifficulty finding dependable do- vised interviews, fundraisers and nors. Taber said that “Sacramento’s presentations to attract sponsors. stinginess” might have worsened According to Mercado, these Breakthrough’s chances of finding methods put Breakthrough in new benefactors. contact with According to a Intel (which study by the Sacgave $10,000) ramento RegionS ac r a m e n t o ‘(REPSHER) SAID al Community City Unified Foundation menSchool DisTHAT COUNTRY tioned in an artitrict (which DAY WOULD SUPcle in Comstock’s d o n a t e d PORT AND STAND BY Magazine in 2012, $50,000 in when it comes to m i d J u l y ) BREAKTHROUGH’ charitable donaand San Juan ADOLFO MERCADO tions, Sacramento Unified Disis one of the least trict (which generous regions had planned in California. on donating). The article said But during that not only do Sacramentans the Board of Trustees’ two-year give less total money to investigation of the vitality of the charities than the national program, the Board and the deaverage, but also a smaller velopment group did not foresee percentage of households these donations becoming estabdonate. lished sources, Taber said. Mercado said that while And so in June the Board told he finds this to be true, he Mercado that that year would be thinks that Sacramento’s Breakthrough’s last. Now it’s up philanthropic interest was to the newly established Breakincreasing when Break- through Working Group partthrough’s relationship with nered to raise the money to bring SCDS was terminated. The it back.
Lopez: Program helped senior with college applications (continued from page 1) A: Financial aid would be the biggest. (Program coordinator Ying Lo-Khang and former executive director Adolfo Mercado) made sure I had all my fee waivers so I could cover all of my college app expenses. My fees for all UCs were waived. Breakthrough really showed me all the financial resources I had, so I learned that money shouldn’t be a barrier for me to attend college. I remember going to Adolfo’s office and looking at all the financial aid packets from the schools that had accepted me. We talked about what would be best for my family and what my preferences were. That oneon-one meeting was a really good way for me to look at what was the best option for me college-wise. Q: How did they critique your statement? A: Breakthrough would focus directly on me as a person because they have seen me transition from middle school to high school. Adolfo wrote me a lot of recommendations, which really helped me as well. He wrote about me not only as a Country Day student but also as a Breakthrough student. Q: What will former Breakthrough students lose without the program? A: They’re going to miss having mentors Ying and Adolfo, who have seen them for all these years personally and academically. That’s really going to affect them. College counselors at Country Day are very good about fixing mistakes and fixing factual errors, but Ying and Adolfo really knew you. And Breakthrough also focused on careers and life after college. On Career Day, the eighth-grade students would dress up professionally and go to law firms or the Sacramento Bee or other businesses. They got exposure to different kinds of careers, and from then on, they would know a place that was dedicated to their interests. Q: Did Breakthrough influence your college decision? A: The UCs in general are very popular among Breakthrough students, so they were often talked about. I think that Breakthrough was more focused on trying to get students into the UC system instead of a community college or a state school.
PAPER PLANES Breakthrough eighth graders construct paper airplanes during STEM week. For each activity completed, the students received a pink slip. At the end of the week, five pink slips allowed students to throw pies at their teachers. PHOTO BY NINA DYM
Q: Did Breakthrough influence your major choice or interests? A: I’ve always known that I wanted to be a pediatrician. They guided me and helped me find a path.
THE OCTAGON
November 1, 2016
FEATURE
5
How is Country Day different from schools around the world?
International students discuss variations in classes, dress code, cafeteria food, extracurriculars, athletics Pria Nijhar
Héloïse Schep
George Nguyen
Rita Chen
Yelin Mao
Shimin Zhang
I lived in Birmingham from (ages) 1 to 8. (There) everyone wears a uniform. Girls would wear pants, not even skirts. The girls also needed permission to wear earrings. The boys would have to wear a suit and a tie every day. In Birmingham most students take the bus to school. I went to a public school in Birmingham, but the public schools there are much like the private schools here. Schools here offer languages like French, Spanish and Latin. In England they offered just German and French.
Around sixth grade, we had a huge test called the Cito. It would determine what middle school you went to. There middle and high school is just one big school called the middle school, which could have up to 2,000 people. The middle school had six years. I took the Cito test, and it was really stressful. It focuses on math, reading comprehension and grammatical skills. It’s multiple choice, like a Scantron test. A lot of people would pay for tutors - I didn’t. We would spend a month just reviewing in school.
The way our teachers taught in Vietnam, and the language, is different. For example, we used the book and we took notes. Then we copied the notes down from the book. The teachers didn’t really teach us as much. We learned more from books. We talked more in Vietnamese than in English, even though the school was an international school. There were a few (people) that were not Vietnamese, but their parents knew Vietnamese and taught them, so they were still able to speak and understand.
We have more free time here than we did in China. In Guilin we had the same classes in the same order every day. I also had classes on Saturday. The Saturday classes were like extra academic classes. Those classes were on all of the main subjects at school like math and science. With all of these extra classes on Saturday, we basically had a six-day school week. Extracurricular activities are more popular in the U.S. In China we didn’t have time for activities like sports, and colleges are less focused on sports and arts than they are here.
