June edition digital

oak park high school

TALON

volume v • june 2015 • 899 north kanan road, oak park california 91377

CLASS OF 2015 As we look back, we look ahead.

9 college map 10 throwback timeline 12 senior spotlights

INSIDE • on campus 2 • opinion 5 • beyond oak park 7 • senior section 8 • campus life 14 • entertainment 17 • sports 18

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june 2015

on campus School wins Gold Ribbon

State recognizes OPHS for academic excellence, science standards

by Rachel Perry, staff writer Oak Park High School received the 2015 California Gold Ribbon School award last month for effectively implementing the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards in the science program.

“I am enthusiastically proud of my department; they work incredibly hard with me and we spend countless extra hours to better our program,” science department chair Winnie Litten said. “I challenge you to find another school doing the same.”

The award, which replaces the California Distinguished School program, focuses on science, technology and math as well as the use of technology in the classroom.

It also considers the inclu-

sivity of the program towards all student demographics, including students with special education needs.

“This new criteria is focused on schools that are implementing model programs for new state standards,” Principal Kevin Buchanan said.

The application process included a general document review, class observation and a series of candid interviews with science teachers, administration, students and parents.

The document review also assessed the school’s special education system..

“The gap between students with IEPs [Individualized Education Programs] and general education kids is not large,” said Buchanan. “We have one of the smallest gaps in the state.”

The second part of the re-

Science teacher Winnie Litten discusses the brain of a fetal pig. Oak Park recently won the 2015 California Gold Ribbon award for excellence in the science program (Staff Photographer/Talon). view process included a school tour and class viewing. The school selected senior Max Kibbee to tour special representatives. “[Kibbee] represents us very well,” Buchanan said.

Fels says “adiós” Spanish instructor will be leaving after 31 years of teaching

Nora Fels will be retiring after 31 years of teaching. At Oak Park High School, Fels taught advanced Spanish classes, including AP Spanish (Staff Photographer/Talon).

by Ashwarya Srinivas, layout editor Nora Fels, the AP Spanish teacher, is set to retire after 31 years of teaching at Oak Park High School.

Fels began teaching years ago, when the campus consisted of only 260 students, and included both the middle and high school. She currently teaches the advanced Spanish courses offered at the school, from Spanish III CP to Spanish V AP. “I am excited… to do something else. I’ve been in

school since I was two years old… and so it’ll be interesting to see what it’s like, outside of a school calendar,” Fels said.

She has elaborate plans set for the next couple of years.

“My husband and I are going to travel,” Fels said.

“We’re going to be traveling the Caribbean a bit, and then I’m going off to Europe… and the following year, I’m off to South America.”

“I might learn how to play mahjong too.”

Though she is thrilled for her long-awaited chance to explore the world, Fels is also saddened by the prospect of

leaving her “second home.”

“I’ll miss the kids. I’ll miss my friends,” she said.

Fels, over the span of her entire teaching career, has found a great deal to enjoy in teaching Spanish.

“I’ve enjoyed to see the growth in the students, and how they’ve matured,” Fels said. “I’ve enjoyed how they’ve been able to converse, and understand, and not be afraid to use the language.”

The students are disappointed to see their teacher leave. “I’m kind of upset, because I’m used to her teaching style, and I like that she is a native speaker. I appreciate that she goes over culture, which other Spanish teachers don’t,” said junior Gaby Menashe, who will be continuing Spanish next year.

“She’s been one of the best Spanish teachers I’ve ever had.

I feel kind of sad that the students next year won’t be able to experience [her teaching style],” junior Neepun Gupta said.

Along with the students, Oak Park faculty will miss Señora Fels. “I am truthfully heartbroken,” Spanish teacher Sheri Boone said. “I have worked with her for 17 years, and she’s a wonderful friend, coworker and mentor, and she’ll be sorely missed.”

The final part of this process involved interviews with parents, teachers and students.

Kibbee said he felt that Oak Park High School succeeds at educating students

on an individual level.

“We’re honored to have a school that focuses on the student and academics and that gets us to the point where we can better our lives,” Kibbee said.

AP TEACHERS EMBRACE CHALLENGES, JOYS OF HIGHER LEVEL CURRICULUM

by Irena Yang, art director AP testing is the most stressful time of the year for many high school students.

Yet it can be just as stressful for another, often overlooked, group: teachers.

For those who teach these high-level courses, the AP curriculum can be both incredibly rewarding and extremely challenging.

“My favorite part of teaching AP is the challenge for me intellectually to prepare the lessons and to find new ways to explain complicated things,” AP Calculus BC teacher Cathy Lory said. “I’ve accepted the challenge, and I like to do it.”

Yet with AP classes comes considerable stress for students and teachers alike.

“There is a huge level of anxiety that goes with AP,” Lory said. “Not only my professional anxiety to make sure that the kids are prepared for the exam, but the students also have a lot of anxiety because they feel they are being judged or evaluated based upon those tests.”

This anxiety often leads parents and students to overlook the other aspects of AP

classes.

“Sometimes when classes are deemed too hard or impossible, people no longer enroll in them, no matter how valuable it could be,” Lory said. “If the grades aren’t as high as people want, then some of the other value of the education is lost in the conversation.”

As a result, teachers like Lory spend a tremendous amount of time helping students learn the material and prepare for the test. Lory said she had at least 15 hours of training before the school year and attended national conferences and workshops with teachers and official AP graders to improve her own teaching methods.

“All of my colleagues who teach AP classes spend hours and hours preparing for our courses,” Lory said. “We provide as much assistance as possible, but in the end, the teacher isn’t sitting down with the pencil or the pen in the AP test.”

Though there is significant pressure on teachers, according to Assistant Principal Bryan Martin, the AP scores ultimately do not affect teacher salaries or school funding.

“For our AP teachers, it’s continued on page 3

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june 2015 Oak Park test rates reflect impressive student, teacher effort continued from page 2 Last year’s AP French more of a pride thing,” Martin said. “We have a lot of highly class was Bovard’s smallest motivated students, but I ever, with only four students think that says a lot about our taking the test. She was forced AP teachers that they have to combine the AP class with French III, which made it hard such impressive pass rates.”

Last year, Oak Park to teach the entire AP curricuachieved a 91 percent AP pass lum.

Next year, rate, well above however, Bovard the statewide All of my col- will have more average of 64 leagues who teach than 20 students percent.

“For what AP classes spend enrolled in AP, we’re charged hours and hours enough to create a separate class. to do, we do an preparing for our “I can finally excellent job with it,” Martin courses...but in the teach the whole end, the teacher course the way said. supposed H o w eve r, isn’t sitting down it’s many teachers with the pencil or to be taught,” Bovard said. want students the pen in the AP Though the to know that AP curriculum there is more test. has its challengto AP classes, it ultimately es than just Cathy Lory, provides students passing a test math teacher with a good founthrough rote dation for future memorization. education. “ [ A P “It’s important to have classes] are not about the scores, but about how much as many AP opportunities for the students learn and get in- students in any subject bevolved with it,” French teach- cause that shows the qualer Maryannick Bovard said. ity of the high school and the Bovard teaches all four French district,” Bovard said. “AP is a classes at Oak Park, including way to push yourself in high school, achieve the most in AP French.

“I love teaching AP,” high school and keep this baBovard said. “The kids that sis for life.” take AP are very interested and want to do well.”

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Fallen, but not defeated Alumnus Brian Wolverton’s sacrifice honored at memorial

by Grace Ye, staff writer A group of juniors led by English teacher Kathy Schultheis held a memorial May 22 for Brian Wolverton, an Oak Park alumnus who died in combat while serving in the War in Afghanistan.

At the memorial, two scrapbooks, filled with writings from Schultheis’ students meditating on Wolverton’s sacrifice, were given to Wolverton’s parents, Christopher and Miriam Wolverton.

“We’re very pleased and humbled,” Miriam Wolverton said. “I want to thank the group for their hard work and dedication, and [my husband and I] can’t wait to look at the books they have prepared...

They’re beautiful.”

After Schultheis’ son played “America the Beautiful” on the piano, the memorial began with opening words from Schultheis herself.

Junior Nathaniel Driggs’ followed with a reading of the poem “The Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, with the event concluding with words from junior Dennis Chiu.

But, before everyone was dismissed for refreshments, Christopher Wolverton stepped up to the podium to

Photos of fallen soldier and Oak Park alumnus Brian Wolverton on display. Students of English teacher Kathy Schultheis honored Wolverton by giving his parents two scrapbooks filled with reflections on Wolverton’s sacrifice (Staff photograph/Talon). announce his thanks for remembering Brian.

“I think that the most touching part of the service was when the father came to speak, because we weren’t all expecting it, and we got to know Brian through his voice the most,” junior Tyler Ford said.

More than 50 people attended the memorial, including the entire football team and coaches and teachers who knew Brian Wolverton personally.

“It is as hard today as it was when I learned he had died and I was giving his eulogy at his funeral. I’m amazed at the strength and resilience of his parents,” Lyle Green-

berg, a track coach for Brian Wolverton, said.

