PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL 50 EMBARCADERO RD. PALO ALTO, CA 94301 NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
PAI D PALO ALTO PERMIT #44
The Campanile
Vol. XCVIII, No. 3
Palo Alto High School • 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 • www.palycampanile.org
PAUSD enters Future Ready initiative White House program helps districts better prepare students for the changing world KATE DEANDRE
Friday, October 30, 2015
CAHSEE suspended for three years BETHANY SHIANG
STAFF WRITER
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alo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) is now part of the White House initiative Future Ready, an initiative wherein school districts aim to prepare students for 21st century challenges. “We joined Future Ready because we believe that it will help further our district’s vision that supports all PAUSD students as they prepare themselves to thrive in a rapidly changing world,” Superintendent Max McGee said. “As any of the faculty members will tell you, I always say, ‘Our job is to prepare students for careers that do not yet exist.’” In order to join the initiative, superintendents must pledge to “affirm the commitment of this district to work with students, educators, families, and members of our community to become Future Ready by engaging in a wide range of activities,” according to the Future Ready website.
We joined Future Ready because we believe that it will help further our district’s vision.
Max McGee PAUSD Superintendent Future Ready offers resources for schools to collaborate with students of different school districts to share their effective methods of education. The program also helps students prepare for their futures in addition to helping superintendents transform their respective districts in order to focus more on digital education. Until recently, the district was not able
New California sex-education curriculum
STAFF WRITER
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ffective the 2015-16 school year, the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) will be suspended for three years due to its failure to align with the new Common Core standards, as stated by a recently passed state bill. In the past, state laws required students to pass the CAHSEE in eight tries or less in order to graduate from high school. However, because the exam has been suspended, students slated to complete high school in 2016 and 2017 will be able to graduate regardless of whether they have passed the CAHSEE.
MAGGIE ROSENTHAL/THE CAMPANILE
to join the Future Ready program because of ongoing investigations by the Office for Civil Rights, according to McGee. “I understand that we were not initially accepted into Future Ready because of unresolved issues with the Office for Civil Rights,” McGee said. “In this past year we have taken important steps to resolve those matters.” Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Jon Gundry echoes McGee’s sentiments and believes that PAUSD should be one of the leaders in Santa Clara County in the technology arena. “I think it’s essential that we move in that direction, not just this district,” Gundry said. “I think there should be a lot of pressure on you to do that here, being right in the cen-
ter of Silicon Valley. You guys should be at the cutting edge of educational technology and using technological resources for learning and for collaboration. Not just collaboration in your classrooms, but collaboration as far as you can get it and with the technology available that can be all over the world.” In order to qualify for the Future Ready program, according to its website, the school district must exhibit five components: meticulous learning methods, the ability to captivate students in education, parents’ contributions to the schools, devoted teachers and students enthused to establish leadership skills. With these elements, districts can come together to explore other educational techniques and plan for the next steps in their districts.
Future Ready’s trained facilitators host regional summits each year to share concepts such as professional learning, technology, privacy and use of time and leadership. McGee attended a meeting yesterday to obtain information on how to use resources and technology in order to make PAUSD more progressive. “I hope and expect that the White House meeting will provide me with information, resources, and exemplary practices in how technology can personalize learning and also connect our students to human and educational resources far beyond our district campuses,” McGee said. “Also, I will be sharing our Advanced Authentic Research Program as an example of authentic, purpose driven, project based learning that students need, deserve and desire.”
[State officials] really have a desire to not have a one-size-fitsall evaluation system for our schools and for students.