The teaching style is different there; there is a lot less discussion. The teachers told us the information, and we didn’t really discuss it that much. We had a stable classroom and the same classmates in (it). The different teachers would come to the classroom for teaching rather than the students going to the different classrooms for studying. There were also many more students in each class - around 80 students per class. For each test, the teacher would rank the grades of the students, so we would know (everyone’s grades).
Essays for language arts were different. They would include topics such as “Describe a fun thing that happened during the field trip last week,” “A Letter to My Parents,” “Find a building you like in our school. Describe it and answer why do you like it.” Mostly explain your thoughts; choose a thing that happened in your past and describe it. Math (was different), too. I’m not sure which grade I started learning geometry, and schools in China sometimes have different textbooks. In fifth grade I learned what was left of graphing and then new graphing from Algebra II (and) difficult angle problems.
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QUOTES COLLECTED BY EMMA BOERSMA, JACKSON MARGOLIS, DAVID SITU AND REBECCA WATERSON. GRAPHIC BY ALLISON ZHANG
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Chloé Collinwood
AUSTRALIA
We didn’t bring lunch; it was prepared at school by French chefs. Some days we had curry or this wonderful chicken. If I didn’t finish my veggies, they’d make me stay back. If it was someone’s birthday, they would bring out a cake that the kitchen made. If there was no birthday, we got tea and biscuits (cookies).
Brandy Riziki
Mehdi Lacombe Téa Huynh Van The athletic department is much stronger in the U.S. I guess the American culture is more athletically influenced than the French culture. There was no sports class in France, although the school did have a little gym used for gymnastics. I remember going there once a year for something like spirit day, but there were no school sports.
HONG KONG
AN RW
My old school was (in) a larger building because it was a lot colder there. You couldn’t have an outdoor school like you could here, so it was a really big building with a floor for each subject, like math, science and English floors. My old school had almost 70 different nationalities because it was an international school. A lot of (students) were from embassies; their (parents’) work brought them there and would pay for the school.
The school I went to was Lycée Notre Dame de Cîteaux. All the schools had uniforms except for two schools a Belgian school and a French school. At the school where I was, we had to have white socks and black flats. If you had shoes that weren’t black, they would take them away. (Students would go barefoot.) Also public schools made us shave our hair - not bald, but less than half an inch. I heard that it’s to avoid distraction. The period of time for summer vacation (for Americans) is replaced with winter vacation, which lasted from the beginning of November to the end of January. We spoke French for all the classes, but in sixth grade they switched everything to English (so students could be fluent in it).
Ted Zhou
Bill Tsui
In the U.S. we can wear our own clothes. In China we had to wear a uniform (blue school T-shirt and white trousers). School in China is both harder and easier compared to school here. At Country Day you can do better than you can in China. There are extra-credit options and projects. In China school is about getting it done and (testing) well. Unlike at Country Day, where our free period rotates, I went to a boarding school in China, where we always had our free period at the end of the day. We had our free period study time from 4-7 p.m. and then dinner until 9 p.m. In the morning I had gymnastics before school.
We didn’t get homework every day in Hong Kong, but we did get really large amounts of homework to do over the week. We got about two large amounts of homework every seven days. Also we didn’t have (tests) the way we do in America. There are no quizzes there. We had one large exam every month. In America high school goes from ninth grade to 12th grade, but in Hong Kong it goes from 10th grade to 13th grade. The first year of school (kindergarten) is called grade one, so all of our grades are one year higher than in the U.S. We all graduate at the same age but (in) a different grade.
Yasmin Gupta We had things called swimming carnivals and cross-country carnivals. (In them) the girls and boys in the same grade would compete and determine a winner, which would go to points for their house color (an advisory that students were grouped into to compete against other advisories in the carnivals). Whichever house had the most points got a trophy with their name on it. We had the same house color the whole time at school, and any (points received in an) event would go to the house.