Greenberg’s own son is a Marine, and his daughter grew up with Brian Wolverton since elementary school.

The event was generally received as a resounding success.

“It’s good to have this level of recognition from the Oak Park students and I think it’s a healthy experience both for the students and for the people attending the memorial,” Chiu said. “It opens their eyes to what the people in the community do for us, what they give up, the things that they do, the things that they sacrifice, in the name of duty for their family and community.

Drama department honored, performs number from “Evita” at Pantages Theater

by Giselle Langley, staff writer Oak Park’s drama department has been recognized for its theatrical productions at the 4th Annual Jerry Herman Awards. This awards show is a celebration of the achievement and excellence in high school musical theatre in schools in the Los Angeles area.

Not only was Oak Park nominated for Best Orchestra and a surprise nomination for Best Onstage Performance for the production of Evita and Best Ensemble/Cast for A Chorus Line, the school was also selected to perform at the prestigious Pantages Theater in Hollywood.

Oak Park is one of only four high schools that received this opportunity, and performed “And the Money Kept Rolling In” from Evita, highlighting the vocals of senior Griffin Hughes.

Seniors Yael Karoly and Matt Yulish were nominated for the Best Actress and Best Actor categories in a musi-

cal, and displayed their talent in an opening number with nominees from the other participating schools with songs from Hello Dolly.

Although Oak Park did not win any of the awards, the performers who participated experienced an incredible night to remember.

“It was really fun and it was honestly an experience I will remember forever—and I know that’s cliche but its true,” senior Zach Finn, one of the few males to perform in the number, said.

Due to the once-in-a lifetime opportunity to perform on such a famous theater that has had so many amazing and groundbreaking performers in musical theater history as veterans of the stage, the Evita performers determined to make their performance a memorable one.

“We had three rehearsals last week for about two hours where we reviewed the number, but all in all it was really fun. All of our hard work definitely paid off,” sophomore Julia Parry said.

Other schools invited to perform included students

Senior Griffin Hughes and the “Evita” cast perform “And the Money Kept Rolling In” at the Pantages Theater. The drama department was recognized at the 4th annual Jerry Herman Awards (Photo courtesy of Giselle Langley).

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, who performed “Transylvania Mania” from Young Frankenstein, New Community Jewish High School, who performed the opening number from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Chaminade College Preparatory High School, who performed “Gaston” from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Presenters from the

worlds of Broadway, film and television confirmed to present awards included Corbin Bleu and Kenny Ortega, both known for their participation in the High School Musical movie phenomenon, among many other renowned performers.

Oak Park’s drama department was previously nominated for Cabaret in 2014 and for the production of Les Mis-

erables in 2013.

Performing at the Jerry Herman Awards was a bittersweet way to say goodbye to many of the graduating seniors in the drama department.

Parry described the experience as one word: “Exhilarating.”

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june 2015

TALON

june 2015

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opinion A ride in Poseidon’s chariot A review of the Maserati Quattroporte S4

terior. I’ll admit, while I think this car is far more attractive than 75 percent of all other cars on the road, I prefer the I drove the Maserati styling of the previous generaQuattroporte a few weeks ago. tion. It was not as lengthy, and And boy, do I have good things I’m a bigger fan of the vertical to say about it. taillights.

My first and current car The rear lights on this is a Honda Odyssey minivan, generation remind me of and I love it. I’ve loved cars for those off a certain Kia, and years, and I thought that, with that does irk me a bit. But this my passion for automotive generation of Quattroporte is journalism, it’s about time I still very handsome from the started writing my own mate- outside. I have also always rial. loved that each Maserati has a For the longest time I trident on the grill. I felt like I didn’t know what to write was taking Poseidon’s chariot about. This changed when out for a spin. my friend’s dad handed me Disclaimer: The owner the keys of this to this car is not Today, looking back t r i d e n tPoseidon. on the experience, I feel bearing No hipsteed and pocampi like I’m one of the luckitold me, were atest teenage gearheads in “Have fun tached the world. The experience with it.” to the was incredible, and is one T o vehicle.

I’ll constantly look back on day, lookOptional ing back extra, I’d with a smile on my face. on the eximagine. perience, If the I feel like exterior is I’m one of the luckiest teen- handsome, then the interior is age gear-heads in the world. the love child of George ClooThe experience was incred- ney, Ryan Gosling and Aphroible, and is one I’ll constantly dite. look back on with a smile on The steering wheel is thick my face. and very soft, and the leather just felt right, as I imagined it Meeting the Maserati: Exte- would feel. The center stack rior and Interior was attractive and easy to use, It all started when I ar- and the gear shifter had a very rived at the house and had sturdy, expensive feel. While the rather heavy keys handed there were bits of plastic here to me by my friend’s hero of a and there, I understand it’s no dad.

Phantom or S600.

“You’ll have to teach me However, I would have to use the paddle shifters liked the shifter paddles to be sometime. I don’t use them metal. No matter, as they’re often myself,” he explained. I still ridiculously long for the told him I’d be more than hap- full-size sedan it is, and for py to help with that. that I won’t take points off.

First things first, the ex- As if I were using points at all.

by Ben Winck, staff writer

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The Maserati Quattroporte — a sleek, stylish luxury car. The Quattroporte features a twin turbo-charged 3.0 V6 engine and goes from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.9 seconds (Ben Winck/Talon).

You get the point.

Overall, the car looks great, and while I did find some details I was not too fond of, I’m still a huge fan.

It looks, feels and, yes, smells like what you would want a Maserati Quattroporte to look, feel and smell like.

Side note: It smelled like very smooth and expensive leather.

going a speed that’s likely to get you in serious trouble.

I was very impressed with the car’s powertrain; however the throttle response has a very slight, yet noticeable lag between throttle input, appropriate downshifts and acceleration when I really gave it some juice. This is no serious concern though, since waiting for the car to find the right gear and T h e then hitDrive ting Warp If I had to drive either Oh Factor 5 the Porsche or the Maseyes, it is an enrati for the rest of my life, I’d g o e s joyable choose the trident. indeed. game on T h e its own. sound T h e is pretQuattroty muffled, but if you listen porte’s handling was the most closely, it’s definitely there. pleasant surprise of the entire For now, I want to address experience. This is a big car – that engine. It’s a twin turbo- longer than the current long charged 3.0 V6 that makes 404 wheelbase S-Class. So you bhp and 406 lb-ft of torque, would not expect it to do the and does the 0-62 sprint in 4.9 cliche “shrinking” that some seconds. I’m happy to report large cars like the Ferrari FF that I was pleasantly surprised do when you introduce it to a by the V6. set of corners. And while I’m It made plenty of power, not an individual with very pulled quite nicely, and, when much to compare this car to, coupled with the Q4 four- I can report that, when taken wheel (yes, not all-wheel) through some curvy Mulholdrive system, it felt like I had land roads, this car does pretty more than adequate traction. well.

I’m probably the least qualiI would not go so far as to fied to judge turbo lag, but say that it truly shrinks around from what I could tell, there the driver, but when placed was not a discernible amount. into a bend, it felt like a much Interestingly, I found it smaller, sportier and lighter difficult to stay at the speed sedan­a — very impressive feat limit, but not only because I for a car I’d never thought to wanted to drive fast. This car call a legitimate, capable sport picks up speed very quickly, sedan. and while going 45 mph. in one car may feel fast, 45 feels Final Remarks like 20 in the Quattroporte.

This really is a fantasThis car does not feel like it’s tic car in every aspect. If you going really fast until you’re want a luxurious, sporty, com-

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fortable and capable full size sedan, it’d be a crime for you to overlook the Quattroporte.

While it is not the greatest car in all of those categories, it strikes a very impressive balance, while also providing a characteristic that’s rare in most cars on sale today – character.

The only other car that I’ve driven that comes close to the Maserati is a 991 Carrera S Cabrio, and while I do like that car more because of its noise, speed and looks (among many other factors), the Quattroporte was a pleasant surprise.

If I had to drive either the Porsche or the Maserati for the rest of my life, I’d choose the trident.

My Ratings: Exterior: 8/10 Interior: 9/10 Acceleration: 8/10 Braking: 7/10 Ride: 9/10 Handling: 7/10 Gearbox: 9/10 Toys: 8/10 Audio: 9/10 Value: 9/10 Overall: 82/100 Check out the full review, with videos and more photos, on OppositeLock. Scan the QR code below:

TALON

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june 2015

The lucrative business of higher education Higher tuitions exclude prospective students, force some to go abroad ago, according to Bloomberg News.

Four years at the least expensive state school costs As thousands of seniors about $80,000. However, the across the nation receive their vast majority of students acceptance letters from public are applying to out-of-state and private universities, many schools which sport total families are faced with dif- costs of attendance upwards ficult financial decisions. As of $50,000 to $60,000 per year. The many are thought aware, colof paying lege costs As many are aware, more than are skycollege costs are skyrock$200,000 rocketing, for a piece eting, and it’s not just tuand it’s not of paper just tuition ition anymore: There’s makes any anymore: room and board. There parent There’s are meal plans. There tremble, room and are text books. There are but those b o a r d . who have computer costs.