Jon R. Gundry Santa Clara County Superintendent of Education In May 2015, state lawmakers initially tried to pass a bill suspending the CAHSEE to create graduation standards more relevant to the new Common Core curriculum. The suspension of the CAHSEE will give state officials time to both revise the exam and to set new graduation requirements that will more closely follow Common Core standards. “The [state officials] really have a desire to not have a one-size-fits-all CAHSEE
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Seniors come from behind to win Spirit Week ASB successfully incorporates several new events and scoring systems into annual competi-
MAGGIE ROSENTHAL
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
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alifornia Gov. Jerry Brown recently approved a pair of bills that requires public schools to teach sex-education at least once in middle school and once in high school and to update the curriculum of existing sex-education classes. Among other things, high schools such as those in Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) must teach affirmative consent for sexual activity. Living Skills, PAUSD’s sex-education class, already includes much of the new curriculum outlined in the bills, which is intended to keep up with the modern changes in sexeducation. The teaching of affirmative consent means that students will be taught about an affirmative, “yes means yes” form of consent, in which consent must be given during each stage of a sexual encounter, rather than the now-outdated “no means no” form of non-consent. Previously implemented on college campuses in California, the teaching of affirmative consent has grown in popularity and is becoming the new and accepted way to help students learn to have more control over their sexual encounters. Safe sex, or the usage of protection in sexual encounters, is also a vital aspect of the curriculum. Previously, sex-education classes were not required in California. If SEX-EDUCATION
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JACKY MOORE/THE CAMPANILE
Left: Seniors Henry Gordon, Bradley Brewster and Andrew Cho cheer during the first rally in 90s attire. Top right: Juniors Katie Passarello and Albert Hwang participate in tug-of-war, ultimately placing third, during Salad Dressing day. Bottom right: Students participate in a hamster ball race during Paly’s first ever night rally held on Oct 21.
JESSICA WONG
STAFF WRITER
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alo Alto High School’s Spirit Week came to a close last Friday after several days of tight competition. Featuring two separate streaking incidents, a new scoring system and a night rally, seniors finished the week victorious, with juniors in second, sophomores in third and freshmen in fourth. Following a slow start, the Class of 2016 quickly pulled ahead on Tuesday to hold a substantial lead over other classes, eventually winning best dressed on four out of five days and claiming first place in six out of ten rally activities by the end of the week. At the after-school rally on Friday,
when each class displayed its floats and spirit dances, the seniors took first place in both. However, as with every Spirit Week, the days did not go by without heavy competition. While the seniors held a comfortable lead throughout most of the week, the Class of 2017 and Class of 2018 were neck and neck, vying for second place. Up until the final after-school rally, the sophomores held second by just 90 points. The juniors went on to win second place for both spirit dance and float, claiming second overall with a lead of 2760 points over the sophomores, who took third and fourth for spirit dance and float, respectively. Despite the Class of 2018’s third place finish, Sophomore President
Jaiveer Sandhu is optimistic about his class’s potential. “I feel that our improvement from freshman to sophomore year was huge, and that we surprised a lot of people with our success this Spirit Week,” Sandhu said. “[Sophomore Class Vice President] Noga Hurwitz and I were very proud of all the work we put in and the results we had. We were able to stay ahead of the juniors and gave them some tough competition. We are definitely capable of upsetting the Class of 2017, and everyone should watch out for our performance in next year’s Spirit Week.” Although the Class of 2017 struggled to pull ahead during the week, Junior Class Vice President Natalie Maloney is happy with her grade’s
performance and the overall outcome of the week. “I am so proud to have represented the Class of 2017,” Maloney said. “It was absolutely incredible to watch and be able to lead them. I’m most proud of the fact that they took their spirit up a notch on the last two days when we were losing to sophomores, and that we pulled through to create an amazing float and choreograph a stunning dance. All the participation over the course of this week has helped create strong class unity and pride. Overall, I think this was a successful week for the Class of 2017.” This year’s Spirit Week introduced a new point system and nighttime SPIRIT WEEK
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INSIDE N e w s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1- A 5 Opinion............................A6-A8 Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1, B3, B8 Student Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B2 Spotlight................................B4-B5 Fashion...............................B6 Entertainment............................B7 S p o r t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C 1- C 8
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SPOTLIGHT
NEWS
Exploring the pros and cons of PAUSD’s weighted grading system PAGE B4-B5
Stanford Children’s Health’s new initiative to provide transgender care PAGE A3
Weighted Grades
LIFESTYLE
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Transgender Care Program Grateful Dead
Explore the history of the iconic 1960s band, made up of several Paly alumni PAGE B1
SPORTS
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Rugby World Cup
Read about Japan’s win over South Africa that shocked the world PAGE C4-C5