8
THE OCTAGON
EDITORIAL THE OCTAGON
November 1, 2016
My Angle
“Unfortunate Rewards” by Mohini Rye
By Chardonnay Needler
PRINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF ADAM DEAN MARIGOT FACKENTHAL
More vacations aren’t better for everyone
ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SONJA HANSEN BUSINESS MANAGER CHARDONNAY NEEDLER PRINT COPY EDITOR QUIN LACOMB ONLINE COPY EDITOR SAHEJ CLAIRE NEWS EDITOR MARIGOT FACKENTHAL FEATURE EDITOR ANNYA DAHMANI OPINION EDITOR KATIA DAHMANI SPORTS EDITOR ADAM DEAN SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR JACK CHRISTIAN PAGE EDITORS JACK CHRISTIAN ANNYA DAHMANI KATIA DAHMANI ADAM DEAN MARIGOT FACKENTHAL CHARDONNAY NEEDLER MOHINI RYE NICOLE WOLKOV ALLISON ZHANG REPORTERS LARKIN BARNARD-BAHN EMMA BOERSMA BRI DAVIES ANNA FRANKEL MEHDI LACOMBE JACKSON MARGOLIS HÉLOÏSE SCHEP SPENCER SCOTT GARRETT SHONKWILER DAVID SITU CARTOONIST MOHINI RYE MULTIMEDIA & TECH QUIN LACOMB PHOTOGRAPHERS JACQUELINE CHAO KEVIN HUANG BENETT SACKHEIM ADVISER PATRICIA FELS The OcTagOn is The high-schOOl newspaper Of sacramenTO cOunTry Day. iTs purpOse is TO prOviDe a reliable sOurce Of infOrmaTiOn On evenTs cOncerning The high schOOl anD TO fOcus On TOpics Of significance anD general inTeresT in OrDer TO infOrm anD enTerTain The enTire schOOl cOmmuniTy. The sTaff sTrives fOr accuracy anD freeDOm frOm bias in iTs sTOries. significanT errOrs will be nOTeD anD cOrrecTeD. The OcTagOn shall publish maTerial ThaT The sTaff Deems in The besT inTeresT Of The schOOl cOmmuniTy. The sTaff recOgnizes The impOrTance Of The reaDership’s having accuraTe anD reliable infOrmaTiOn in OrDer TO be well infOrmeD anD On which TO base DecisiOns anD OpiniOns. The OcTagOn will publish all Timely anD relevanT news, subjecT TO The fOllOwing excepTiOns: ObsceniTy; slanDerOus Or libelOus maTerial; maTerial cOnTrary TO The besT inTeresTs Of The schOOl cOmmuniTy, as juDgeD by The newspaper sTaff anD aDviser.
eDiTOrials shall be vOTeD On by The enTire sTaff. cOlumns anD cOmmenTaries shall be clearly labeleD as such anD represenT The OpiniOn Of The auThOr Only.
in The inTeresT Of represenTing all pOinTs Of view, leTTers TO The eDiTOr shall be publisheD, space permiTTing, unless OTherwise requesTeD by The auThOr. all leTTers musT be signeD anD cOnfOrm TO The abOve resTricTiOns On publisheD maTerial. The sTaff reTains The righT TO make changes in grammar anD puncTuaTiOn anD TO abriDge leTTers fOr space cOnsiDeraTiOns.
EDITORIAL: Steep Octagon budget cuts discourage staffers’ initiative
T
he Octagon, like every elective, receives a budget from the school. In 2015-16 that budget was $6,000. This year, however, our budget was cut to $1,000. If you’re bad at math, I’ll save you the trouble and tell you that this is an 83 percent drop. We were told there were cuts because of last year’s financial trouble. Head of school Lee Thomsen said, the total budget was reduced by about 5 percent. So we’d understand and not have any problems if our budget had been cut by 5 percent along with the other departments. But we cannot understand why we were cut by a jaw-dropping 83 percent. When we questioned why our budget was cut so much, head of high school Brooke Wells explained that since we ended the 2015-16 school year securely in the black (due to our success in selling ads), we would still be able to manage this year. How is it fair to justify the huge cut in our budget because of our organization’s success last year? How is it fair to take away money that we raised for our organization and put that money towards the entire school?
Orchids
&
Onions
The $11,715 that last year’s business manager Sonja Hansen raised in ads was given to the Octagon, not to the whole school. But by cutting our school-funded budget due to increased revenue, that’s essentially what happened. The Octagon is now raising money for the school, apparently. We may be the newspaper for our school, but we’re still a student-run and primarily student-led organization. Our ad money comes from giving up valuable space in the print edition that could be used for stories. We as students make that decision since we need money to keep our paper going. There’s nothing wrong with the school decreasing the funds it gives to its organizations in times of financial trouble however, these budget cuts shouldn’t be based on how much we raise independently. We want to be a mostly independent school organization, but it’s impossible to do so when the administration further justifies the budget cut by saying that if there’s anything we can’t afford, then we can ask the administration to give it to us. We worked so hard last year selling ads to do just the opposite of this. The point of a budget is being
free to make financial decisions. In years past, if we wanted to buy something new, we wouldn’t ask the school - we would just sell more ads and earn the money ourselves. But times certainly have changed - Breakthrough is looking to restart operations with a new partner, high-school enrollment has dropped significantly and our budget has been cut by 83 percent. We now fear that any extra money we raise on our own this year will be subtracted from next year’s school-funded budget. The Octagon doesn’t teach its staffers just writing skills; it also teaches life lessons about self-sufficiency. We’ve learned that if you want something, you have to go out and work hard to make the money to get it. But now we’re being taught that if we want something, instead of making our own money, we should beg our higher-ups for it. Or maybe we should just stop selling ads altogether. Will the school then restore our budget? We understand that cuts had to be made somewhere when the school’s budget dropped. But it’s not fair that our program was cut so drastically due to our financial success last year.