T h e r e multiple are meal children p l a n s . face a reThere are textbooks. There are computer markable hurdle.

In an effort to quell these costs.

Throw in travel expenses concerns, universities deventuring to and from the vote an enormous amount of school, and paying for college time outlining the scholaris becoming nearly as expen- ships, grants and other forms sive as purchasing a home. of financial aid available to In fact, the cost of an under- prospective students. Jamie graduate education is 12 times Moskowitz, my stepsister higher than it was 35 years who graduated from USC last

by Julian Lehrer, staff writer

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spring, received a scholarship of $12,000 her freshman year.

Without this generous aid, Moskowitz says she would not have been able to afford the lofty $65,000 cost of attendance. What she didn’t know, however, was that this scholarship would gradually decrease in value over the four years that she attended USC. She received $10,000 her sophomore year, $8,500 her junior year and a mere $7,000 her senior year. In retrospect, Moskowitz realizes that she didn’t read the fine print of her award letter, which outlined this decline.

While she could have been more attentive to detail, universities produce intentionally vague award letters to accepted students in order to convince them that they can afford to attend their school, even when that is not the case.

While the United States is lauded by many (i.e., other Americans) as being the greatest country in the world, the nation severely lags behind other developed nations in terms of the costs of its higher education. In European coun-

The estimated tuition in 2014 for undergraduate students attending USC was $23,781 per semester, not including fees (Photo from wikipedia.org). tries such as Germany, higher question arises: If the tax rate education is free for all citi- in the United States is virtuzens regardless of ethnicity or ally the same as it is in Gersocial rank. many, why doesn’t the United In fact, the nation’s tu- States provide free higher ition ban applies to interna- education? There are a multional students as well, which titude of factors in play here, has already sparked a flood but the tragic truth is that the of foreign students into Ger- United States is more interman universities such as the ested in spending money on University of Munich and Uni- defense and superfluous forversity of Berlin. While the tax eign engagements rather than rate for the United States and educating the nation’s youth.

Germany are relatively simi- If Congress chooses to ignore lar, it is quite evident that the this issue, American students return on investment for Ger- may soon be saying “Auf Wieman taxpayers far surpasses dersehen” to the United States that of Americans. and “Hallo” to Germany.

With this knowledge, one

Sufjan Stevens’ lessons on living Stevens lyricizes themes of human connection

Portrait of artist Sufjan Stevens. (Photo courtesy of Emmanuel Afolabi).

by Sam Gunn, staff writer As my high school experience draws to a close, I feel inclined to share what Sufjan Stevens has taught me about living.

Sufjan Stevens is a man. The importance of this simple observation cannot be overstated; it is crucial that listeners of his music are able to distinguish between the music he creates and the man himself.

The transcendent power

of art is what separates the two, thus allowing the listener to interpret his works in a fresh way, regardless of how personal and specific they may be.

Over the course of his 15-year discography, it would appear as though Stevens has never replicated the same musical sentiment twice: each of his projects has a distinctly unique flavor.

The delicate sweetness of “Seven Swans” could not contrast more with the grandiose electronic brashness of “Age of Adz,” nor could the intimacy of “Carrie and Lowell” be more different from the carefree adventure “Illinois.” However, upon closer scrutiny, there are a handful of overarching themes that reveal themselves in Stevens’s lyrics.

On many occasions, Stevens acknowledges a floor, or rather the floor — the lowest emotional, mental and physical state of being. In “Casimir Pulaski Day,” a possibly fictional account of a boy losing his high school sweetheart to cancer, Stevens explains that, “On the floor, at the Great Divide / With my shirt tucked in, and my shoes untied / I am crying in the bathroom.”

This ultimate weakness forces the listener to sympa-

thize with Stevens, who embodies mankind in his songs.

The cathartic experience then comes from within: for the floor is us at our worst.

Stevens taught me that even at my worst, I will have the love and affection of others to elevate me once again.

Stevens masterfully expresses the confusion and uncertainty of faith through the use of juxtaposition. Specters and apparitions mingle with angels and biblical figures.

In some instances, Stevens looks to God for guidance and reassurance, and in others he denounces his faith entirely. In the meandering “John My Beloved,” Stevens bluntly admits, “Jesus, I need you / Be near me, come shield me.” Yet in “All Delighted People,” Stevens says of prayer, “It doesn’t matter anyway / The world surrounds us with its hate.”.

Rather than avoid the controversial topic of religion altogether and sacrifice the veracity of his music, Sufjan attacks the subject with an exploration of his own philosophies.

He does so in a non-religious manner, synthesizing biblical allusions with spectral occurrences and even atheistic tendencies in a thorough manner to create a vignette of

himself.

Stevens taught me to be fearless and steadfast in my beliefs while respecting the viewpoints of others and allowing my own philosophies to encompass more than just traditional dogmas.

I cannot justify why Stevens’ “The Predatory Wasp of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!” fills me with a nostalgic euphoria or why “Impossible Soul” inclines me to dance – music has these intangible qualities.

I implore you to discover your own Sufjan Stevens, your own spiritual equivalent.

Check out Sam’s Sufjan Stevens playlist, filled with his favorite Sufjan songs.

Scan the QR code below:

TALON

june 2015

7

beyond oak park “Vaping” poses threat to youths’ health

by Elijah Henry, staff writer Oak Park High School’s “Teen Awareness Night,” hosted by spokesperson Jonah Ansell on behalf of Ventura County’s “How High” program, discussed the presence of the e-cigarette at Oak Park. For some time now, the e-cigarette has made increased appearances in the Oak Park community.

The e-cigarette is a penlike device that utilizes a vaporization technique to provide nicotine to the user.

Though the e-cigarette seems to be less harmful, it still poses serious threats to one’s health.

E-cigarettes contain no tobacco and do not produce second-hand smoke. According to Gizmodo, e-cigarettes can actually help smokers struggling to quit actual cigarettes.

In a letter to Health Commissioner Tonio Borg of

the European Union, Professor Jean-François Etter and a number of other scientists made clear that, if used properly by recovering smokers, e-cigarettes pose no pressing health threats.

Etter made the effort to contact Borg after noticing some mistakes with the Union’s Tobacco Products Directive and its respective limitations on e-cigarettes. Some of these mistakes concerned limiting the nicotine levels in e-cigarettes to 20mL, when much more is required for a recovering smoker.

“20 mg/mL of e-liquid provides less than one-third of the nicotine delivered by one tobacco cigarette. 50mg/ mL is needed to roughly match a tobacco cigarette.

Higher nicotine content liquids are typically used by the most dependent smokers, who have the highest risk of smoking-related damage, and who benefit most from switching to electronic cigarettes,” the scientists stated.

www.DriversEdDirect.com

However, recent evidence has urged the World Health Organization, along with other established organizations such as the American Heart Association, to agree that vaping is detrimental towards the human body — especially the bodies of teenagers.

According to Douglas Bettcher, Director of the WHO’s Department for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, vaping with the e-cigarette is potentially responsible for “gateway addictions.”

“The tobacco industry is taking greater share as public health partners pretending to be part of the solution to the health disaster they have created,” Bettcher said in an interview with USA Today.

Teenagers are aware of ecigarettes because of advertising. According to ProjectKnow, studies have shown that e-cigarette ads reach more than 50 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds.

Recent studies suggest that the e-cigarette poses a

Illustration by Elijah Henry. threat to smokers of all ages.

ProjectKnow also states that e-cigarettes contain substances that can be more dangerous than tobacco.

Additionally, “e-cigarettes” can also be used to smoke other addictive substances, like marijuana. At the school’s “Teen Awareness Night,” Karen Streeter, a pediatrician who focuses on the effects of substance abuse on

the pre-adult mind, explained that high dosage extractions of marijuana, called “dabs,” can be placed in the e-cigarettes and cause severe damage to the brain and body.

While the e-cigarette remains a topic of discussion, authorities such as the World Health Organization agree that such a device does not belong in the hands of students.

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june 2015

senior section Freshman fears and senior sayings

by Taylor Bongiovi, staff writer If you were to ask most people what their greatest fear is, you’d get a wide variety of answers. If you were to ask a middle-school student, you’d likely hear, “going into high school.”

As the school year comes to an end, eighth graders are preparing for their transition to a whole new school. Emmy Creager, a current Medea Creek student, is in just that position.

Sitting on the floor in one of the bedrooms of my house, Creager opens up on her thoughts of graduating middle school.

“I’m kind of excited to

start high school,” she said, “but it’s kind of sad because I’ve been in Medea for three years straight, so it’s kind of a sad goodbye, but I’m excited for Oak Park High.”

She lets out a small laugh as she finishes her answer.

Creager says that what she has heard about high school depends on who she has asked, with different students voicing different opinions—though she says she’s heard “mostly good things.”

She’s particularly excited for cheerleading at the high school level.

Her greatest fear? Final exams: “I’ve never taken [them] before.”

Creager also said that she’ll have to balance between school and her after-school activities due to the increased

As one class enters, anworkload.

She is most excited for other leaves; the class of 2015 graduates June 11, and is pass“the experience.”

“You get to meet new ing its last days in high school. people and… it’s a lot bigger Haydn Marshall, a current sethan Medea too,” Creager said. nior at Oak Park High School, openly Creashares his ger said advice to she is sadthe freshdened to Just get to class on time men atleave her and don’t be an idiot. tending long time the school friends next year. from both Haydn Marshall, F o r elemens t u d ents tary and senior middle coming in school, as freshbut she expresses her excite- men, Marshall suggests “to ment at meeting new friends study every day and to make in her upcoming years at Oak sure you are on top of all your Park High School. She also assignments.” says that she has friends at He adds, “I didn’t necesOPHS currently who can lend sarily do that, but I wish I did.” her a hand next year.

Marshall says an impor-

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tant lesson he learned in high school was “not to succumb to peer pressure, or to just be yourself.”

All ninth graders seem to dread the first day of school.

Marshall’s advice is short, sweet and to the point. Perhaps it also functions as sounds advice for the high school experience as a whole: “Just get to class on time and don’t be an idiot.”

Social media shapes prom

by Malia Lanner, staff writer Students used social media this year to redefine the hallmark high school senior experience: prom.

Senior Jenna Caputo operated the Twitter page, where the so-called “promposals” were posted, and the Facebook page that had information about where and when the pictures before prom would take place. Lindsay Stanton, another senior, made the

Facebook page for all the girls to post their dresses so that no one would buy the same dress.

Many consider wearing the same dress as another girl to prom to be a fashion fauxpas.

Students included on the Facebook page posted different kinds of dresses that represented their own senses of style.

“The Facebook dress page was really helpful to me because I think it gives you a feel for what other people are looking for in their dresses

boys’ prom costs

and a sense of a theme for the night – what the most popular colors and dress types are going to be,” senior Juliana Furgala said. “I think it’s interesting how everything comes together as you compare your dress with other people’s and see how they often reflect people’s personalities.”

The promposal Twitter page was new this year, and was well received by the senior class. It allowed them both to learn who asked whom and to see the unique ideas for asking students to the event.

“I thought the promposal page was really interesting.

It’s something new and I’ve never heard of it being done in the past,” senior Michael Glassman said. “It didn’t really help me with who I was asking but it was really interesting to see who asked who and how. I think it should be done every year from here on out,” The effort to interface technology with the prom tradition was met with general approval from the students who attended this year’s prom.

“I think the page was re-

ally beneficial because we saw how girls were picking out dresses, and they were all very beautiful dresses, so it was cool to see the before and after effect of it,” senior Chandana Srivinas said. “It was all a magical thing, and the prom dress page definitely helped to make prom memorable.”

girls’ prom costs

TALON

9

Mapping the Future

A B C

june 2015

Abilene Christian University (1) Arizona State University (3) University of Alabama (2) University of Arizona (5) Boise State University (1) Boston College (1) Boston University (1) Brooks Institute of Photography (1) University at Buffalo

California Institute of Technology (1) California Institute of the Arts (1) California Lutheran University (2) California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (12) California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (2) California State University, Channel Islands (6) California State University, Long Beach (3) California State University, Los Angeles (2) California State University, Monterey Bay (1) California State University, Northridge (6) California State University, San Marcos (1) Case Western Reserve University (1 ) Chapman University California Chapman University (7 ) Claremont McKenna College (1) Colorado School of Mines (1) Colorado State University (2) Cornell College (1) Cornell University (1) Cornish College of the Arts (1) Creighton University (1) University of California, Berkeley (11) University of California, Davis (3) University of California, Irvine (1) University of California, Los Angeles (5) University of California, Riverside (4) University of California, San Diego (6) University of California, Santa Barbara (18) University of California, Santa Cruz (7) University of Colorado at Boulder (2) University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (1)

D G

DePaul University (1) Drexel University (2)

Gustavus Adolphus College (1) George Washington University (3)

H I J K L M N O

Harvard University (1) Harvey Mudd College (1)

University of Idaho (1)

Johns Hopkins University (1)

University of Kansas (3)

Lasell College (1) Loyola Marymount University (1) University of Louisiana (1) Master’s College and Seminary* (1) Missouri State University (1) Montana State University (1) Moorpark College (86) University of Michigan (1) Military (4)

New York University (4) North Central College (1) Northern Arizona University (2) Northwestern University (2) University of Nevada, Reno (1) University of New Haven (1) University of New Mexico (1) Occidental College (2) Oregon State University (1) Ohio State University (1) University of Oregon (3) Other (work, volunteer, etc.) (11)

P

Pacific University (1) Pierce College (11) Point Loma Nazarene University (1) Point Park University (1) Portland State University (1) Purdue University (1) University of the Pacific (1) University of Puget Sound (2)

R S

Rider University (1) Rochester Institute of Technology (1) University of Redlands (1)

Saint Louis University (1) San Diego State University (11) San Francisco State University (5) San Jose State University (2) Santa Barbara City College (7) Santa Monica College (4) Sierra College (1) Sonoma State University (7) Southern Methodist University (2) Stanford University (1) State University of New York (1) University of San Diego (2) University of San Francisco (2) University of Southern California (5)

T V W

Texas Christian University (1) Tufts University (2) University of Texas, Austin (4) University of Texas, San Antonio (1) University of Toronto* (1)

Vanderbilt University (1 ) Virginia Tech (1)

Washington and Lee University (1) Washington University in St. Louis (1) Westminster College (1) University of Washington (2) University of Wisconsin, Madison (2)

*Outside the United States

10

TALO February 12, 2012

September 2011

FRESHMAN YEAR

Oak Park constructs new turf Oak Park High School welcomed a new turf football field. The project was funded by Real So Cal, a prestigious club soccer organization, in exchange for rights to play on the field. The school also added new science buildings and security cameras on campus.

Adele sweeps the Grammys British singer-songwriter Adele took home six Grammy awards, including album, record and song of the year.

February 2012

Jeremy Lin ‘Linsanity’ takes over NBA Jeremy Lin took the NBA by storm after leading the New York Knicks to a muchneeded win over the New Jersey Nets Fe 4. Lin averaged more than 25 points in t next six games, and the ‘Linsanity’ move ment gained national attention when Li scored 38 points against Kobe Bryant an the Los Angeles Lakers.

September 23, 2011 First freshman rally

Carly Albert/Talon

October 2012 Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy was the second-costlies history. The hurricane destroyed more than a doze

Photo courtesy of Kathie Rohfls

December 14, 2012

June 2013

Edward Snowden leaks NSA documents Former CIA contractor Edward Snowden leaked to the media details of extensive internet and phone surveillance by US government intelligence. Snowden fled to Russia, where he is granted temporary asylum. He currently faces espionage charges over his actions.

April 13, 2013

Boston Marathon bombings Two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three spectators and wounding over 260 others. A federal jury sentenced 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for the bombings.

Sandy Hook shooting Twenty-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Conn. at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The mass shooting was the deadliest at a high school or grade school in U.S. history.

February 15, 2013

Irena Yang/Talon

JUNIOR YEAR August 5, 2013

Kanan Shuttle launches The Kanan Shuttle Service was launched Aug. 5 to provide locals with free transportation along Kanan Road for easy access to schools, parks and shopping.

According to The Acorn, usage of the bus removes approximately 800 car trips on Kanan Road every day.

Carly Albert/Talon

Miss Ellen passes away Ellen “Miss Ellen” Meloeny retired after working in OPUSD for 20 years. A tree near the administration building is dedicated to her memory.

August 2013

Assistant Principal Jason Meskis comes to Oak Park Jason Meskis became the school’s newest addition when the previous assistant principal became principal at Oak View High School. Meskis previously served as the athletic director at Cleveland Photo courtesy of OPHS High School.

October 1-16, 2013

U.S. government shutdown The United States federal government entered a shutdown because Congress failed to enact legislation to appropriate any funds past September 30, 2013. The failure was caused by the still controversial Obamacare and its funding.

August 25, 2013 Miley Cyrus goes wild at VMA’s Miley Cyrus caused an uproar at the Video Music Awards with her overtly sexual performance that included parading around with dancing bears, making wild tongue gyrations and twerking on “Blurred Lines” singer Robin Thicke.

Photo courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives

February 1, 2015

April 24, 2015

School punishes rally misconduct Several seniors faced severe punishments after showing up intoxicated at the last rally of the year. Chaos ensued when students threw fruit, tennis balls and glow sticks during the rally performances.

June 11, 2015

Class of 2015 graduates!

May 30, 2015

Carly Albert/Talon

Boys’ volleyball makes history Boys’ varsity volleyball won the Coastal Canyon League, finishing with an 8-0 league record. They went on to win the CIF-Southern Section Division II Championship, beating Valencia in three sets. After winning the first two sets of the CIF SoCal Boys Volleyball Championships, the team lost the final three sets to Corona Del Mar.