The minute my dad sent me the email on the proposed schedule change from head of school Lee Thomsen, I put my cello down, read the email and, with wide eyes, gasped. My suspicions had been confirmed. Earlier, I talked to a friend about this. I didn’t believe that we might be losing our two-week Spring Break. Four days would be added in February, expanding Presidents’ Day to Presidents’ Week, and two days would be added for a weeklong Thanksgiving break. So what’s the problem? I’ll get my selfishness out of the way first. I’ve always liked feeling special about going to a private school that doesn’t follow the same rules as public, government-controlled schools. The first thing that came to mind was that more scattered weeks would just taunt me. Having two weeks of Spring Break, which is close to the end of school, feels like a mini-summer. But as I thought more about it, I wondered how it would affect students like me who have parents who live out of state. For instance, my mom recently moved from Arizona to Minnesota, and since fifth grade, I’ve visited her exclusively during breaks. A plane ticket to Minneapolis costs about $900 round-trip, and with a two-hour time change and layovers, the journey lasts 8-10 hours. So just going to and from my mom’s house wastes two entire days. With 14-day breaks, losing two days seems insignificant, as there are plenty of days spent with my mom. But if there were shorter breaks, I would end up having fewer days on break while spending more money and doing more of my least favorite thing: eating mediocre airplane food while sitting in front of whining kids. My parents might decide that the cost versus the amount of days spent would not suffice, and thus I would see my mom only during Winter and Summer Breaks. And my mom would not be happy with that. Neither would I. One week also makes it harder to visit colleges or travel internationally. In addition, our two-week break is appealing to incoming students. When we, the Ambassadors, went to Merryhill Midtown on Oct. 26, the kids were excited to hear that we had a longer break than other schools. I guess that they may want to feel private-school special, too. Or their parents live out of state.
ORCHIDS to. . . the volunteers for the Student Ambassadors program. There are lots of events going on; it’s great that people are stepping up to the job. ONIONS to. . . students who track leaves into classrooms. Please stomp your feet before entering the classroom; teachers and classmates will thank you. ORCHIDS to. . . Tom Wroten for setting up pumpkin carving in the makerspace. We appreciate you purchasing pumpkins and carving tools! ONIONS to. . . the people who walked on the Chalk Mural. We had only a couple days to enjoy it before the rain washed it away.
November 1, 2016
THE OCTAGON
OPINION
9
Roseville’s wildly popular Topgolf just isn’t worth the wait Reservation problems, super-long lines, poor customer service contribute to bad experience Some friends and I met at the mall. She said she wasn’t sure how the We couldn’t meet at Topgolf be- reservations worked and to ask guest cause their parking lot was complete- services. ll I wanted to do on Satur- ly full, even though the place is surEven with cutting half the line, it day night was smack some rounded by empty land. still took me 15 minutes to speak to golf balls around with my While deciding whether we want- someone at guest services. friends at Topgolf (1700 ed to wait three Could I get in right Freedom Park Dr., Roseville), which hours, we disaway if I booked a slot I’d heard was really cool. covered a loopwith a pass? Yes, I could. The three-story driving range with hole to get in Finally, some good ‘LIKE I SAID, SOME giant targets scattered across a 240- sooner. news! But it was folyard outfield caught my attention. On its weblowed by some bad news. GOOD NEWS FOLThree-and-a-half hours later, I was site, Topgolf I couldn’t book the LOWED BY MORE a whole lot less excited. advertises a reservation at guest serBAD NEWS’ Here’s the story. $50 Priority vices. When I arrived at 6:30 p.m., I was Pass that allows So I spent another ADAM DEAN, SENIOR immediately disheartened to learn members to get 15 minutes adding my there was a three-hour wait to get in. on top of the debit card to my account I guess it was my fault for not call- bay list (the bay online. It took forever ing ahead. is the individual area where each par- because the WiFi was poor. Oh, wait, I did. Four times. ty plays) for a specific date and time. By the time I booked the reservaAll day Saturday I couldn’t reach One of my friends was willing to tion it was too late for the 8:30 p.m. anyone at Topgolf. I left a voicemail, shell out the $50 because he really slot. And the next opening was at but they never called back. wanted to play on his birthday. 9:45. No answer at a place that busy I was suspicious because it was Like I said, some good news folshould’ve raised some red flags for unclear whether the pass covered a lowed by more bad news. me. But hey, I’m a nice guy. whole party or just an individual. Deciding to wait since we had alAnd when I called Top- ready invested so much time, we got golf for clarification, no one dinner and ate birthday cake. We returned at 9:30 p.m. and got answered. So we headed back over to in line to purchase memberships for the rest of my friends and confirm my find out in person. Outside, I consulted a reservation. After waiting a minute or two, we worker who told me that a reached the front, told the employee Priority Pass wasn’t going to do anything. She said when my name and showed my emailed she was last inside there receipt. With a puzzled look he searched were already 18 people in for my reservation. It wasn’t there, line with the passes. Just the news I wanted to even though my receipt showed otherwise. hear. After some more searching, he But the website still found my reservation number. Once showed an open 8:30 slot, so I went inside just to make again he had a puzzled look. “You’re not Miranda, are you?” sure the pass wouldn’t help. The only thing I could do was When I walked in, I spotted three employees stand- laugh. ing behind guest services Topgolf ’s system had switched my PREPARING TO SWING Junior Bryce Longoria lines doing nothing. I asked one membership and reservation with up his shot. PHOTO BY BENETT SACKHEIM how long the line was. someone named Miranda.
BY ADAM DEAN
A
TOPGOLF Senior Emil Erickson starts to swing his club. Due to the tedious and confusing wait period, Erickson and his friends didn’t start playing until two hours after the original time slot. PHOTO BY BENETT SACKHEIM
At this point the employee left to consult his manager. And it somehow took 10 minutes for them to return. In a couple more minutes we resolved my reservation ($50), bought my friends memberships ($5 apiece) and went to our bay ($45 an hour at that time of day), arriving 20 minutes past our reservation’s start time. Even when we got there, there was still more waiting. We each had to pay for the hour we planned to play. It was a very awkward, slow experience, and the system didn’t accept cash,
which was all some of us had brought. “You guys could have done this downstairs at the front desk,” the woman handling our transaction told us. “It would have been a lot quicker.” Of course, no one had told us that. I enjoyed the time when I was actually playing. But I had to leave 25 minutes into my hour to get home by my 11 p.m. curfew. Since I’d told my mom I’d be back around 10, she was really not happy. I don’t think I’m going back to Topgolf any time soon.
Dine-in movie theater: one dream that shouldn’t become reality Accommodating service does not compensate for pricey dishes, noisy atmosphere at Studio Movie Grill BY ANNA FRANKEL I have always loved eating my dinner while watching a movie, although my parents would never approve. Studio Movie Grill (SMG) is a movie theater in Rocklin (5140 Commons Dr.) that serves a variety of meals alongside the latest blockbusters movies. Realizing that SMG offers what I’d always wanted as a child, fellow freshman Emma Boersma and I decided to see for ourselves whether SMG was as great as it sounded. While we were there, we watched “Miss Peregrine’s ‘POPCORN Home for Peculiar CAN BE Children.” CONSUMED We ordered our tickets online for MINDLESSLY, $8.50 each and also BUT WINGS? chose our seats. BURGERS?’ When we first walked into SMG’s ANNA lobby, it looked a FRANKEL, lot like a high-end FRESHMAN restaurant. At the front, there was a counter to buy tickets, but the rest of the lobby was full of tables and booths where people were eating and drinking. In the back of the main area was a
full-service bar. But once we moved past the stand where the movie tickets are checked and collected (towards the back of the lobby), SMG took on the appearance of a semi-normal movie theater. The only difference was a long window looking into the kitchen and a counter where servers were collecting food to bring into the various theaters. The inside of the theater was bigger and more luxurious than the typical movie theater. The seats ORDERING DINNER Freshmen Anna Frankel and Emma Boersma look at the were leather and slightly menu while seated in the movie theater at Studio Movie Grill. The dishes were larger, though they did not expensive for their good, but not great, quality. PHOTO BY KIM BUSS recline. to pizzas and quesadillas. The drinks are what The biggest difference you would expect (Coke, Sprite, etc.), and the was a large, wooden tray table that pulled over desserts include cookies and cakes as well as ice our seats with a red button to call the waiter. cream and a variety of candy. Except for the distraction caused by the I ordered chicken wings ($11) and a small waiters walking through the aisles, blocking margherita pizza ($11). Emma ordered a salad the view of the movie, the service at SMG was ($11) and fried chicken sliders ($9.50). very accommodating. Our server came within five minutes of being called and was kind and The wings and salad were served in decorapatient. She gave us our menus and showed us tive glass bowls. The order of wings came with how to call her when we were ready to order. six wings, carrots, celery, dipping sauce and lots The menu offers starters, drinks and desserts. of napkins. The salad was very big and slightly overdressed. The entrees range from burgers and sandwiches
The wings and salad were far superior to average theater food, but not restaurant quality. However, the pizza and sliders had very little flavor and were undercooked. “The cheese tastes like sawdust,” Emma said. In addition, the movie experience at SMG was not as relaxing as it would be at other theaters. For one, the lights seemed brighter than normal. Because of the background sounds of people ordering, delivering and eating food, the movie’s volume seemed to have been turned unusually high. The blaring movie and the ambient noises combined to make an uncomfortably loud environment. I guess that regardless of the service and quality of food, eating full meals and watching movies in a theater conflict by nature. It’s easy to enjoy a movie while eating dinner at home because there’s no pressure. You can rewind any time you want, so you don’t need to put your full attention into the movie. You can easily eat a meal and can even use your phone. But when you’re at a theater, there’s an obligation to pay attention. If you get distracted, you could miss a critical part of the movie. There is no going back. Popcorn can be consumed mindlessly, but wings? Burgers? Those definitely require some amount of focus. In retrospect, eating a great dinner first, then truly enjoying the movie distraction-free would be more entertaining - and a lot less expensive.