Patriots win Superbowl XLIX The New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.

February 2015

Water Assassins drenched in controversy The annual senior game of water assassins caused an uproar for participants and school administrators. After two months of play, teams “Aquaholics” and “SLAMM” won the tournament.

Photo courtesy of Molley Agapiou

Fall 201

Oak Pa The foo season ning th proceed Bishop Christia the CIF Divisio defeate finals, e Oak Pa

11

ON feature

Class of XL Recordings

eb. the ein nd

May 2, 2011

Osama bin Laden killed by U.S. forces Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda and architect behind the Sept. 11 attacks, was shot dead by U.S. special operations forces in his hiding place in Pakistan.

Nikk La/Flickr

2015 July-August 2012

June 22, 2012

st hurricane in U.S. d communities across en states.

Penn State Scandal Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky indicted for 45 of 48 criminal charges related to child sexual abuse.

Mansoor Ahmed/ Flickr

SOPHOMORE

November 2012 Mr. Benton passes away Jim Benton spent nine years with OPUSD as a beloved coach, mentor and teacher. Benton taught math at Medea Creek Middle School (20032011) and then at Oak Park High School (2011-2012). Benton’s dedication to his family and students continues to inspire.

November 6, 2012

Obama wins second term President Barack Obama beats Mitt Romney to win re-election.

August 2012

August 2012

School welcomes new assistant principal, Bryan Martin Bryan Martin became the new assistant principal in August.

Martin previously worked at Taft High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

13

May 5, 2013

Anti-Semitism alleged in anonymous email The administration investigated alleged anti-Semitic remarks made on social media and graffiti on campus by students at Oak Park. The incident inflamed the AntiDefamation League, which voiced “disappointment” in the students’ actions.

September 30, 2014

First case of Ebola reported in US A patient being treated at a Dallas hospital tested positive for Ebola, the first case diagnosed in the U.S. The patient, who traveled to Liberia before arriving in Dallas, passed away Oct. 8.

art dire

ctor

March 8, 2014

Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappears Flight 370 from Malaysia disappeared while en route to Beijing March 8, with no signals or warnings of anything wrong. In January, the Malaysian government ruled it an accident with no survivors. Despite nonstop searches, no debris or clues have been found.

August 19, 2014

IS beheads U.S. journalist Islamic State militants decapitated U.S. journalist James Foley in a YouTube video posted Aug. 19.

The militant group continued to post videos of beheadings of other Western captives. IS is known for carrying out public executions and killing dozens of people at a time.

August 2014

Photo courtesy of OPHS

a Yang,

Michael Brown shot dead in Ferguson, Mo. An unarmed 18-year-old black teenager was shot dead by white police officer Darren Wilson. The shooting sparked protests that roiled the area for weeks and ignited a national debate about race and police violence.

Q replaces Zangle over summer Over the summer OPUSD switched from Zangle to Q as the new online grade reporting system. The reaction to Q was mixed, with some students frustrated over the lack of certain features.

July 13, 2014

By Iren

August 9, 2014

Jamelle Bouie/Flickr

YEAR

August 2012

School bathrooms renovated All of the bathrooms at Oak Park High School underwent a much-needed renovation during the summer.

Photo courtesy of OPHS

ark football dominates otball team finished the with an 11-2 record, winhe tri-valley league. They ded to defeat powerhouses p Montgomery and Valley an in the first two rounds of F Southern Section Northwest on playoffs. They were finally ed by El Segundo in the semiending a historic season in ark football history.

London Summer Olympics In a rematch of the 2008 finals, the U.S. men’s basketball team defeated Spain to capture gold. Michael Phelps finished his career as the most-decorated Olympic athlete of all time with 22 medals. Gabrielle “Gabby” Douglas became America’s sweetheart after winning gold medals in both the individual all-around and team competitions in gymnastics.

OPUSD approves calendar change The Oak Park District Board of Education approved a three-week calendar shift for the 2015-2016 school year.

School will start Aug. 11, 2015 and end May 27, 2016.

George Zimmerman found not guilty Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The verdict was a stunning end to a more than year-long drama and sparked outrage among civil rights activists.

Fibonacci Blue/Flickr

SENIOR YEAR

Summer 2014

Ice Bucket Challenge raises awareness for ALS The ice bucket challenge, in which participants dump a bucket of water over their heads and then nominate others to do the same, raised money and awareness for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association over the summer. From July 29 to Aug. 28, 2014, ALS received $98.2 million—much more than the $2.7 million donated during the same period last year.

Photo courtesy of Matt Forutan

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12

june 2015

senior spotlights Alex Pai In his own words, Alex Pai is an enigma.

Many people know of him as some kind of eccentric savant, though Pai thinks that very few people know who he truly is.

“I get the sense that people think I’m mysterious,” Pai said, “but in my opinion I’m just a private person.”

Throughout his four years of high school, Pai has interacted with many of his peers; however, Pai acknowledges that there is a bit of a disconnect between who he appears to be and who he actually is.

“There’s this image of me as some super smart person to whom everything comes so

easily,” Pai said. “They think that I’ll judge them based on what they say.

That’s not true at all — I try to be approachable.”

However, on campus, if there is one thing with which “Alex Pai” has become synonymous, it is “math.” He loves math. Admittedly, for Pai, his love for math comes partly from how easily it comes to him, but he also enjoys math’s objectivity.

“While English is up to interpretation, math allows for concrete, elegant proof,” he said.

In addition to him being on the mock trial team and captain of Oak Park Academic Decathlon, Pai also founded the Future Business Leaders

of America organization on campus. From its first year and 21 members, it has grown into one of the largest clubs on campus, with more than 100 members this year.

“Involvement has grown immensely,” Pai said. “I hope my legacy lasts long after I’m gone!”

With all of the various activities in which Pai takes part, one might wonder how Pai manages it all. As is the case with many high-level students, for Pai, it is all about time management.

“I had to compartmentalize my time,” Pai said. “I looked ahead in many of my classes.

Thankfully, I have never

had to take an all-nighter.”

Pai has also left an impact on the teachers with whom he has worked. English teacher Kathy Schultheis has interacted with him for two years now. “[Alex is] very attentive,” Schultheis said, “but more observer than participant.”

Schultheis considers Pai to be friendly to other students, not detached in any way.

“My sense is that they like and respect him,” Schultheis said.

In his free time, Pai said he enjoys writing poetry, watching movies and hanging out with his “rekt crew.” One of his favorite activities

is playing board games with his friends, often in class.

“It’s nice that we have so much free time and teachers who let us play board games,” Pai said. “It’s also fun to yell at your friends.”

In the future, Pai plans to major in applied math at Harvard, and perhaps go into academia to become a professor. While Pai recognizes other opportunities in business or finance for math majors, he does not think those fields would be a good fit for him.

“One of my biggest fears is playing it safe for money,” Pai said. “I want to be engaged in something spiritually

by Tushar Jois, editor-in-chief and emotionally meaningful.”

Pai has a brother and a sister, both older than he, and both Oak Park alums. He said he feels lucky being the youngest child in the family.

“They leave the nest first,” Pai said, “so I know it’s safe to me to leave the nest too.”

Pai has some advice for future and current Oak Park High students.

“Never put off having fun,” Pai said.

When people think of his name, Pai said he wanted people to remember “this article” (his words, not mine) as well as “good things.”

“I hope.”

Check out Alex’s favorite songs on his Spotify playlist!

How well do you know our senior spotlights?

Test your knowledge against their friends and teachers.

Arav Batra,

Irena Yang,

Robin Midiri,

senior

senior

acadeca coach

What’s the best food Alex has ever eaten?

Beef Tenderloin Tartare with Smoked Mascarpone & Arugula Salad

Beef Tenderloin Tartare with Smoked Mascarpone & Arugula Salad

Beef Tenderloin Tartare with Smoked Mascarpone & Arugula Salad

Ms. Hawkins’s Recipe for Flank Steak

What’s Alex’s favorite TV show?

“Suits” (USA Network)

“How to Get Away with Murder” (ABC)

“Orphan Black” (BBC America)

“Parks and Recreation” (NBC)

What’s Alex’s favorite book?

“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

“We Go to the Gallery”

by Miriam Elia

“Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” by Annie Dillard

What’s Alex’s favorite movie?

“Monster-in-Law” (2005)

“Monster-in-Law” (2005)

“Gone Girl” (2014)

“The Imitation Game” (2014)

The number of diagonals in a polygon n(n-3) / 2

πr3

Trick question; Alex hates math!

Some volume equation

Who is Alex’s celebrity crush?

Blake Lively

Rosamund Pike

Blake Lively

Keira Knightley

What’s Alex’s favorite board game?

Avalon (much better than Coup)

Settlers of Catan

Avalon

Avalon

What’s Alex’s favorite word?

Copacetic

Extravagant

Rekt

Win

Totals

3/8

3/8

1/8

What’s Alex’s favorite math equation?

TALON

june 2015

13

Devika Chandramohan Devika Chandramohan is passionate about what she does.