10
THE OCTAGON
REMAINDER
Budget cuts: Other elective teachers decline to comment
(continued from page 1)
“I guess it taught me that I never want to be in a situation where I get the rug pulled out from under me again, in college or in my career.” Now, Hansen said, the current and future business managers are in an awkward position. “I don’t know what (current business manager) Chardonnay (Needler) is supposed to be doing now,” Hansen said. “Should she actively be trying to seek new business? Or should she pull back on the reins? This whole thing kind of limits us. It discourages us from trying hard.” Despite the cuts to its school-funded budget, the Octagon is in no danger of running out of money, Fels said. To compensate for the cuts, Wells assured Fels that the school would not allow the Octagon to go under, and that if something couldn’t be afforded, the administration would fund it from the high-school budget. Fels, however, dislikes this compromise. “I’ve always liked holding out ad sales as a carrot to the staff,” she said.
“I tell them, ‘If you really want this, you have to earn it.’” When questioned why the Octagon’s budget had been so severely reduced, Wells said that he does not make budget decisions. However, the Octagon wasn’t the only elective budget that was cut. According to Michelle Myers, PE department chair, her lower-school budget was cut by 60 percent, and her middle- and high-school budgets were cut by 20 percent. Unlike the Octagon, the PE department doesn’t have a secure means of raising money for itself. Consequently, cuts like these, Myers said, are a major setback. Myers explained that there are two categories of expense in the department: replacement and addition. Usually there is enough money to replace what needs to be replaced, and sometimes there is even enough to buy additional equipment. This year, however, there isn’t even enough to replace. And the youngest students are suffering. “We have to figure out what’s important - what we must have to keep
Novermber 1, 2016 this was available - don’t know if that still happens. “For example, we need a landing mat for gymnastics. The last time we purchased one was 25 years ago. It’s lasted that long, which is a great thing, but it’s going to be (about) $2,500 to replace.“ Whether or not other electives were cut as severely as PE and the
Octagon were - or even cut at all remains unclear. Patricia Kelly, visual arts department chair, was unsure of her highschool budget for the year. Band director Bob Ratcliff declined to comment as to whether his elective budget was affected. Theater director Brian Frishman also declined to comment on the drama budget.
going,” Myers said. “For example, I might not be able to buy 10 new lower-school basketballs. “Could I use middle-school basketballs? Yes. (But) they’re bigger, they’re heavier, they’re not ideal for the little kids. They’re hard, and we’d rather have the softer equipment. “It’s not ideal, but if we’re in a situation where budgets have been cut, it’s kind of what we have to do.” Even when there is money, it’s still hard to get new items, as PE equipment tends to be very expensive, Myers added. “I’ve gone to (chief financial officer) Bill Petchauer and all my heads to ask to purchase some large-ticket items on what we call the Capital Campaign budget. (For) items over $1,000, (you) can technically apply to have those items come from a different budget. It used to be that DID YOU KNOW... all the heads would tell 20% of Drinking Water is Lost Due to Leaking Pipes! the different Leaking Sewers Contaminate Groundwater and Cause Backups & Flooding! teachers that
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Sports Boosters’ Athletes of the Month Theo Kaufman
Kaufman placed first in the league at the league championships on Oct. 25 at Granite Regional Park, running a 16:38 5K. This is Kaufman’s first year on the cross-country team, yet he’s consistently had some of the top times for the team.
Chloé Collinwood
Last year Collinwood played only front row for the girls’ JV volleyball team, but this year she became an all-around, very dependable player. She’s had numerous kills and assists as well as leading the team as captain.
THE OCTAGON
November 1, 2016
EDITING FLAWS Sophomore Monique Lonergan said she didn’t like her school ID card this year because she looked sunburned. She also said the biggest fault with the cards is their coloring. Lonergan is one of many students who suggested
COMMUNITY
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changing photographers. Freshman Rebecca Waterson said her pictures are awful for the amount of money her parents paid for them. PHOTOS USED BY PERMISSION OF LONERGAN AND WATERSON
More than a third of high schoolers dislike ID card pictures
Students complain their photos are unnaturally colored, oddly posed, strangely Photoshopped
“
Show me that bright smile! Tilt your head a little to the right. All right, now look straight at the camera for me!” That’s right, it’s Picture Day. And every year with the pictures comes a wave of complaints.
BY LARKIN BARNARD-BAHN
Students object to the lighting, their “robotic-looking” smiles and the angles of the photos, while the parents criticize the prices. John Swentowsky, the photographer for Swentowsky Photography, takes the pictures for SCDS and has been a photographer since 1980. Photos must be ordered and paid for before they are taken, and for the vast majority of students the photographers take only one. After the photo is taken, the student is shown only a glimpse of the picture before the next student is photographed. Some parents find it unreasonable to buy the pictures before they see them, since only one shot is taken, and they believe they are expensive. “I wish we could choose from a few pictures, but since we can’t it’s difficult to know what to buy,” parent Michael Bahn said. “I think buying pictures ahead of time would be okay if we had a choice of different shots.” However, not everyone is dissatisfied. In a poll taken on Oct. 18, 10 percent of 115 high-school students said that they hated their pictures, 27 percent said they didn’t like their pictures, 55 percent said their pictures were fine and 8 percent said they liked them a lot. The poll asked for suggestions on how to improve Picture Day. Some students complained about the positions they’re asked to sit in.
Q A &
BY HÉLOÏSE SCHEP
Former headmaster Stephen Repsher retired last year after 44 years in education, 13 of which were spent as headmaster.
“We don’t get to choose how we sit and smile; we have to sit at “When I looked at other people’s cards, I could see that the a certain angle and tilt our heads in a particular way, and it makes same had been done to their faces.” the pictures seem very unnatural and forced,” freshman Héloïse Other students said it looked like they had a spray tan in the Schep said. pictures. According to Swentowsky, putting the students in poses is the This isn’t just a recent phenomenon either; freshman Jackmost difficult part of the process. son Crawford said that in his seventh-grade picture, a fake tan “We try to make the boys look strong and was applied which made him look like an “orange masculine and the girls feminine,” he said. Smurf.” In fact, senior Anny Schmidt said SwenSwentowsky said that he tries to maintain proptowsky was very friendly. er coloration. He said that achieving the best light‘WE DON’T GET TO “I didn’t know how to pose, and the phoing is difficult because it is different for everyone. CHOOSE HOW WE tographer helped me,” Schmidt said. “I also He said he has to look at all of a person’s features, like how we take the pictures on our own and make a quick decision about the lighting and SIT AND SMILE’ time.” position. HÉLOÏSE SCHEP, Additionally, many students object to the Swentowsky also said that the reason students FRESHMAN photographers adjusting their hair. have one picture is that he has to meet a deadline, “When we go in to get our photos taken, and there are many students to photograph. we have our hair done the way we want it to As for paying for the pictures in advance, Swenlook in the picture,” sophomore Chloé Collinwood said. “Then towsky said that paying for the pictures after they are distributed when you sit down in front of the camera, he moves your hair would bring the process to a halt and double the prices. around and messes it up. “We do offer a money-back guarantee if someone is dissatis“I’ve never really liked people touching my hair, and I wish fied with the pictures,” he said. he just told us to move our head instead of touching it. It’s very Patricia Situ, parent of freshman David and former owner of uncomfortable.” Ace Photo Lab and Studio, suggested that stretching Picture Every student receives a student ID card featuring their photo. Day out over multiple days could solve this problem. As someone The photos are the source of most complaints, mainly from the who’s done portraits for schools, she said that in order to achieve Photoshopping applied to all the pictures after they’re taken. a good photo, five to 10 (or more) shots might have to be taken. “Last year all of the blemishes on my face were blotted out One aspect of Picture Day students do enjoy is the seniors with white, which made my face look quite splotchy,” freshman wearing costumes for their pictures. Rebecca Waterson said. “This year, instead of whiting out blem“I was a punk rock guy,” senior Austin Talamantes said. ishes, they just made the rest of my face more red to match it, Schmidt added, “It was funny to see everyone line up for class which made me look sunburned. pictures in their costumes.”
WITH
STEPHEN REPSHER
A: I really miss the students and my col-
leagues. Their enthusiasm and spirit always brightened my day, and are such an important part of the Country Day community.
Do you have any special memories from Q: Is there anything you are especially en- Q: your time at SCDS? joying about your retirement? A: Yes! Family is a huge and important part of A: Opening car doors, Grandparents’ Day, my life, and now I have more time for that. My wife and I have been able to spend a lot of time with her parents and siblings in Texas, whom we used to see only once a year during the holidays.
Homecoming under the lights, closings and graduations; there are so many.
Q: If you would have stayed longer at SCDS,
ON THE MOVE Former headmaster Stephen Repsher and his wife Paula took a narrow gauge train from Durango to Silverton during their trip to Colorado this fall. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHEN REPSHER
Enjoy the ride, and realize that life is an A: (My family and I) traveled to Telluride, A: exquisite adventure. As John Lennon said, “Life
is there anything you’d want to change?
Colorado, last month for 10 days, using a stay at the Fairmont (Hotel) that we bid on at last year’s auction. We are currently planning a vacation in Europe.
for the faculty, administration and staff, as they richly deserve that recognition for their dedication and hard work.
France and northern Italy soon. We want to experience the food and culture over an extended period of time. We also hope to take a cooking class because we enjoy all the great cuisine!
is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
Q: Do you plan to visit SCDS often? A: Yes! I would have finished rebuilding the Q: What kind of books are you currently middle and high schools and would have re- Q: Where in Europe? reading? A: I will stop by at some point, but I want to placed the MP Room with a proper performing give the new head of school (Lee Thomsen) his and visual arts center. I also planned to continue A: My wife and I are hoping to visit southern A: I have an eclectic taste in literature. I enspace. I think that it would be more appropriate strengthening the compensation and benefits joy re-reading books by classic Spanish authors if I interfere less with the school than before. However, as for colleagues, I would be delighted to visit all of them!
Q: Is there anything you miss about Coun- Q: Do you plan to travel anywhere? try Day?
Q: Do you have any advice for students?
like Lope de Vega, Garcia Lorca and Borges. Spending time outdoors is also a lifelong interest of mine, so I enjoy books like “Born to Run” and “Into Thin Air.” I also liked “The Kite Runner” and have recently read “Hillbilly Elegy.”