One of her favorite activities is working at the Westminster Free Clinic, a volunteer organization that provides medical care for underprivileged in the community. At the clinic, Chandramohan is a teen intern who works alongside practicing doctors and nurses to administer care.

“We’re basically with the patient from the beginning,” Chandramohan said. “We’re assigned the patient, we call them, we do initial questioning… Basically we’re the support for the patient during the entire process so they feel like there’s someone there.”

According to Chandramohan, the Clinic provided her with opportunities to involve herself in the entire field of medicine.

“You’re dealing with people who are suffering and you hear their life stories,” Chandramo-

han said, “and then you also get to see the clinical side, you’re in there with the doctor, you can see the method of diagnosing the patients. It’s a very holistic experience.”

Chandramohan believes that her experience at Westminster has influenced her career aspirations. She will be attending UCLA in the fall, and hopes to attend medical school in the future.

“Before I entered Westminster I wasn’t really sure about medicine, but when I experienced the medical field in such an intense way, I realized that it is where I am meant to be,” Chandramohan said.

“My dream would be to work in a program like Doctors Without Borders — that’s so altruistic and uses a skill that’s so needed in the world.

This is my calling, hopefully.”

In addition to her work at Westminster Free Clinic, Chandramo-

han is also involved in Mock Trial, of which she has been a part for her four years in high school.

“I walked into Mock Trial on accident freshman year and I just thought, let me try this out,” Chandramohan said. “Mock Trial can bring people together with all different skills and backgrounds. You can see people who are the quietist kids in class winning awards for being a witness in her first year. And you can feel the team spirit during competition.”

Chandramohan also volunteers for Discovery Center Teens, which holds family-friendly events to give community children hands-on experience with science as a field.

“We’re trying to teach young students that science is more than just sitting in front of a textbook reading and listening to lectures,” Chandramohan said.

Chandramohan wishes to inspire stu-

Jan Willis,

Vani Bhardwaj,

Emily Lin,

Something vegetarian

Mom’s cooking

Mom’s cooking

What’s something kids watch these days?

She doesn’t have one

“Doctor Who” (BBC America)

“Band of Brothers” (HBO)

What’s Devika’s favorite TV show?

Song song by Taylor Swift

“Abhi Na Jao” (Bollywood song)

Some Indian song

“Abhi Na Jao” (Bollywood song)

What’s Devika’s favorite song?

“Up” (2009)

“Pride & Prejudice” (2005)

“Pride & Prejudice” (2005)

“Pride & Prejudice” (2005)

What’s Devika’s favorite movie?

I have no idea.

Audrey Pham

The patients

The patients

Logan Lerman

It starts with an L...

Logan Lerman

Competition

The academic competition

Competition

Competition

What’s Devika’s favorite part of Mock Trial?

Sleep

Persnickety

She doesn’t have one

Language is too beautiful just to have one

What’s Devika’s favorite word?

1.5/8

5/8

5/8

Totals

english teacher

Chris Hemsworth

senior

senior

dents to get involved with science “I’ll never forget, one day I was at one of our Family Science Night events and one of the students was playing with all the different shapes you can make with bubbles and she’s said ‘wow this science stuff is like magic.’”

“That’s exactly how I feel about science,” Chandramohan added.

Chandramohan is also deeply involved with her cultural roots.

She has been doing Indian classical dance (bharatanatyam) and music since her early childhood, and holds these experiences close to her heart.

“My culture is one of the most important factors of my identity,” Chandramohan said.

“I think it’s really important that no matter where you are that you hold onto your culture and where you come from. Being part of these two art forms has really helped me understand my religion and my culture better, and the values that my family holds more valuable.”

In terms of family, Chandramohan lives with her mother and father, and has an older brother, Aditya, who graduated Oak Park seven years ago.

Chandramohan says

Anything of my mom’s

Devika Chandramohan embraces her beloved cat, Kanmani (Courtesy of Devika Chandramohan). she enjoys being the younger child.

“You’re like the baby of the family,” Chandramohan said. “They make fun of you a lot and you’re kind of the butt of every joke, but at the same time you get to get away with a lot of stuff and you get to have a lot of role models in your life, and my brother’s definitely one of the biggest role models in my life.”

Oak Park teachers see Chandramohan as a dedicated and hardworking student. English teacher Jan Willis, who taught Chandramohan, called her “engaged, interested, articulate, creative and fabulous.”

Willis also considers Chandramohan to be

What’s the best food Devika has ever eaten?

Who’s Devika’s favoite person at Clinic?

Who is Devika’s celebrity crush?

a person of high moral integrity and generosity.

“She once donated all her arangetram [Indian dance recital] money to Doctors Without Borders,” Willis said.

For all those just starting the high school experience, Chandramohan has some advice.

“Find what you’re passionate about and pursue it. Don’t do things just because it’ll look good on your college resume or because your parents want you to do it. Do it because you genuinely love to be there,” Chandramohan said. “I feel like every day you should feel like you should have done more of what you love.”

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14

june 2015

campus life Schultheis: Living a deliberate life

More than 100 juniors take English teacher Kathy Schultheis’ classes — but how much do you know about her?

by Grace Ye, staff writer About ten students were asked which of the following two options they thought were more interesting: a documentary about war veterans meeting up at a local Wendy’s, or a feature story about one of Oak Park’s high school teachers.

The response, surprisingly, was quite unanimous: students said that they would prefer to read about the high school teacher.

After realizing that the teacher in question was none other than English teacher Kathy Schultheis, junior Aneesh Gowri immediately understood the reasoning behind this phenomenon.

“I think it’s because we’re exposed to Ms. Schultheis’s passion every day and, personally, I’m amazed that after so many years...she still has the same vigor,” Gowri said.

Schultheis’s son, Stephen, agrees. “[It’s] because of her gifts as a teacher and critic of literature, and because of her knowledge of literature and the way that she’s able to impart that to students,” Stephen Schultheis said.

When told that she was the subject of great interest, Schultheis responded with a little gasp. “Oh my gosh!” she said, her hands at her mouth to accompany her surprised smile.

So here it is — a portrait of Schultheis. Many of the questions derived from the curious students themselves.

Schultheis has been teaching at Oak Park High School for 15 years. Her family had moved to the neighborhood and she, a marathon runner, was attracted to the facilities that Oak Park had to offer.

“We came out here in 1984 and we lived in Agoura Hills,” Schultheis said. “I started running here, and we went to some plays, and I got more immersed in Oak Park life, and eventually I applied for a position [at the school].”

So far, Schultheis said she has not regretted her decision to join the staff at Oak Park and hopes to work here for as long as possible.

“I think [I’ll work here] forever! I really like it here. I love my job, I love the kids, I love the people I work with — it’s just fantastic,” Schultheis said.

However, Oak Park was not her first job.

“I started working in the inner city near USC, teaching English at Manual Arts High School. I did that for a number of years because I felt I had an ability to connect with inner city youth. It was a very good experience,” Schultheis said.

As an English teacher, Schultheis’s classroom is filled with books. But, undoubtedly, the book that most interests students is the biography of popular rapper Eminem that sits on the filing shelf in

English teacher Kathy Schultheis reads junior Tim Cheng’s essay during seventh period support (Staff Photographer/Talon). the back corner, peeking in on classroom discussions of “Huckleberry Finn.”

“I did like [Eminem] when he emerged on the scene in, let’s say, 2003. I thought his early work was full of emotion and intensity,” Schultheis said.

“I think it’s fallen off in recent years... but I think his original work was very elemental. Poetry from the streets.”

Other notable books in Schultheis’s bookshelf include ”Moby Dick” by Herman Melville. It is not only an important part of the English III AP curriculum at Oak Park, but also a book that has fascinated Schultheis throughout her lifetime.

“When I was in graduate school, I had a very lifealtering professor, Jay Martin, who was a Melville scholar and he introduced me to Mel-

ville,” Schultheis said. “I just became caught up in all of the traditional Melvillean themes of the quest for the meaning of life, the quest for identity, the quest for self, the quest for knowledge, the quest for the meaning in the universe...”

And a book that students can look forward to hitting the bookshelves soon is the one that Schultheis is currently working on. “[The book I’m working on] is a sociocultural critique of Catholic education based in part on my own experiences going to Catholic schools. I am also collaborating with [Oak Park alumnus] Neda Davarpanah (’14), a USC film student, on a screenplay on the life of the poet Shelley.”

To remember the words amongst the images is the hope that Schultheis has for

her students as they exit her classroom.

“My hope would be that some kids will come out of the class loving writing,” Schultheis said, “and that they will become writers the rest of their lives, not necessarily professional, but always love writing as a sacred space to go to.”

Looking back on her life, Schultheis’s advice to her 17-year-old self and to all of her students would be “a phrase from Henry James: ‘Live all you can.’ Just don’t be afraid to venture outside your comfort zone and try new things. Go visit strange lands.”

Students excel at National Spanish Exam Spanish teacher Fels’ students earn nine gold medals, 17 silver medals and nine bronze medals

by Rithik Kumar, staff writer This year, 41 Spanish III Honors students prepared for the National Spanish Exam — and earned nine gold medals, 17 silver medals, nine bronze medals and six honorable mentions.