12
THE OCTAGON
FEATURE
November 1, 2016
Graphic by Mohini Rye
STUDENTS, TEACHERS SUFFER FROM ANXIETY DREAMS
Some seek out therapy, keep journals, breathe deeply or exercise to combat symptoms
M
y heart’s racing as I quickly type on my laptop. “I’ve got to get this story done,” I tell myself. “It’s already so late!” I only just started, and I can’t figure out the next sentence. I start worrying about whether I’ll ever get the story done when I wake up in a cold sweat.
By Quin LaComb
Sometimes stress manifests itself as dreams such as this. In a poll of 114 high-school students on Oct. 3, 12 said that they have had recurring anxiety dreams, and two of those have sought out therapy to deal with them. The dreams’ subjects range from the death of loved ones to getting tests back to public humiliation. Sophomore Gabi Alvarado’s dreams involved doubles of people she was close to, who were out to get her. “It sounds sort of ridiculous, but it was very scary because I trusted them and they kept turning on me,” she said. “And it was horrific when I had just passed my parents in the house and then saw them somewhere else. I couldn’t tell them apart.
“They got so bad after a couple nights that I couldn’t tell when I was awake or sleeping. One day in math class I thought I was in the nightmare and had a small breakdown.” These dreams occurred in the span of a week in Alvarado’s eighth-grade year, and she said that at the time she was under a lot of stress. Her advice to anyone having similar issues is to “find another outlet for whatever is causing it, or find a soothing habit like drinking tea.” Another example is the dreams of an anonymous sophomore. She started experiencing anxiety dreams in seventh grade, and she has continued to experience them ever since. The dreams were about the student being chased, or about someone she knew getting hurt and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. The student eventually went to therapy to deal with those dreams. “It was very frightening,” the student said. “It got to the point where I couldn’t sleep; it affected my schoolwork. I went to therapy because I needed to figure out what was going on and how to stop it.” She said that these dreams still occur and that sometimes she still can’t fall asleep. Her advice to help deal with these dreams is “Just remember that it’s a dream; it can’t really do anything.” Dr. Jessica Vando, a clinical psychologist, said that anxiety in students is appropriate. “We all experience anxiety just as we all experience happiness, sadness, anger and other emotions,” Vando said. “Students have busy lives and
experience stress, (and) they worry about school. They might have things going on with friends or family that may contribute to feelings of anxiety and worry.” Vando said that anxiety comes from biological roots that deal with our feeling of fight or flight. That system is in place to warn us about danger and produces adrenaline to help us. In that way, it is usually felt physically. “You might feel a faster heartbeat or you might have trouble catching your breath,” Vando said. “You might even feel like you’re having a heart attack in more extreme cases of a panic attack. You can’t get bad thoughts out of your head in extreme cases, and you have trouble calming your body.” Her advice to help lessen anxiety is to think about a “competing response”
‘ONE DAY IN MATH CLASS I THOUGHT I WAS IN THE NIGHTMARE AND HAD A SMALL BREAKDOWN’ GABI ALVARADO, SOPHOMORE because you can’t be anxious if you’re relaxed. Vando suggests deep breathing, playing sports, working out or just re-
laxing to help release stress and calm yourself down if you’re feeling a lot of symptoms of anxiety. Vando said that the point at which someone should consider therapy for anxiety is when it starts adversely affecting daily functioning, such as appetite or sleeping. As for successfully managing anxiety, she said that it depends a lot on the level of anxiety and what the causes are, but also on personal biology. “The nice thing about anxiety is that you can’t stay at the peak level of anxiety because there is a point at which the body can’t maintain that level of arousal and so your anxiety comes back down,” she said. “Eventually some or enough stressors may come to an end, allowing anxiety levels to decrease. All of us experience some amount of anxiety, and most of us eventually manage it.” But students aren’t the only ones having these dreams. English teacher Ron Bell has had anxiety dreams infrequently throughout his life since he was in middle school. “They were the usual dreams where I’m going about my business, but I’m not aware that I’m not wearing pants,” he said. “I had dreams of that sort when I was young. I’ve also had dreams where I’m faced with a very steep and frightening hill or slope or something that I have to climb. “Also, I’ve had dreams where I’m flying but not in a pleasurable way. It’s the fear of not having ground under my feet. “Depending on my profession, I’ve had dreams where I forget to go to
class or am not prepared for class or get my schedule screwed up.” Bell said that most of his dreams occur in a dream world that doesn’t overlap with ours, and all people
‘THINK OF (DREAMS) AS YOUR MIND TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING’ RON BELL, TEACHER
in his dreams aren’t people that he knows. Also, his perspective is usually from a different person than himself. He said he hasn’t sought therapy because “there’s nothing significantly wrong with (having) dreams like these, but I know some people where the dreams are much more severe, so severe to the point where they’re disturbing. “I became aware as I got older of having lucid dreams. I find myself stopping dreams sometimes and changing the direction of them. I didn’t realize I was lucid dreaming until one night where I just realized I was.” His advice to people with anxiety dreams is to seek professional help if their dreams bother them a lot, but also to study dream analysis and try to see symbols in their dreams.