“We have ranked in the top of all of Southern California,” Spanish teacher Nora Fels said.

With more than 37,000 tests administered nationwide during the 2014-2015 school year, the National Spanish Exam (NSE) is the most widely

used Spanish language test in the United States. Sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, the exam measures proficiency and achievement of the Spanish language and has been readily integrated within Oak Park High School’s Spanish III Honors curriculum.

“It provided the students with expanded vocabulary and the ability to work on their reading and listening comprehension, allowing them to compare their achievements with other schools,” Fels said.

In addition, the NSE preparation helps students for the Spanish SAT Subject test.

“The hardest part for NSE

was the immense amount of vocabulary that I needed to know. However, by continually practicing, the actual NSE was easier than I thought it would be,” sophomore Bianca Beccera said.

Fels organized an NSE Awards Ceremony on May 28, where students received their official medals and certificates. After the ceremony, students relaxed and ate cake.

Spanish III students felt that the NSE exam enhanced their study of the language.

“It exposed me to more Spanish culture,” sophomore Pranav Maddhali said.

Oak Park Superintendent Tony Knight recognized award recipients in a letter com-

Spanish III Honors students celebrate their successful performance on the NSE. The exam prepares students for further Spanish exams (Staff Photographer/Talon). memorating their success in foreign language.

“Speaking a second language opens up many oppor-

tunities and enriches one’s life,” Knight wrote.

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15

The path to Oak Park High School

by Olivia Deveau, staff writer Oak Park High School has an extremely diverse population — not only of students, but of the staff as well. The person that stands in front of you and educates you may have wanted to go into the theater, worked as a stockbroker or maybe he or she even minored in Marxism.

“

Both my parents were teachers, so I grew up with educations, and I saw first hand that being part of an education family is really stable.

Tim Chevalier,

teacher

”

All of the teachers at the high school went to high school and college, of course, but their paths between school and teaching are all different, and some are much more complicated than others.

For history and economics teacher Tim Chevalier, a career in teaching had always been a possibility. However, he initially wanted to go into financial planning.

“Both my parents were teachers,” Chevalier said, “so I grew up with educators, and I saw first hand that being part of an education family is really stable.”

Chevalier graduated from Thousand Oaks High School

before attending and playing basketball at Westmont College.

Chevalier described playing a college sport as “a lot of pressure,” but noted that he made “lifelong friendships that are much more important than basketball.”

At Westmont, Chevalier studied business, economics and history, eventually becoming a financial planner after college and a stockbroker in Santa Barbara.

“I thought that I wanted to get into the financial world and manage money or do something along those lines,” Chevalier said. “It didn’t bring me very much joy, and so I decided to go back and get my teaching credential and my master’s degree in education at Cal Lutheran.”

B e cause Chevalier wanted to coach, he worked with his father, who coached basketball at Oak Park High School. He completed his student teaching under government teacher and baseball coach Robert Hall and finally became a teacher himself. This is Chevalier’s ninth year at the high school.

“You have to be willing to continually learn and improve, you have to have a heart for helping other people, especially the youth,” Chevalier said. “You have to be, in my opinion, a stable individual who can be a positive role model for young adults…

When you’re in education, it’s who you are.”

A varied career history seems to be a trend. History and mock trial teacher Victor Anderson was interested in social science early on, but his path originally led him in a different direction.

“I got accepted to Stanford and UCSB; unfortunately my father didn’t want to pay for Stanford,” Anderson said.

A month before school started, Anderson transferred to University of California, Riverside, and joined a program that would earn an MD in seven years.

However, Anderson was unable to place in a high

enough percentile in the program and was cut. After taking a class on World War II, he realized how much he enjoyed history.

“I fell in love with it because [the professor] talked about it from a different perspective,” Anderson said. “I ended up triple majoring in history, Russian studies and political science with a minor in Marxism.”

Though Anderson joined the Union as a carpenter, he

“

I fell in love with it because [the professor] talked about it from a different perspective.

I ended up triple majoring in history, Russian studies and political science with a minor in Marxism.

”

Victor Anderson,

teacher

applied to both the Marine Academy and law school — and chose the latter. After sitting for the California Bar Exam, he worked as a construction cost estimator for his father.

But when Anderson’s son played football in elementary and middle school, Anderson volunteered as a coach, and enjoyed it so much that his son asked him if he ever considered teaching.

So, Anderson quit his estimating job.

“I took night classes in Cal Lu, and I quit my estimat-

ing job and went in to teaching at 37,” Anderson said.

In addition to carpentry, law and teaching, Anderson also interned at the Library of Congress in 2011, and hopes to work as a summer intern at the National Archives and Records Administration and the United States Supreme Court.

When asked for advice for students trying to find a career, Anderson simply answered, “My advice is to follow your passion and do what you love.”

Senior English and creative writing teacher Don Enoch encountered his current career a little differently.

After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara and directing shows in Los Angeles, Enoch moved to New York to direct a show in the Village.

“I moved to New York to pursue a directing career, and that was the chosen career at that age, and spent 17 years in that business as a stage manager and director, sometimes designing as well,” Enoch said.

“I had worked in the Sacramento Music Circus as a designer and a stage manager, and I went off to New York and worked…up and down the east coast in a number of small theaters, directing shows, and made my living as that.”

However, after working up and down the east coast, Enoch realized he needed a change in direction from a life of travel.

“I got to know the girls behind the counter at the Delta Airlines terminal in LaGuardia by name… I’ve gotten a fun career, but it was also kind of wearing after a while,” Enoch said.

Enoch moved back to the west coast, built homes for 10 years and then decided to become a teacher at 48.

“I came to realize that actually, in many ways, directing the play, building the house or teaching was actually all the same type of a career,” Enoch said. “You have a blueprint, or you have a novel or you have

a play, and you’re trying to accomplish it with different resources. You may be actors, or you may be students or you may be subcontractors, but you’re trying to accomplish this vision.”

This was not Enoch’s first experience with educating, however.

“I started teaching when I was 21 years old, and I got in front of the middle school kids… and I realized I was not mature enough to be a teacher.”

“

I came to realize that actually, in many ways, directing the play, building the house or teaching was actually all the same type of a career.

Don Enoch,

teacher

Though Enoch returned to teaching fairly late in life, his vision for his role as a teacher is extremely clear.

“Look,” Enoch said, ”my objective is to turn out 35 little mini-revolutionaries every day: people who go out and challenge the world as it’s given to them, to question the assumptions about how and why it should work the way it does — agree with it or disagree with it, but at least challenge it.”

Six Word Stories

By Jarrad Radin, staff writer

1 3

2

Deep enough to realize I’m shallow.

New shoes, wet cement, bad day.

But Mr. Buchanan—! “Call your mother.”

Writers competed in class; these won.

I like her. She likes him.

4

She left, I cried…in happiness.

Can this be a group test?

”

6

5

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june 2015

Drama students run the show

Senior-led team responsible for all aspects of “Plaza Suite”

by Eric Kellenberger, staff writer The student-rendered spotlight play “Plaza Suite” premiered in the Oak Park pavilion May 21-23.

The play, written by Neil Simon, was directed by senior Monica Hennessy and produced by senior Mia Beckerman.

Oak Park’s Drama Club chooses and hosts the last play of the year, known as the spotlight play. This year the students voted for “Plaza Suite.”

“I was impressed from day one,” Hennessy said. She found the cast to be “cooperative and enthusiastic” about the play.

Hennessy and Beckerman are not the only students taking a traditionally adult role in the play.

Students handled everything from ticket sales to costume design.

Drama students found the student-driven environment to be positive.

“Monica and Mia have created a good environment,” senior Jasmine Flora said. According to Flora, there is “a

In act one, the characters played by senior Matt Yulish and sophomore Savanna Gann work through infidelity on their anniversary.

Photos courtesy of Alan Winck.

lot of freedom” and “room for character development.”

Onstage, Hennessy works with the actors to create a production that combines her and the cast’s varying visions. “[Monica] is letting us discover our own character,” junior Ian Johnson said.

For some students, the show presents them with their first lead roles.

“It’s the first shot to show I can act,” Flora said. “I’ve really invested myself and I’ve grown as an actor.”

Crew had to rush to build the set within a week as AP testing delayed set construc-

tion.

It was “pretty sucky to have to build the set being in a time crunch,” senior Emilie Ghaffari said.

In preparation the students go through “hell week,” the lengthy week leading up to opening night full of costumes, frustration and catered food.

While Hennessy described the whole process as “stressful,” she said that it was “a new and challenging experience.”

“Plaza Suite” is about “three couples in three different acts,” Johnson said. “Three

Once high school sweethearts, the characters played by seniors Alex Poe and Yael Karoly reunite after years apart.

shows in one, basically.”

“The story is comedic, yet there are serious comments about the way humans interact,” Hennessy said.

Overall, Hennessy was proud of the way the Drama Club presented “Plaza Suite.”

“My vision with [the cast] has been fulfilled,” Hennessy said, “It’s a good way for me to end in the drama department.”

The third act couple, played by seniors Zach Finn and Giselle Langley, attempts to persuade its soon-to-be-wed daughter to exit the bathroom and walk down the aisle.

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june 2015

17

entertainment A senior crossword

by Zach Finn, staff writer

across

5. Ryan Harris will be attending this college 8. Homecoming Queen 11. One of many attending SDSU; Yuval _____ 15. Senior Class President 16. Father is an english/history teacher

down

1. Foreign Exchange student similar to Rebecca Lonngren 2. Class of 2015’s Ninja _____ 3. Female that plays XC Soccer and Track 4. _______ Assassins 6. Attending The Ohio State University 7. President of the Economics Club 9. T.A. for Hall Per. 0 10. Mr. Eagle 2015 12. Homecoming King 13. Prom Queen 14. Prom King

TALON exclusive

“Insidious: Chapter 3” will be released to theaters today.

by Medha Vallurupalli, staff writer The much anticipated film “Insidious: Chapter 3,” starring Lin Shaye, Stefanie Scott and Dermot Mulroney, will be released in theaters June 5.

The final chapter in the Insidious trilogy is set as a prequel to the previous two and is “the most terrifying out of all three of them,” talent and former Disney Channel

Star Stephanie Scott said in a phone interview.

Set eight years before the previous films, this film begins with an ordinary family —siblings Quinn and Alex Brenner, played by Stefanie Scott and Tate Berney, and their father Sean Brenner, played by Dermot Mulroney — who has suffered the loss of their mother and wife.

Soon after, Quinn is targeted by a supernatural entity when trying to contact her late mother and is sucked

An interview with “Insidious: Chapter 3” actress Stephanie Scott into the Further — a realm inhabited by the tortured souls of the dead. The story follows Elise, played by Lin Shaye, and her journey to rescue Quinn, played by Scott.

“I’m the biggest fan of the first two movies. So, when I got the call that I even got to audition for the role, I was really excited, but now that I get to actually get to be in it, it’s been quite the roller coaster,” Scott said.

Scott, 18, transitioned from playing Lexi Reed on Disney Channel’s “A.N.T Farm” to starring in her first horror film. Having wrapped shooting for “Caught,” “Life at These Speeds” and “Jem and the Holograms,” Scott was ready to take on another challenge.

“For this audition I actually had to do the possession scene, so [director] Leigh Whannell and Terri Taylor ended up holding me against a wall while I was kicking and screaming and cussing,” Scott said.

Whannell played a role in preparing his actors for the many dark and gritty scenes.

“[He] actually had me go see a psychic for the film, which is what my character does in the movie and [it was] a really intense experience. It was horrifying,” Scott said.

The film incorporated many stunts to achieve the “gritty feeling” of the Further.

Many of the stunts required several stunt doubles and quite a few stunt dummies.

However, Scott requested to do as many stunts as possible on her own.

“It was crazy being in all of the harnesses and being yanked across the room from a crane...It was really fun,” Scott said. “But I mean, of course, like the couple seconds before you’re actually like whipped across the room, it’s kind of scary. You don’t really know what to expect once you’re lifted in the air.”

Though the atmosphere was tense during shooting, director Leigh Whannell kept everyone laughing off-screen.

“I was laughing all the time,” Scott said. “But, whenever it came to having to do a really serious scene, I would

have to be really careful because I didn’t want to break.”

Though Scott is a newcomer to the team of veteran actors such as Shaye and Mulroney, her fellow cast members lauded her strong performance.

“Stefanie contributes so much to creating the sense of a realistically portrayed family that you’re pulling for in extraordinary circumstances.

This is a young actor who takes her job seriously,” Mulroney said in the official production notes.

Whannell agreed with Mulroney regarding Scott’s performance.

“Stefanie has already been working in this industry for a while, but she doesn’t have that ‘Hollywood child’ quality to her,” Whannell said in the official production notes. “She has a natural curiosity, and puts a lot of thought into her acting choices; she has range and intuitive subtlety, and will do things that I didn’t notice on the set but would pick up on in [the shooting day’s] dailies.”

TALON

18

june 2015

sports Athletes to watch in college soccer

BRITTANY VON SCHNEIDEAU

tennis

MATT GOTTLIEB

University of TexasSan Antonio

University of California-Santa Barbara

Future goal: Playing four years in college and becoming a soccer mom.

Future goal: Work my way into the starting lineup of the team.

Most memorable experience: Winning the Tri-Valley League in 2014.

Most memorable experience: Too many memories to pinpoint just one time.

Dinner with any athlete: Cristiano Ronaldo

Dinner with any athlete: Kobe Bryant

softball

ALEXA FELICIANO Rider University Future goal: To be a four-year starter in college.

Most memorable experience: Being named the 2015 team captain.

Dinner with any athlete: Jessica Mendoza

track

ZEV CAIYEM University of Colorado Colorado Springs Future goal: Compete in 3 NCAA Championship.

soccer

LAUREN BAY University of Redlands Future goal: To immediately impact the Redland’s team.

Most memorable experience: Placing top 5 in the two mile multiple times.

Most memorable experience: Becoming the all-time OPHS soccer leader in assists.

Dinner with any athlete: Usain Bolt

Dinner with any athlete: David Beckham

volleyball

WOODY COOK University of Southern California Future goal: Play successfully at USC. Most memorable experience: Winning the Regional Championship and making it to the Southern Section Championship.

Dinner with any athlete: Michael Jordan

june 2015

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june 2015

letter from the editor Dear Readers, Last edition, our center spread ran a number of infographics on AP testing at our school. We did not place enough context with our charts, and we realize now that some of our graph titles and graphics implied judgment. We apologize for not providing excellent journalism and for not representing all sides of the story.

TALON veritas exquirere The Talon, produced by Oak Park High School Journalism students, strives to discuss and bring attention to current events through a student forum.

The paper aims to inform the student body in a reliable and relevant manner.

This month, we continue the Talon’s tradition of publishing an annual senior edition. As the graduating class of 2015 prepares to leave the Bubble for parts known and unknown, we must remember our roots, and I believe that the senior edition truly helps us do so.

We also introduced QR codes throughout the paper, linking our articles to additional content on the Web, hopefully enriching your experience with the Talon.

As a member of the Class of 2015, I too will be graduating (shocking!). And as such, this will be my last edition of the Talon.

During my tenure as editor-in-chief, our paper has expanded from 12 pages to 16 pages and, in this edition, to 20 pages. We also have seen an explosion in the variety of articles and an exponential increase in the quality of our writing and photography.

All of this was a result of our dedicated editorial team and of course our writers — from both the class and club — as well as our advisors. I’d like to thank both Mrs. Fowler and Ms. Allison for their guidance and unconditional support of our grand venture.

Onward I go, and fresh blood rejuvenates our Talon staff. I now pass the journalistic baton to my successors, just as my forefathers (foremothers?) have done in the more than five years of the journalism program at Oak Park. This capable group of editors is led by our print edition editor-in-chief, Varsha Sarveshwar, as well as our online editor-in-chief, Nicholas Branigan.

I have the utmost faith and confidence in our new staff and leaders, and leave knowing they won’t besmirch the name of the Talon (no pressure).

Goodbye, Oak Park High School Talon. I leave you with the wise words of Immanuel Kant.

Those interested in joining the Talon should contact Tushar Jois or Ms. Allison in Room H-9 or attend a staff meeting, monthly on Wednesdays.

If you would like to contact the Talon with comments or questions regarding advertising, please email the newspaper at: <talon@oakparkusd.org>.

2014-2015

TALON

editorial staff editor-in-chief Tushar Jois

content editors

Nicholas Branigan Varsha Sarveshwar

sports editor

Jonathan Rifkind

managing editor Jessica Ji

layout editors

Christopher Lee Ashwarya Srinivas

Sapere aude.

Dare to know.

Tushar Jois, editor-in-chief

2015-2016

2015-2016

TALON

features editor

Eric Kellenberger

online editorial staff

Nicole Schwartz

editor-in-chief

opinion editor

editor-in-chief

sports editor

Varsha Sarveshwar

Olivia Deveau

Nicholas Branigan

news editor

sports editor

news editor

Grace Ye

Connie Lan

Christopher Lee

entertainment editor Anastasia Greer

layout editors

Rithik Kumar Aadarsh Jha

entertainment editor

managing editor

advertising executive

social media manager

Benjamin Porat

Jake Davis

Ashwarya Srinivas

Max Davis

head photographer Akshita Dondeti

1. Download any QR code reader app.

2. Launch the app; scan the QR codes dispersed throughout these pages.

3. Open the URL that pops up, and enjoy your extra content.

TALON Online

social media manager

For more Talon, scan the QR code or visit

Ashley Siavoshi

Julian Lehrer

Three steps for QR code content

head photographer Carly Albert

opinion editor

print editorial staff

art director

Irena Yang

TALON

www.oakparktalon.org